This is the 13th post in the “A Conversation With” series, where I interview smart humans about their experiences in the world of social media. You can read past features here.

This month, I interviewed Angelo Jasa-Phillips, a marketing professional who is the Digital Engagement Manager at GLSEN and has worked on both social content creation and strategy. In this blog post, we dive into how social strategy differs from social media management, and so much more.

Tell me about your career in social media so far--where you started and how you got where you are today.

At Nazareth College, I started as a music theatre major, and later switched to marketing. I loved the whole aspect of storytelling. Professionally, my first work experience in social was an internship at the Nazareth Arts Center. I put together a strategy for them when social was an emerging marketing tool.

From an execution standpoint, an internship at Break the Ice Media taught me a lot about how important voice and tone are for content creation. Writing clear, precise copy is crucial! Since then, I’ve worked on the agency side of things for various clients including retail, nonprofits, and tourism/hospitality. I eventually jumped into higher education work, which I absolutely loved.

I worked for a theatre in Fort Myers, which was a dream job, but was furloughed due to the pandemic. Now, I’m working remotely at the nonprofit GLSEN as their Digital Engagement Manager.

What were some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in the past working day-to-day executing social media tactics and plans?

There are two main challenges: flexibility and resources.

With flexibility, I’m constantly on social, seeing the content, reviewing comments, doing customer service and community management. It’s every minute of every day, making sure nothing is on fire. Social media managers need flexibility!

For resources, it’s important to note that most digital and social managers wear a lot of hats. You’re learning, executing, strategizing in copywriting, voice and tone, photo editing, and video creation. I’ve had teams that have helped me, at some positions, but at other jobs, I had to do it all, including teaching myself HTML and CSS. It’s tough when resources are limited!

What are some lessons you learned from doing social media management?

At the first agency I interned for, really focusing on voice and tone was huge. What does your organization’s persona sound like? What is the audience persona? What’s their vernacular? What do they look like? During the first two weeks with a new client or at a new job, I always dive into different comments or conversations left by individuals commenting as the organization. I look and listen. What’s worked and what hasn’t? I then aim to evolve the vernacular, language, and voice and tone. I want to produce something amplified, authentic, and approachable. The voice and tone has to be clear and representative of your organization.

The second thing is to have someone check your content. Read it out loud. Does it have a cognitive, emotional, and conative angle? You want someone to think, feel something, and take action. Is it going to be actionable? Is it supposed to be actionable? Keep it clean, precise, and simple.

How do you define social media strategy?

One caveat: all the strategies I’ve created are for digital as a whole, not solely social, though they do emphasize the social media pillar.

The two most important pieces when it comes to social content strategy are: what is the voice and tone of the campaign? And, what do you want your audience to do after that campaign? It should also include plans for positioning content, differentiating it across platforms, and prompting our audience to take action.

What makes a good social media strategy?

A good social strategy is clear and precise. Also, being flexible is a huge deal! Social content and strategy is moving very quickly. You might have an awesome meme idea one day, and the next that meme is no longer appropriate. You need to be flexible and be able to create a plan B for a piece of content.

What challenges have you faced moving from a social media management role to a more strategy-oriented role?

Not having to actually do the execution! I’ve done the execution side of things ever since I started in digital. I have to accept that my idea of a strategy will be translated differently. Communication between myself as the manager and my associates needs to be clear. I want to let them run with it! I tell them, “I want you to go all out, and if it’s too much, I’ll pull you back in.” It’s important to trust your team and give them creative freedom.

When something isn’t working, you might identify it, but you have to delegate someone to pull the content and rethink it. I can tell something’s not working based on engagement metrics. Sometimes you just miss. It’s not a big deal, you just have to rethink some things! Sentiments and social listening are so important.

Are there any creative strategies or tactics that have been working well for you lately?

Memes! Our organization is nationwide, and there has to be some kind of decorum. Today, we just put out a meme for a campaign--one of those Anakin/Padme squares--and it’s blowing up! You can tell it’s working because this is what our audience wants to see.

We’re very resource and education-oriented, so Instagram graphics with information in multiple sliders has been doing well. From there, we try recreating them as static graphics, gifs, videos, and more. You don’t have to stick to one format! If you listen to your audience, you won’t miss a beat in how you’re positioning your content.

What’s one thing you wish all nonprofit leaders knew about social media?

Social media is not a job for the intern or any Gen Z/millennial. It’s not a minimum wage job--and it never was. If you hire the right social media professional, they’ll be as strategic for you as your development or events team. And collaborative too! They’ll make sure your mission and vision are being met in the digital and social ecosystem.

Any final thoughts?

There are so many awesome content creators and strategists who are Black, Latinx, Asian American, Desi American, Pacific Islander! They have wonderful stories and ways of thinking. Their ideas may not seem mainstream for many nonprofits, but I’d love organizations, especially those trying to focus on inclusion and antiracism, to hear them out. Listen to their thoughts and strategies. They’re mind-blowing! Some may not have gone to business school or had any higher education, but their ideas are just as valid.

Hiring a DEI officer should not be on your list of things to do for antiracism and inclusion--that’s just putting someone on a pedestal. If you want to focus on changing the perspective of an organization, start internally, within your own teams. Look at the big picture, and see where you can improve. Different, fresh, non-mainstream ideas can help your organization!

Where can people find you/your work?

GLSEN is focused on creating safe and inclusive classrooms for LGBTQ+ youth and supporters. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok; the links are on our website. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram.

We’ll be taking the month of August off from creating new blog content here at Serve Me the Sky Digital, but we’ll be back at it in September! In the meantime, have you subscribed to our unboring email newsletter?

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