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6 Social Media Management, Digital Communications, and Content Creation

Most of us are familiar with social media and some of us view and interact with social media on a daily basis. In fact, Baldwin-White and Gower (2023) found that “about 70% of college students use social media every day. Popular social media platforms include YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.” Since these platforms are so widely used, there are a lot of opportunities to work in the field of social media and thus there are many related career paths in the field. As we will see in this chapter, there are many similarities between social media management, digital communications, and content creation. All of these fields have online communication and engagement in common.

In this chapter we will learn from successful professionals in the fields of social media, digital communications, and content creation. We’ll hear from DiDi Turley, Social Media Manager for The Metropolitan Opera, Lilian Yagual, Digital Communications Specialist at New York City’s Department of Transportation, and Hande Erkan, a Content Creator and Blog Writer for New York Women in Communications and a Social Media Strategist for a nonprofit organization called Youth Communication.

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Social Media Management is a fast-growing and exciting field and requires people in the field to be passionate about their work. According to Coursera Staff, “a social media manager is typically responsible for setting content strategy and driving engagement on a company’s social platforms. To be successful in that role, social media managers often need to possess a knack for storytelling, a keen eye for design, and an ability to analyze what does well with an audience—and what doesn’t”  (Coursera, 2024).

The following is an interview with a very successful Social Media Manager, DiDi Turley:

Transcript: A Conversation with DiDi Turley: Exploring the Role of a Social Media Manager (2024).

Introduction: In this interview, DiDi Turley, Social Media Manager for The Metropolitan Opera, describes her career path and profession.

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Doreen Kolomechuk (Interviewer): Good morning. Today I have the pleasure of speaking with DiDi Turley. Currently, DiDi is the Social Media Manager for The Metropolitan Opera. She’s also worked as a Social Media Strategist for the Cincinnati Opera and is a contributing writer and content creator for Fanfare magazine. She also consults with other organizations to help build their social media presence. As you can tell from all of her experiences, she enjoys getting people excited about opera and the arts and loves to bring humor and levity into the world of arts marketing. Welcome, DiDi. Thank you very much for being here with me today.

DiDi Turley: Thank you for having me.

Doreen Kolomechuk: It’s such a thrill for me, a pleasure, and a privilege to have the opportunity to speak with you about your career path and to gain some insight from you about how people can be successful in the field of social media. Currently, you are the Social Media Manager for The Metropolitan Opera which is such an exciting position. Can you describe your responsibilities in that role?

DiDi Turley: Of course. As a Social Media Manager for The Metropolitan Opera, I oversee our entire social media presence. So, I’m managing on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, X (formerly known as Twitter), and I’m also building institutional awareness of the brand on social media, both internally and to our audience members. I am pitching and conceiving content, executing video shoots, working with a videographer to create the content, giving editing notes, and really just creating a social media presence on different platforms that is tailored to each of our different audiences on those platforms as a way of building brand awareness and sparking interest in opera.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Wow, that’s so amazing. What’s a typical day on the job like?

DiDi Turley: I will give two examples. One is a desk workday, and one is a video shoot day. On a desk workday, I’ll get into the office, and I will check my emails, and it’ll usually be a slog. I’ll spend about an hour replying to agents to schedule video shoots or reaching out to agents to coordinate new shoots and then preparing questions for any shoots that are coming up in the week — interview questions or speaking prompts for more creative shoots, like ones where there might be a skit involved or ones where we’re following the artist backstage, things like that. Once that level of desk work is done, I will typically have a pitch meeting with the editorial board and the heads of marketing, where I go through my pitches for the next show.

For context, at The Metropolitan Opera, we have 20-some shows per season, and they’re running in repertory, so every night there’s a different show on stage, and we’re constantly having new ones enter the fold and old ones leave the fold, and that means that there is constantly something to prepare for, and so that’s what a lot of this desk work will be.

The other half of the desk work is that I strongly believe in data. I have my MBA. I spent a lot of time learning data visualization and data analytics, and I find that it’s crucial in figuring out what performs well and what performs less well. So, I will spend a good deal of time working in this backend infrastructure that I’ve created, where I track all the data across different social media platforms. We found that any one software, like Sprout, or the in-app data reporting, wasn’t comprehensive enough, so I built my own backend infrastructure, where we track everything from our accounts reached and our followers reached to our impressions to our engagement rates, the likes, shares, and comments across all of the platforms that we are on. So, I’ll spend a good bit of time doing the data input and analyzing, and I usually, every two weeks, get to give a data report to the heads of Communication and Marketing to show them, here’s what’s working, and here’s what’s not.

Beyond that, I’m also meeting with my videographer to give edits on videos. She’s a rock star, but sometimes we will have to tailor things to the more conservative nature of a legacy brand, and so that requires a lot of creative workshopping. If we had a more eccentric artist or a shoot that yielded some more traditionally social-media-friendly content, now we have to package it as a legacy brand. And so, there will be a lot of workshopping ideas in that regard.

