We caught up with Alicia Thompson and her tops tips for social media, thoughts on the industry and on her favourite campaigns so far.
1. Can you tell me about yourself and your role at Dupree International?
My name is Alicia Thompson and I work as a PR and Social Media Executive for Dupree International. I’ve been with Dupree for nearly 18 months and I have loved every second.
My role is sectioned into two parts, social media and PR. The main responsibility of my job when it comes to social media is planning, executing and running my client’s social media accounts. I work on my clients accounts every day doing social activity, from nailing that perfect Instagram story to jumping on a trending hashtag for Twitter.
When it comes to PR the role is super varied, from writing press releases to planning advertising and securing space, the mixture of clients I work with also means I get to be in contact with such a broad portfolio of magazine’s and one minute I could be writing about Turf, the next flashlights!
In my spare time you’ll find me at my local CrossFit gym working out, I love baking for the office and tend to bring in sweet treats as often as I can. I love to travel, and my guilty pleasure is Biscoff spread with bacon rasher crisps! (Don’t knock it until you try it.)
2. If you could give someone one piece of advice to wanting to get in to a career in marketing what would it be?
Be confident in your ability and knowledge but never be afraid to ask questions. Marketing is a constantly changing in the world with new things coming out daily, show confidence in your ability to respond and perform but also your drive to learn and grow.
Also, always read your # back before you tweet!
3. What has been your standout favourite social media campaign you’ve work on and why?
My favourite social media campaign I worked on was for my client RAGT Seeds UK (Europe’s number one cereal breeder). They launched a wheat to market using a ‘tough man’ to showcase its robustness. For the campaign we created stick on tattoos and encourage users to get involved by getting tattooed up and sending in pictures of their tough faces. What I loved about the campaign so much I think was how diverse it was, it enabled me to push the boundaries with their social media and have some real fun interacting with everyone who got involved. Not to mention the hugely successful analytics to come out of it!
4. What is the most interesting social media marketing campaign you’ve seen in media from organisations and brands other than your own?
One of my favourites when was Samsung ran a campaign for an event they had in Las Vegas – CES. I was fortunate to be able to attend. They were handing out free clothes which glowed in the dark and you got to dance with famous light dancers if you took an image of the stand, tweeted it out praising it and used their #. Once you showed an event staff member, they gave you the clothes and you signed up to dance. It was really fun, and they ended up trending!
5. What is your favourite social media platform and why?
My favourite social media platform has to be Instagram for personal use. For me, my life is in pictures and Instagram is just a great way to document you, your loved ones, your life through great imagery. It’s also a place to gain great ideas, support small businesses and keep up to date with all your friends.
6. Most successful project you’ve had in your career so far?
That’s a tough one! I would have to say my involvement in the launch of the Nissan Micra at a local car garage I was working at, at the time. I was involved with the launch day at the garage, writing the press releases, social media and video creation as well as helping with photography. For the garage, it was the most sales they have ever made in one day for a launch and our video got featured on a well know car bloggers feed. It really helped spread the name not only of the Nissan brand but also the local garage.
7. How do you stay current on all the shifts and innovations in social media?
Regular update emails help for sure! You can register for alerts with all the marketing websites/feeds/press releases and these really help keep on top of what is happening. Every morning I have a scroll through to see if anything new has hit the market overnight. I would also recommend scrolling through trending #’s on Twitter as they seem to give you a lot of insight.
8. How does social media entwine with PR?
Now more than ever, everything is moving towards going digital and PR/Social Media are becoming more entwined. When press releases are featured online, social works in harmony, you’re able to share snippets of the feature on social media to entice users to visit the website and read more. Also creating attractive imagery and video of PR coverage is a great way to promote it on social media. Magazine are very active on social media and sharing PR across multiple platforms is a great way to get coverage amplified as well as support the magazines.
9. What are your top social media tips?
My top three would be:
- Be current – provide users with timely, up to date information
- Be fun – have fun with the content (always keeping the audience in mind)
- Be correct – don’t over exaggerate the truth
Also, from a business perspective, don’t jump on political movements as it can quickly spiral out of control and be damaging for a business reputation. Have an opinion definitely, but try and use your personal profiles where possible.
10. Where do you see social media going in the next year? Five years?
It’s difficult to say with everything constantly changing but my professional opinion would be that Twitter will start to die out. People will turn to Instagram and Pinterest more than anything and LinkedIn will become an even bigger platform for professionals. I think in 5 years’ time; you will have to be clever with your content as getting your content out there will be more difficult. I believe only really juicy and stellar content will be pushed out to the public, forcing individuals to cleverly craft what they want to say.
To learn more about our social media services and our training courses, click here.
Or for a quote on how we can help your business find its authentic identity get in touch via 01780 757666 or email Mason Mallett: Mason.mallett@dupreeinternational.com