Exploring Life & Business with Whitney Reynolds of Somewhere Fun Social, LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Whitney Reynolds

Hi Whitney, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Travel and experiences have always been my favorite thing. Since I was a kid, I could get lost in a book about different cultures or different places, and as an adult, reading a travel magazine or watching a documentary is the ultimate joyful activity for me. I also love to write, and when I was a little girl, I’d write and read stories to my whole class about adventures in faraway places. Luckily, I went to a school and had parents who, through their actions, showed to me that I could find a way to be just about anything I wanted to be. So, as I started to plot and make moves along my career path, I knew that being a writer – and writing about travel – was the ultimate goal.

“The Facebook,” as we called it back then, burst onto the scene when I was a freshman in college, and by the time I was in my early 20’s, people were just starting to refer to social media as an opportunity for brands and businesses. Luckily, I had just moved to San Francisco, where companies are forward thinking and experimental – where most of the social networks are based – and a few companies were thinking about how to staff social marketing activities. I wrote a letter (snail mail style) to a company I wanted to work for there, sharing why I thought they needed social media marketer in-house and why I thought I’d make the perfect one. They hired me 3 weeks later as their first Social Media Specialist. I was the only person I knew working in social media, and I loved it – it was mostly about writing at that time, and I loved drafting and editing clever and memorable copy. From there, I had a few other jobs in social media until, finally, I saw that Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, a boutique hospitality company, was hiring a Social Media Manager. This was my dream job. I prepped and prepped for the interview and, luckily, had a very genuine connection with the hiring manager about the potential social media has to connect with customers (rather than just marketing to them). She hired me, and that’s when I got my start in hospitality social media 12 years ago. Since then, I rose in the ranks all the way to Senior Director of Social, Content & Brand Partnerships at Kimpton, and then over to IHG Hotels & Resorts as Global Director of Social Marketing over all 19 of their hotel brands (like InterContinental, Holiday Inn, and more) globally. Now, I run my own social marketing firm for hotels, restaurants, destinations and vacation rentals – it’s called Somewhere Fun Social, and we make social media work harder for you. We offer everything from strategy to social posts, action plans to graphics, paid social advertising to expert consulting on how to meet your business goals.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Paying my dues early in my career with jobs that were outside what I wanted to be doing (writing) was part of my journey. My first job was in Advertising Operations, which was very technical and included setting up display ads, optimizing them and reporting on them. To be honest, it pushed me – it was way outside my comfort zone, and it came more naturally to peers on my team. But it gave me a deep understanding of the metrics that businesses and marketing teams value in the digital marketing space, so I’m so glad I got that foundation.

I would say that the biggest struggle throughout my 15 years in social marketing has been trying, relentlessly, to prove the enormous value social media has for brands and businesses. Today, this is much easier, but early in my career, executives were very reluctant to invest in social media versus other marketing activities like display ads or PR. The other struggle was getting companies to invest in growing social media teams to support all of the activities that go into it – customer care, crisis response, engagement, regular content creation and posting, graphic design and copywriting. For years (and probably still to this day, at some places), execs thought that a single intern, or the youngest and least-experienced person on staff at the company, was an appropriate person to run social marketing for the entire company. I’m so glad to see (and have held) roles like Director of Global Social Marketing, Head of Social, VP of Social Media. Social is the future of marketing, and the businesses that invest in forward-thinking and connection-building activities there end up ahead. You see it all the time with best-in-class-social brands like Wendy’s, Airbnb, Glossier, Starbucks and Netflix.

As you know, we’re big fans of Somewhere Fun Social, LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
All hospitality businesses need social media to stay competitive. I help hotels, restaurants, vacation rentals and destinations use social media to connect with their target audience and drive business. I also help them stay connected to their customers so that they return again and again. To do this, I get to know the business and then build an actionable creative strategy and social marketing playbook anyone on their team can use. If they don’t have someone equipped to do it, I create social content for them or connect them with an expert partner who can do this, resulting in increased followers, more brand awareness and deeper connections with guests and potential customers. As a writer, I also craft whip-smart, action-driving copy for hospitality brands’ websites, blogs, social, email marketing and more – I know how to use words to capture attention, keep it, and make people fall in love with a place before even seeing it in-person. My services: marketing strategy, copywriting, done-for-you social media posts and graphics, full social media management, and expert consulting to help you achieve your business goals for the year and beyond.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Books:
Stories that Stick – Kindra Hall (social & content marketing)
The Business of Expertise – David C. Baker (entrepreneurship)
Atomic Habits – James Clear (productivity)

Newsletters:
Life’s a Game – Amanda Goetz (entrepreneurship & productivity)
Link in Bio – Rachel Karten (Social Media Marketing)
Future Social – Jack Appleby (Social Media Marketing)

Podcasts:
Goal Digger – Jenna Kutcher (entrepreneurship / small business marketing)
Louder than Words with John Bonini – marketing and entrepreneurship

Contact Info:

• Website: https://somewherefunsocial.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/somewherefunsocial