Rachel Karten, Social Media Consultant and creator of the Link in Bio Newsletter, has been in the industry for over a decade and knows quite a bit about the evolution of consumer-brand relations in the social world. She worked for brands like Bon Appétit and Plated and recently worked on the famous campaign at CAVA with Youtube star, Emma Chamberlain. 

Join us on Thursday, March 30th at 1 pm CT for a masterclass with Rachel Karten to learn how to best prepare for this next phase of social. 

You’ll leave this masterclass uncovering:

• Why your old social strategy will no longer work in the new era of social media
• How your brand can optimize social content for engagement
• 3 campaign examples from brands Rachel helped succeed and tactics you can implement now

Your Speakers:

The post Masterclass: How to Prepare Your Brand for a New Era in Social appeared first on Sprout Social.

Tapping into your employee advocates as a part of your social media strategy is one of the most effective ways to amplify your content, humanize your brand and engage your audience. Roughly 76% of social media users think it’s important for companies to post about their employees, and your metrics will reflect your community’s interest.

In this article, we dive into how you can create your own meet the team social media posts, explain how they benefit your entire company and provide examples to inspire you.

What is a “meet the team” social media post?

Meet the team social media posts describe content posted on your brand’s social channels dedicated to your employees. Meet the team social media post examples include:

• Welcoming new hires to your team
• Celebrating major milestones including promotions, work anniversaries and awards
• Highlighting your team members doing exceptional things outside of work—from acts of community service to running a marathon
• Familiarizing your customers and prospects with their key touchpoints like sales representatives and customer care specialists (Note: Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box and include your brand’s zookeepers, musicians and farmers, too)
• Going behind the scenes to show your social audience (and prospective teammates) what it’s like to work at your organization

No matter what kind of meet the team post you create, the most important thing is to make your well-deserving employees the stars of your series. Allow their expertise, work ethic and achievements to shine.

The benefits of meet the team social media posts

At your company right now, there are countless examples of compelling employee stories. By passing the mic to your team, you can make those stories a vital part of your brand reputation.

Here are specific ways meet the team social posts can benefit your entire organization.

Harness employee advocacy

At Sprout, we know how frustrating algorithm shifts, poor organic performance, economic uncertainty and crowded feeds can be firsthand.

Employee advocacy helps us level up our content and stand out. Posts that feature our employees are an essential part of our employee advocacy content strategy, and some of our most-liked content.

Why it works: Employee experiences are the most trustworthy examples of a company’s culture, mission and values. Brand advocates play a critical role in driving brand awareness, supercharging recruitment efforts and generating leads.

Humanize your employer brand

Meet the team social media posts humanize your employer brand and help build meaningful relationships with customers, leads and potential candidates.

By pulling back the curtain to reveal the people behind your events, customer care and new product launches, you become more than just a brand that delivers a product or service. You become a reliable friend.

Why it works: Your employees’ perspectives matter three times more to prospective candidates than your CEO’s. Your followers are more likely to forge emotional connections with people they relate to, and emotional connections lead to brand loyalty.

Engage your employees and community alike

According to Sprout’s employee advocacy data report, engaged social media users think it’s important for companies to post about their employees on social. Brands that do are considered more authentic, approachable and interesting.

Not only do meet the team social media posts bolster your community engagement, they also boost employee satisfaction and help team members feel appreciated.

Why it works: By recognizing the value your employees bring to your company on social media, you reinforce the reasons people want to work with/for your brand.

How to create a meet the team social media post series

Once you’re ready to create your meet the team series, be sure to work cross-functionally to align your posts with your organization’s initiatives, including recruitment, event promotion and crisis recovery.

Follow our step-by-step guide to get started.

Step 1: Create a relationship roadmap

Creating a relationship roadmap will help you visualize which teams need to be involved when crafting your meet the team series, like this example demonstrates.

When creating your map, start by considering who needs to be included as you build your strategy. Ask yourself whose input is crucial for helping you identify employees to feature and meet company-wide goals with your series.

Then, determine the team members who will be vital for story-sourcing (most likely the people who will be featured and their managers).

Next, add the names of people who will be responsible for making the content come to life during asset preparation.

In the final two sections of your relationship roadmap, chart the team members who will be essential for supporting final approvals and distribution.

Step 2: Assemble a process checklist

Consistency is key to building a successful social media series. Create a process checklist for the project to stay on track and keep all team members involved on the same page. It should include:

1. Set a cadence

Develop a timeline for your series. Will you post biweekly? Once a month? Plot your cadence for the next quarter, six months or year—whatever is feasible for your team. Planning ahead will ensure consistency and prevent your series from losing momentum.

Remember to determine your cadence collaboratively so all teams involved can advocate for what’s sustainable for their bandwidth.

2. Determine the goals of your series

Determine how your series will align with your company goals, and which goals you will focus on meeting. For example, at Sprout in 2022, we focused on awareness and engagement.

3. Define a collaborative process structure

Plan which teams will be essential to your series based on the relationship roadmap you completed in step 1. Outline how you will collaborate effectively across teams.

Use the DACI Decision-Making Framework if you need help streamlining your process.

4. Nail down types of content assets

How will you tell your employees’ stories? Will you use video content, photos or blog posts? WIll you reshare across multiple channels? Determine this ahead of time, and create clear visual asset requests for teams supporting your series.

5. Employ a system to measure results

Have a system in place to measure your content performance and how well it delivers on your goals.

You can download our creative testing template to measure the effectiveness of different types of content.

Step 3: Start creating your meet the team series posts

After completing your checklist for your overall project strategy, follow these steps to create your first feature. Replicate this process for each post moving forward.

1. Set goals

Ask yourself what goals you want this specific post to achieve. How does it fit into the goals of your overall meet the team series strategy?

2. Source your story

Tap into managers who will help you find the right team member for your first post.

3. Select your featured team member

After collecting different stories, choose a team member that best embodies your brand and helps you achieve your goal.

Before reaching out to them, be sure to confirm your plans with their manager, who might also offer helpful, specific details and stories you could highlight.

Then, reach out to the team member and ask if they’d like to participate.

4. Develop questions

Create a list of questions for the team member to answer personalized to their background and experience at your company, including questions related to the goal you’re trying to achieve.

