Meet Kelly Bean: Social Media Marketing Awards 2019 Winner

We’re always looking for an excuse to highlight incredible people in the industry, and when’s a better time than on the run up to the Social Media Marketing Awards, where we celebrate the very best of the best? Following on from our interview with Chris Melvin, we’re interviewing another of Sunshine Communications’ team: Kelly Bean. Kelly is a Social Media Strategist and in 2019 won Community Manager of the Year at the SMMAs. 

We asked Kelly how it felt to win a Social Media Marketing Award, what platforms social media marketers should be keeping an eye on this year, and what her advice would be to people thinking of entering the awards this year.

By the way, nominations and entries for the Social Media Marketing Awards 2021 are now open!

Hi Kelly! Could you start off by telling us a bit about your journey on the run up to the awards?

Earlier that year, I’d entered an award and unfortunately didn’t make the cut (their loss!). So, when Sunshine put me forward for the SMMAs, I had very low expectations. It was such an amazing feeling to find out I was nominated, let alone winning!

You came away winning Community Manager of the Year! How did that feel and did you share the fantastic news with your community?

I was honestly overwhelmed! I really didn’t think I had a chance of winning and I had in no way prepared a speech, so that was interesting trying to improvise on the spot. As soon as I won, I contacted friends/family as I was just in complete shock that I’d won. It’s done wonders for my confidence. It’s amazing to be recognised for caring about your community, not just trying to be witty and ‘go viral’. It’s an opportunity to connect and help people! We of course shared our wins across Sunshine’s socials – big shout out to my colleague Chris who snapped up Content Creator of the Year!

Did winning the awards open up any new opportunities for you?
Well, of course it looks fantastic on the CV for future opportunities, but it also reminds me how valuable I am. I’m definitely more confident with pitching now because of it and more comfortable when advising my clients on my approach to their strategy.

What moment in your career are you most proud of to date?

To be honest, it was winning this award! It was a fantastic achievement and was a turning point for me in my career. It’s brilliant to have that recognition from the judges who have a wealth of experience in social media marketing.

What do you think the biggest change/challenge has been for you professionally in 2020?

Social media usage has spiked over the last year because of the pandemic and a lot of businesses turned to social media marketing as their main channel to reach their target audience. However, with that comes more competition on the newsfeed so we needed to work even harder to ensure that our clients stood out and we could achieve the best results possible for them. We also have had to be extremely reactive so our content is in line with government guidelines.

Moving into 2021, we can see the increasing demand for and importance of community-based platforms and features. Are there any in particular that you think community managers should be keeping an eye on in 2021? 

Everyone is talking about Clubhouse, which is an audio platform where users can enter rooms, listen to discussions around a certain topic and can choose to go up on the podium and speak themselves. With the rise of podcasting, it’s no wonder that this has caught the eye of most social media marketers. We can also see that other platforms are looking for ways to bring audio to their offering (e.g. Twitter launching voice tweets). It’s definitely one to watch.

With nominations for the 2021 Social Media Marketing Awards opening soon, what would your advice be to people in the industry who are thinking of entering?

Please don’t doubt yourself! Trust in your craft and go for it, and if you’re shortlisted, make sure to prepare a speech ;). 

If Kelly’s story has inspired you to apply for your own award, head to the Social Media Marketing Awards site now. Entries and nominations are now open for the 2021 SMMAs.

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