What is your job title? How do you use social listening in your work?
I am an Associate Director at APCO and a lead member of our European Strategy & Planning team. I use social listening daily to provide in-depth insights that allow me to help our B2B clients conquer complexity and measure impact. An audience-first, data-driven approach is an essential part of my work as I apply learnings to drive forward campaigns and activations that will generate results.
What’s your background? How did you get into social listening?
I started my journey as an Intern at APCO in 2011 and now with more than 10 years' experience have since evolved into a practiced leader. Having grown up in California before working in Tel Aviv and now London, my mindset is inherently global, and having worked in analytical and community-based industries like publishing and teaching before starting in comms, I have a deep interest in listening closely and constantly learning. My unconventional path, devoid of a formal background in social listening, statistics, or research, emphasizes my hands-on learning approach and I thrive on tackling challenges, acquiring skills through immersion in the dynamic landscape of social intelligence and digital campaigns.
What’s been the project you’ve been most proud to work on?
I’m very proud of all the work I do in the sustainability space, shedding light on complex areas – from global climate finance reform to how sustainable architecture can impact mental health. I love digging deep into niche areas and uncovering data-informed trends that help us better understand how to fashion our communications programmes and connect with passionate communities that have a lot to say we can learn from.
What’s the biggest misconception about your work?
A big misconception is that our tools generate insights for us! While I very much love all the various tools I use in my work, they often provide data but no real answers to why something is happening or what people really think about a key issue. Our expertise as social insight experts allows us to take these data points and qualitative evaluations to identify the real story behind what is going on and what this means for our clients. Only human-led understanding and deep listening can really help us pinpoint how to best connect with audiences, and no tool (not even ChatGPT) can do that effectively alone.
Any nightmare clients? Why? (No names)
It is of course always disappointing when clients might be looking for social listening only to confirm existing beliefs they already have rather than more broadly understanding their audiences. The same goes for instances where we are looking to measure PR impact but hear initially from executives who may only want to look at basic metrics rather than the full picture of how their company is performing and why. Part of my job within our Strategy & Planning team is to work extensively with clients and APCO teams to ensure that our work is aligned to clear objectives, and that we are always taking into account evidence-based research when making important decisions on strategy.
Is there anything that you’re doing with social data that you don’t see others doing? Any missed opportunities?
I think something we can always think more on is how broader trends and the internet environment as a whole may be affecting our audiences – how much of online conversation is being influenced by a hype cycle that is likely to fizzle out and how much of it will really last. While we utilize various forms of complex predictive analytics at APCO that help us better understand the path ahead, it is always so important to contextualize what is happening using our own deep expertise on online cultures and how different media interact so that we are bringing a critical eye to social data and acknowledging our own limitations.
Who has made a lasting impression on you? Any SI heroes?
I of course have a pantheon of both current and former colleagues that I deeply respect and look to for different perspectives. Outside of those mentors I also look to experts in the field of digital culture and technology like Casey Newton, Ryan Broderick, Anne Helen Petersen, Cory Doctorow, and Charlie Warzel. While I’m not sure any of those people would define themselves as social intelligence experts, they all explore the future and impact of our online world in ways that help me think outside the box and approach an issue with curiosity as my driving instinct.
How do you think the social intelligence industry will evolve in the next few years?
I’m of course certain that generative AI will have a big effect on social intelligence as we’re seeing many of these changes already. But I’m honestly much more interested in looking outside of one technology at how social media itself is starting to fracture – whether from the downfall of Twitter/X or the erosion of other platforms – and where this will leave us as social intelligence experts who are interested in what audiences have to say online. If those conversations we are interested in shift to private channels or disperse across the Fediverse, what will the future of social listening look like and how will we be making sense of it all? I’m excited to see what’s next both as someone who engages in social media on a personal level and as an expert in social listening who is always looking to help my clients understand the wider context around their comms.
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