France-based Aline Geffroy recently joined Shaheen Samavati on The Content Mix to chat about her role as global social media director for Saint-Gobain, a design, manufacturing and material distribution company. She talked about what it’s like to manage social media for a massive company like Saint-Gobain, which is present in 69 countries.

Aline discussed the importance of engaging both internal and external audiences—especially during lockdown, when social media was many employees’ main window into the company. She explained how Saint-Gobain has supported its team during the pandemic and spotlighted “unknown heroes” like the IT workers that have kept its systems up and running.

She also discussed the necessity of showing solidarity in marketing, and explained how Saint-Gobain has done so this year. The company has demonstrated solidarity not only in its messaging, but also in its actions; for example, by providing much-needed materials for the victims of the Beirut explosion.

You can watch the full conversation in the video above or on YouTube, and listen to the podcast on Apple or Spotify.

Rapid-fire recs

• Favorite app:
  • Hootsuite. “We use Hootsuite at work, so having the app makes it easy to quickly check or approve things.”
  • Google Sheets. “I love Google Sheets. It’s so simple but so easy to use for collaboration with my team.”

• Sources of inspiration:
  • Refinery29. “It has so much innovative content. Even though it’s mainly about things like lifestyle and art, it always inspires me.”
  • The New York Times. “The content they put out is quite impressive. I don’t know of many other websites that do such elaborate content.”

• Industry group or resource: “I really like The Social Media Geek Out by Matt Navarra, and I also enjoy the digital and marketing website The Drum.”

It’s really important to always be aware of the trends—and I’m not just referring to TikTok. For instance, when you find a new Instagram account and the creator is explaining something in an original way, you can get inspired by it, make your own attempt at it, and then go from there.

Connect with Aline and Shaheen on LinkedIn.

This post was edited by Mary Kresge.

For more insights into showing solidarity in marketing:

Commitment without action means absolutely nothing – Luc Berlin, enterprise marketing expert

Fight apathy and isolation – Valeriia Voshchevska, Amnesty International’s global social media manager

Inclusive content: Why it matters and how to get started

To see the full transcript, click on page number 2 below. 

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