Our first ever AMA (Ask Me Anything)! Featuring: Brooke Sellas

  • 6 December 2021
  • 47 replies
  • 163 views

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Thanks to Brooke Sellas for joining us for our first ever AMA!

Thank you for participating and asking questions. We’ll be back with more of these in the future as we refine the format.

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What’s an AMA?

It stands for “Ask me anything” and we mean just that! Anything you want to know more about, our AMA panelist is here for you! From their hobbies to what they get done in business, this is the time to ask!

I can’t make it live, but I have a question. How do I get it asked?

Just add it here to the replies! We’ll be using this thread as the AMA.

Is there a video?

No. AMAs are text-based replies, so the panelist will be answering right here in the threads.

How do we join?

There’s nothing to join, per se. Just come back to this thread on the date and you’ll see Brooke answering questions in the replies as you ask them!

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About our panelist!

Brooke B. Sellas is the CEO & Founder of B Squared Media, an award-winning digital marketing agency focusing on social media management, advertising, and social-first customer care. Additionally, she teaches a Digital Marketing course (virtually) at the University of California in Irvine. Brooke’s marketing mantra is “Think Conversation, Not Campaign”.

Brooke founded B Squared Media in 2012 with a marketing mantra of “Think Conversation, Not Campaign.” Serving mostly middle-market and enterprise brands, their services include social media management, advertising, and social-first customer care solutions.

Brooke is an “in the trenches” marketer, with 17+years of sales and marketing experience, and a BA from Penn State University in Media & Communication studies. She had her “ah-ha” social media moment when in 2007, she used a burgeoning Facebook to recruit 7,500 attendees to attend a Pub Crawl benefiting cystic fibrosis, which made over $60,000 dollars for the charity.

In 2017, B Squared Media was named Sprout Social’s “Partner of the Year” for being a shining example of a social media agency, and in 2018, Brooke was named one of New Jersey’s “Top 25 Women Entrepreneurs & Brand Builders.”

You can find Brooke speaking on stages like ours or on her favorite social media channel, Twitter, so be sure to give her a shout on social media! You can also check out Brooke’s spotlight in the community.


47 replies

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@Brooke B. Sellas Yes. I have worked with the wonderful team of support specialists and have made similar requests and have seen them implemented! Thank you Sprout!

 

That is worth a LOT! We’re big on customer care so the fact that Sprout’s customer care is so top notch is why we stay. 

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@Brooke B. Sellas Curious to know how many profiles you and your clients work with. As a park district, we have created Facebook pages for the individual parks and Sprout makes it simple to reach out to all or to as many/few as I need to. 

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@Brooke B. Sellas Curious to know how many profiles you and your clients work with. As a park district, we have created Facebook pages for the individual parks and Sprout makes it simple to reach out to all or to as many/few as I need to. 

I don’t know the exact amount of profiles we’re using at the moment but I’d say it’s upwards of 50+? We don’t have any clients who currently have different locations under one brand, but we used to and Sprout made that super simple to handle. 

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@Brooke B. Sellas I a looking for a way to “listen” for mentions of our parks and events on Facebook and Instagram that are not tagged, similar to the Brand Keywords for Twitter in the Smart Inbox.

You can do that. We put keywords and phrases into Sprout and then “listen” for when those words are mentioned (tagged or not). So, for instance, put in the company/brand name + common misspellings. Put in stakeholder names. Put in industry terms or product names. Etc. The sky is the limit because you can use the Boolean search system use things like X and Y | X or Y | X and Y but not Z … does that help?

Yes. Thank you.

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@Brooke B. Sellas I’m sure you’ve implemented the bots. Can you share how much (or how little) should we include in their reply. We have tried to make it sound more like a conversation as opposed to one or two word answers.

 

Lake Metroparks, Lake Metroparks Farmpark and Penitentiary Glen Reservation are profiles I invite you to check out to see what we do.

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@Brooke B. Sellas I’m sure you’ve implemented the bots. Can you share how much (or how little) should we include in their reply. We have tried to make it sound more like a conversation as opposed to one or two word answers.