For example, if your goal is to support your recruitment efforts, ask your team member questions about what they like about your company’s culture and how their career growth has been supported.

5. Finalize asset and distribution channels

Should this post be a photo, video or blog feature? At this point, decide which medium would most effectively tell the story and how you will distribute the post on social.

Then, clearly define what you need from the featured employee. For example, if you’re filming a video, assemble a list of clear instructions and on-camera best practices for them to follow.

Also determine what you need from other stakeholders involved, like your design team.

6. Alert other teams involved

​​Let the teams developing your creative assets know a feature is coming up. Submit a visual asset request and confirm project timelines and expectations.

7. Capture your content

Schedule your video shoot, set up your Zoom interview or send your questions via email. However you choose to capture your raw content, make sure your method will be conducive to the finished product you want to create.

Then, share your files and let your editing team and/or content writers get to work on the final product.

After you approve the content and write your meet the team caption, share the post with the final approvers.

8. Get final approvals and schedule your content

Run finalized assets by necessary teams for approval, allowing yourself enough time for reviews and edits.

Once you gain final approval, it’s time to schedule your content.

Pro tip: If you’re working across teams to approve and schedule content, Sprout’s Message Approval Workflows can help you organize who’s responsible for each step of the review and scheduling process.

9. Share with your organization

Encourage employee advocacy by sharing your final posts across your company via email, in Slack or by using a solution like Employee Advocacy by Sprout Social.

10. Analyze your data

Track your post performance, and compare it to other content and future meet the team stories. Share your findings with stakeholders, and. use data storytelling to explain how your efforts supported your company’s goals.

3 meet the team post examples you can learn from

As you delve into creating your own meet the team series, look to these three cutting-edge brands for inspiration.

San Diego Zoo: Behind the scenes with a Wildlife Care Specialist

It’s safe to assume many of us dreamed of working with animals at some point in our life. To help us relive our childhood dreams, the San Diego Zoo takes their followers behind the scenes with images and videos of their employees.

Not only is this content highly engaging, it’s also a chance for the zoo to demonstrate how they fulfill their mission to provide wildlife with the best possible care.

Apply it: While not all brands have adorable animals at their disposal, you should illustrate the unique expertise of your employees and the benefits of your work setting in your meet the team post.

Shopify: Free To Be Me series

For Shopify, work is rooted in global diversity and belonging. Their initiative to create and support a diverse and inclusive environment is an intentional process that is encapsulated in their Free To Be Me series that centers the experiences of LGBTQIA+ Shopifolk.

In this post, it’s clear professionals at Shopify are free to exist as themselves—regardless of their gender identity or sexuality.

Apply it: Meet the team posts are an excellent way to showcase your organization’s culture and how your employees live out your values.

Starbucks: #LatinxHeritageMonth

People are at the heart of Starbucks’ recruitment strategy. As they declare on the website, their partners are their most valuable resource and they strive to create an environment of warmth and belonging.

In this meet the team post, a shift supervisor named Cici recalls how she felt she could embrace her identity as a Mexican American from her very first day.

Apply it: How would your employees describe their professional journey at your company? Use their answers to inspire your next meet the team post. Include the small details—like a decorated name badge—to paint a vivid picture for your followers.

Celebrate your team on social

A meet the team social media post series is a powerful tool for recruitment, brand management and employee engagement.

To help guide your employee spotlight series creation, we’ve designed a collection of customizable templates with everything you need to launch a meet the team series.

The post How to create a “meet the team” social media post series appeared first on Sprout Social.

We know there are pros and cons of social media use, but it’s important to remember there is a human working hard on the social accounts of your favorite brands. For every wholesome piece of social content we see, there’s drama and depressing news to offset it.

Food for thought: daily social media usage has peaked at an average of 147 minutes per day. More and more of our day-to-day interpersonal interactions happen via smartphone screens.

Still, society’s spotlight on social media is driving productive conversations about mental health. Not to mention addressing the stigma associated with those who struggle.

Below we break down how to manage mental health and social media. This includes healthy habits and tips for navigating it both personally and professionally.

Social media and mental health: the big picture                      

Consider that one in five Americans report receiving treatment for their mental health. Given how integral social media is to our daily lives, we can’t afford to ignore its impact on our well-being.

That includes the good and the bad.

Let’s kick things off by digging into both sides of the debate.

Why is social media bad for mental health?

Social media gets a bad rep when it comes to mental health. It’s not totally unfounded when you consider the following.

Pressure from FOMO and “always on” culture

Being connected to friends, colleagues and the rest of the world 24/7 is both a blessing and a curse.

Enter the “always on” nature of social media. That is, an unspoken (and sometimes explicit!) pressure to be active.

Always listening. Always present. Always posting.

This has led to the phenomenon of FOMO (fear of missing out) and the pressures that come with it. This includes the pressure to…

• Stay informed. From a never-ending news cycle to ads and updates, there’s a constant flood of content to consume. Keeping up with it all is downright overwhelming. This includes content we want to see.
• Respond. This applies to both personal and professional social media use. Expectations are high when it comes to response time for consumers. Leaving anyone on read feels like a no-go.
• Post. Many people feel compelled to post even when they don’t want to. Research says that 45% of Gen Z claim that there’s too much pressure to be perfect on social media.

Negative news and conflict tend to thrive in social feeds

The inner workings of social media algorithms are complicated.

That said, conventional wisdom says algorithms tend to favor whatever earns the most clicks, comments and shares.

And in many cases, that ends up being controversial or conflict-driven content.

This creates a snowball effect of negativity in our social feeds. The more interactions a controversial or debate-bait post gets, the more fuel for the algorithm. Coupled with the pressure to be “always on,” negative habits such as doom-scrolling are now common.

Ill effects of excessive screen time

As noted earlier, the amount of time spent on social media is on the rise.

This is a big concern among parents on behalf of the younger crowd. There’s been ample research published on the negatives associated with too much screen time. This includes:

• Fatigue
• Depression
• Poor sleep quality

Sure, nobody is forcing us to stare at screens all day (unless it’s part of your job). Smartphones are a non-negotiable part of modern life for most Americans. That doesn’t negate these potential health problems, though.

How does social media help people improve their mental health?

The potentially negative effects of social media are clear.

