Skip to main content

Connect & Discuss

Join The Arboretum to connect with professionals from around the world. Make connections and discover fresh perspectives on social marketing.

448 Topics
jaxn.engstrom
Advanced User
jaxn.engstromAdvanced User
asked in Likes & Dislikes
Day 8 Giveaway ✨ Likes & Dislikes ✨ Please don't touch my Sprout

This year has been full of big wins, with one of the highlights being the redesign of our analytics reports. As a one-person social team, I typically take the lead on everything social-related, and one of my first tasks was to develop an analytics report. What we had before were just a few slides showing the growth of each channel.Over time, I’ve refined the report—adding and removing certain metrics—and I’m finally at a version I’m really proud of. I’m happy to share it with anyone, including senior leadership (I even presented it to the CEO earlier this year)!On the flip side, one challenge I’ve faced is managing other users in our Sprout account. I often find myself going in to correct errors or mistakes in the posts they create. It sometimes feels like it would be faster to just do it myself rather than reviewing everything they do. To be fair, I’m the one who trained them, so maybe I need to improve my training approach 😅 Does anyone else experience this?

194
jaxn.engstrom
Advanced User
9 days ago
AlvieJr13
Engaged User
AlvieJr13Engaged User
posted in Likes & Dislikes
Collaboration

I like having someone to bounce ideas off of. I can be a smidge snarky, so it’s good to have someone to help me make sure I’m staying on brand with my responses! I know some people don’t have that here in Social, so I’m extra grateful for it!

20
AlvieJr13
Engaged User
9 days ago
amanda.coe
Advanced User
amanda.coeAdvanced User
posted in Likes & Dislikes
Trying to Celebrate Michelin Green Guide 3 Stars!

Our team is celebrating our community being included in the latest Michelin Green Guide for Detroit! We were awarded a three star “do not miss” rating, and individually, most institutions were awarded two star rating on their own. *Cries of happiness* And yes, we used Sprout to post all about it this morning. 💃As many of you know, Marketing/Communications is often everyone’s scapegoat for organizational failures (real or perceived) so it’s been hard to properly get excited about this achievement.It’s incredible for the city and greater metro area but it feels some people just *assumed* it was a given. My Director created two separate extensive visit experiences for their writers and so many hours went into coordination, communications, meetings, and more to get to this point! Our small team of three is split between two institutions of this community and we handle PR, Email, Websites, Social, Advertising, and more.Cheers to all the small and mighty teams out there! Your marketing peer

172
T
Advanced User
9 days ago
G
Frequent User
genevieveberkFrequent User
posted in Likes & Dislikes
Likes: Topical Interactive Content

One thing that I’ve really liked seeing this year is our team experimenting with more meme-like interactive posts. We’ve done a “tag yourself” style carousel with humorous costumes related to our industry and a funny bingo card for a national event related to our work. They both went over really well and I’m excited to hopefully see more these posts in the coming year. Anyone else have any similar posts that have engaged with their audience well?

122
T
Advanced User
9 days ago
N
Engaged User
nickgilhamEngaged User
posted in Likes & Dislikes
My Role

Hello everyone! Wanted to share some insights on my role. Some Wins / PositivesI have an incredible team who creates social media content for 4 different properties. It’s a crazy amount of posts.We recently upped our game on TikTok and have gotten multiple videos to reach over 30K views.  ChallengesTrying to determine our KPIs and how heavily we should focus on revenue vs other metricsWe probably have a unique challenge vs. most - we have too much content. Prioritization can be a challenge.  What are your challenges that you are facing?

102
T
Advanced User
9 days ago
judith.edwards
Advanced User
judith.edwardsAdvanced User
posted in Likes & Dislikes
TikTok win

We launched our TikTok channel a month ago (11/11) and have grown to almost 2K followers! Now, we’re watching to see if it will get banned next month. LOL

205
amanda.coe
Advanced User
9 days ago
Y
Engaged User
yahaira.hernandezEngaged User
asked in Likes & Dislikes
Content Planning

Every December I check multiple websites to help me brainstorm content ideas for the following year, like fun holidays related to my industry. Is there a particular website/source that you’ve found helpful to plan content? 

305
B
Advanced User
9 days ago
P
New User
paula.randolphNew User
posted in Likes & Dislikes
Likes & Dislikes

Likes: Finishing up my trial of Social Sprout and signing up for a subscription. Love this platform!Dislike: Why can my business page get Meta Verified and not the Facebook page? Going through the support chat was just a runaround with no solution yet.