Then on a shoot day, it’s a little bit different. I’ll come in, I’ll get settled, I’ll have my coffee, I’ll be in comfortable clothes, and then I will help my videographer set up. I will meet an artist at the stage door. It is a bit surreal — I come from a classical voice background, and so going to meet Joyce DiDonato or Michael Fabiano, it’s fascinating to meet them in real life — I’ll retrieve them from stage door, take them down, and then on these shoots, a lot of what I do is putting the artists at ease and getting them to speak beyond the media training that they’ve been given. So, helping them to relax and share the more candid side of the work that they do. It’s social media — we don’t need this press spiel; we need a funny story about what happened backstage. I’ll work to put them at ease, and then we’ll dive into the interview. After that, my content creator and I typically debrief and get a plan for editing, and then usually straight into another shoot. So those are sort of the two types of days that I have.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Wow! Very exciting. It sounds like a lot of fun.

DiDi Turley: Oh, it’s amazing.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Yes, and some pressure too, right?

DiDi Turley: So, yes.

Doreen Kolomechuk: What drew you to this field?

DiDi Turley: As I mentioned, I do have an opera background, but I didn’t start my artistic training in opera. I actually started training as a dancer when I was two. I was obsessed with Angelina Ballerina books, and my mom said, “Okay, here you go,” and I ran away with it. I was training at a conservatory level for quite a while, but come high school, I got put into a choir class on accident, and it turns out I was very loud — that is the first prerequisite for singing opera. From there, I had a bit of an accelerated path. I was accepted into The Governor’s School for the Arts in Kentucky, where I got quite a crash course in the world of opera from some very wonderful experts. I ended up pursuing my undergraduate degree in opera performance. I spent a little bit of time in Salzburg studying with Dr. Yvonne Hartinger, who is a wonderful professor at the Mozarteum, and then graduated with my undergraduate degree in opera performance.

That happened in May of 2020, and so you can imagine it was a bit of a scare to enter the workforce in that regard, but I had been involved in quite a bit of marketing previously — helping promote different clubs and organizations that I’d been in, friends’ events, things of that nature. So, I was able to land a job in marketing for a software company that had no soul in it, and so I decided to take those skills and my love of the arts and apply to graduate programs, and I found a great one that allowed me to get an MA and an MBA in arts administration at the same time. And from there, things snowballed.

I was a communications intern at Cincinnati Opera and when I got there they had no social media strategy and so I said, “Oo o pick me, I’ll do it,” and I had some wonderful bosses who are still great mentors of mine today that really let me run with it and let me have carte blanche access to the artists, to the sets, to anything that I could get my hands in safely without any set pieces falling on my head. And I was able to build a pretty strong presence from there and then I tailored my master’s thesis to using social media as a marketing tool for arts and other classical organizations, and here I am.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Wow! You’re really a forerunner in this field because people weren’t using social media at all in this field?

DiDi Turley: There were some. There were some companies that were doing a great job that I looked to for inspiration. For a while, The English National Opera had an excellent social media manager who did a great job of cultivating, and LA Opera, a couple others have presences, but the biggest issue that these arts organizations see is bandwidth. Social media takes a lot of time even though it seems like it’s just scrolling on your phone. Getting posts up on all platforms in a day can take me an hour for one post if I’m doing it on five platforms. So, there’s a lot of time that goes into it, so I think a lot of institutions have not had an opportunity to explore social media as much as they would like.

Doreen Kolomechuk: What’s your favorite thing about your current position? What do you enjoy the most?

DiDi Turley: That’s a great question. As a former opera singer, as someone who performed, walking into The Metropolitan Opera every day really is one of the most magical things in the world. I don’t know if that’s my favorite thing, though. I think my favorite thing really is whenever I have an opportunity to feel validated that the work that I’m doing is having an impact. When I see someone sharing a post that I made saying, “This made me buy a ticket to the opera,” or “Because of this, I want to go see the opera this weekend,” or the odd comments like, “Give the social media person a raise.” I digress, but I think the thing that I care about, which is ushering people into this historically exclusionary and this historically prohibitive art form and getting people across that threshold of the front door through the content that I’m creating and sharing, is really magical. It affirms all of the things that I care about.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Yes, you can hear in your voice and just the way that you’re speaking that you really are such a lover of opera and want other people to come along for that experience, which is really wonderful.

DiDi Turley: My family’s very confused about how I ended up here because they are not arts people. My brother’s a bassist. I’m working at the Met, and neither of my parents have a musical bone in their body, so…

Doreen Kolomechuk: Speaking of background, what skills are necessary in the field of social media? If somebody’s entering the field or wants to enter the field, what kind of skills should they try to develop?

