‘Raw, snackable video’ will remain popular, predicts Magnolia’s social media director

Over the past year, communicators and marketers alike have been forced to rethink their content strategies to stay relevant with changing audience needs.

The more nimble organizations are also crafting content informed by data and social listening to better understand what resonates, and what will continue to resonate, as the needs of their audience shift.

Ahead of her session at Ragan’s Social Media Conference at Walt Disney World on Sept. 9, we caught up with Heather Brinckerhoff, director of social media at Magnolia, to learn how she built a data-driven social media strategy that informed larger content strategy and company-wide growth goals.

Ragan: What’s the first thing you do when you get out of bed every morning?

Brinckerhoff: I’m not promoting this, but I do pull up social media and make sure no fires happened while I was asleep.

Ragan: If you had one word to describe your role, what would it be?

Brinckerhoff: Fulfilling.

Ragan: What are you most looking forward to about joining Ragan in person at Disney World?

Brinckerhoff: Learning from and connecting with incredibly talented social media and marketing professionals

Ragan: Can you give us a taste of what you plan to talk about?

Brinckerhoff: If you’re stuck on your social strategy and how to utilize data to ensure your content is successful, then you’re not going to want to miss out.

Ragan: What element of your social measurement and analytics strategy at Magnolia do you consider your biggest win?

Brinckerhoff: Really leaning into what the audience is telling us that they like and don’t like, and using that to inform the content that we produce.

Ragan: What’s the biggest challenge you’ve seen in social media measurement over the past year and a half?

Brinckerhoff: Keeping up with measuring new platform features, like Reels. It takes a while for data from new features to become available within reporting tools, which makes it difficult to accurately analyze and report on these new features.

Ragan: What new techniques and approaches will stick with you after the pandemic has subsided?

Brinckerhoff: Creating raw, snackable video content. During the pandemic, most brands were without normal production resources and had no choice but to get scrappy with their content. Social media users are loving unproduced/un-staged content. It really brings followers behind the curtain, makes them feel a part of a brand and helps build trust and assurance that the brand is authentic.

Hear more from Heather Brinckerhoff during Ragan’s Social Media Conference, Sept. 9 at Walt Disney World. Learn more and register here.

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