The race to see who will make it to number one in the UK Christmas charts has always been a hotly contested battle. But by 2009, Simon Cowell’s X Factor winners were the dominant force, with four consecutive wins under their belt. Enter Jon Morter, a social media hellraiser who was out to cause chaos in the charts. Using every social media trick in…

When it comes to going viral on social media, the introduction of TikTok changed the landscape for how creators produce content, and how we consume it en masse. Nowhere is this more clear than with Garron Noone, an Irish star who went from starting 2023 with a few thousand subscribers on the platform to having his videos regularly reach millions of…

With over 10 million followers across their social platforms, Boiler Room has been dominating the online music scene since their inception in 2010. Their promotion of sets from underground dance artists via live streams has highlighted some of the finest acts in techno, jazz and hip hop from across the globe. Boiler Room’s social strategy has creat…

The internet is buzzing with social media success stories, and we’re back for another season of Social Creatures. We’ll be exploring the secrets behind some of today's biggest social media wins, as well as uncovering some of the key successes behind the rise in influencer popularity. This season, we’ll be talking to all sorts of people, whether it’…

In 2017, Fyre Festival captured the world’s attention. For a moment in time it was the hottest ticket in the world and founder Billy McFarland built its initial worldwide excitement and buzz entirely on social media. But the festival dramatically fell from grace when the terrible execution of the event shocked the world, resulting in Billy being co…

Harnessing the power of social marketing to unite people to tackle climate change is a formidable undertaking, and Too Good To Go is paving the way. It’s estimated that a third of all food produced in the world is wasted and 10% of world greenhouse gas emissions come from food waste alone. This impact is greater than of the aviation industry and pl…

Despite the progressive nature of the contemporary art industry, there had never been a huge presence of these artists in the social media space. That is, until Unit London exploded onto the scene in 2013 with a range of pop-up locations highlighting a new group of diverse, unrepresented artists whose talent was to be celebrated in a non-discrimina…

Over the past two decades, the world of social media has undergone a remarkable evolution, reshaping the way we connect, communicate, and consume content. As a seasoned consultant, Matt Navarra has stood as a vigilant observer and an active participant. He's not only witnessed the shifts but has also been at the forefront of guiding brands and inst…

The emergence of luxury fashion houses during the 19th Century marked a transformative moment in history, birthing legendary brands that would shape the landscape of fashion, and define style, trends and sophistication. These exclusive high fashion luxury brands captivate its followers with their exquisite designs and impeccable attention to detail…

From its humble beginnings in 1984, Ryanair has grown to become one of Europe's leading airlines. It has established itself as a prominent and influential brand, known for its innovative approaches to engaging with customers through social media platforms. With a strong emphasis on building a vibrant and humorous online presence, Ryanair has effect…

Innocent is a fruit juice and smoothies brand that aims to be Europe’s favourite little drinks company. Well known for their ability to create emotional connections with people over social media, the premise of Innocent is to ‘leave people better than we found them’. They have mastered the art of emotional marketing, bringing humour and meaning int…

Building a large following on social media is often key to the success of many companies. But building a trusted online social community is at the heart of the success of Riley; with honest and realistic promises central to their progressive marketing. They’ve taken the world of period products by storm, combining a health and wellness approach wit…

Faced with challenging economic times and global inflation, businesses across all industries are working hard to get the best return on investment. As marketing is often the first channel to suffer when it comes to budget cuts, in today's episode we investigate how to maximize marketing with a small social media team. Capturing the cultural zeitgei…

Discover how Oxfam blend fashion, celebrity and social media for Second Hand September to show how sustainable clothing can be chic and good for the environment. More of us are becoming conscious of the impact the modern fashion industry has on the world around us. One of the easiest ways to reduce the impact our fashion choices are having on the e…

Social media is a place where any user can be connected to celebrities, influencers, and any public figure in an instant, but sometimes that connection can come at a cost. One of the most pressing ongoing topics on social media is how to address toxic behaviour and internet trolling, with one particularly prominent group at the forefront of that co…

Sitting somewhere between an employee and an influencer, workfluencers are on the rise. Rather than just curating articles on professional milestones and triumphs, workfluencers are known for being more open and honest about day-to-day work life, and consequently are favoured because they provide an authentic look at professional life. As their pop…

Social media marketing is a constantly evolving space, and with new trends, topics, and tactics seemingly emerging overnight, it’s sometimes hard to know what to do. That’s why we’re here to help with our social media marketing podcast for professionals like you! After all the exciting conversations we had on season 1 of Social Creatures, we’re bac…

