Behind the Post

In her final episode, Behind the Post host Alina Dallal steps into the hot seat, joined by Oktopost’s CMO Colin Day, to go behind the scenes of B2B Social’s Rising 30 — a community-led campaign celebrating 30 standout voices in B2B social media who are pushing boundaries, sparking conversations, and shaping B2B social as we know it. An initiative she built and executed from the ground up that took the B2B social industry by storm.

She unpacks the “why” behind it: spotting a clear gap where social media managers were driving real business impact, but rarely getting the recognition they deserved. What started as a simple idea became a standout industry moment, spotlighting the people behind B2B social’s real influence.

Alina breaks down how she brought it to life, shaping the concept, engineering participation at scale, and keeping execution tight with simple but critical systems like a single source of truth and strong launch-day structure under pressure. She also shares what most campaigns miss: making people feel seen. From tailored winner messages to physical recognition, she unpacks why small, personal moments carried more weight than any mass announcement. 

But the real surprise wasn’t the launch, it was what followed. The campaign sparked a peer-led movement that continued to grow long after going live, something she’s excited to keep watching evolve. She reflects on how much fun it’s been building B2B Social’s Rising 30, how strongly it resonated with the community, and how she’ll be cheering on every future cohort from the sidelines.

As Alina puts down the mic, her message is simple: soak up every opportunity, challenge yourself constantly, and don’t wait for a reason to connect with industry peers — because the relationships you build often shape your career more than anything else.

Hot Topics:

• Why understanding your audience is everything, and how it shaped Rising 30 from day one

• How to design for participation, not just awareness, and actually get people to take part

• How to run a seamless launch day with one source of truth, clear structure, and tactics that ensure zero chaos

• Why personal, human moments beat mass comms every time

• Why staying curious, connecting with peers, and building real relationships will accelerate your career more than you think

As for what’s next for Behind the Post, this podcast will be back before you know it in a refreshed format with a new host, so make sure you’re still subscribed so you don’t miss what’s next.

If you know someone who deserves the spotlight on 2026’s B2B Social’s Rising 30, nominate them (or yourself!) by May 21 2026. 

Ask Melissa Dawson, Corporate Social Media Lead at WD, who drove a massive 30% follower growth and over 80 million impressions in just one year.

In this episode of Behind the Post, Melissa breaks down the strategy that took WD’s LinkedIn following from 600K to 800K. She challenges the notion that organic and paid should live in separate silos, arguing that treating them as distinct entities is the biggest mistake a B2B team can make. Melissa shares her "social-first" approach to translating complex topics like AI infrastructure and sustainability into engaging content, while revealing the specific performance indicators, like the nuances of engagement rate, that signal when it’s time to put dollars behind a post.

From leveraging high-level brand storytelling to humanizing a technical brand through employee stories, Melissa provides a tactical roadmap for social media managers looking to justify a bigger budget and reach the right people. Whether you’re a team of one managing both sides of the coin or trying to align with a separate demand gen team, this episode is packed with insights on how to make your audience the true north of your strategy.

Hot Topics:

• Why treating paid media as a distribution channel and organic as "the real work" is a missed opportunity

• How to use engagement rates and content pillars to decide exactly which posts deserve a budget boost.

• The specific types of storytelling and employee-centric content that drove 200,000 new followers on LinkedIn.

• How to build a business case for social media budget by focusing on audience precision over vanity metrics.

In this episode of Behind the Post, we sit down with Alexandra Wittmann, Senior Social Media Manager at Celonis and the marketer behind the standout “Behind the Scenes at Celosphere 2025” campaign.

Instead of following the traditional B2B playbook, Alexandra created a 9-part video series that treated a major tech event like a human story. The result? A finalist spot at the 2025 B2B Marketing Innovation Awards and over half a million organic impressions.

We break down the exact “scroll-stopping” framework she used to make Celosphere feel relatable before it even began, from coordinating 25 internal “stars” to why a simple “What to Wear” video outperformed strategic content.

You’ll also learn how a 1,000-strong employee advocacy program helped amplify the campaign, and why messy, real, behind-the-scenes content consistently beats polished perfection on LinkedIn.

If you’re a B2B marketer, event lead, or social media manager looking to create content people actually care about, this episode is for you.

Hot Topics:

• Why relatable, human moments outperform traditional event promotion

• How to coordinate 25+ employees as on-camera brand advocates

• Scaling reach with a 1,000-person employee advocacy program

• Using iPhone footage, POV videos, and social trends to capture real event energy

What happens when you swap a traditional, dry cybersecurity booth for a Picasso-inspired art gallery? You win a B2B Marketing Innovation Award. 

In this episode of Behind the Post, we’re joined by Talia Goldman, Content Marketing Manager at Island, to peel back the curtain on their "Workspace of Art". Talia dives into how they transformed a standard event presence at the Gartner IT Symposium into an immersive, AI-powered experience that had executives lining up to be turned into cubist masterpieces.

Talia shares the tactical blueprint of how Island merged high-tech AI with human-centered design to redefine what brand storytelling looks like in the enterprise space. We talk about the "less is more" approach to booth messaging, the importance of creating intrigue on social media through travel-themed teasers, and how to empower your team on the ground with easy-to-use employee advocacy tools. 

If you’ve ever felt like your B2B marketing was getting a bit too robotic, this episode is a masterclass in putting the human back in the driver’s seat, even when you’re using AI to do the heavy lifting.

Hot Topics:

• The core principles of human-centered design and why they matter more as technology evolves

• How to find the perfect balance between high-tech AI tools and authentic human storytelling

• Tactical ways to use social media to build event anticipation and capture live momentum

• Tips for building a scalable brand platform that can be extended across global events

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: “It’s B2B, so it needs to be professional.” While that usually translates to “boring,” Kassandra Quinn, Social Media Strategist at ModSquad, is here to debunk the myth that B2B has to be stiff. With over a decade of experience across B2C and B2B, Kassandra has mastered the art of bringing "people-first" energy to the corporate feed.