That said, we shouldn’t outright ignore the positive impact that social media. Below we highlight how social serves as a net positive for our mental well-being.

Raising awareness to support issues and people

Platforms like Twitter and Instagram have fostered countless conversations regarding social issues. Specifically, issues that people otherwise may not encounter face-to-face in their communities. This includes:

• Resources for mental health and treatment
• Awareness of social and political causes (#FightFor15 or #InsulinForAll)
• Support for marginalized groups

Community-building and relationships

Despite its flaws, social media objectively offers a place for people to come together.

This includes community-building for folks from all walks of life. From artists connecting with fans to friends staying in touch, making connections via social is possible. Not to mention easier than ever.

Possibilities to connect and learn regardless of geography

If nothing else, social media democratizes information and communication.

Consider how many people use social media exclusively to communicate. With over six billion smartphones in the world, social platforms provide a place to connect, share and learn.

How to prioritize mental health as a social media professional

Tackling social media burnout is tricky.

Because logging off is easier said than done when your job is tied to social media interactions.

Dealing with negativity and even abuse from social strangers is bad enough. Juggling those tough conversations with the problems noted above makes it all seem worse.

If it all feels like too much to deal with, take a step back. Below are some pointers for maintaining your mental health as a social media professional.

Set limits and boundaries

This is the big one. Advocating for yourself in a professional role is crucial. That means setting boundaries in terms of what is acceptable in your day-to-day duties. We recommend setting limits when it comes to:

• Comments and criticism from customers. Acknowledge when a customer is being unreasonable or hostile. There’s a line between confrontation and harassment that customers shouldn’t cross. Reserve the right to step away when they do.
• Assistance and support. Know your role and scope of work. Just because you work in social media doesn’t mean you have to be a therapist or conflict mediator.
• Logging off. When you’re off the clock, you’re off the clock. Separating your personal and professional social media should be a priority. This might require some getting used to if you work remotely. That said, being “on” 24/7 is mentally draining.

Lean on your team

Ironically enough, working in social media can be pretty lonely.

Chatting with customers and publishing content won’t satisfy your need for personal interactions.

This speaks to the value of collaborating with your team and communicating with them consistently. You should feel supported and likewise support those that might be facing burnout themselves.

Many companies use Slack for this very reason. For example, some teams have dedicated channels for celebrating each other or sharing memes. Think of your team channel as somewhere to get a serotonin boost throughout the day.

Inject some personality into your professional presence

Making connections with others is possible through content. For example, many brands go out of their way to show off their human side via social. Granted doing so aligns with your brand, some ideas include:

• Wholesome or playful content “just because”
• Behind-the-scenes content or content as you (versus your business)
• Inspirational or motivational content

Brands often benefit when their social media presence isn’t 100% suit-and-tie. You might even be able to integrate conversations about mental health into your content calendar (think: Mental Health Day).

Break up your tasks so they’re more mentally manageable

Pro-tip: don’t create needless stress for yourself.

Put the “always on” nature of social away unless you’re in a service-centric role. Even then, you don’t need to grind away at tedious tasks without breaks. Consider time management methods like the Pomodoro technique. Break up your most mentally taxing tasks into chunks versus tackling them all at once.

Unless you’re dealing with a true emergency, chances are social replies from customers and colleagues can wait a minute or two. Give yourself some breathing room.

Move around (like, literally)

The value of simply getting up and taking a breather can’t be overstated.

Depending on your situation, that might mean a yoga break or a 10-minute walk. It could also be a few seconds to stand and stretch. The correlation between sit-stand desks and productivity is notable.

If nothing else, make a conscious effort to take breaks away from your screen. That includes your smartphone, too. Maybe that means taking notes by hand or taking a call without your webcam on. Find what works for you.

4 tips for healthier social media usage in your personal life

Developing healthier habits professionally is easier when your personal social use is stress-free.

To wrap things up, let’s look at some tips for ensuring a healthier social media diet in your personal life.

1. Keep your personal social media truly personal

Most social media professionals don’t double-dip their private and personal accounts.

That said, you can take things a step further to protect your mental health. This includes:

• Setting boundaries and being firm about logging off. Again, work notifications can wait.
• Unfollowing (or reducing) industry-related accounts in your personal feed.
• Avoiding “professional” networks (LinkedIn, sometimes Twitter) for more “authentic” ones (BeReal, TikTok)

2. Curate a positive social feed

Despite popular belief, fighting back against negativity from social algorithms is possible. A few ways to this include:

• Regularly interacting with accounts related to your personal interests and hobbies
• Muting accounts and words that could potentially stress you out (see below on Twitter)
• Be selective about who you follow to reduce negativity in your feed

3. Consider occasional social media breaks

Fact: more and more teens report taking voluntary breaks from social media. Week-long breaks are surprisingly common.

The concept of “digital detoxing” is all the rage right now. That doesn’t mean you have to destroy your phone and live in a cabin to “unplug,” though.

How long you take your break to go is up to you. We recommend thinking of breaks as a healthy challenge. Start with a day or two and then assess from there. You might be surprised by what happens when you free up your time.

4. Prioritize activities that limit screen time

Having hobbies that don’t involve social media or screen time is always a plus.

And despite popular belief, Netflix is not a hobby.

Try to keep your hands and brain busy. Whether that means cooking, crafting or working out is up to you. It never hurts to go outside of your comfort zone.

How do you manage social media and mental health?

Finding a healthy balance between your social presence and your well-being isn’t always easy. The tips above can be a solid starting point.

We love all things social, sure. Of course, your mental health should always come first. This is especially true for professionals in the field.

And if you want to curate a positive presence, consider how Sprout Social’s social media publishing features can help automate your tasks and free up your time.

The post Social media and mental health: how to find a healthy balance appeared first on Sprout Social.

Social media is constantly giving itself a makeover and has changed dramatically over the last few years. This Instagram-born brand has had to evolve its social media strategy along with it.

Join Glossier’s Jamie Dinar, Senior Manager of Social Media & Digital Content, as she reflects on the past year and unveils how the brand will continue to evolve its approach in 2023 and beyond. You’ll hear about:

• How to adjust your social strategy to remain relevant
• Why community-building is the foundation of Glossier’s brand & how to do it well
• Top tips for TikTok & social ecommerce

The post How Glossier Contours Their 2023 Social Strategy Around TikTok, Community & More appeared first on Sprout Social.