DiDi Turley: That’s a great question. I think beyond the obvious of being in touch with social media trends—you know, I don’t want to say, ‘chronically online,’ but it is important to have an understanding of the field and of the trends and what audience members are engaging with on different platforms. Beyond that, I think that it is important to have an editorial eye and understand that sometimes you have to kill your darlings. You might have an idea that you really love, but it just isn’t going to work for this medium, and so you have to be willing to chop it up into a short video. Another thing that I think is very useful is the data analytics side of things. I mean, when we’re talking about the social media algorithm, there is a large need to create content that performs well and scores well in the algorithm. I often think of it as a little video game, and everything that you can do to bump your score increases the performance of your post. So being able to know which things perform well on your platform versus what might perform well on a gossip TikTok or something like that and being able to tailor and lever those different aspects and sell them through data to your higher-ups, is very helpful.

I also think that there’s a very strong need to sharpen videography and editorial skills. A lot of what we do is phone-based on social media, and when I’m working with smaller organizations, my cell phone is a perfectly good tool. If you want to work with larger organizations with broader institutional reach, having understanding of filming with a DSLR camera, being able to edit in Premiere and get off of the in-app editing platforms, is a very marketable skill.

Also, a willingness to mirror brand voice. It’s great to have a strong desire to create your own voice for your own social media, but you have to be able to be a chameleon when working with arts organizations or with any organization and be able to leverage their identity in a way that performs well on social media, as opposed to trying to say, “Alright, you’ve got a brand identity, but that’s not working on social media. Scratch that, here’s your new idea.” Most brands will shy away from that, and that would be a red flag in the hiring process.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Well, you’ve given us a lot to digest. When you think about your background and experiences, you gave us a little bit of an overview. I guess the internship was probably a big turning point in your career.

DiDi Turley: It was. I would say that my master’s degrees as a whole were the sort of inciting incident of this journey I’ve been on. I was very lucky to be in a small graduate cohort of eight people. All of them had very different interests, and so we were really encouraged to find our niche and lean into it. That paired with what is a wonderful arts microcosm—Cincinnati—has an opera, ballet, orchestra. There were so many organizations that I could cut my teeth on, and the opera was the first one. Then I was able to write for Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s publication and interact with so many wonderful organizations. I also was able to garner trust from my bosses, and I think that that is such an important part of social media as well. You really are the first touchstone for audience members, for performing arts organizations, or customers or retail-based or other groups. Your bosses, the heads of marketing and communications, have to put so much trust that you will, A, not accidentally post something personal to the account (that is a stress dream that I have frequently), but also that you will uphold the brand’s image through comments, through likes, that you’ll be cautious, and also internalize the feedback that you’re seeing from audiences and disseminate it within the organization in a way that is effective and not inflammatory and sees positive change.

Doreen Kolomechuk: It’s so much responsibility.

DiDi Turley: When I look at the follower count, sometimes it does make me break out into a sweat when I think of how many people see things that I post, but that’s also fairly empowering.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Yes, right! It has a double-edged sword in a way. What changes in technology or in society are impacting your field?

DiDi Turley: I always joke that opera is about three years behind the general public in terms of trends and hopping on changes in technology. We’re working on shortening that gap, but I’d say the biggest ones for my scope of work are obviously the TikTok discourse that is happening in Supreme Court. As of right now, that hasn’t changed anything, and we’re still posting as normal. We have a close relationship with our representatives at TikTok, and they’ve encouraged us to keep on trucking. But also, the access that people have to creating and sharing their own content so quickly and so effortlessly is really a boon for us, and something that I’m trying to get them on board with.

We use “UGC” as an acronym quite a bit, but it’s user-generated content, and it’s when you invite people to come to the show, or they come on their own volition, and they create a piece of content that is very shareable, high quality, low lift on their part (sometimes it’s high lift, it depends), but they’re sharing this out in the world to their followers and getting your brand out there for you. They’re not tied to your brand identity or your brand voice, yet they’re still sharing the work that you do in your platform, and it’s reaching a broader audience. So, in order to leverage that, we have started hosting influencer events, where we invite a swap of influencers from very different niches.

It is a very eclectic crowd, and we invite them to a show, give them a chance to come backstage and walk on the stage of the set of whatever show they were at that night. They get to do a little bit of content farming or bulk filming content and shooting photos to share. And then, they sit down with our head of tech or one of our stage managers, and they share what we do—the fact that we run in repertory, the fact that we can have several shows built out at once and just move them in on dollies, the more spectacular parts of our job. Then, we have a Q&A. From there, we release them into a cocktail party, and they get to watch opera for the night. And that yields very high reach content—everyone from Pilot Pete from “The Bachelor” to drag queens to lifestyle and mommy influencers—and it gets our name in little microcosms that we might not have previously had access to.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Yes, very ingenious use of influencers.

DiDi Turley: Thank you.

Doreen Kolomechuk: What kind of ongoing professional development is useful in this field, and are there any professional associations that people who are interested in getting involved in this field should look into?