In this episode, Kassandra dives into why the most successful B2B strategies mirror B2C mindsets by remembering there is always a human on the other side of the screen. She shares how ModSquad uses humor, like their "CX Nightmares" Halloween campaign featuring "ghosted customers", to build genuine trust and relatability. We also tackle the evolving world of B2B influencer marketing; Kassandra explains why the "practitioner-influencer" is the new gold standard for building authority within niche communities.

Whether you’re struggling to speak to multiple personas or trying to navigate a complex buyer journey, Kassandra offers a masterclass in keeping the "social" in social media. She breaks down how to create content that stretches across the entire funnel and why aligning with your demand gen team is critical for translating customer pain points into thumb-stopping posts.

Hot Topics:

• How to bring B2C energy into B2B content (without losing credibility)

• What B2B influencer marketing really looks like today, and how to do it right

• A simple checklist for deciding if a trend is worth jumping on

• How to create social content that works across the entire B2B funnel

In this episode of Behind the Post, we’re joined by Luis Urgell, B2B Socials Rising 30 star and founder of Timewarp., to break down how he evaluates B2B brands on social, and what you can learn from it as a social media marketer.

Luis walks us through the exact signals he looks for when landing on a B2B LinkedIn page, from hiring patterns to posting cadence, and why these details matter more than most teams realize. Think of this episode as an inside look at how your page is being judged, by peers, prospects, and decision-makers alike.

We get tactical. Luis shares one simple change social teams can make this week to improve content performance, the most common mistakes he sees during audits, and why many B2B brands are unintentionally leaving attention on the table by playing it too safe.

He also breaks down what good B2B social actually looks like today, including why employee-led content works so well, how brands like Zapier are getting it right, and why TikTok can be a powerful testing ground even if LinkedIn is your main channel.

If you’re a B2B social media manager looking to sharpen your instincts, spot gaps faster, and build a strategy that actually stands out, this episode is packed with lessons you’ll want to steal.

Hot Topics:

• What to look for when evaluating a B2B LinkedIn page

• The fastest way to boost engagement using employee advocacy

• Common content mistakes B2B brands keep making

• How to experiment without blowing up your brand voice

To kick off 2026, we're going way beyond “boost engagement” and “grow followers.” In this powerful and personal episode, Travis Tyler, Senior Social Media Manager at Motion and one of Oktopost’s B2B Social’s Rising 30 stars, joins us to share eight social media goals that every B2B social media marketer should consider this year.

But these aren’t your typical KPIs.

Using the Wheel of Life assessment tool, Travis walks us through a new way of setting goals, ones that consider your career, creativity, wellbeing, finances, and even joy.

Travis gets real about money, mental health, burnout, side hustles, parenthood, and finding creative outlets that don’t come with a performance metric. It’s one of the most vulnerable and validating conversations we’ve ever had on Behind the Post, and one that every social media marketer needs to hear.

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed, underpaid, or just unsure what success looks like in 2026… hit play. This episode will meet you where you are.

Hot Topics:

• How to set social media goals that serve your life, not just your brand

• Budget, burnout, and side income: the financial realities of being a social media manager today

• Why every SMM should take an improv class (really)

• The power of community, and how to find yours this year

Need to get your hands on more tips, lessons, and advice from our B2B Social’s Rising 30 cohort of 2025? Get inspired in one click.

This week on Behind the Post, we’re getting tactical with employee advocacy pro and B2B Social’s Rising 30 star, Dasle Hong, Senior Brand Marketing Manager at DailyPay.

Dasle wears multiple hats: social media, employee advocacy, and brand reviews, and she’s using all of them to build a brand that not only shows up externally but rallies employees internally. In this episode, she shares exactly how she’s built successful employee advocacy programs that align with business goals and genuinely resonate with employees.

From her unique career path encompassing both HR and marketing, Dasle brings a deep understanding of what motivates people to share, how to find your internal champions, and the five essential pillars she uses to run advocacy programs that don’t fizzle out. Spoiler: it’s not just about content, it’s about culture, onboarding, education, and connection.

Plus, she shares the unexpected places she’s found superstar advocates (hello, book club!) and why new hires are her secret weapon.

If you're building or scaling an employee advocacy program, or struggling to get people to actually post, this episode is your cheat sheet.

Hot Topics:

• The 5 core pillars of a successful employee advocacy program 

• Why new hire onboarding is her #1 tactic for long-term advocacy adoption

• How to identify internal ambassadors without forcing it

• The HR x Marketing mindset shift that will take your advocacy strategy to the next level

Need to get your hands on more tips, lessons, and advice from our B2B Social’s Rising 30 cohort of 2025? Get inspired in one click.

This week on Behind the Post, we're getting supercharged with Eeshita Mittal, Marketing Manager at HCLTech and the driving force behind the Supercharged Ambassadors Club, HCLTech’s employee advocacy program that’s redefining talent attraction and retention in the B2B tech space.

Eeshita shares how this purpose-driven initiative evolved from a pilot to a global community of 200+ employees across 25+ countries. From fresh grads to senior VPs, the program spans functions, geographies, and career stages, making it more than just advocacy; it’s a movement.

She dives into how HCLTech empowers ambassadors through personal branding workshops, hybrid content creation sessions, and direct engagement with leadership, including the CMO, who reads and interacts with employee posts. Spoiler: Some ambassadors saw their LinkedIn followers grow 5-10x within six months.

With a 187% increase in LinkedIn reach and rising earned media value, this initiative proves that human storytelling and community-building are powerful tools in a B2B world.

If you're looking for tactical ways to attract top talent, scale advocacy, or build a loyal internal brand army, this episode is your blueprint.

Hot Topics:

• How HCLTech launched and scaled their employee advocacy program globally

• What makes the Supercharged Ambassadors Club so effective, and in such high demand

• Why employee advocacy is crucial for both attracting and nurturing talent

• How leadership involvement fuels ambassador motivation and program success

Let’s get real: Personal branding might sound like a buzzword, but for B2B social media managers, it can make or break your next opportunity. In this episode of Behind the Post, we’re joined by none other than B2B Social’s Rising 30 star Chloe Maguire, the powerhouse behind Leapsome’s explosive social and community growth, including a jaw-dropping 2700% increase in impressions in one month. (Yep, you read that right.)

