Adrienne Novak

Let’s start simple. Who are you, and what do you do with social data that others might not expect?

If you know me, you know I’m endlessly curious and, admittedly, chronically online. Ask me about a TikTok trend and I’m probably already ten videos deep. I work with social data, but what people might not expect is how much creativity and lived experience shape that work. I’m a big solo traveler, which has made me especially attuned to how people discover, evaluate, and emotionally connect with brands through social. I love to pair analytical rigor with creative thinking, whether it’s connecting insights to content ideas, identifying how the broader feed educates and inspires audiences, and bringing in inspiration from brands outside the travel space to help spark more meaningful, effective social conversations and drive our social strategy.

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What’s something in our industry we pretend to understand, but don’t?

We often act as though we understand social algorithms, but the truth is we don’t—at least not as fully as we claim. While platforms share best practices around posting frequency, hooks, or hashtags, what’s less understood is just how deeply personalized each feed really is. Two people can follow the same accounts and still see entirely different content, which makes it risky to treat algorithm guidance as universal truth rather than directional insight. The most effective approach isn’t trying to “crack” the algorithm, but designing content with flexibility; testing, learning, and optimizing for real audience behavior rather than assuming one set of rules will work for everyone

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What’s a moment this year where social data helped your team do something bolder, faster, or better?

One of the most impactful moments this year was social intelligence’s involvement in our responsive content strategy. By closely tracking trending conversations around travel destinations, popular tv shows, and emerging cultural moments, our team was able to identify when and where audience interest was spiking in real time and quickly align our content to meet that demand. Rather than relying on assumptions, social insights helped us capitalize on cultural momentum and deliver content that feels timely, culturally fluent, and meaningfully connected to travel.

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What’s one belief about your audience that social data completely upended for your teams?

Social data this year really challenged the assumption that our audience primarily wants to engage with strictly travel-focused content. Social listening and performance data showed our team that our audience was just as responsive, if not more so, to broader cultural moments, trending formats, and pop culture conversations from viral internet trends to unexpected moments like the dolphin trend. These insights reframed how we think about relevance; rather than seeing culture-adjacent content as a distraction from our brand, social data proved it can be a powerful entry point to engagement, helping us show up in more human, timely ways that keep the brand connected to how people actually experience social platforms.

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If you could build your dream social intelligence team from scratch, with no legacy and no limits, what roles would you include?

If I could build a social intelligence team with no constraints, it would be designed as a living system: one that listens, interprets, and responds to culture in real time. At the center would be a Community Manager embedded in our owned channels, acting as the connective tissue between the brand and its audience. A Content Intelligence Specialist would transform social listening into creative briefs and bold ideas, ensuring insights don’t just live in decks but show up in the work. An Analytics Lead would measure the impact of earned and organic mentions, helping us understand what’s resonating and why. A Trend Researcher would surface cultural shifts early, helping the brand anticipate where conversation is headed rather than react too late. And a Crisis Monitoring Lead would help oversee communication and monitoring of high-risk or sensitive conversations before they escalate.

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When do you feel like you’re doing your best work?

I do my best work when I’m personally invested and tuned into the human side of culture. There’s something powerful about witnessing unfiltered, unprompted reactions as people collectively process how the world is changing in real time. In an era where many of us build our communities online first and bring them into real life later, being able to listen, interpret, and honor those moments through my work is what makes it feel meaningful—and where I’m most inspired to do my best thinking.

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What’s your browser history giving away about you this week?

My browser history is basically a New Year vision-board rabbit hole. I’ve gone from classic vision boards to junk journaling, bullet journaling (and all the accompanying stationary), and now somehow bingo cards and punch cards have entered the mix. It’s all driven by a slightly chaotic but very genuine mission to find fun, creative ways to set intentions and build community in the year ahead.

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