Mob is a salivatingly delicious food platform which makes cooking cool. But beyond the tasty meals and branding - Mob is a collective with a conscience, dedicated to educating young cooks how to make exciting and nourishing meals on a budget. Tune in to find out how they've utilised social media to blend coolness with conscience, as well as land im…

Fanbytes are making digital waves with their award winning social media campaigns for some huge global brands. Their secret weapon? Gen Z influencers and unique data insights to what makes consumers stop scrolling. Ocean Clarke, account director at Fanbytes, shares how their data tools are matching brands with both creators and their social media a…

ATG is the driving force behind 32 regional theatres across the UK, and many more around the world. Chris Welton, Head of Social and Content, shares how social media is a key tool in theatre marketing, selling some of country's most beloved shows to millions of audience members, and in supporting the producers and theatres behind them. Hear what ad…

There are some events that feel made for social media. The Paralympics are undoubtedly one of them. But beyond the thrill of event, the victories and the losses, ParalympicsGB is a social account making huge inroads to change the perception and visibility of disabled athletes, and disability in general, right across society. With the largest social…

Let's face it, there's fewer of us hanging around the water cooler these days. So much of our chit chat now happens on social media, something that TV bosses and their socials team understood a long time ago. But how are they capitalising on social users' desire to react, share, connect over TV shows? Enter Owen Williams, MD of the social media age…

Wine drinking, shenanigans and hams - they're all in a day's work at the Royal Academy. We speak to Fionnuala Deasy, social media lead at the renowned institution and longest established art school in Britain, to hear how its collections have inspired conversation and creativity for over 250 years. Discover how the RA has balanced its ardour for th…

One of the UK's most respected PR companies, FRANK's award-winning 2021 Weetabix x Heinz campaign went to new levels – sparking global controversy on social media and even heated debate amongst MPs in the House of Commons. Discover FRANK's unique recipe for creating brand pile-ons, and learn how to become a TikTok master via some Sound Advice from …

Where does Anderson Paak converge with the West Midlands of yesteryear? At the Black Country Living Museum, an open-air museum that uses TikTok to entertain and educate followers about life in the region throughout history. Emily Smith, Audiences and Communications Manager - and the actress who plays the 1940s lady at the BCLM - shares how the muse…

The Eurovision Song Contest is world's biggest live music event, with over 180 million viewers tuning in to see who will win the yearly competition. But how does this iconic event keep the magic alive all year round? With event-based social media, of course! Communications Lead Dave Goodman shares what it takes to promote this gigantic event online…

Orkney Library is a small library off the northeastern coast of Scotland. It's also the darling of British literary X (formally Twitter) with a following of almost 80,000 users. How, you wonder? The answer lies in a unique (and just a little bit silly) passion for books, balls and wordplay. Tune in to discover the rest of their magical formula, and…

Anu Hautalampi is the Head of Social for UN Women. A global entity with millions of followers, UN Women's mission is to work towards gender equality and women's empowerment. It's a big mission – so where on earth do you start? How can social media activism affect actual change? And is it possible to have some smiles along the way?! Find out first h…

#Sprinklegate was the biggest, loudest and most furious hashtag to make international headlines in 2021. When Trading Standards investigated the Leeds-based bakery 'Get Baked' over its use of illegal sprinkles, owner Rich Myers took to social media to rail against the controversy, and the business shot to stardom. Find out how Rich made the best of…

Join us as we chat with some of our favourite social media accounts, to explore their success and share the secrets behind their social media strategy. Got a social media dilemma? Email our in-house agony aunt at soundadvice@sproutsocial.com

Katie Carroll heads up LinkedIn News for North America and the UK. In a world where social media is rife with misinformation and trashy stories that waste your time, LinkedIn curates and packages news to help the platform's professional audience get the information they need to help them do their jobs better. Matt Navarra and Martin SFP Bryant spok…

Stan Chudnovsky heads up Messenger at Facebook. As Messenger turns 10 years old, we ask him about its future as it transitions into being more of a layer across all of Facebook's properties, rather than just a standalone app. How does Instagram messaging and WhatsApp fit into this world? What about the metaverse? And can everything you do on Messen…

Carole Cadwalladr and Professor David Carroll are both well known voices against what they see as Facebook’s wrongdoing. They were two founding members of a group called The Real Facebook Oversight Board, launched just three weeks before Facebook’s official Oversight Board started work last year. Since then they’ve used the media to get their messa…

What happens when you cross a professional news report on a ship stuck in the Suez Canal with a sea shanty? The answer is one of BBC visual journalist Sophia Smith Galer’s biggest hits on TikTok. Sophia joins us to talk about a new generation of journalists who emphasise their own personality and identity, and she gives us insights into her social …

