MarTech Interview with Billy Jones, VP of Marketing, Hootsuite

Billy Jones, VP of Marketing, Hootsuite shares his thoughts on the evolution of social media and what social trends will dominate the space in 2024:

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Welcome to this MarTech Series chat, Billy, tell us about yourself and your role at Hootsuite.

Thanks for the opportunity, Paroma.

For almost two years, I’ve led Hootsuite’s brand and creative teams — including our social marketers, writers, designers, content creators, animators — as Vice President of Marketing. It’s been a wild ride leading a team of incredible creators in a space that is constantly evolving and changing, and I’m so proud of the work the team has accomplished. We’ve launched a ton of innovative and boundary-pushing campaigns from a creative perspective that aren’t often seen from a B2B brand and that drive Hootsuite’s mission forward.

What would you say helps define the key frameworks of a successful social media marketing plan today?

From my experience at Hootsuite and within the agency world, I’ve found that simplicity reigns supreme when it comes to crafting effective social strategies. Starting with a clear focus on our business objectives is essential. Are you looking to expand your reach and increase awareness? Do you aim to enhance the customer experience? And—perhaps overlooked at times—what role does your website play in achieving sales and generating leads?

Beginning with a firm grasp of your business goals allows you to align your social efforts with the specific objectives and metrics that matter most to your company. This approach elevates the impact of social media marketing across the organization.

Understanding your audience’s sentiment towards your brand is equally critical. Our audience provides valuable insights daily through comments and engagements on our social channels. Take a moment to examine why your champions adore you and why detractors might not. Leverage the data at your fingertips.

Lastly, ask yourself a fundamental yet thought-provoking question: Why should anyone follow your company on social media? Whether you’re a national bank chain or any other entity, this query compels you to view your brand from the audience’s perspective. It sets the stage for delving into the desires and needs of your audience, laying the foundation for a successful social media strategy.

An effective social strategy is one that permeates throughout the business, made possible only through cross-collaboration and an understanding of social across all areas that make its success possible.

We’d love to hear about Hootsuite’s latest social media trends report and what highlights will take center stage when it comes to social media in 2024?

This year’s Social Trends 2024 Report was a great reminder to all that while the social marketing space and profession have greatly progressed, brands continue to struggle with cracking the content code and connecting with their customers on social.

A notable ongoing trend that we’re seeing is disconnection.

Hootsuite found that 34% of consumers say a focus on self-promotion is a major turn-off in how they perceive brands and 56% of consumers think that brands should be more relatable — yet, 48% of marketers are still publishing product and brand updates or news multiple times a week.

2024 is arguably social’s most pivotal year yet — and to support social marketers in their quest to rise above the chaos and connect more deeply with their audience, our Social Trends 2024 Report highlights trends on AI, platform championing and social ROI:

• With generative AI on the rise, brands are toeing the line between efficiency and authenticity on social media, while being up against demographic differences in how audiences greet AI-generated content. While 62% of consumers say they are less likely to engage with and trust content if they know it was created by an AI application, smart brands will zero-in on the brand experience they are creating, regardless of who (or what) created the content.
• With networks releasing new user and advertising features so often, more than half (58%) of marketers say it’s difficult to keep up. Strapped for time and resources, strategic organizations are becoming less likely to stretch themselves thin and are pushing back unjustified expectations and shifting their platform priorities — with ROI at the center of this exercise.
• While 69% of respondents say engagement is the top metric they use to demonstrate ROI, half of organizations are self-promoting to unlock that value. It’s no surprise, then, that 68% of social marketers report being concerned about the ROI of their social activities. In the quest for social ROI, brands must turn to entertainment to boost the bottom line, letting go of the notion that social is a channel to talk at customers — but rather, an interactive space where the exchange of value is a two-way street.
  

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Do you think B2B tech marketers don’t use social media marketing as a channel effectively enough to drive pipeline? What suggestions would you share to optimize this? 

Short answer: yes. But I’m not saying it’s easy.

As our Social Trends 2024 Report uncovers, cracking the value exchange of social media content is hard and it never ends. But there are a couple of simple rules of thumb that can help.

Provide Value, Reap Rewards: The rule of thumb is to offer your audience value 9 out of 10 times. At Hootsuite, 90% of our content revolves around providing value through the latest social media trends, algorithm insights, or simply engaging and relatable content. This strategy builds trust and a solid foundation. When we launch lead-generation campaigns, the groundwork of value allows us to ask for something in return successfully. And remember: making lead-gen content entertaining is key to maintaining engagement!

Your Team Drives Engagement: Your team members are your secret weapon. Social algorithms are built to get brands to pay up for reach, but the trojan horse is a smart social selling program where you are mindfully arming your own employees with engaging lead-generation content. By strategically equipping your team, you can efficiently build your pipeline and prove the ROI of your social campaign to leadership teams.

In a nutshell, it’s all about striking the right balance and leveraging your team’s potential to unlock the true value of social media.

How will generative AI eventually play a role in redefining the future of social media marketing? 

At Hootsuite, we’re dedicated to empowering social media managers in their one-of-a-kind roles. We believe AI is here to assist, rather than replace these talented professionals. AI, in our view, is a powerful tool that enhances the capabilities and sparks the creativity of social media managers, making their jobs more efficient.

We envision a future where AI takes on the grunt work, freeing up social marketers for more impactful and creative tasks. Here’s how:

• Deeper Insights: AI can dive deep into the vast sea of social media metrics, offering detailed analysis and attribution modeling. This means you get a clearer understanding of how your campaigns are performing, so you can make smarter decisions.
• Supercharged Social Listening: AI isn’t just about monitoring what’s happening right now; it’s your assistant in recognizing trends and insights you should be paying attention to. This proactive approach ensures you’re always ahead of the curve.
• Sharper Recommendations: With AI’s help, you’ll receive tailored suggestions that align with your specific goals and audience preferences. It’s like having a personal advisor for your social media strategy.

As AI continues to evolve, Hootsuite will stay at the forefront, providing social marketers with the tools they need to excel in the exciting world of social media marketing and shape the future of social media marketing together.

Can you talk about some of the leading tech brands you feel have a robust social media marketing strategy: what takeaways from those would you leave us with here?

I guess saying Hootsuite would be cheating! Truthfully, we are always getting inspired by other brands — there’s some excellent social marketing work being done across the tech industry. We particularly enjoy ones that are pushing the boundaries in their respective categories.

A couple of boundary-pushing tech brands that come to mind are Cash-App and Adobe.

Cash-App has a fresh, engaging and ’social-first’ content strategy that breaks the mold of a finance brand on social. Although they’re a fintech company, they are bound by the same regulatory and compliance issues as traditional banks — but that doesn’t hold them back from creativity. Whereas, Adobe has more creative freedom as part of their category, and they do social marketing so well that you don’t even know when they’re selling you on their product. Now that’s a real value exchange. They have a perfect blend of featuring the magic of what their products can accomplish with stories of people who thrive off using their tools.

From observing these two tech brands, my takeaways for marketers are:

• Look at your category and subcategory and find out how to “go the other way”. You’re not competing with other brands on social, you’re competing with professional content creators and friends that flood customer feeds. Be more like them and less like your competition.
• Identify what your product’s superpower is and figure out how to dramatize it in simplistic ways via properly crafted content. Sometimes marketing is as simple as that.
• Find the creative people that rock with you and let them go to work. When you find these people, don’t give them prescriptive briefs. Just let them be themselves and your engagement rates will soar!

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