DiDi Turley: In terms of professional development, I would say that platform-based events tend to be the most fruitful. We regularly meet with our TikTok rep, as I mentioned, but there are also networking events for young marketers through Meta, through smaller organizations like HubSpot (email marketing), and so there’s a lot of cocktail hours that are orchestrated that act as places to crowdsource information and ideas. What we do is so nebulous because it’s so ever-changing that, a lot of the time, the best ideas to move forward come from people who are in the dirt, working every day. It’s not coming from being taught at a higher level or going to classes. That said, I do think that there is a lot of benefit to spending time learning Excel, maybe using a LinkedIn learn course to master that so that you can build a backend data tracking software. And there’s a lot of opportunities for extended education in videography, film, and editing.

I tend to look at creators that have done very well to keep myself sharp. The head of social media for Duolingo, Zaria Parvez, is an excellent example of someone who has done innovative work and speaks eloquently on the backend of how she gets approval for such things. To my knowledge, there are not any social media professional organizations. For myself, working in the arts, I am involved with PRSA, which is a public relations organization. Beyond that, I keep close watch of larger arts professional associations like AGMA, just so that I can know the concerns of the artists that we’re working with, but at this time, no.

Doreen Kolomechuk: And readings? Are there any journals that you read? Or is it more or less keeping up to date through looking at social media

DiDi Turley:. It is very much keeping up to date with social media. I have an account that I use for my personal use. I have my work accounts, and then I have an account that I use to follow trends, and that follows the biggest accounts—the trendsetters, of sorts. In terms of books, I quite enjoy a book called Hit Makers. I will send you the author’s name, I don’t know off the top of my head, but I found that quite useful. Ultimately, I think that the bulk of knowledge that we get in my field, in particular, comes from everyday use and being able to quiz yourself on things like: Is this clickbait? What about this video and the way that it’s edited caused it to perform well? It’s a lot of digging into the structure behind what makes a piece of content do well, and that’s very hard to quantify with the ever-changing field that we’re in.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Yes, it’s interesting, because one of the reasons why I got involved in this project is because the field is so ever-changing. And so, people who are interested in doing what you do—or not exactly what you do necessarily, but in working in social media in general—it’s important to know how best to prepare for that role. So, I do appreciate you’re giving us some insight into that. And before we end today, I’m wondering if you have any final words of wisdom—steps that people can take, tips that you can give somebody who’s interested in exploring this field or getting involved in this field?

DiDi Turley: I have two. The first one is that I would encourage anyone who’s interested in this field to find their niche, create an area of expertise if there is not one. As you mentioned, there are not a lot of opera organizations that are known for their social media presence, and that was an area of opportunity that I saw and dived into. So, a lot of the earliest work that I was doing was educating existing professional marketers—people who know opera inside and out—on this resource that I’ve been using most of my life as a Gen Z. And that level of buy-in that came from educating them on a new opportunity and built a lot of that trust that allowed me to then start to play. So, I would say, if you see an area of opportunity, or if there’s a niche that you want to expand into, just go for it and see what happens. If it’s not the right niche and you fail, that’s okay. When you are not at a very high follower count, social media is very inconsequential. If something goes wrong, you can archive, you can apologize, and you can move forward. And I think it’s important to be able to say that you did something wrong or that something didn’t work, be able to say that and move on.

The other piece of advice that I would give is to not be afraid to experiment and to find creative ways to do it. I used to get buy-in from my bosses by trying a trending format on my personal account with my own photos and then showing them that it was getting 20,000 views. And that would allow them to trust me to try it on their account. I think I made two different Wes Anderson trend videos when that was popping off in 2023 before I got them to allow me to do it in the opera house. So, there is opportunity to treat your own social media as a sandbox and get buy-in in that way. If you are not so adept at the data side of things, you can find creative ways to showcase your talents and get people to trust you.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Right, excellent. Well, I have to say, I’ve learned a lot, and I really appreciate your spending the time and giving us a bird’s-eye view of the field. It’s so great to hear the excitement in your voice when you talk about what you do and to gain all the insight that we’ve gained from you today. So, I really appreciate it, DiDi, and I wish you well in all of your future endeavors, and I’ll be following you.

Wonderful! Thank you. I appreciate your thoughtful questions, and it was a delight to talk to you.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Oh, same here. Thank you very much.

DiDi Turley: Thank you.

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Related Career Information

Related Professional Associations

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DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST

There are a lot of parallels and similarities between the role of a social media manager and that of a digital communications specialist. However, in some cases, the digital communications specialist role is broader. According to Zippia, “a digital communication specialist is responsible for managing and analyzing the effectiveness of media campaigns and digital presence. Digital communication specialists create engaging content to publish on various media outlets that would highlight the company’s services and other requirements” (Zippia, 2024).

The following is an  overview of the field of digital communications by a very successful Digital Communications Specialist, Lilian Yagual. Lilian generously created her own video describing her career path for this publication.

Transcript: Lilian Yagual: Exploring the Role of a Digital Communications Specialist (2024).

Introduction: In this overview, Lillian Yagual, Digital Communications Specialist for the New York City Department of Transportation, describes her career path and profession.