40
P
New User
9 days ago
C
Frequent User
charlotte.sweetFrequent User
posted in Likes & Dislikes
Twitter/X

My biggest dislike and what makes me feel most uncomfortable about working in social media. We’ve stopped using it as an organisation and I wonder how many other brands are moving away from active posting?

10013
julia.gross
Advanced User
9 days ago
J
Engaged User
jaime.monteforteEngaged User
posted in Likes & Dislikes
Carousels on X and IG

A BIG WIN!Carousels on X and IG are huge engagement drivers for us. We consistently see 100%+ engagement rates on this media type.

257
J
Engaged User
9 days ago
jordan.woody
Engaged User
jordan.woodyEngaged User
posted in Likes & Dislikes
AI Pros and Cons: There's a Time and a Place

Me and AI have a very complicated relationship. I’m a one person social team, so when the tools first launched I was relying on them heavily. I championed for them, I fought back when people said the tools were scary, and I was looking forward to the future of my job being easier because of them.But now? I’m starting to get tired.I’m tired of every single platform shoving new (and most of the time un-necessary) AI tools in my face to do something I’ve never needed AI to do before.Want to write a LinkedIn post? REWRITE IT USING OUR NEW AI TOOL, IT’S GREAT YOU’LL LOVE IT! Want to look for a stock photo on Adobe? TOO BAD, HERE’S 4 PAGES OF AI GENERATED SMOOTH TEXTURE 6 FINGER HANDS! Want to ask a question about a product? HERE, TRY OUR AI CHATBOT THAT TOALLY KNOWS HOW TO HELP!The worst part of it all is that almost all of these tools feel rushed, have y’all noticed how broken some of them are? In the race to stay competitive, we now have a ton of non-helpful tools jammed into places that

11010
jaxn.engstrom
Advanced User
9 days ago
J
Frequent User
jennifer.ercoliFrequent User
asked in Likes & Dislikes
What's one thing you love or hate about AI in social media today?

The ease of using AI cannot be ignored. It helps make posting quicker and easier. However, I do not like how I can scroll through a feed and immediately know which posts are AI generated. There is not enough variation in the tone or vocabulary of the responses generated. 

233
Michelle_IndianaDunes
Engaged User
9 days ago
E
Advanced User
emma.peneguyAdvanced User
posted in Likes & Dislikes
Day to day Likes/Dislikes

Likes: holiday content is fun to create & caption! loving the “color of the year” content that always comes around this time of year  Dislikes: goblins, ghouls, people’s knees (bonus points if you get the It’s Always Sunny reference) For real though, there is a lot of pressure to perform around the holidays. We invest a good bit of time and resources into our content creation, and it’s disheartening when sometimes things don’t perform. However, there’s always the opportunity to learn through looking at the numbers & making sure we change up the strategy when things don’t land. 

143
jaxn.engstrom
Advanced User
9 days ago
becca.alexander
Engaged User
becca.alexanderEngaged User
posted in Likes & Dislikes
IG carousels w/ text

One random thing that’s been working is text on photos on IG carousels! Kind of similar to how you’d add text to a TikTok carousel photo. We’ve done more branded designs recently but I want to transition to a casual approach using IG story text and cropping for the grid 👀

297
Michelle_IndianaDunes
Engaged User
9 days ago
N
Engaged User
nicole.serrano2024Engaged User
posted in Likes & Dislikes
KPI Win!

Just analyzed our year over year performance with sprout and we are way up on engagements and on track for our impression KPIs!  

164
emily.murray
Advanced User
9 days ago
L
Engaged User
laura.ingrimEngaged User
posted in Likes & Dislikes
Giveaway Day 8: Likes (AI tools) and Dislikes (Organic Reach)

Likes: I love learning about AI tools and how they can help with day to day tasks. I use them often for writing captions, planning out blog posts, and general brainstorming. I can’t wait to learn more about AI tools that can help with video creation.Dislikes: The organic reach on Instagram and Facebook sucks. I post every day, but not a ton of people see my posts. And I know that Reels and Carousels perform better, but it’s not always feasible for every post to fall under those categories (not to mention, those are more time-consuming). I work at a nonprofit, so we just don’t have the budget to pay for ads all the time. Very frustrating.

111
jaxn.engstrom
Advanced User
10 days ago
J
Frequent User
jessica.correaFrequent User
posted in Likes & Dislikes
Giveaway Day 8: People Don't Click on Links

One of the biggest struggles in my day-to-day as a social media professional is getting residents to click on links for more information. A lot of City projects or programs need more details than can fit in a social media post so we leave a link in the post. The number of comments we get asking things that are in the linked article is a lot. Even the number of questions we get asking things that are included in the posts. It’s really hard to get people to read nowadays. 