Chloe shares how social pros can find (and reclaim) their voice outside of brand guidelines, get past the fear of being “cringe” online, and stop over-curating every LinkedIn post. She breaks down how to develop a tone that feels real, set realistic goals for content creation, and design a LinkedIn profile that actually works for you, even if you only have an hour to spare.

Whether you’re a social media manager just starting to think about your personal brand or you're ready to take it to the next level, this episode is full of real talk, relatable advice, and tactical steps you can take today to build a brand that opens doors, and still feels like you.

Hot Topics:

• Why social media managers need to build a personal brand (even if they don’t want to)

• How to find your unique tone when you’ve been writing in your company’s voice all day

• The best way to overcome the fear of judgment when posting on LinkedIn

• Quick wins to upgrade your LinkedIn profile in under an hour

Need to get your hands on more tips, lessons, and advice from our B2B Social’s Rising 30 cohort of 2025? Get inspired in one click.

Over the years, we’ve collected the real questions B2B social media marketers are asking, the kind that rarely get asked out loud. So we brought on someone who’s been in your shoes and has the receipts to prove it: B2B Social’s Rising 30 star and Talkdesk’s Head of Social, Jordan Tenenbaum.

In this episode, Jordan gets real about the biggest questions social media marketers are asking right now, from proving pipeline and getting buy-in, to setting boundaries and building your personal brand without burning out. He’s been in your shoes and he’s got stories, scripts, and answers that actually help. 

Whether you're advocating for your budget, building trust with sales, or trying to grow your career, you’ll walk away with tactics you can use this week.

Hit play for copy you can steal, slides you can pitch, and a pep talk you’ll replay before every 1:1.

Hot Topics:

• How to use AI across your workflow (and still sound human)

• Linking social to pipeline, budget, and exec buy-in

• Career growth tips: from getting promoted to building your LinkedIn presence

• How to ask for raises and promotions, and get a “yes”

• Avoiding burnout: setting boundaries that actually work

If you’ve ever wondered how memes fit into a serious B2B social strategy, or if they even should, this episode is your crash course. Joining us is Ilan Fisher, Digital Content & Global Media Manager at Team8 and one of B2B Social’s Rising 30 Stars for 2025. With a background that spans politics, tech, and startup growth, Ilan has a unique perspective on blending culture with content.

From spotting trends before they hit the mainstream to deciding if a meme aligns with your brand’s goals and risk tolerance, Ilan shares the exact tactics he uses to keep content fresh and relevant. He walks us through his four go-to sources for early meme discovery (spoiler: LinkedIn isn’t one of them), explains how to “wink” at trends without going all-in, and reveals the golden rule for knowing when you’ve missed the moment.

We also get into the art of securing leadership buy-in for edgier content, the nuances of tailoring humor across platforms, and why sometimes posting a meme three months late is actually genius. Whether you’re just dipping your toes into meme marketing or already have a folder full of saved templates, this episode will have you rethinking your content calendar, and maybe even your approval workflows.

Hot Topics:

• The four best places to spot trending memes early

• How to decide if a meme is worth the risk for your brand

• The “three-day rule” for posting memes (and when to break it)

• Tips for getting leadership on board with bold, cultural content

Vania Degenhardt joins us Behind the Post to take us deep into her content creation process from audience-first thinking to platform-specific strategy.

She breaks down how to craft content that resonates with multiple personas, shares the anatomy of a high-performing campaign (like an employee-driven pet costume contest that crushed engagement), and explains how to tailor content to fit each platform’s unique user experience.

We also get into why your employees are your secret weapon on social, how to inspire advocacy without forcing it, and yes, we go there on the “links in comments” debate.

And if you’ve ever had someone question your expertise just because they have a Facebook account, this one’s for you. Vania closes with a powerful reminder of your value as a social pro.

Hot Topics:

• How to create content for different personas, without burning out

• Why understanding platform UX is key to performance

• A behind-the-scenes look at an employee-driven campaign that crushed engagement

• When to actually put the link in the comments (and when not to)

• How to empower employee advocates without forcing them

Hilary Engel has been there, posted that. In this episode of Behind the Post, she brings over a decade of digital marketing expertise to tackle the spiciest social media debates in B2B. From whether hashtags are dead (spoiler: mostly) to if timing your posts still matters (it does), Hilary drops fire takes with zero fluff.

Currently a solo social team of one at the global law firm, Faegre Drinker, Hilary shares how she handles it all, from writing posts to running social training across 1,200+ professionals. Her POV? Social isn’t just a marketing function, it’s a full-blown strategy that deserves the same respect as any other business unit.

You’ll also hear Hilary get candid about the mental load of community management, why follower count means nothing without engagement, and what she wishes every department understood about social media managers (hint: it's not just scrolling all day).

If you’re managing social solo, stuck in the “just for branding” mindset, or trying to win debates at your next team meeting, this episode is your cheat sheet.

Hot Topics:

• Hilary’s spicy (and smart) takes on hashtags, CTAs, and follower count

• The real reason timing still matters, even in 2025

• How to gracefully exit platforms that no longer fit your strategy

• What every non-social team needs to know about your job

Hit play to hear a social media manager who really gets it. Then go take that breather, you’ve earned it.

You’ve launched your employee advocacy program. Engagement is high, advocates are sharing, and the buzz is real. But then… comes the motivation dip.

In this episode of Behind the Post, we’re joined by Matt Churchill, the Social Media and Content Manager at AVEVA, to talk about what happens after the initial hype fades. Matt unpacks how his team recognized when their program was coasting and the smart moves they made to reset, re-engage, and reignite interest across the organization.

From stakeholder education and tone-of-voice testing to gamification and the magic of micro-communities, Matt shares exactly how they’re turning quiet participants into energized advocates. 

Whether you're mid-cycle in your own program or just planning ahead, this episode is full of ideas you’ll want to borrow.