From a business perspective, this type of treatment is a one way ticket to abysmal retention rates. But from a human perspective, as a leader, you should want the best for your people. If you’re entrusted with a leadership role, you’re entrusted with people–the most valuable resource a business has. When I transitioned into leadership, I had to learn this lesson quickly and I’m lucky enough to be able to pass it on to you.

Leading with others in mind

When I first became a people manager, I assumed it was because I was a high performer and the company wanted more versions of me. My view of my new role was moulding my reports into mini Gerards, making sure they shared my values, ethos and work ethic.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. The most important thing you can know as a leader is that it isn’t about you. You may have been the highest performing individual contributor the company had ever seen, but that doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is giving your people the tools they need to be successful.

In order to do that, you have to check your ego at the door. When I became a manager, I had to look inward and figure out why I wanted to be one. And there is a right answer. If you want to move into leadership for the accolades, pay increase or title, your time is better spent becoming the best individual contributor you can be. There’s nothing wrong with that decision or those values, but they don’t lend themselves to effective leadership.

To be an effective leader, your main driver needs to be a desire to connect with your team. Once you put on your leadership cap, you’re no longer the main character. Each member of your team is the lead and you should be ready to take home the award for Best Supporting Manager.

Principles for leading with compassion

In my time as a people manager, I’ve picked up a few basic principles for people-first leadership.

Be aware

Businesses and economies go through cycles of ups and downs. Your people are no different. Some situations might be personal, like family emergencies. Others might affect your whole team, like depressing news cycles or economic events. Some situations are predictable, like the post-holiday slump. Whatever the reasoning behind the changes in morale or productivity, you have to be aware of them.

If you notice a team member is going through a rough time, schedule a 1:1 with them to see what’s going on. This isn’t the time to tell them to shape up, but rather an opportunity to get to know them better. Some employees might not be comfortable sharing, and that’s okay. But chances are, your team will appreciate your attentiveness and willingness to chat through it with them.

Create conditions for a positive culture

The worst thing you can do as a leader is try to force a culture. Nothing ruins staff morale more than mandatory bonding activities–especially if they’re still responsible for their regular output despite the interruption. Your job as a leader isn’t to create culture, it’s to steward it.

You want to get to a point of radical accountability, where everyone knows what they’re responsible for and strives to achieve it. If you micromanage your culture, you’ll never get there. Encourage your employees to find the joy of working and let them take it from there. They know what they need, and if you’ve established yourself as approachable, they’ll come to you when they need you.

Lead by example

New employees might have a hard time transitioning to a work environment that’s built on compassion. They may neglect the breaks they need to recharge and stay plugged in even when they do take one. If they’ve come from a workplace that gives lip service to caring for employees without any follow through, they may not trust that it’s actually okay to take a break or ask for help–even if you remind them.

This is when you have to lead by example. When I go on vacation, I keep WhatsApp available for emergencies, but that’s it. No emails, no calls, no Slack messages. I try not to message my employees after work hours. We’re a distributed team, and I only come into the office when I say I will. My actions let my team know that it’s okay to take breaks. It’s okay to be flexible. If I take a fully unplugged vacation, my team members get the signal that they’re encouraged to as well.

All careers have their time

All careers have a beginning, middle and end. It’s important to remind yourself–and your team–that the end will come and you owe it to yourself to make sure you feel good about what you’ve accomplished at the end.

At the beginning of my career, meaningful meant accolades. But as I’ve grown as a professional, I’ve realised that what matters most to me is impacting the careers of others. One of my favourite things to do is look at the careers and accomplishments of people I worked with early in my career and know that I had a hand–even if it was a small one–in helping them get there. But you can’t have that satisfaction if you don‘t lead with compassion.

As a leader, my goal is to make an impact on as many careers as possible. I hope more leaders join me on this journey.

Looking for more ways to enrich your team? Check out this article on helping your team find the joy of work.

The post Follow the leader: Approaching leadership with compassion appeared first on Sprout Social.

To say it took a toll would be an understatement. I found myself whispering “it has the juice” under my breath while on the phone with my mom. I couldn’t tell you what my date across the table said five minutes ago, but when it came to corn, “I [could] tell you all about it”. When I had to spend hours consuming corn-related content, “everything changed”. Even now, thinking back on it makes me want to curl up in a corn husk.

Social media is interesting–news outlets want to write about it, your friends want to talk about it and it’s a way for most people to zone out for a few blissful hours of scrolling. It’s great to love what you do, but it’s not so great when work is everywhere you turn. If you’re an SEO marketer, you’re constantly looking for new keywords. But when it’s time to take a break, you probably don’t get texts and push notifications about the latest Google algorithm change.

Social media marketers have to achieve work/life balance in a world that increasingly focuses on their work.

So how do you manage it? After my corn incident, I came up with a list of dos and don’ts to maintain my sanity. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than burnout, which 63% of marketers have experienced in the last three months.

Social media and your social circle

Has this ever happened to you? You’re meeting new people for the first time and they ask what you do. You say you work in social media and now that’s the hot topic for the rest of the night.

Like I said before, social media is interesting. It’s engineered to capture our attention. After all, that’s why we have jobs in the first place. But sometimes it’s interesting at inopportune times, like when all you want is to escape, but people keep sending you versions of a fall harvest meme in an attempt to relate to you. Or when you’ve had a particularly rough day and might throw your phone into Lake Michigan, but the friend you’re having a drink with wants your take on whether or not a TikTok trend is real.

Don’t despair. There are things you can do to mitigate this without alienating your friends.

Don’t: Assume everyone will automatically understand why social media is complicated for you

My job at Sprout involves identifying social media trends and writing about them. To know if something is a trend or just trending in my corner of the internet, I have to consume a lot of social content.

For a lot of my friends and family, this seems like a dream scenario. After all, they scroll through Twitter when they’re pretending to work. I don’t even have to pretend! It’s seemingly perfect. I had to make the effort to consciously explain why it can be difficult when there’s something hard to read in the news cycle or when a repetitive trend catches on. They didn’t know until I told them. Communication is usually the answer.