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Lilian Yagual: Hey, my name is Lilian Yagual. I am a LaGuardia Community College alumni and I work for the New York City Department of Transportation as a digital communication specialist. My job is basically to simplify messaging so that all New Yorkers understand the information that’s being put out. My day-to-day is very simple. It’s looking at the week ahead for the special projects that will be announced, making content that lines up with it making sure that it works with the algorithm, making content that is enjoyable as much as it is something that needs to be shared. We want to make sure that people are engaging with the content that’s being put out. I’m also looking at content that is lined up and making sure that it makes sense with New York City’s climate. So, for example if I have content about how great the Staten Island Ferry is and today when it’s set to publish there are delays on the Staten Island Ferry and maybe there’s some news coverage happening about these delays, today is not the day to put that out there. So, I‘ve got to make sure that what is being put out makes sense where New York City is at in the moment.

Some of the challenges at work deal with just that, making sure that content that goes out is sensitive to the political climate that exists in New York City in the moment but also some of the most fun parts of my job, the best part parts of my job is putting things out there and seeing the reactions of people and how they’re engaging with that and sharing that with my co-workers. So, for example project managers who have worked really hard on projects in neighborhoods and being able to share with them the feedback that the public has provided to us saying how much they love something. That’s really so cool to be able to be the person to share that with them.

The experiences that have helped shape my career have always been the really tough experiences. The really hard challenges that I have gone through, those have been the ones that have shaped my career because I always look back and I always think about what I could have done moving forward. Now I re-calibrate, and I work differently, and they those challenges have always impacted me in that way, and they’ve always helped. So, my suggestion to you would be to look at your challenges and it sounds so corny to say but it is so true that’s what’s going to help shape you in the future like these things, these hard moments, are what you’ll remember and they’re going to change that knee-jerk reaction for you. So, you’re going to remember what that experience was like and then you’re going to move differently. So, I wouldn’t be afraid of falling of rejection of anything bad because it’s always always going to help you out in the long term.

If I can recommend publications or associations that could help people, I would say find your niche and build your community. I personally am a part of Corporate Latinas, and I found them on Tik Tok. I think they’re also on Discord, LinkedIn and their Facebook group.  I basically connect with other Latina women that look like me that are in the same field as me and we share and swap stories and it helps me feel stronger and I’m more empowered in my role. I bring that back into work and I also I get a perspective from a different place like I can be talking to someone in the beauty industry, and we could talk about what’s working in Communications for them and I can take that and bring it back to where I work. So being a part of these groups, building Community for yourself, helps you personally and it also helps you professionally.

If I can offer any other tips in terms of pursuing a career in communication it is to volunteer, to show up when you say you’re going to show up, and to be very observant. These three things are going to help you. I think that the world is your oyster. There’s so much opportunity there, so take advantage of what exists in front of you. I wish you all the luck! Thanks.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Related Career Information

Related Professional Associations

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CONTENT CREATOR, BLOG WRITER, SOCIAL MEDIA SPECIALIST

A Content Creator wears many hats in trying to get a message out to an audience. According to Teal, “a Content Creator is a multifaceted professional skilled in crafting engaging material that resonates with a target audience across various platforms. They are the architects of digital content, ranging from blog posts and videos to social media updates and podcasts, harnessing creativity and strategic insight to inform, entertain, or inspire viewers. With a keen understanding of digital trends and audience preferences, Content Creators blend originality with analytical prowess to produce content that not only captivates but also achieves specific marketing or communication objectives. In an ever-evolving digital landscape, they play a pivotal role in shaping online presence and brand identity, making their work integral to the success of businesses and influencers alike (Teal, 2024).

The following is an interview with a very successful Content Creator, Blog Writer and Social Media Strategist, Hande Erkan:

 

Transcript: Hande Erkan: Exploring the Role of a Content Creator, Blog Writer, and Social Media Specialist (2024).

Introduction: In this overview, Hande Erkan, Content Creator and Blog Writer for New York Women in Communications and Social Media Strategist for Youth Communication, describes her career path and profession.

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Doreen Kolomechuk (Interviewer): Good afternoon. Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Hande Erkan. Hande is an advertising, marketing, and communications professional who is currently a content creator and blog writer for New York Women in Communications, and a Social Media Strategist for a nonprofit organization called Youth Communication. Welcome, Hande, and thank you so much for meeting with me today.

Hande Erkan: Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited to do this with you.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Oh, it’s such a pleasure and a privilege to have the opportunity to speak with you and to gain some insights from you about how people can be successful in your field. To start, please tell us about your responsibilities in your current positions.

Hande Erkan: Yes, so I work at New York Women in Communications, and I do a lot of content creation, and I write a lot of blogs. What I do is I help with producing engaging, SEO-optimized content across our different social media platforms to promote our “Women Heard” podcasts and the “Next Level You” professional development series, to promote empowerment for women who want to have a career within the media and communications industry.

