Humans Behind the Handles: Danielle Wilkin

Welcome back to Humans Behind the Handles, with the fabulous Danielle Wilkin.

The former Social Media Manager at Guide Dogs UK shared the inside scoop on life behind the handle for her. From career highlights and the occasional headache to staying sane on social media, Danielle shares what it really takes to keep things running smoothly, no matter what gets thrown her way. 

The Background

Originally, Danielle was set on becoming a forensic psychologist. While studying at university, she realised “it probably wouldn't have been totally suited to her personality”.

Looking for her first role, she was open to anything and everything. When luck struck, she was offered a small marketing role at Guide Dogs UK. Within a few years, she was running “massive integrated marketing campaigns”.

She then got the travel bug and spent some time hopping around the world. In the meantime, she ran social media for a travel agency and a book publisher. When she came back to the UK, a bit more than six months ago, she went back to Guide Dogs UK in what she called “a proper full circle”.

Despite not initially planning to work in social media, she feels “like studying psychology did help with marketing because it is sort of understanding human behaviors,what makes people tick”.

The Daily

As Danielle points out: it’s not just social media, it’s “so much more than that”. The humans behind the handles need to wear a lot of hats and, in Danielle’s case it’s no different.

On any average day, she could “go from planning a big social media campaign to then just trying to find little slots [...] to fill spaces in the calendar. One minute you're forward planning and then you're quickly reacting to something that's come up on the news”.

She also explains that she often needs to make use of both her creativity and her data insights. While she does spend a lot of time creating assets and editing videos, she also runs and strategises through monthly reports.

Some common misconceptions she has found is that “people don't realise that community management is such a huge part of running the social media channels” and how much effort it takes to keep up with the algorithm changes.

Working in social media is “chaotic, but we all love it so much despite that because it is just so rewarding to see the difference that you might have made to somebody's day with your social media posts”.

The Highs and Lows

Danielle focuses her work on Meta and LinkedIn, which has been shifting hugely over the past year or so: “it's become less serious and a bit more chatty and casual”. She has been carefully navigating this change and, a few months ago, when she ran a report, she realised she had achieved “the highest amount of engagements on LinkedIn in recorded history” of Guide Dogs UK.

In contrast, one of her low moments was during that dreaded time before going on leave and she was “trying to frantically put everything together and make sure everything's in shape” but when she came back, she realised she had missed a description of one of the videos, “which is obviously such a big thing at Guide Dogs UK”. In true team work, one of her colleagues had stepped in, but it shows just how many things go into making sure social media posts are delivered with care and attention to everyone.

The Boundaries

Like everyone working in social media, it’s easy for Danielle to constantly go into “work mode” and feel like her brain “never really switches off”. To make things easier, she suggests that, if an idea comes to mind, “just word vomit down into your notes app and then you’ll feel a little bit lighter afterwards!”. 

She also suggests that we all find “a little hobby that can stop you from scrolling and switching into work”. For her, this is clay magnets, which she can do while watching TV and it stops her from reaching for her phone.

Danielle’s top piece of advice for anyone working behind the handles is not to “overthink it”. It’s important not to get completely bogged down by the stats and keep reminding yourself how the post still contributes to the bigger picture.

Thank you so much to Danielle for sharing your journey and experience with us!

Join us for the next episode of Humans Behind the Handles as we continue talking to comms professionals about what it's really like running social for charities and non-profits!