 

Lake Metroparks, Lake Metroparks Farmpark and Penitentiary Glen Reservation are profiles I invite you to check out to see what we do.

Yes. We have used the bots. What I found, is that for our smaller clients or those who have repetitive FAQs (frequently asked questions) that bots work GREAT. And yes, conversational is also GREAT. However, for some of our larger clients with more complex FAQs or issues, the bots weren’t able to handle it in a way that satisfied our customer AND their customers -- so we use humans for those requests. 

I’ll check out your bots!

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@Brooke B. Sellas What’s your favorite show on Netflix? 

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@Brooke B. Sellas What’s your favorite show on Netflix? 

I don’t think these are on Netflix … but ‘The Shrink Next Door’ (omg, Paul Rudd is amazing!!!!!), ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’, and we’re also rewatching ‘Game of Thrones’ currently. ALSO, my guilty pleasure is EVERY. SINLE. Housewives Franchise. I know. Awful. 

What about you??

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What’s the thing that’s made you the most proud during your career?

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What’s something that you didn't expect to have to do as an agency owner?

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What’s something that you didn't expect to have to do as an agency owner?

What’s the thing that’s made you the most proud during your career?

Next year will be my 10th year owning B Squared Media. I think I may be a liiiiiiiiittle teary about that one. #Proud

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I’m currently watching Squid Game on Netflix. My son got me hooked on it!

I’m a big Marvel fan so all of the original series presented on Disney+ are great. Currently watching Hawkeye. Next episode tonight!

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@Brooke B. Sellas Congratulations on your 10-year anniversary owning B Squared Media. I’ve been with Lake Metroparks for over 28 years.

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What’s something that you didn't expect to have to do as an agency owner?

I knew I HAD to do it … but the “people’ing” is the hardest part. Even if you’re selling well, and delivering services well, people are people. They will surprise you at every turn. It’s hard because there’s no way to “control” things or people … especially people. So I find that variable to be difficult. 

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@Brooke B. Sellas Congratulations on your 10-year anniversary owning B Squared Media. I’ve been with Lake Metroparks for over 28 years.

WOW! That’s seriously impressive. I hope I make it to 28! :-)

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What’s something that you didn't expect to have to do as an agency owner?

I knew I HAD to do it … but the “people’ing” is the hardest part. Even if you’re selling well, and delivering services well, people are people. They will surprise you at every turn. It’s hard because there’s no way to “control” things or people … especially people. So I find that variable to be difficult. 

@Brooke B. Sellas Kind of like horses, right?

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I’m currently watching Squid Game on Netflix. My son got me hooked on it!

I’m a big Marvel fan so all of the original series presented on Disney+ are great. Currently watching Hawkeye. Next episode tonight!

I LOVE all things Marvel and D.C. but don’t have Disney+ … maybe I need to ask for it as a holiday gift. 

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What’s something that you didn't expect to have to do as an agency owner?

I knew I HAD to do it … but the “people’ing” is the hardest part. Even if you’re selling well, and delivering services well, people are people. They will surprise you at every turn. It’s hard because there’s no way to “control” things or people … especially people. So I find that variable to be difficult. 

@Brooke B. Sellas Kind of like horses, right?

EXACTLY! 

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I’m currently watching Squid Game on Netflix. My son got me hooked on it!

I’m a big Marvel fan so all of the original series presented on Disney+ are great. Currently watching Hawkeye. Next episode tonight!

I watched Squid Game, but I 100% had to read the synopsis before watching any episode of it. Too stressful!

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If you have the unlimited plan with Verizon, the first level above their basic includes a hotspot AND Disney Plus! Bundle (with ESPN+ and Hulu). It’s only $10 per month more. And only one of your lines has to be at that level!

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I think that’ll wrap us up! Thank you so much to Brooke for joining us and to all the questions! You can still ask questions, but Brooke’s off the hook! 

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I think that’ll wrap us up! Thank you so much to Brooke for joining us and to all the questions! You can still ask questions, but Brooke’s off the hook! 

Thank you so much for having me! And for @john.venen for being the most amazing question asker! :-) See y’all next time! 

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