I also work as a social media strategist at Youth Communication, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to create real change for teens and young adults and create equal opportunities for underrepresented communities by sharing their stories. And what I do at Youth Communication is also pretty much very similar. I find both creative and strategic ways to increase social media engagement across our different platforms and do a lot of content writing, share a lot of digital content and assets, and I collaborate with the head of Marketing and just monitor all sorts of social media content throughout our organization.

Doreen Kolomechuk: So very interesting and very worthwhile. Both organizations are really valuable organizations, and I admire your work in those areas.

Hande Erkan: Thank you.

Doreen Kolomechuk: How do you promote blog posts or other social media content? What are some of the skills that are needed in order to do that?

Hande Erkan: A lot of what I do is to try to find really good content that matches our mission and with our target audience and the message that we want to convey. I analyze a lot of marketing performance metrics that can help me refine content strategies and enhance organic growth. Marketing is all sorts of just collaborating, and it’s all about communication. So, you have to find ways to communicate with the audience that you want to communicate with. And so, blogs, podcasts, using all sorts of social media, are all going to be a part of your work a lot. I guess the skill would be understanding the mission of the organization that you’re a part of and you’re contributing to and making sure that you know how to collaborate with people, with your department and your team, and making sure that you know you are doing great research and have great insights and trends to ensure accurate, credible content aligned with your communication goals as a marketing professional. Just find ways to maximize audience engagement as much as you can.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Fantastic! It sounds very involved and very challenging in its way.

Hande Erkan: Oh, yes, at times, but it’s also very fun. I just love collaborating with people, so there’s a lot of doing that in marketing.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Well, my next question was going to be, what do you enjoy most about this field and your work in it?

Hande Erkan: Well, what I love about my job is that ever since I wanted to pursue studies in marketing, you know, I always wanted to be on the right side of marketing. What I mean by that is we all pretty much use social media, but what I wanted to use social media for is to create change, make a positive impact. Because social media is such a powerful tool, you know, at YC (Youth Communication), we harness the power of storytelling, as well as New York Women in Communications. So, we always try to emphasize the magic of sharing our stories, our, you know, journeys, and that helps make a positive change, inspires people. So, you know, social media is exactly that. Marketing is… the right side of marketing is, I would say, is that. That is why I love my job because I get to help empower women and help young adults and teens to have great educational opportunities.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Very, very wonderful goals and very necessary in our society today, absolutely. So, what are some of the challenges that come with that?

Hande Erkan: One major challenge that I’ve been facing, and this could be a little bit more personal, but it is related to marketing, but I would say the current job market has been extremely competitive, and the rise of AI has been another really big challenge that is changing the industry rapidly. I would say that has been a really big challenge because marketing is becoming competitive every single day.

Doreen Kolomechuk: And so, what really led you to this field? What prompted you to study in the fields of communications and marketing?

Hande Erkan: I first wanted to, you know, straight from high school, I wanted to study journalism. Writing has always been a passion of mine, and so I went to Ithaca College, but I couldn’t be really happy in there. It wasn’t really for me. I love Ithaca College, but it was just so far away from my family, so I got homesick, and I missed New York City so much. So, I took a bit of, a couple of business electives at Ithaca, and I noticed that I was really good at business, and I enjoyed the different sides of business.  Then I went to LaGuardia (Community College), and I studied mass communications, got my associates to combine both my communication and business passion. And then I went to Baruch College to study, business administration and marketing, and I did my concentration in advertising and marketing communications. I also finished with journalism as a minor.

What really led me to be in both communications and business was that I love communications. It’s an essential skill in anything, you know, having communication with your own self, with your family, your work, your friends. It’s a huge part of our lives, and I wanted to do that professionally as well. I wanted to help organizations and businesses to communicate their message in the right way. That’s why I chose communications, and I really enjoy it.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Exciting! It’s an exciting field, and it’s great to have the opportunity to have an impact, to have a positive impact as you are having.

Hande Erkan: Thank you.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Can you describe any turning points in your career? Internships or experiences that have helped to bring you to where you are today?

Hande Erkan: Absolutely! Well, first I would say Youth Communication. I have been a part of their organization since I was a sophomore in high school. I was a writer at their internship, and I was 15 years old, and I continued writing there for at least three, four years. You know, that was my first professional experience, and that really made me gain those skills on how to communicate, how to collaborate with people. And at LaGuardia (LaGuardia Community College), I was part of the President’s Society, and that helped me develop networking skills a lot, how to work with high-profile people, how to be at really big events, and represent the organization that you’re representing, and those are really important skills. At Baruch, I got a scholarship at New York Women in Communications.

So, all the organizations that I’ve been a part of, I’ve been a part of them for a lot of years, and I’m very happy to say that I have built really strong relationships with them, and that is because those organizations really invested in my education and my professional development. That is a huge part of being successful because we need those mentors and people that are going to show us the way, show the path to figure out what we want to do and be professional. So that is very important, and I would say Youth Communication, the President’s Society, and New York Women in Communications have been a huge part of that.

