S03 E10: Data as a Source of Truth With Social Media Expert, Andrew Weiss

Waves Social Podcast

If the pandemic has reminded brands of anything, it is the value of data as a catalyst for efficient, effective marketing and a foundation for future business growth. If you want to hack success and discover growth opportunities, however, you need to track and measure actionable data, not vanity metrics, and today’s guest has some practical advice for understanding the difference. Andrew Weiss is a veteran social media marketer and digital strategist that worked with the Arcade team on Some Good News for John Krasinski. From agency to brand, Andrew is passionate about community and insights. He got into social media before it was the big, important part of digital marketing that it is today, and he has some interesting insights to share about data, which he approaches like a source of truth for future success. Tuning in, you’ll find out why all social media marketers should be paying better attention to data and how they can use data as a resource that is directly in line with impact and revenue, rather than reporting on vanity metrics that don’t inform future strategies or present success. Of course, you’ll hear all about the Some Good News project with John Krasinski, but Andrew also shares some incredible statistics from his work with When We All Vote, an organization changing the culture around voting using a data-driven and multifaceted digital approach to increase participation in elections. He emphasizes the power of educational content and shares his tips for learning from what doesn’t work, using social to thoroughly understand your target demographic, and defining success without celebrity endorsements, so make sure to tune in today to learn more!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Back to the beginning: how Andrew got into digital marketing and what his path looked like.
• The value of internships and how he built up his resume with innovative digital projects.
• Hear about the first opportunity that stuck for him; the rise of social media marketing.
• Andrew’s soft spot for community and how it has enabled him to impact content, partnerships, business objectives, and customer service.
• He reflects on what made Some Good News (SGN) so special: a highly engaged fan base.
• The power of the humble Google Sheet; the systems he used to track engagement for SGN.
• Andrew explains why this project was so fulfilling for him, both professionally and personally.
• What the goals were for When We All Vote and his experience of working with them in 2020.
• From a digital-first to a digital-only strategy; using digital marketing to drive people to vote.
• The Instagram-first platform strategy Andrew used and why Twitter came in second.
• How educational content helped When We All Vote grow their audience in a meaningful way.
• Some of the other wins he witnessed; information over branding and a completely new form of influencer marketing.
• Translating social media metrics into more digestible terms; actionable versus vanity metrics.
• Andrew’s tips for those who may be building social campaigns in the political sphere: don’t be afraid to learn from what doesn’t work!
• Viewing followers as a number to achieve versus a complete breakdown of your audience.

Links Mentioned in Toda

Waves with Mike (@mmmiiike) and Mitzi (@mmmitzi).

For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/
S6 - present Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Harrison Neef.