Hot Topics:

• What the “motivation dip” is and how to overcome it

• The metrics Matt’s team uses to track success and spot red flags

• How they’re using gamification and regional champions to spark engagement

• Why building an internal community is their next big move

In this episode, we go Behind the Post with Gustavo Mazzocchi, Global Social Media Manager at BioCatch, who takes us on a wild ride through the Social Media World Cup, an 11-month internal employee advocacy competition. 

From dramatic football-themed announcements (yes, an actual football was thrown during the CMO’s company kickoff presentation) to gamified incentives and tiers like “lucky strikers” and “team players,” Gus shares the structure and strategy that got over half the company involved.

Once your employee advocacy program is off the ground, competitions like this are the secret to keeping momentum high, participation strong, and your people genuinely excited to post. 

If you're looking for creative ways to ignite advocacy and keep your employees posting week after week, this one's for you.

Hot Topics:

• How to gamify employee advocacy (and keep it fair + inclusive!)

• Why themed competitions spark engagement (and how to plan them)

• Tips to turn that “I’m not a social media person” into your next top advocate

• How BioCatch tracks success with 200+ active advocates across regions

In this episode, Jasmine Deo, Senior Digital Marketing Manager at Grant Thornton Australia, joins us Behind the Post to share how her team uses A/B testing to improve social performance by 1% every week – small changes that lead to big results over time.

Jasmine walks us through how her team plans and executes A/B tests, from brainstorming sessions to analyzing the data. She shares real-life experiments they’ve conducted, including how a simple color change on a CTA button led to higher engagement.

She also dives into how algorithm shifts impact testing strategies, why testing small tweaks can be just as powerful as large-scale changes, and how brands can balance experimentation with maintaining a strong brand identity.

Hot Topics:

• How to structure A/B tests for better results
• Real examples of small changes that made a big difference
• What the 1% challenge is and how it builds long-term success
• How to adjust testing strategies as platform algorithms change

In this episode of Behind the Post, we’re joined by Colin Day, co-author of The Social B2B Organization and Managing Director EMEA of Oktopost.

Colin pulls back the curtain on what it really means to be a social-first B2B organization – from embedding social into your company culture to aligning teams and proving ROI. He shares insights straight from the book, including how B2B buyers have changed, why employee advocacy is a must-have and the key metrics that tie social engagement to revenue.

If you’re serious about using social media to build relationships, drive revenue, and future-proof your strategy, this episode, and book, is for you.

The Social B2B Organization hits shelves on March 25, 2025! Pre-order your copy and check out exclusive resources here. 

Hot Topics:

• • Why social media is a business strategy—not just a marketing tool
  • How to build a social-first culture that aligns marketing, sales, and customer success
  • The biggest mistake companies make with social, and how to fix it
  • Proving the impact of social on pipeline, revenue, and business growth

In this episode of Behind the Post, we sit down with Agnes Bakondi, the Social Media Manager at intelliflo, who’s all about proving social media's impact with analytics. She shares the key metrics she tracks, how often she checks in on performance, and how she turns raw data into smarter content decisions.

She explains how she’s made reporting effortless by setting up bite-sized, automated reports that keep her team in the loop without extra work. We also discuss how she spots trends, adapts to algorithm changes (without the panic), and why reviewing her analytics regularly sets her employee advocacy program up for success.

And if you’re thinking about running a pilot for advocacy? She squeezed in some quick, actionable tips to get you started. 

Hot Topics:

• Why she doesn’t like the term “vanity metrics”

• Her must-track metrics for monitoring their performance

• How often she checks analytics (and how she reports on them)

• Using data to tweak content and optimize campaigns

Mohamed Azhar, the Marketing Manager at Avoma, went Behind the Post to share exactly how he made it happen and trust us, you’ll want to take notes. Get ready to walk away with at least three actionable strategies for growing your brand’s social presence.

A loyal social media community starts with content that clicks. Mohamed transformed Avoma’s strategy with fun, relatable content that made his audience laugh, spoke their language, and tackled real pain points. The result? An audience that kept coming back for more.

He also shared the campaigns that helped them expand their reach - like spotlighting the Top 25 Sales Leaders to Follow and running a spooky Halloween campaign featuring sales horror stories. These strategies recognized thought leaders, sparked engagement, and introduced Avoma to entirely new audiences.

But there’s more - tune in to learn which content and campaigns performed best, the future strategies Mohamed is excited to try, and the best social media advice he’s ever received.

Hot Topics:

• The exact strategies Mohamed used to grow Avoma’s following organically

• How he made “boring B2B” content fun and engaging

• The creative campaigns that got their audience talking—and sharing

HubSpot just gets Gen Z marketing—and their social media is proof. From trending memes to pop culture moments, their team knows how to capture attention, spark engagement, and leave a lasting impression.

Gen Z grew up on social media, shaped by pop culture and fueled by authenticity. They’re not just entering the workplace—they’re breaking down doors, influencing decision-making, and even leading teams. If your marketing doesn’t resonate with their values and interests, you risk getting left behind.

So, we brought in one of their experts, Reece Callaway, to spill the tea on everything Gen Z and show B2B marketers how to connect with this generation.

In this episode, Reece dives into HubSpot’s playbook, sharing actionable tips to help you reach and engage this audience. From crafting relatable content to navigating trends and avoiding common pitfalls, he covers it all. 

Plus, he offers his predictions for where social media marketing is headed in 2025. We told you he spilled the tea.

Hot Topics:

• Who is Gen Z, and why should B2B marketers care?
• How to decide which trends to embrace—and which to skip
• Common mistakes brands make when marketing to Gen Z (and how to avoid them)

We’re back with a bonus episode of Behind the Post, and this time, host Alina Dallal is giving you a peek into the conversations that take place in the Oktopost marketing room!

Jennifer Gutman, Oktopost’s Director of Product and Customer Marketing, breaks down a proven 10-day roadmap to launching an employee advocacy pilot that will not only engage your team but also deliver results that grab your leadership's attention.