Do: Be honest about your relationship with social media

As a social media marketer, you have an inherently different relationship with social media than your friends and family do. You have every right to tell them you’d rather disconnect from work right now. Change the subject if you need to.

Social media and traditional media

Once upon a time, newspapers were the only way to get your news. Then, we got TV. TV didn’t make print publications obsolete, but print publications started writing about TV. We got TV Guides, episode recaps and season reviews. The point is, when new media comes on the scene, older media wants to comment on it.

I don’t think I have to tell you how this relates to social media. Whether the piece is about usage rates, “dangerous” teen trends (that are usually fake) or platform changes, traditional media outlets can’t stop talking about social media.

As a social media marketer, it can seem impossible to be a reasonably informed person while also achieving something that resembles work-life balance.

Do: Turn off push notifications

I know. If you’re anything like me, you pride yourself on always knowing what’s going on. But sometimes, it’s better not to know–in real-time, at least. If it’s important enough, you’ll find out when you log onto Twitter next. Anything you really need to be informed of in the next 20 minutes would probably come from an OS notification anyway. Do yourself a favor and take a break.

Don’t: Live by minute-by-minute updates

Sometimes a developing story is juicy. It’s easy to get sucked into a live article, constantly refreshing to see if something new happened in the last 45 seconds. The best thing you can do is step away from your phone. Developing stories are fascinating, but strong mental health is the gift that keeps on giving. Don’t trade your sanity for a dubious update from an unnamed source. The information will be better when the story is complete.

Social media for social distraction

Quick, you’re about to make eye contact with a stranger! What do you do? The correct answer is to pull out your phone and scroll through social media, pretending you got a text.

But is it the correct answer? It’s definitely the most common answer. Whether you’re sitting alone on a bus and don’t want to be bothered, waiting for a friend alone at a restaurant and don’t want to be bothered or sitting alone on your couch (and don’t want to be bothered), the instinct is to pull out your phone. Everyone does it.

But social media marketers aren’t like everyone. Like I said before, we have an inherently different relationship with social media. So while your friends can pull out their phones and zone out, when you pull out your phone, you’re going back into work mode. You’re probably not going to like my answer to this one, but it’s important.

Do: Put your phone away (yes, really)

This is an unpopular opinion. When my manager suggested that I stop spending time on social media outside of work hours, I wanted to grab her through the Zoom screen and shake her. What would I do with all of that time? It was an unfathomable concept.

But, begrudgingly, I’ve come to realize she was right. How many times has someone you know smugly announced that they’re doing a social media detox? And how many times have you secretly been jealous because you couldn’t do that and continue to be employed? It might not be possible for us to completely cut out social media or other online behaviors for a month, but we can cut down where possible.

I’ve set a daily time limit on TikTok and it’s done wonders for my stress levels–without me missing out on much. One of my coworkers will only use desktop versions of certain apps so they’re clunkier and release less dopamine. You just have to get creative.

Don’t: Trade your sanity for an encyclopedic knowledge of trends

Social media marketers need extensive knowledge of trends to do their jobs well. But there’s a line to how extensive it needs to be. Admittedly, when I was writing about corn, I probably could have looked at 700 fewer videos and had the same quality product. But, as someone who works in social media, I was consumed by timeliness and the fear that the perfect example would come out as soon as I pressed publish. So, I pushed myself to watch more videos with significantly diminishing returns.

This don’t is a little less concrete, but it’s important to understand when you’ve gathered enough knowledge. You don’t have to spend all of your time on social to understand social.

So what now?

Hopefully, these tips have been helpful for you. Your relationship with social media is important but it has to be healthy.

In the spirit of breaking out of the algorithm, here are a few places you can start to reevaluate your relationship with social media.

Read about how Megan Thee Stallion launched a mental health resource hub and strengthened her brand.

Read this if you’re feeling burnt out and don’t know how to talk to your boss about it.

Read this for more social media burnout tips.

The post How to succeed in social without losing your sanity appeared first on Sprout Social.

Where are emboldened, frustrated employees getting inspiration to withdraw? The workplace TikTok trend known as quiet quitting.

By quiet quitting work, people are silently protesting toxic company cultures. This isn’t a new phenomenon, but it’s catching fire and might be the reason American productivity is down 4.1% in 2022.

In this article, we’re breaking down quiet quitting—what it is, why it matters and what you should do if you notice your employees getting burnt out.

What is quiet quitting?

Quiet quitting describes the range of behaviors employees exhibit when frustrated with unfair compensation and/or workloads. For some, quiet quitting means putting in 40 hours and clocking out—for others, extreme cynicism and completely withdrawing from their team.

In its early stages, quiet quitting is expressed by an employee saying no to protect their work-life balance and prevent burnout. On TikTok, creators call this, “acting your wage.” For example, employees saying no to working outside of business hours without overtime pay.

As quiet quitting progresses (and ripples across frustrated teams), employees will form cynical opinions of the company. They will stop going the extra mile for raises or promotions that may never come, and their perspective will rub off on team members around them.

In its final stage, quiet quitting might result in actual quitting, contributing to the historic Great Resignation of the past few years.

Why are employees quiet quitting their job?

According to Sprout Social’s Advanced Social Listening tool, quiet quitting has reached over 2.18 billion impressions on social. From August 17 to August 31, 2022, social volume increased 14,000%.

This meteoric rise comes at a time when employees feel extremely undervalued and underappreciated by their managers. In the wake of wage cuts, lay-offs and new team members (with less experience) being paid more, employees are questioning their loyalty to corporations.

With limited opportunities for raises and promotions, there seems to be no point in working outside of business hours and during PTO. Ultimately, workplace cultures that don’t put people first result in frustration that leads to quiet quitting.

Quiet quitting is a major threat to workplace morale. It signals to all employees—veteran, new and prospective alike—that they won’t be rewarded for overachieving. Many employees are still recovering from pandemic era burnout, so the added pressure of working with colleagues who are quiet quitting can sour already fragile team dynamics, too.

The implications of quiet quitting extend beyond the cultures of individual companies. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, this year’s decrease in American productivity is the largest decline since 1948, when the agency first started keeping track. If this trend continues, quiet quitting could have major impacts on the economy.