Some of the internships that I’ve done that have been really impactful, again, with my professional development and learning a lot of insights and skills in marketing. I interned at  NBC News when I was at LaGuardia, and also I was in the Investigations Unit as a research intern at NBC. So, I gained a lot of skills in Excel, research, presenting briefs, case files, databases, and reports.

Also, at Baruch, I got an internship at TBWA, an advertising company. I was the strategic planning intern, and I did a lot of social media, conducted market research, examined  different sorts of campaigns and how they performed. I worked with so many global brands like L’Oréal, McDonald’s, Nike, BMW, Mercedes, and so many more. I was very lucky to have those opportunities at such an early age.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Excellent. And what made you take advantage of those opportunities? What prompted your involvement in internships or in the President’s Society? Or even when, back in high school, you got involved in Youth Communication?

Hande Erkan: You know, a lot of people, I would just quote my teachers, they always told me, “You know, Hande, you’re so eager about education and learning. You know, you’re like the most enthusiastic student that I’ve ever had.” I wasn’t like the top 4.0 GPA student, but I was always involved in my academics and always wanted to be involved outside of class. So, I would go to my adviser with questions, my professors, “Where can I network with people? Where can I find opportunities?”

So, it’s always just been a personality of mine. Some people even told me, with my persistent personality, that I should be a lawyer because I’m always asking questions, and I’m just like, “Where’s the opportunity? What can I do? How can I be involved? How can I give back?” I don’t know, it was just in me, and I always knew that connecting with people is the ultimate way to find opportunities. Understanding that you just have to communicate with people, connect with people, say hi, go out there, get out of your comfort zone, and network. So, that was part of my personality and has always been, and still is. And I love it.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Excellent, that’s great. Yes, connecting with people is so, so important. And I’m wondering if there are any professional associations or groups that you would recommend that people get involved in to help develop their networking skills and also to develop their network?

Hande Erkan: Absolutely. It would be New York Women in Communications. If you want to be in communications, media, any kind of anything like that, please join our organization. I can help connect anyone that wants to be a part of New York Women in Communications. And, you know, we have a lot of volunteer opportunities that can lead to other opportunities. So be open-minded to volunteer opportunities as well. It’s all about, you know, getting your foot in the door and connecting with people.

Again, I will give an example. This week, I’m going to be at the headquarters of Spotify. Next month, I’m going to be at Google offices. I have so many networking opportunities every single month because of New York Women in Communications. I would definitely highly recommend researching our organization and if you want to be a part of it, reach out to me on LinkedIn, and I will do anything I can.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Oh, thank you so much, that’s really good advice. And speaking of keeping up to date, how do you keep up to date? Are there any periodicals that you read or special blog posts? Or, you know, what do you do to keep yourself relevant and current?

Hande Erkan: Yes, so I would say, you know, Adweek, Ad Age, Harvard Business Review. And also, recently I read my professor’s book. It’s Ben Gutman’s book. I highly recommend it. It’s called Simply Put, and it has just changed my whole life. It talks about how to simplify your message, which is so important in anything that you’re doing; how to be straightforward and how to say things simply so people can understand it easily. It is so hard to do, but it’s an important skill, and I would highly recommend that book.

And also, again, I would say New York Women in Communications. Please listen to our podcast. Just last week, I had the chance to write a blog about Susanne Müeller, who is an incredible, successful, accomplished person within, communications and everything in general, the hospitality business. She’s an entrepreneur; she’s just incredible and I’m going to be writing a blog about her. We have so many podcasts every month. We have so many amazing Next Level Youth sessions that help with professional development. We have so many resources. Just reach out to me. Look up online about new communications and our podcast, and so you can have insights and information about marketing, communication, and media in general. That would be very helpful, I think.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Excellent, very, very helpful suggestions. What changes do you see in society and technology that are influencing the field now?

Hande Erkan: Well, definitely the rise of AI. I had the chance to write a blog about industry experts who attended CES, Conference Davos, and NRF. Someone from Edelman that I interviewed stressed the importance of responsible implementation and adaptation of innovations, as well as the need for businesses to partner for change and address ethical concerns about the rise of the utilization of AI. It’s really changing the way that companies are communicating with their audience. You know, companies want to personalize their services and their products more. I think although that has some pros to it, the cons part of it, with the more personalization and customization of these things that businesses want to do, we see that there is a lack of protecting people’s privacy, and that has been a part of all sorts of things. So, I think a challenge right now is for companies and businesses to find ways to manage and balance the rise of AI happening within our industry.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Yes, it really is a challenge, so, I’m sorry I cut you off.

Hande Erkan: No, it’s okay. I just said, you know, within our industry and all sorts of industries.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Yes, absolutely. When you think about, if you were to recommend some skills that someone should develop to get involved in the field, what are some of the top three or four or five skills that you think are imperative to develop?

Hande Erkan: I would say storytelling is very, very important. You need to understand the power of storytelling because whatever you’re doing in marketing, it’s mainly trying to connect your mission with your audience. And you know, you can use data, you can craft compelling narratives, create campaigns, or anything else. You’re always conveying a message, and storytelling is the best way to do that. It helps develop a compelling brand narrative, build brand identity, build trust, and, in general, bring people together. So, understanding that is very important.