This week we chat with Shimona Mehta, Shopify's managing director for the EMEA region. We discuss how social platforms are increasingly adopting shopping features, how platforms like Shopify power them, and what this all means for the future of how we all buy things. This season, our interviews are recorded live on Twitter Spaces, look out for deta…

Geekout with Matt Navarra is back! This week we chat with Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp. We discuss WhatsApp's battle to save end-to-end encryption from governments around the world, the growth of messaging as a business tool, and ask lots of geeky questions about WhatsApp's features and plans. This season, our interviews are recorded live on Twi…

Geekout with Matt Navarra is back, and this time... we’re doing it live. Yes, we’re returning to grill more well-known personalities? from the world of social media. This time the special guests we’ve got lined up include senior figures from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, the BBC, and more. And we’ll be streaming live on Twitter …

In the first of a series of special episodes looking at the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, we look at how the world of digital media and the big social platforms have been affected. We’re joined by Sara Fischer, media reporter at Axios, and John Saroff, CEO of Chartbeat, to explore whether there’s redemption in the air for Facebook, how publis…

Ed Couchman is general manager for Snap in the UK, overseeing the business growth of the company there.. Ed joins Matt Navarra and Martin SFP Bryant to talk how Snapchat is evolving, the features people don’t necessarily make the most of, how marketers can make more of the platform, how Snap’s Spectacles might evolve in the future, and more. Meanwh…

James Whatley has been a social media geek so long he practically invented the term. These days he's a strategy partner at Digitas, where he helps brands make the most of digital platforms. James joins Matt Navarra and Martin SFP Bryant to talk about how social media has evolved over the past 15 years, how brands use it well, whether TikTok is a fl…

Ask staff at many of the world’s leading newsrooms what software they rely on the most and Chartbeat will be near the top of the list. John Saroff is CEO of Chartbeat, which means he has plenty of insights into the way online publishers — and their audiences —are evolving. John joins Matt Navarra and Martin SFP Bryant to talk about the changing hab…

Vix Meldrew is a content creator and the founder of Grow & Glow, a community for creators who want to build sustainable storytelling businesses. Vix talks to Matt Navarra and Martin SFP Bryant about how the influencer industry is evolving from simple paid endorsements to more involved forms of storytelling. She discusses making the leap from school…

Vishal Shah is Instagram’s head of product, and he joins us to explain how he’s thinking about the world’s most popular visual sharing app as a new year begins. Vishal talks to Matt Navarra and Martin SFP Bryant about how Instagram decides what to add to — and take away from — the app, how messaging app Threads is developing, why DMs are coming to …

Taylor Lorenz of The New York Times has carved out a niche for herself as the journalist who explains youth culture online to the rest of us. Whether it’s Google Docs as a social network or party invites via Instagram, she understands the trends many of us would never hear of without her stories. Taylor joins Matt Navarra and Martin SFP Bryant to d…

Chris Messina is the inventor of the hashtag, but he’s been asked about that far too many times for us to bring it up much here. Good thing that he’s a deep thinker about products, platforms, and social engagement, and has lots to say about topics we love on this podcast. Chris joins Matt Navarra and Martin SFP Bryant to discuss whether social medi…

Colleen Stauffer is Pinterest's Director of Global Business Marketing. She joins Matt Navarra and Martin SFP Bryant to discuss this often misunderstood platform, how it can help digital marketers and social media managers, and she shares her views on the future of digital marketing. We dig into the increasingly visual way we all communicate, what s…

Andrew 'Boz' Bosworth is Facebook's VP responsible for VR and AR. He joins Matt Navarra and Martin 'SFP' Bryant moments after stepping off the stage at Oculus Connect 6, Facebook's latest VR developer conference. He talks us through some of the biggest news from the event and we explore how important virtual worlds could become to our lives in the …

Damian Collins has social media regulation in his sights, and as chair of UK Parliament's DCMS select committee, he's got strong opinions on how to whip the tech companies into shape. Here he joins Matt Navarra and Martin SFP Bryant to explain why tech companies seem to particularly fear scrutiny from UK politicians, whether we need international r…

CNN media reporter Kerry Flynn joins Matt Navarra and Martin SFP Bryant to discuss the future of social media. Is there room for new platforms to break through? Is Facebook doomed to be associated with data misuse forever? What will tech look like in 10 years time? And is TikTok just a fad? We also get nostalgic over FriendFeed and Yo, and find out…

Twitter’s Director, Product Management, Sara Haider chats to hosts Matt Navarra and Martin SFP Bryant. We find out the latest on the much-requested edit button; the state of play with Twitter’s verification program; how product design can aid positive mental health; Martin pitches Sara his idea for a standalone DMs app, and Matt tries his hardest t…