What to do if you notice your employees quiet quitting

If your employees start to show signs of quiet quitting, take an honest look at your team’s culture. Do you have fair expectations of your employees? Do your direct reports feel supported?

As businesswoman and TV personality Barbara Corcoran says in this TikTok, “You win people’s loyalty when you show them appreciation and have their interests at heart.”

Here are four steps you can take to reset cultural norms, and prevent and counteract quiet quitting.

1. Foster a team dynamic built on trust, respect and support

As a manager, you set the standard for how your direct reports communicate—with you, each other and the entire company. What you model will become the norm.

If you fall into the blame culture trap, this will set the precedent for your team. Colleagues will take your lead and blame each other instead of working together to find solutions. A strong leader eliminates unhealthy blame and adapts a growth mindset (which influences their team to do the same). By elevating compassion, trust and accountability, you will improve morale, productivity and collaboration.

Prevent quiet quitting by celebrating your team’s wins and learning from your collective failures with equal appreciation.

2. Create a culture of advancement and internal mobility

Quiet quitters report feeling under appreciated by their managers. Ask yourself: when was the last time you gave your team positive feedback?

If you can’t remember a time, make recognition a regular habit moving forward. To get started, consider these questions:

• What is one thing your team accomplished this week? Who contributed to its success?
• Who took the lead on a recent project?
• What is one thing you admire about how someone handled a situation recently?
• How have you seen someone on your team grow professionally?
• Was this a tough week for your team? How did someone overcome the challenges they faced?

Show your team their effort doesn’t go unnoticed. A little recognition can go a long way. Infuse gratitude into your everyday routines like one-on-one meetings, posting in Slack channels and team meetings.

Beyond day-to-day recognition, you should invest in the long-term career success of your direct reports. Give your employees opportunities to upskill and provide them with avenues for advancement, or they might find them elsewhere. Use your organization’s internal recruiting program to help them land new roles and promotions.

According to Jamie Giplin, Sprout Social’s Chief Marketing Officer, “We check in with our people managers regularly to identify rising stars who could fit jobs that we’ve already posted or plan on adding in the future. Keep your people managers in the loop about your roadmap so they’re equipped to identify high-performing team members when it’s time to post that new role.”

3. Encourage your team to take unplugged PTO

Asking employees to work during their PTO or to stay late/come in early (without extra compensation) might not seem like a big deal. You might be short-staffed or in the busy season, and you need extra help.

Yet, not giving your team enough time to recharge can ultimately lead to burnout and quiet quitting—which hurts productivity. Instead, encourage your employees to take breaks and unplugged vacation time. New data demonstrates companies who tried out four-day work weeks have reported increased employee output and a better work-life balance. Give your team the tools to work smarter, not for more hours.

Empathy is your greatest superhero as a leader. Remember your direct reports (and all your colleagues) are people first. Plan on your team needing mental health days, sick days and vacation time. Don’t forget to lead by example and take unplugged days off, too.

4. Proactively give and ask for feedback

Giving feedback can be uncomfortable. By making it a regular ritual with your team, you can make it seem less scary—while nurturing a culture of growth and authenticity.

By proactively giving and asking for feedback regularly, you create a safe space for open communication about bandwidth and culture concerns, common pain points for quiet quitters.

Providing constructive feedback requires honesty, empathy, humility and a learning mindset. Model those traits for your direct reports and avoid giving defensive responses.

Remember: above all, your role as a manager is to support and mentor people. Not only will giving and receiving feedback improve your team’s performance, it will also help you better understand the various working styles of members of your team.

Make your company a great place to work

Quiet quitting is sweeping across workforces, and unfair expectations, limited advancement opportunities and culture concerns are to blame.

As a manager, you can help prevent the phenomenon from taking hold at your company by trusting your team, helping them grow their careers, championing PTO and opening up lines of honest communication.

Want to learn more tips to uplevel your people management skills? Learn how to have effective conversations with your team about burnout.

The post What is quiet quitting and what managers should know appeared first on Sprout Social.

Building an impactful, holistic social presence takes time, research, creativity and constant innovation. On top of that, you’re inundated with unexpected crises, emotionally charged consumer messages and constant change in social media trends. And you can’t just sign off or take a social media detox when the work becomes overwhelming. This constant balancing act can lead to social media managers reaching their breaking point.

According to Sprout Social data, 40% of social pros say they experienced burnout recently.

What I am here to tell you is that battling social media burnout does not mean you are incapable of doing your job. It does mean you need to ask for help and learn how to tell your boss you’re overwhelmed. In this article, we’ll explore ways to have effective conversations about burnout with your boss, and we’ll provide specific prompts to help you get started.

How to discuss burnout with your boss: Don’t suffer in silence

Your boss likely has lots of things competing for their attention, so they may not be aware that you’re struggling unless you speak up. And while it may be intimidating to start the conversation, a lot of good can come from leveling with your supervisor and being honest about the challenges you face in your role.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed at work, talking to your boss about burnout will help you challenge assumptions about your role and responsibilities and bring any invisible expectations to light.

For instance, are you overscheduling yourself? Why do you feel the need to work to the point of burnout? Does your boss know that you’re working late every night? Do they actually expect you to be able to respond to messages immediately or is that an expectation you put on yourself? Uncover those answers so you can recalibrate if needed.

Most, if not all, managers have been through a period of burnout themselves. In that case, they’ll have empathy for your situation as well as advice to get you back on track.

Only 29% of social media marketers say they are most comfortable talking about burnout with a direct manager.

Having a vulnerable conversation is an opportunity to set new norms with your manager, like being transparent about your state of mind, feeling comfortable expressing blockers or even saying no when you don’t have the bandwidth.

Get the ball rolling

When you address burnout with your manager, you’ll need to get specific and provide context to help them understand what spurred on what you’re feeling. Here are a couple questions that can help you get to the root of the problem:

• What are your top priorities right now?
• What is holding you back from focusing on big picture projects?
• What is the most mentally draining aspect of your job?
• What tools or resources do you need to do your job more effectively?
• How do existing processes or management styles contribute to burnout?
• Is personal stress carrying over to work?

With an understanding of what challenge(s) you’re trying to solve, you can start the conversation with your boss more effectively. And prioritization will help you more easily juggle your tasks in the long run. 

