Speaker Spotlight: Q&A with Sophie Thirlwell, Head of Brands and Development at Rocket

May 24

Sophie Thirlwell is an experienced marketing professional with an impressive track record of delivering successful campaigns over her 8-year career. With a background in journalism, she began her journey at a social agency and has since cultivated a diverse skill set in organic and paid social, media buying, and influencer marketing. She now leads the development and growth at Rocket, a content marketing business that creates content in-house for brands engaging youth and parent audiences on social media.

Sophie is a strong advocate for continual learning, understanding audience behavior, and adapting to industry trends. Her experience, which spans from being a campaign executive to a senior leadership role today, has been rewarding and varied, providing her with a deep understanding of the ever-evolving marketing landscape.

At SocialDay 2023, Sophie will participate in an interactive panel discussion titled "Content Unpacked: Navigating the Now and Next in Social Media." Alongside Gus Bhandal, founder of the digital marketing agency The M Guru, and Andre Pickart, they will delve into the heart of social media content, discussing current trends, and what the future holds.

During this session, Sophie will share insights from Rocket and their product, the Family Collective, which focuses on content creation for brand usage. Over the past three years, Sophie has gained valuable knowledge on what types of content resonate most with audiences and drive engagement. She will explore the role of AI in content creation, and 'what to watch' for the industry's future.

Sophie looks forward to the SocialDay forum for its vibrant environment, where like-minded professionals share insights and learn from each other. She is especially interested in the advancement of shopping on social media and the evolving audience behavior, viewing social media as the new search. With respect to AI developments, Sophie is excited about the potential of ChatGPT and the impact of AI on audience trust and retention.

One of her most significant social media success stories involves the launch of the London Dungeons TikTok in a post-Covid world, resulting in award-winning campaigns. For the future, Sophie hopes to see a rise in confidence around commerce on social media and an increase in variety when it comes to audio content, such as playlists and integration with apps like Spotify.

You can connect with Sophie Thirlwell on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiethirlwell/ and on Twitter @sophthirlwell. She encourages everyone to join her and the other panellists during the session for a chance to engage directly with the experts, learn from their experiences, and contribute to the dialogue on the future of social media content.