From gaining employee buy-in to crafting an internal communications plan, training your advocates, and measuring success, Jennifer shares actionable insights and best practices every marketer needs to know.

You’ll also learn how to foster excitement among employees, leverage internal champions, and build FOMO around your program—ensuring it grows into a sustainable, organization-wide initiative. Plus, Jen dives into her tried-and-true strategies for empowering employees to confidently share content, build their personal brands, and amplify your company’s voice on social media.

If you're looking to prove the value of employee advocacy in your organization, this episode is your blueprint for a successful launch.

Hot Topics:

• Why employee advocacy is essential for B2B brands
• How to select and onboard the right employees for your pilot program
• Creative ways to generate excitement and sustain engagement over time
• Measuring pilot success and securing leadership buy-in for a company-wide rollout

In this power-packed episode of Behind the Post, Marissa Rosen joins us to break down why executive takeovers are crucial for B2B brands, and how to collaborate effectively with your execs—all in just 15 minutes.

Hot Topics:

• The power of executive voices on LinkedIn and why they matter for your brand

• How to keep your executive’s expertise and authentic voice at the core of your ghostwriting

• How your executives’ LinkedIn profile should look like

In this episode of Behind the Post, we sit down with Josh Silverman, the Social Media and Digital Coordinator at Pontoon Solutions, to uncover how he’s built an employee advocacy program that truly resonates across continents and time zones. 

With colleagues scattered around the world, Josh had to get creative to keep everyone engaged. From on-demand training videos (now trimmed to a super-efficient 7 minutes) to anonymous surveys that gather valuable feedback, he’s developed strategies that make it easy for employees to confidently share company content—even without the benefit of face-to-face training and interaction.

One standout story? One of Josh's advocates saw an incredible 600% growth in their LinkedIn network in just a year, simply by consistently sharing valuable content with their network.

Tune in to hear Josh’s top tips for training advocates, building their confidence on social media, curating engaging content, and sustaining excitement for the program over time.

Hot Topics:

• Creative ways to engage a global, remote team of advocates
• Tips for sustaining engagement and excitement over time
• Solutions for training advocates across different time zones

The proof is in the statistics: 90% of B2B buyers prefer video content as their go-to content type for learning, and 85% of B2B marketers find it a highly effective method for capturing online attention.

But how do you create an engaging video that brings in optimal results?

In this episode of Behind the Post, we sit down with Niki Kostova, Head of Social Media at SUSE, as she reveals her best practices for crafting videos that stop the scroll on social media.

From selecting the right video topics to finding the ideal video length, Niki shares how her team discovered the perfect formula for producing videos that drive results. Her secret? Putting people at the heart of their video strategy.

Rather than relying solely on polished, professional content, Niki and her team focus on authentic, personal videos featuring SUSE employees sharing their expertise. After all, people trust people—and that’s the principle driving SUSE’s video success.

Hot Topics:

• The role of video content in SUSE’s social media strategy
• Why thought leaders are central to their video approach
• Best practices for creating standout social media videos
• How frequently video content appears in their content mix

In this episode of Behind the Post, Aliza Hornstein, Head of Social Media at WalkMe, explains why personal branding is a must-have for employees at all levels, from entry-level to the C-suite, and how advocacy leaders can support them in this process.

With an employee advocacy program at hand, which they coined ShareMe, Aliza uses gamification tactics and workshops to help employees turn company content into personalized, impactful posts. These workshops have been a key driver of success, teaching advocates how to create authentic, genuine content that resonates with their audience.

For those looking to build their personal brand independently, Aliza offers actionable tips throughout the episode, covering everything from finding your unique voice to using AI for inspiration. 

Hot Topics:

• Striking the perfect balance between personal and company content
• Tips for staying authentic when building your personal brand
• Training and engaging advocates through quarterly workshops
• Examples of personal branding posts Aliza has shared on LinkedIn 

In this episode, Vahbiz Cooper, Digital Marketing Specialist at Demandbase, walks us through why brands are turning to influencers, how to choose the right people to represent your brand, and why content quality matters more than follower count.

She also shares practical tips for running smooth campaigns, avoiding common pitfalls, and keeping things engaging and fun for both influencers and audiences. She dives into her favorite influencer campaign, which featured a creative unicorn piñata initiative that caught everyone’s attention, as well as the most challenging campaign she’s worked on—and the lessons she learned from it. Plus, she gives us a sneak peek at an exciting campaign she’s currently working on!

Whether you’re new to influencer marketing or looking to refine your strategy, this episode offers actionable insights on creating successful, engaging campaigns.

Hot Topics:

• Why B2B brands are turning to influencer marketing to build trust
• How to select the right influencers for your campaign
• The behind-the-scenes process of managing complex influencer campaigns
• Real-life examples of successful campaigns and lessons learned

In this episode of Behind the Post, Bella Rose Mortel shares how she brings a human touch to B2B marketing at beehiiv. With an active presence on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads, she explains how beehiiv tailors its strategy for each platform, balancing product promotion, education, and engaging memes.

Humor plays a key role in beehiiv's social strategy, and Bella Rose reveals how she weaves this into their content to foster deeper connections with the audience. One standout example? She donned a bee costume and created office parody videos that quickly became fan favorites.

In a conversation about humanizing B2B, the power of community management couldn’t be missed. Bella Rose highlights how responding to comments and engaging with followers can boost brand perception and online community strength.

But humanizing your brand goes beyond just social media posts. She also emphasizes the importance of employee advocacy, from the CEO's online presence to the social media onboarding process she leads for new team members. At beehiiv, an active presence on social has become an essential part of company culture.

Tune in to hear how you can humanize your B2B brand and build a thriving online community through creative, authentic social strategies!

Hot topics:

• Creative, out-of-the-box ideas that entertain their audience
• How to build authentic relationships with your audience on social
• Why your employees are your golden ticket to humanizing your strategy

To help us settle the debate, Bright Uduji joins us from LinkedIn on this episode of Behind the Post. Bright shares his expertise on organic followers, the power they bring to brands, and ultimately, whether follower count is just a vanity metric.