When you’re ready to talk, it’s best to do it in person or via video call whenever possible, but getting it on your boss’s radar can start in writing with an email or Slack. Here are a few ways you can kick it off:

• I’ve been overwhelmed by the volume of messages I’ve been managing lately. Do you have time to chat about it this week?
• A lot of our recent projects have been really urgent. In our next one-on-one meeting, could we talk through top priorities?
• I’ve been putting out a lot of fires on social lately and it’s becoming unsustainable. Do you have time this week to chat about how we can get ahead of crises?

How to tell your boss you’re overwhelmed: Propose solutions and demonstrate your value

Approach your conversation with some solutions in mind. Think about what “better” will look like for you. Maybe that’s more time to focus on big picture projects, minimizing working after hours, new resources to manage your workload or more open communication between you and your manager.

You’re not going to fix burnout in a single conversation, so start with a realistic and specific goal for your meeting. It will vary for each individual but here are a few suggestions:

• Align on priorities and expectations
• Implement a new or different process
• Determine where you need more support and identify teammates or external resources, like a temp or contractor
• Develop or reorganize timelines
• Communicate roadblocks

Remember, the focus of your conversation should be on the impact your burnout has on not only you, but your team and business. You want to have a productive conversation, not a vent session. This is more likely to happen when you can show how burnout directly impacts your productivity, focus at work, the rest of your team and overall marketing goals.

For example, you might say, “I’ve been unable to contribute to the business from a strategy perspective because I’ve been focused on execution and responding to inbound messages. If I had more time to hone in on our social data, I could bring really beneficial insights to the rest of the organization.” Showcasing how much more impact you could have on top line goals will inevitably pique your boss’s interest and make them invested in your recovery from burnout.

While you should have an idea of what might fix the problems at hand, the onus is not solely on you. Your supervisor can and should help solidify the proposed solutions. At the end of your conversation, reiterate your plan of action to your manager and clarify any remaining confusion or concerns.

Follow through and follow up

Once you learn how to discuss burnout with your boss and enact your agreed-upon plan, be patient with yourself. Immediate relief is not guaranteed. When you feel like you’ve had enough time to make an assessment of how things are going, set aside time to reflect. What’s changed since you spoke with your boss? What is working? What is not?

If you’re still struggling after some time has passed and the solutions you came up with aren’t providing relief, don’t get down on yourself, clam up or accept defeat. You’ve already taken that first step—make it a point to follow up with your manager, continue the conversation and build off what was discussed initially. Together, you can decide how to tweak your original plan of action if it hasn’t been effective.

Lastly, follow up even if things are working! Your boss will want to know that you’re feeling more productive, supported and revitalized.

Get the support you deserve

Burnout is very real and pervasive in the social media marketing community. Restoring balance in your work life might feel like a big to-do when you’re burnt out, but you don’t need to go it alone. Communicating your struggles to your boss is brave, bold and the best way to get back on track.

If you’re having these conversations and things aren’t getting better, your boss isn’t as receptive as you’d hoped, you don’t feel psychologically safe at work or you’re in need of more mental health support, here are a few resources that may help:

• National Alliance on Mental Illness
• Crisis Text Line
• Talkspace
• Center for Disease Control and Prevention
• BetterHelp

If managing multiple social media accounts is contributing to your burnout, we think Sprout can help. Sprout can help alleviate some stress by streamlining your processes and improving efficiency so you can empower your social teams.

The post Overwhelmed at work? Here’s how to talk to your boss about burnout appeared first on Sprout Social.

At this point, there’s no disputing that the pandemic irrevocably changed the way we work. But its reach goes further than whether or not you travel to an office. Two years of collective turmoil caused us all to examine our lives, values and priorities. Without the distraction of life outside of work, many employees realized their work wasn’t working for them. For some employees, their 9-5 feels like serving hard time.

I can relate. In my first inside sales job, I wasn’t stimulated by the work. I rarely thought about work outside of office hours and I definitely wasn’t thinking of ways I could be better at my craft. I–and my coworkers–felt disconnected from the future vision of the company. Even though we were working in revenue, directly connected to the success of the business, our roles didn’t seem important. In another life, I would have been a prime candidate for quiet quitting.

Luckily, since then, I’ve had the opportunity to move into roles that excite and energize me. My job makes me want to be better in every aspect of my life. I know from experience that true happiness at work inevitably translates into more happiness outside of work.

Work shouldn’t be a four-letter word

A lot of the conversation about work-life balance focuses on the life side. Don’t get me wrong, the life side is the most important. Being active and engaged with your friends, family, hobbies and community creates a fulfilling life–which makes the work you produce that much better. But it’s important to realize that the two will never be in balance. Sometimes, you’ll need to spend more time in your personal life and other times you’ll have to step up at work. What’s more important is making sure the two are in harmony. Your work should support the rest of your life and vice versa.

I love what I do. I love the constant learning and growth that my role affords me. And the excitement my job brings shows up in my personal life. My wife can always tell when I’ve had an energizing day professionally because I bring that excitement home. Which in work from home world, means I walk downstairs more fired up than usual.

I’m a first-generation Canadian. Like many children of immigrants, I watched my parents work extremely hard. But they loved every minute of it. I never heard my dad complain about his job. It wasn’t out of pride, it was because of the sense of fulfillment his work provided. I used to see him reading industry magazines in his spare time and couldn’t understand the appeal–or why he wanted me to read the latest copy of CIO magazine. But now, as an adult with my own career, I recognize just how much joy he got out of his job and the passion he had for mastering his craft. Seeing his version of work-life harmony inspired my work ethic, and I hope my daughters are learning the same lesson from me.

Fostering an engaged work environment

Over half (60%) of workers are emotionally detached at work. As a leader, that should worry you. On a business level, companies with engaged workforces report 23% higher profits. But on a human level, you should want to create an environment where employees want to thrive. Here are some ways I try to share my excitement with my team.

Start from the beginning

At Sprout, we onboard in cohorts. This system ensures that everyone–regardless of title, experience or job function–has a common foundation from day one. We introduce our new hires to our mission, values and vision before we introduce them to our product. That’s by design. Knowing how and why we work shows our cohorts that our culture is intentional and we’re happy to welcome them into it. When I spend time with our new hires, I highlight the opportunity they have to improve the organization and the purpose that fuels it all.