I would also say strategic thinking is very important because you are planning the future, and you are identifying opportunities for your brands. And in general, you’re trying to observe, think, act, and speak strategically, which is very important in the professional world. Strategic thinking is also based a lot on logical and fact-based information, so you also need to be good at research, have an advanced and clear understanding of the business model and the mission that you’re contributing to. So being a natural strategic thinker is very also important in anything that you’re doing.

And, just, I guess, be a good collaborator, be a good listener. You know, that’s a huge part of the professional world. You’re going to collaborate. People know when to speak and know when to listen. Be open-minded. Those are really—those last three things that I said—are really difficult at times. But once you enter, you kind of get it, you know. There are really insightful industry experts, and you have to be open-minded. You have to listen, and you have to know when to, you know, say your opinion. That comes with experience, how to communicate with people and how to collaborate. But as long as you have the eagerness to learn, you know, you’ll learn it every day easily.

Doreen Kolomechuk: That’s great, that’s great. And of course, writing skills are very, very important.

Hande Erkan: Yes, absolutely.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Any specific technical skills, like certain software or systems that people might want to focus on?

Hande Erkan: I would say if you wanted to do something more in editing, Adobe could be something that you can work on. Canva is a big thing; I’ve seen a lot of, pretty much all organizations use Canva. Salesforce could be another one, email marketing platforms, or any kind of something that could help you organize because you do a lot of social media calendar organization as well. So, anything that can help you organize could be also very helpful. Google Ads, which is free, full of information, you get a certification. Another thing that I would recommend if you’re a recent college student, post-graduation or something, I would highly recommend Universal McCann’s and Vox Media’s breaking media certification program. I learned about that at Baruch from a professor of mine again, because I was asking.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Asking is very important, right?

Hande Erkan: Yes. If you want to become a part of it, also reach out to me. I’m on LinkedIn. Hande Erkan. I will connect you with the right people. They have helped me a lot. If you’re interested in marketing, advertising, communications, anything about that, you know, McCann and Vox Media, their certification program is amazing. They also help you with your personal brand, so I highly, highly recommend that. And they also give you a lot of networking opportunities as well.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Oh, that’s great. So, what was, McCann? What does that acronym stand for?

Hande Erkan: It’s Universal McCann, it’s a global advertising agency company and then Vox, V-O-X Media.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Excellent, excellent. So, before we close, are there any other tips or words of wisdom that you’d like to share with someone who’s interested in this field?

Hande Erkan: You know, my sincere and genuine words of wisdom would be to start networking. Networking is going to be a huge part of your life. I’m so glad that some of my professors have really encouraged me to do that at LaGuardia Community College and Baruch. As I said, the job market has been really tough on 2023 graduates and 2024 graduates. We’re seeing a completely different, challenging job market right now. And so, what I would say is: start networking. I know it can be intimidating and difficult when you first begin. When I first began, I was just like, “Oh my God, I have no idea who these people are, and how am I going to just reach out to them and ask about them?”

I would say if you want to be good at networking, which it has taken me time to get into this level of networking that I’m at right now, is before meeting with someone, make sure you research them. If you’re going to a company’s event, make sure that you know the recent things that they have done, the recent projects that they have done. Always have some questions.

Also, just don’t go to people and immediately be like, “You know what, I recently graduated, I am a student, I’m looking for an internship or job.” Try to connect with people. Try to, again, have background information about people’s career journey and try to connect with people. Be like, “Oh, I can’t believe that you’ve done this! How did you do this?” And you know, just try to connect with people, build a relationship. I will be honest, eight out of ten people won’t reach out, but I have had a lot of people reach out to me. I’ve even built amazing friendships because of networking. I know people from all sorts of companies, really global big companies, because I literally go to networking events every month or every other month. I really try to put my time and invest my time into it because it is so important. So don’t have expectations. Just go out there, get out of your comfort zone, practice your public speaking skills, try to connect with people, use your professional skills, and your networking skills, and expand your network and learn from people. That should be your primary goal when trying to network with people—you’re trying to learn, hear stories, get inspired. And if something comes up, an opportunity, go for it as well, but do it at the right moment. First, connect with people and network.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Such great advice and so many good suggestions throughout our interview today. I really appreciate all of the information and insights that you’ve shared with us, and I want to thank you for your time and for all of that information. I really learned a lot, and I know that others that are listening will learn a lot as well. So, thank you very much, Hande.

Hande Erkan: Thank you so much for having me. This has been a pleasure of mine and a privilege of mine to speak with you and to be on this mission of helping our current students and early-career professionals to gain more insight and advice. Anything I can do; I would always love to be a part of it. So, thank you so much for including me.

Doreen Kolomechuk: Oh, thank you so much for participating. And it’s a two-way street, so if I can ever be helpful to you, just let me know and I really wish you all the best.

Hande Erkan: Thank you, me too, always.

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