Meet Jessica Thomas of Ten Bear Group: SMMA Winner 2019

With the deadline for entries to the 2021 Social Media Marketing Awards less than 3 weeks away, we’re keeping the inspiration flowing with our series of interviews with previous SMMA winners. This week, we’re chatting to Jessica Thomas, Founder of Ten Bear Group who specialise in informing product, brand and marketing strategies using AI, consumer insights and social data. Ten Bear Group won the award for Best Social Listening Agency at the 2019 SMMA awards. 

Hi Jessica! First off, could you tell us a bit about your journey on the run up to the awards - Was it the first awards you’d entered your business in? Did anything in particular motivate you to enter?

I was aware of SocialDay for a long time after attending some of their events, so when we saw they were running awards, we decided to apply. The categories seemed to fit well with our client projects and SocialDay had a great reputation so it was a no-brainer. This was the first time we had entered into an award, so we were over the moon to win!

You came away winning Social Listening Agency of the Year! How did that feel? Did you share the news with your community?

We are a small business, so luckily most of us were able to come along to the event and accept the award together! We even phoned one of our colleagues in the US after the winners were announced, so she could celebrate with us. We shared the news with our community on social, and as founder I have to admit I felt like a proud parent. 

How have the Social Media Marketing Awards had an impact on your business?

The “freelance specialist to agency founding” route is a fairly well worn path, however one of the obstacles that you face is juggling delivering awesome work to your clients with marketing your services to new prospects to scale. Awards such as SMMA allow a no-compromise solution of exposure through the quality of your work.  

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

Without a doubt, I’m most proud of having reached a balance that my Mum probably would have thought impossible: running a successful business, with a lovely team across 4 time-zones, while staying true to my nomadic lifestyle dreams. A key moment in my career so far was closing one of our biggest deals whilst on a boat in the middle of Ha Long Bay. I realised that I didn’t need to sacrifice lifestyle to be successful (but I did need a good mobile signal!).

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

Navigating the uncertainty of the world has been a challenge and an opportunity for us. The events of 2020 accelerated and twisted global trends and businesses need more help than ever in understanding what is going on but at the same time those businesses are in a position of uncertainty themselves. This created more hesitancy in investing in ambitious projects than the economic boom era prior. Many of the world’s biggest companies (AirBnB, Uber, etc.) were founded during the last recession, finding the opportunity within the economic challenges is something we’re super passionate about, both for ourselves and our clients.

How do you think businesses/social media marketers could benefit from incorporating social listening into their social media strategies in 2021? 

Social listening can help define a brand’s tone of voice to be in line with their target market, it can identify meaningful trends to jump on, help understand the needs of the audience and much more. I’d encourage businesses/social media marketers to focus on one “problem” they’d like to use social listening to solve and use that as a jumping off point to explore the possibilities of social data. This focussed approach will help deliver defined ROI and avoid becoming overwhelmed with the “art of the possible”. 

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

I’d love to see entrants show off the work that was specific to the unique challenges of 2020! I want to know the once-in-a-generation issues that crossed your desk and how you tackled them in a creative way. 

Some fantastic insights shared by Jessica, Founder of Ten Bear Group. If you fancy a shot at being recognised alongside the most outstanding talent in the social media marketing industry, enter yourself, your team, a piece of content or a campaign for an award now!

You can find out more about our awards and the categories available to enter by clicking ‘Find out more’.

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