Share the why

Less than four in ten remote or hybrid employees under 35 clearly know what’s expected of them. That represents a failure in leadership, not an individual. One of the most important things you can do as a leader is share why we’re doing things. The average employee doesn’t have the product roadmap memorized. It’s not their responsibility.

As leaders, we have to continually paint the picture of where we’re going and what it will take to get there. Keeping your team abreast of future plans helps them recognize their place in them. If they know where you’re going, they’ll be excited to get there with you–even if there are bumps along the way.

Embrace flexibility

I’m the assistant coach for my daughter’s cross-country team. She had a meet in the middle of a Thursday afternoon. In the days before remote work, I never would have been able to make it. But remote work brings the possibility of flexibility, so I was able to help her team, cheer her on and take her to get ice cream afterward. Later that evening, I got back online and was able finish my day feeling a real sense of accomplishment in all aspects of my life.

Before moving to a remote setup, I only spent meaningful time with my daughters on the weekends. The expectation that work had to be done within traditional work hours meant I’d leave the house before they got up and sometimes got home after they’d already had dinner. Having the flexibility to work at the times that work for me has made me a better father and husband. But it’s also made me a better employee.

Without the underlying pressure of missing out on the big moments, I can focus when it matters. Giving employees the space to be human and allowing them to optimize their own schedules makes for better results–at work and outside of it.

Encourage communication

Loving what you do is powerful but hating it can be equally destructive. We spend so much of our lives at work and that time can either be a net benefit or detractor. It’s essential to create an environment where your employees can come to you with career concerns.

If one of your team members is feeling stifled in their role, not connecting to their daily tasks or feeling like they aren’t contributing to the big picture, give them space to address it. Work with them to identify stretch projects or opportunities, evaluate how they spend their time and reinforce how their role impacts the business as a whole.

If they’re dissatisfied because they aren’t aligned with the values, mission or culture of your company, help them find out what matches up. On average, we spend 81,396 hours of our lives working. Make sure your employees are spending that time doing what resonates with them.

Live to work–but not how you think

Work is a part of life. No matter how hard you try, it’s impossible to separate the two. When I stopped viewing work and life as conflicting priorities and started viewing them as aspects of who I am, a new world opened up to me. Meaningful work has the power to enhance every aspect of your life. You just have to find out what means something to you.

Looking to create a more engaged workplace? Learn how to measure and improve employee engagement with this article.

The post Good work: Building careers that make an impact appeared first on Sprout Social.

The metaverse may have the answers. Consumers are steadily grasping the importance of this emerging technology with 39% saying virtual, artificial or extended reality technologies will play a role in their brand interactions over the next year and 67% of marketers expecting to spend at least a quarter of their budget on these tactics.

But the potential of the metaverse isn’t exclusive to external opportunities. I believe the metaverse could be the next big thing for internal collaboration—and connection.

Connection feeds innovation

In July, we brought the entire Sprout team to our Chicago headquarters for our first annual Mid-Year Meetup. Employees flew in from across the world (and over half of them were making their first office visit). The experience was amazing, but just like anything, there were trade-offs. As Sprout grows, we may not be able to facilitate flights, hotels and activities for thousands of people and we have to stay vigilant about constantly changing health guidelines.

The importance of Mid-Year Meetup wasn’t parties, food or even showing off our office space. It was about connecting with coworkers on a more personal level—a level that traditionally is best achieved face to face. That kind of connection breeds trust that is the foundation for performance and innovation.

The majority of employees (75%) in organizations with intentional collaboration report higher levels of innovation. Our employees are more likely to take the kind of risks that have big pay-offs if they trust the people they work with. The ideas that come out of brainstorming are better when the group has a baseline understanding of each other’s personalities. But as companies increasingly transition to a remote-first approach, it’s getting harder and harder to create those kinds of relationships. Leaders have to find new ways to connect their teams in a remote world. So, can the metaverse help?

Working in the metaverse

Going to work in the metaverse may sound far-fetched but workers are ready for it. Three in five tech employees are interested in using VR headsets in the workplace. Employers need to be ready to provide the experiences they’re looking for.

Connecting outside the conference room

A metaverse meeting is a step up from a routine Zoom meeting, but it’s still not using the technology to its full potential.

Let’s say you’re opening a store in a new city. You could use metaverse technology to “visit” the city with key employees. The immersive aspect of the metaverse experience can spur new ideas and understanding across your team. Or, if you’re onboarding a new cohort of employees, you could use VR technology to give them a virtual tour of your office or other locations that are important to your business to help them feel more connected. Metaverse technology is known for transporting users to a new place. Find ways to use that to your advantage.

Fostering more equitable engagement

With a hybrid work environment, it can be difficult to keep things equitable for your team members that go into the office and your fully remote employees. The “watercooler” opportunity to connect with folks across the org is something hard to recreate virtually. Or is it? The metaverse could help create the virtual version of that experience.

Despite the best intentions, it can be difficult to consistently enforce certain meeting etiquette (e.g., ensuring all meeting participants join video conferences individually, even if some are sitting in a room together). Working in the metaverse ensures that the playing field is leveled for all of your employees and provides team-building opportunities that work for everyone–regardless of where they’re based.

Going where you feel most productive

The metaverse isn’t only helpful for interpersonal interactions. It can also help you get more work done individually. As remote work becomes the norm, many people are choosing to work from anywhere, taking their laptops with them as they explore different locales.

But that isn’t always practical. If your dream workspace is a beach, you might run into issues with sand getting into your keyboard. The metaverse makes it possible to work wherever you want, without the limitations of the space. Allowing yourself to work in the environment where you feel most productive can yield incredible results.

Filling in the gaps

Remote work is no longer the exception to the rule. More than half of employees expect at least a hybrid work arrangement, if not a fully remote position. As leaders, it’s our responsibility to adapt to the new reality and equip our teams with the technology and infrastructure they need to be successful—even if that technology is a VR headset. As the metaverse becomes more prominent, we should be thinking about its values as an internal business tool as well.

Want to learn more about the metaverse? This article lays out everything you need to know.

The post Working in the metaverse: Virtual reality brings real-world engagement appeared first on Sprout Social.