Bright dives into the importance of followers, offering insights on how to grow your follower base and why followers aren’t meaningless. Whether you're looking to enhance your social media strategy or understand the role of followers in your marketing efforts, this episode is packed with valuable insights and practical tips.

Hot Topics:

• How to get the right people following your brand on LinkedIn
• The expectation of a follower to a brand, and vice versa
• The top LinkedIn features you can use to grow your following

Subscribe to our LinkedIn newsletter, The B2B Social Compass, and catch our recent panel, “Unlocking the Power of Intent Data”, Bright referenced in this episode here. 

But with everything you’ve heard so far, Kieran Brannan, a Social Media Specialist at N-able, went Behind the Post to shake up your view on your posting strategy and give you practical and essential tips to help you create valuable content at scale.

Advocating that brands don’t post enough on LinkedIn, Kieran aims to publish 3-5 posts a day on N-able’s LinkedIn page. 

So, if a brand posts so often on LinkedIn, how can we have a steady stream of fresh and engaging content ideas?

The secret lies in content repurposing, and repurposing well. 

They say everything is content, and in Kieran’s eyes, there’s no truer statement. In this episode, he shares how you can take one blog post, podcast episode, whitepaper, or presentation and turn it into multiple social media posts. This way, you’ll never struggle with filling your social content calendar again. A bigger bonus is it will be full of valuable, educational content that your audience will love, bringing more attention to your brand.

Tune in to hear Kieran’s tips on working with the LinkedIn algorithm, the types of content that are performing well right now, and how he's organized his marketing team to bring new content ideas to him instead of constantly chasing them down. 

Hot Topics

• Repurposing hacks that will fill your social calendar with content your audience will love
• How to play to LinkedIn’s algorithm for real results
• What the best-performing content types are on LinkedIn right now

Subscribe to our newsletter: The B2B Social Compass.

With a background in B2C marketing, Kaylin Balderrama brings a fresh perspective to her role as the Global Social Media Manager at Bazaarvoice. 

She highlights that no matter if you’re in B2C or B2B, you’ll always be marketing to people. With that in mind, Kaylin shares the core principles that have helped her craft an engaging and successful social strategy that delivers results: authenticity and social-first content. 

The results speak for themselves: in the last 12 months, Bazaarvoice gained an impressive 18,000 followers, with 16,000 of those followers gained since Kaylin started in December 2023 and introduced her new social strategy!

To close out the episode, Kaylin also explores how B2B companies can leverage social media platforms traditionally seen as B2C, such as TikTok, to raise brand awareness.  

Tune in to learn what it really means to create social-first content and hear about a recent example that landed her in the news and on a flight to Cannes!

Hot Topics:

• What social-first content is, and how to create it
• The metrics she tracks to monitor their performance 
• How to leverage TikTok for B2B marketing

Subscribe to our newsletter: The B2B Social Compass.

Subscribe to our newsletter: The B2B Social Compass.

In this episode of Behind the Post, host Alina Dallal welcomes Sheldon Bruck, the Social Media and Community Manager at D-ID, to uncover his secrets to staying productive with all the different responsibilities he has.

Even though no two days in social are the same, Sheldon takes us through a typical day in his role, sharing insights into the responsibilities he focuses on daily, weekly, and monthly that help him stay on track. 

As the solo manager of D-ID’s social media presence, he delves into how he balances stakeholder demands, navigates last-minute calendar changes, and the pivotal role of cross-department collaboration in delivering a top-notch customer service experience. 

Diving into the value of social media analytics on any social strategy, Sheldon reveals how monitoring social analytics helps him remain productive when it comes to content creation. 

Tune in for valuable tips and strategies for staying productive when working in social media from a seasoned professional.

Hot Topics:

• The marketing tools that simplify his work processes 

• The daily, weekly, and monthly tasks that keep him on track.

• The importance of cross-department collaboration in helping him get his job done efficiently 

Subscribe to our newsletter: The B2B Social Compass.

With no experience in design, Sam Tyrrell rose to the title of King of Canva at AlixPartners and went Behind the Post to tell you everything you need to know to master Canva yourself. 

Sam walks us through the process they have in place when creating content on Canva, including how he trains his wider marketing team to create designs, what the approval process looks like, and how he ensures all designs stay on-brand.

Being part of a company big on employee advocacy and personal branding, Sam is passionate about translating this company value through visuals as well. He walks us through how he encourages his colleagues to use design to help their employees showcase their personalities online. 

Sam also entered fire-round questions to share his best practices, go-to features, design pet peeves, and the biggest lessons he’s learned along the way to taking the throne.

If you use Canva, you won’t want to miss this episode. 

Hot Topics:

• Go-to features on Canva that everyone should know about

• Design best practices that will take your final designs from mediocre to masterpiece

• Which design tools he uses besides Canva and what for

• How AlixPartners’ designs differ for their corporate social media pages versus their employee advocacy program

Subscribe to our newsletter: The B2B Social Compass.

In this episode, Joanna Braunold goes Behind the Post to share how social intent data helps both the sales and marketing departments at TytoCare achieve their goals.

Tune in for a conversation about why sales and marketing teams need to be best friends, the structure in place to keep the teams on the same page at TytoCare, and how social media marketing brings the two departments together. Yes – you read that right. 

Joanna dives into the marketing initiatives set to equip their sales teams with the tools they need to engage with more leads and turn prospects into customers. She explains how she implemented these strategies, from getting their sales teams actively involved in social selling to understanding how they can use social intent data to strike up relevant, meaningful conversations with prospects.

Beyond empowering her sales team, Joanna shares how social intent data helps her create marketing content that resonates with their audience. With a B2C presence on social media as well as B2B, they discovered that many of their B2B leads were interacting with their B2C accounts. Learning from this, Joanna experimented with posting B2C content on their B2B channels, and the results did not disappoint!

