Day In The Life: Jessica, Social Strategist

Every day at 834 is different because our social media clients are so diverse. Some accounts need extra attention one day, while others are cruising along. Unless I’m writing up a full social media strategy (which is approximately six hours of researching, auditing and typing), I’m spending my day like this:

7:30 a.m.

I’m usually first at work, depending on traffic. I am not a morning person, but I arrive early because I carpool in from outside of Grand Rapids. I make a large pot of coffee for the office, turn on all our current Christmas lights and eat quick oats at my desk while checking emails. I hate waking up for it, but most days I’m thankful for this extra quiet time.

8:00 a.m

OK, what happened overnight? I check my phone as soon as I wake up to make sure nothing major happened on one of our social channels, but the first half to full hour on my laptop consists of going through all notifications, responding to messages and comments and sending out emails to clients for any inquiries that may need greater attention. I check each account to make sure every one of them have a post going out based on their set frequency outlined in their strategy. If any gaps in scheduling need to be filled for the day, I create them. Also, how did yesterday’s post turn out? If any important posts didn’t pick up enough traffic, I’ll quickly pull a mini-strategy together to rev things up.

9:00 a.m.

I’m probably finally having my first sip of coffee now. Oops. Now that today and tomorrow are looking good on all social accounts, it’s time to start planning ahead. Let’s jump into our project management system, Basecamp, to see what significant events or announcements are coming up and strategize social posts for them. I’ll develop a timeline outlining the types of posts that will go out to support the event.

10:00 a.m.

I get together with the 834 team to talk about the social strategy and make sure it aligns with everyone’s tasks. After getting approval from both the team and client, the project manager and I will work on inputting to-dos in Basecamp. The to-dos I assign often go to our creative director, so that she is given the overall vision and knows which social channels the images will need to be optimized for.

11:00 a.m.

This is when I begin scheduling and implementing. First, I share any blogs that we have published for out clients. Then I schedule them again further ahead in the upcoming month. Never let a great piece of content (like a blog) be shared only once and then forgotten. After that’s done, I schedule everything else.

NOON

I probably don’t start actually eating until way later in the hour mostly because I schedule a few Instagram posts at noon. Instagram isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it type of scheduling. It schedules as a reminder, so I still need to grab my phone and make it happen. Believe it or not, I don’t leave my screens yet though. If I choose to stay at the office, I unwind by playing a very mindless game on my phone. In the summer, I usually take a quick 10-minute stroll.

1-2:00 p.m.

I’m typically in a meeting of some sort, whether that be with clients or just internally strategizing with the team. Sometimes I’m out assisting with media coverage and photoshoots. Maybe I’m editing a video. Who knows? The middle of the day can sometimes be a wild card. Whatever needs to get done to take that extra step for our clients gets done!

3 p.m.

Lots and lots of follow-ups. Social is a public space and a living, breathing creature. There’s no room for error, so we always need more details for better messaging or imagery approvals to get things going. At 834, we pride ourselves with having great and frequent communications with our clients. We always provide them with upcoming marketing plans, reports on completed plans and metrics on social. It’s also super important that what we are communicating on social is consistent across the board.

4 p.m.

I check in with the associates that help me with social. I review their scheduled posts, make sure they are following the strategy placed and that those accounts are performing well. I make adjustments and provide feedback when necessary. A lot of the final hour includes getting with my coworkers individually to make sure we are all on a good pace and ready to take on whatever we have going on tomorrow.

5 p.m. 

Play video games on my phone till I get picked up.

6-8:00 p.m.

I try my hardest to not touch my phone during dinner. I also don’t touch my phone while at the gym, unless I’m changing playlists. But as mentioned in my lunch hour, there’ll be a few Instagram photos to post throughout.

8:00 p.m. 

During this time, I’m usually working on social media for my own brand image and for local organizations that I am part of, such as the American Marketing Association of West Michigan.

9-10:00 p.m. 

Nope. It doesn’t end yet. Late at night is prime time for online shoppers and for social users to ask brands questions about their products. I don’t get late-night direct messages to brands every night, but I’m still alert for them.