275
N
Engaged User
10 days ago
Jonathan Zuluaga
Community Manager
Jonathan ZuluagaCommunity Manager
published in Coffee Talk
Giveaway Day 7: Help Each Other Out & Win Big!Holiday Giveaway Extravaganza

Welcome to Day 7 of The 2024 Holiday Giveaway Extravaganza! ✨Today, we’re focusing on supporting each other and sharing our expertise to solve challenges.Here’s What to Do:Find two unanswered questions or submit your own in the below forum and share your insights or advice.https://community.sproutsocial.com/search/activity/unanswered Reply thoughtfully and provide value to help your fellow Arboretum members! Share a link to questions your answered below! Today’s Prizes:Three lucky participants will win Bose QuietComfort 45 Headphones and an Arboretum Notebook, Socks and Pen—perfect for staying productive and inspired! 🎧✨Your advice could be just what someone needs, so jump in and make a difference. Let’s connect, learn, and grow together!Learn more about Week 2 of our giveaway, here.

43534
Jonathan Zuluaga
Community Manager
10 days ago
O
Advanced User
ohva.commsAdvanced User
posted in Likes & Dislikes
Frustration about clients not seeing/seeking out posts with answers to common questions

One of my challenges is that people are constantly asking questions about things that I have JUST posted about. They do not take the time to look for the answer they just seem to want everything spoon fed to them. I usually answer the question with the added component of showing them where they can find the answer themselves. A lot of my time is spent this way but that is the nature of customer service via social media I suppose.

224
F
Engaged User
10 days ago
julia.gross
Advanced User
julia.grossAdvanced User
posted in Likes & Dislikes
Eagerly Awaiting Trial Reels!

What’s working for us is posting more carousels, especially with songs in Instagram (their now-looser music licensing is also a win!) After reading that those would show up on the reels tab, I gave it a try and have seen great results from it! Linkedin, while it doesn’t post in a carousel format, has also loved the multi-photo posts. A current challenge is that I’m still eagerly awaiting Trial Reels to be rolled out to me. I’m looking forward to playing around with some new audiences and getting to A/B test outside of our followers.

255
J
Frequent User
10 days ago
B
Advanced User
Brittany TaylorAdvanced User
posted in Coffee Talk
What changes are you making based on the Giveaway Extravaganza conversations?

We’re less than a week in and the December Giveaway Extravaganza conversation topics and responses are already impacting the way I work--thank you Sprout and the Arboretum community! 👀 I’m curious: Have you made any changes yet based on the conversations you’ve taken part in here?Here’s my list…Started a running “scratch paper” document in Word, saved to OneDrive so I can access on all my devices. I’m using headline styles to create a table of contents and adding each new idea/suggestion/bit of brainstorming or writing with a new heading. This was a day-1 productivity tip based on ​@katie.deaton’s Parking Lot concept. ​@lisa.rodrigo also mentioned that she screenshots everything. I tend to do that too, but never return to the screenshots I’ve taken! I’m combining the two concepts here so I can 🤞 be a little bit less forgetful about going back to my notes and reminders.   Started a running meeting agenda/notes page in my paper planner. This is a productivity hack from ​@jon.mau, who k

272
B
Advanced User
10 days ago
R
Advanced User
robbie.schneiderAdvanced User
asked in Coffee Talk
Favorite Interview Questions

Our team is expanding! As I’m prepping for our candidate interviews, let me ask: What is your favorite question in an interview?

8313
M
Advanced User
10 days ago
T
Advanced User
TAMAYSAdvanced User
asked in Coffee Talk
Community Manager vs Comment Engager

What are the key distinctions between basic comment engagement and comprehensive community building, and how can I determine when to outsource these activities? And if someone is doing community growth are they coming up with strategy or are they executing strategy?

142
Katy4Riskonnect
Advanced User
10 days ago
D
Frequent User
dannytza.rodriguezFrequent User
posted in Coffee Talk
Alcohol: How are you navigating the new TBB online promotion rules?

I'm curious how others in the industry are adapting to the recent changes in the TBB (Trade Buyer Behavior) social media promotion guidelines. What approaches are you finding effective? Any tools, platforms, or specific tactics that are proving successful for you? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and sharing ideas! https://www.ttb.gov/ttb-issues-updated-industry-circular-use-social-media-advertising-alcohol-beverages

201
T
Advanced User
10 days ago
R
rababSprout Team
asked in Coffee Talk
EOY Reporting

What are some challenges you have with your EOY Reporting in Sprout? How do you work around them? 

184
L
Engaged User
10 days ago
The Arboretum Terms of UseCookie settings