Hot Topics:

• The importance of aligning marketing and sales teams, and how they do it at TytoCare

• Using social intent data to create content that aligns with audience interests

• How to pass along social intent data to the sales team, and how sales use it to boost their closed-won rates

NXP Semiconductors has recently been experimenting and refining its LinkedIn Live strategy, with incredible results. In this episode of Behind the Post, Vanessa Lowe, the Head of Social Media at NXP, offers an in-depth look into the entire process – from beginning to end – of launching a LinkedIn Live strategy. 

Vanessa shares her insights on the key elements of a successful LinkedIn Live strategy, covering the highs and lows, along with invaluable tips to guide you through your own launch. She discusses the promotion techniques they use to build anticipation for their LinkedIn Live sessions, shares a behind-the-scenes look at the recording process, and reveals the third-party streaming tool they rely on to broadcast to LinkedIn.

While it may seem like a challenging undertaking, some parts of the process have turned out to be surprisingly straightforward. Vanessa was (rightfully) impressed by the level of success they achieved, indicating that the benefits of their LinkedIn Live strategy significantly outweighed the hurdles. In fact, their LinkedIn Live sessions generate an average of over 50,000 impressions, while their regular posts yield approximately 8,000—an astonishing difference. 

This episode serves as a comprehensive roadmap for anyone looking to master LinkedIn Live, with Vanessa Lowe providing a glimpse into what makes their approach so successful.

Hot Topics:

• What does recording day look like and how do they handle live real-time engagement

• The equipment needed and the third-party tool they use for streaming

• How LinkedIn Live helps them achieve their overall marketing goals

On this episode of Behind the Post, Alina sat down with not one, but two, brilliant marketing experts from Similarweb – Senior Social Media Manager, Itay Gross, and Content Marketing Manager, Faith Preminger. With double the guests, you bet you’ll walk away with double the expertise. 

They delved into how their content and social media teams work together for success and how marketing processes work at Similarweb.

With a passion for B2B social in common, the trio discussed why social media is so valuable for B2B brands today and the importance of using B2C tactics to create an engaging, fun, and memorable B2B strategy. 

Armed with unique insights their Similarweb product offers, Itay shares how he incorporates data-driven storytelling about trending topics into their strategy to harness the attention of B2B professionals scrolling through LinkedIn. *Spoiler alert* – their audience loved their data insights on Taylor Swift’s impact on the Kansas City Chiefs’ website traffic during the Super Bowl! 

As big enthusiasts of the power of employee advocacy on their wider social media strategy, they unpacked everything a social media manager would want to know when implementing an advocacy program and keeping up its momentum. The duo got candid about the challenges they encountered along the way, and the tips and tricks they learned that resulted in a successful strategy. 

Whether you're a marketer, a social media enthusiast, or simply curious about what goes on behind the post, there's much to learn from the experiences of these two experts.

Sarah Hankins takes the hot seat on this episode of Behind the Post with host Alina Dallal to talk all things employee advocacy at CBIZ. With an impressive cohort of 2,700 advocates, Sarah dives into how she runs their successful advocacy program and how she plans to keep their momentum going throughout 2024.

From finding the right balance of content to the types she creates, Sarah dives all in with the best practices you should implement for any advocacy program. She also shares her top tips for keeping advocates engaged, including quarterly training and gamification ideas to hold their interest in the long-term – she even created her own spin on Spotify Wrapped to create an “Oktopost Wrapped” campaign at the end of 2023 to showcase their results to her team and shoutout there top performing advocates.

Communication is the foreground of any successful employee advocacy program. Sarah candidly shares how she supports her team while also learning from her advocates on ways she can better her program and continue to create more relevant content.

Running the employee advocacy program led Sarah to trade Zoom calls for an incredible tour of CBIZ’s offices across the U.S., which they called the “Oktopost Roadshow”. With pitstops to 12 offices across the country, Sarah met her advocates in person to further encourage participation and provide them with the guidance they needed to become champion advocates.

Even if we aren’t all lucky enough to tour the States on a company budget, Sarah leaves a multitude of practical tips that we can still use to train, support, and coach our advocates for success. 

Hot Topics:

• How to write for different personas in your organization

• Why communication and support is so integral for a successful program

• How you can learn from your advocates to improve your strategy

• Tips and tricks that help her keep her advocates engaged

In this episode of Behind the Post, host Alina welcomes Etien Yanev, the Senior Social Media Manager at Payhawk. As the author of the book “Digital Marketing Compass” (currently only available in Bulgarian), and with 12 years of marketing experience under his belt, Etien shares all the expertise he’s picked up along the way. 

From content creation to video creation, Etien dives into all the use cases AI can provide to help scale social media content as well as help us serve our audiences better. He reveals his favorite tools to use and best practices for using them effectively. 

As well as showing his passion for AI, Etien also shines a light on the importance of leveraging your employees and executives as brand ambassadors to humanize your brand and maximize your impact. 

Hot topics:

• Best practices for using AI to its full potential

• His top AI tools for content creation

• The significance of personal brands to build relationships with your audience

Take it from Adrian Solomone, who is directly involved in building Finastra's employee advocacy program, and it's so successful that their employees are asking to join. 

In this episode, Adrian joined host Alina Dallal to reveal Finastra’s secrets for success and share valuable tips for implementing an advocacy program at a large organization. He also dives into how they capitalize on Oktopost’s AI tools to ensure their advocates are personalizing their content, quickly and efficiently.  

But, when it comes to advocacy, it’s not just the voices of your employees that you should be amplifying. Adrian walks us through how they encouraged their executives to get involved in thought leadership on LinkedIn, and the steps they're taking to guide them along the way.

What results are they seeing? Their advocacy program brought in the highest number of signups for a recent webinar, compared to other marketing strategies.

Hot Topics:

• The impact of implementing a successful advocacy program 

• The importance of building executive thought leadership on LinkedIn 

• How they’re bringing the numbers to leadership to prove the value of social media on ROI and business outcomes

In this episode, host Alina Dallal sits down with Brittany Otting, the Director of Social Media at CBIZ. With Brittany's extensive background spanning eight years in various industries, she brings a unique perspective on social media to the table.

Brittany walks us through CBIZ’s successful social selling program, sharing valuable tips on their best practices for training their revenue teams and advocates, how they are measuring their success, and how they are proving that social media influences revenue.  

As we know, no two days in social media are the same, and Brittany reveals how they approach their corporate strategy to navigate these changes. Given frequent algorithm updates, she shares how they experiment with different content types to stand out on social, and she doesn’t hold back from revealing her tips for a successful strategy. 

Hot Topics:

• How to implement a successful social selling strategy
• Proving the impact of social media on ROI
• How they leverage algorithm changes to experiment with their corporate strategy

Alina Dallal takes the mic in an exciting new season of Behind the Post. Alina is Oktopost's Content Marketing Manager, and is obsessed with all things B2B Social Media.

In this episode, you'll meet Alina and discover everything in store for you this year!

With over 30 years in B2B Sales and Marketing, Alex Abbott joins host Olivia Messina on Behind the Post to discuss one of the most prevalent topics in B2B sales today: social selling.

Alex urges that the traditional prospecting approach is no longer working. Buyers have lost trust in salespeople, and with the nature of cold calling and emailing being predicated on waste– B2B revenue teams need to embrace social selling to help hit their targets.

In this episode, Alex delves into the buyer/seller misalignment and sheds light on how social selling can bridge this gap and empower revenue teams to overcome their major challenges. He explains what social selling actually means and how you can stand out as a trusted advisor to not only initiate meaningful conversations but also create a presence that attracts inbound conversations.

Getting to the heart of social selling, Alex explains how every like and comment is an opportunity to engage in a conversation and how to take that next action. He also discusses how to scale social selling, what to measure, where it should sit within the organization, how to get started, what content to create, and how to meaningfully engage with your network.

Born storyteller Solveig Rundquist, Senior Content Manager at Mentimeter, joins host Olivia Messina to discuss how she incorporates storytelling into her content marketing and the data-driven strategies she's implementing across social to drive results.

In this episode, Solveig breaks down what storytelling means to her, the science of crafting a compelling story, and how to bring it to life through your content and social media marketing. An expert in storytelling, she reveals how you can uncover stories within your organization or shift to "story doing" if the stories aren't explicitly clear.

With an impressive social presence within just a few months of joining Mentimeter, Solveig walks through her data-driven process and the fundamental changes she put in place to uphold a high engagement rate.

Delving into the importance of differentiating and tailoring content per channel, she explains how, with two very different target audiences– she gets the right content to land in front of the right people and how she uses data to make informed decisions.

To close the show, Solveig shares how she encourages key stakeholders to engage on social and why it's critical to make those already building their persona brands your heroes. You won't want to miss Solveig's take on AI in content marketing today– stay until the very end for an insightful take.

Hot Topics:

• How to craft compelling stories on social media even if they aren't explicitly clear
• Tactics to ensure your content lands in front of the right audience
• Solveig's approach to engaging key stakeholders on social media 

Jordan Tennenbaum, Social Media Manager at Celigo, joins host Olivia Messina to discuss his transition from a 7-year sales career to social media and the framework he used to triple nearly every metric at his organization.

He emphasizes consistently publishing engaging, human-focused content to drive long-term growth. As an expert at crafting standout content, he reveals the power of being a little different and using relatable memes to connect with audiences.

From consistency and employee advocacy to creative social challenges and employer branding initiatives that celebrate his colleagues, Jordan unpacks the pillars of building a powerful, human-centric social presence that people want to be a part of.

He explores the ongoing debate around follower count–are they just vanity metrics or valuable indicators? Jordan provides a nuanced take, emphasizing an engaged following matters for social proof.

Jordan concludes the show by sharing how he built his personal brand, his favorite tools for efficiency as a social media marketer, and his perspective on whether brands should maintain a presence on X as many reevaluate their strategy.

Hot Topics: 

• Jordan’s transition from sales to social media
• The strategy that tripped nearly every social metric at Celigo
• How to supercharge your LinkedIn following

In this episode, host Olivia Messina welcomes Elizabeth Hilfrank, Content Marketing Manager at Drift, to the show. Over the past 5 years, Elizabeth has overseen several sectors of content at Drift, from video production to podcast to now their blog, ebook, newsletter, and social media strategy–and now she’s revealing what she’s learned along the way.

Elizabeth shares how to nail a social media video, emphasizing the importance of hooking the audience in the first couple of seconds and always including captions. With human-focused social campaigns, she reveals how her strategy and content are more in line with B2C. She even gives examples of current and past campaigns that have driven results for Drift.

With a proven record of success, she dives deep into her LinkedIn strategy, discussing how often she posts and whether or not you should put the link directly in the post or in the comments. Even though Drift is in B2B, she highlights the importance of showcasing they are human by jumping on trends and regularly engaging with their community.

To wrap up the show, Elizabeth reveals her social workflow process and how she determines what content makes it to the corporate feed. She shares the importance of her calendar and project management tool, her tips for managing content ownership outside of social, and the importance of early involvement of social media managers in content creation discussions.

Hot Topics:

• How to create and promote successful social media videos 

• Proven LinkedIn tips and strategies for engagement 

• Elizabeth’s workflow that allows her to manage their blog, ebook, newsletter, and social strategy

In this episode of Behind the Post, host Olivia Messina sits down with two remarkable experts: Kinga Kusak, the Senior Content Marketing Manager at PlayPlay, and Ale Schlesinger, the Social Media Manager at HiBob.

Together, they take a deep dive into the world of employer branding, stressing the importance of an authentic strategy. Kinga and Ale reveal the best channels to implement your strategy and the optimal functions within your organization in which it should sit to make it shine.

As employer branding experts, Kinga and Ale share valuable tips on genuinely portraying your employer brand. Plus, they provide insights into previous social campaigns and best practices for creating employer branding videos that leave a lasting impact!

Olivia, Kinga, and Danyelle Felchner, Recruitment Marketing Manager–Social Media at CVS Health, are continuing the conversation in PlayPlay’s upcoming webinar, “How to Harness The Power of Employer Branding & Improve ROI.” Register now and don’t miss more tips and actionable insights!