How I went from 'the social media girl' to leading strategy at a brand studio

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Most people working in social media seem to share a common thread – they're looking for a way forward and out. While there's plenty to say about the future of social itself, let's focus on something else for now.

Social media management has morphed into something far different from what many of us signed up for. What started as an exciting new frontier in digital communication has become a relentless cycle of content creation, community management, and…ambiguity. Many of us find ourselves caught between constant reactive work and a deeper desire to shape brand direction and business strategy.

This isn't about jumping ship or dismissing social media expertise. It's about taking what you already know – your grasp of audience behavior, real-time consumer insights, and digital storytelling – and applying it to broader brand strategy. After all, who better understands how a brand resonates with people than someone in the trenches of daily consumer interactions?

The Path Here

My story probably sounds familiar – I moved to New York in 2012 for college and stumbled into social media when everyone was still figuring it out. While I quickly realized pure social wasn't my thing, this early experience opened doors to branding and e-commerce agencies with robust content operations. Remember when every brand needed a blog? I knew distribution inside and out; these studio environments became my unofficial ad school. I immersed myself in branding, product strategy, copywriting, and content strategy – building a foundation that would prove invaluable later.

Eventually, I circled back to social, taking on a leadership role managing global social and influencer initiatives for a major sportswear brand. But after four agencies in five years, I was ready for a change and leaped freelancing.

The freelance chapter started predictably enough – consulting on social and brand strategy, mostly leaning social (about 80%), and collaborating with agencies. By year two, I'd founded my studio, running project-based engagements for both direct clients and agency partners. We even brought a social media management function in-house. But years three and four brought a familiar itch, along with an interesting observation: I was increasingly inheriting brand strategy work from traditional brand studios that just wasn't landing with me as a communications leader.

In response, I brought on a design director, and we expanded our scope from social to full brand-to-market strategy. Still, I felt the pull toward pure brand strategy growing stronger. The challenge? Our studio had built such a strong reputation in social that pivoting felt risky. But sometimes you have to take the leap – which is how I eventually ended up leaving entrepreneur life to join a branding and strategy-focused studio as their first in-house, full-time strategy hire.

What Actually Worked

Looking back, moving from social to brand strategy wasn't some clean, linear path – it was messy, deliberate, and took time. Here's what made the difference in my experience:

Speaking Business

I got serious about understanding business fundamentals beyond the social bubble. Social is seen as a cost center, not a revenue driver.

Learning to read P&Ls wasn't just about numbers – it was about speaking the language of decision-makers. I studied how my work connected to business KPIs: what are investors trying to hear? What the hell is a CAC?

I learned what sales teams needed. I reviewed investor updates. I helped crack pitchdecks. When product teams talked about feature adoption, I could connect it to social content strategy. When CEOs needed support, I could translate social listening insights into actionable business intelligence.

Being the First to Raise Your Hand

I became known as someone who'd tackle any strategic challenge, no matter how small. Any strategic ask that came up, I wanted in. Tagline development? Here’s 10 ideas. Brand voice needs work? I'm there. Full brand strategy overhaul? PLEASE think of me. Each project, no matter the size, was a chance to show how social media insight could strengthen brand thinking. It proved that social teams don't just execute – they can shape strategy from the ground up.

Getting Deep into Strategy

Instead of just reading strategy books, I studied what actually shapes culture and business. I dove into my background in media theory and semiotics – understanding how meaning gets created and spreads turned out to be more valuable than memorizing brand frameworks. This foundation, combined with front-line social experience, gave me a different lens on how brands function now. I could see meaning evolving in real-time through social conversations and connect it to deeper cultural shifts.

Finding Your Voice

I started writing about brand strategy from a social-first perspective. I shared how community engagement could reshape brand positioning, how social listening could inform product strategy, and how digital-first thinking was changing brand building. This wasn't just about showing expertise – it was about developing a point of view at the intersection of social and brand strategy.

Shifting Your Self-Image

The hardest part? Internal mindset. I had to stop seeing myself as "the social person" trying to break into strategy. Instead, I started viewing myself as a strategic leader who happened to have valuable social expertise. This shift changed everything from how I spoke in meetings to how I approached opportunities. I started owning my strategic perspective and believing I belonged in rooms where brand decisions were being made.

Building Your Corner

Finding mentors and peers who saw beyond my social media background changed everything. These relationships weren't just about opening doors – though they did that too. They offered guidance on the transition, and feedback on strategic thinking, and helped spot blind spots in my approach. Most importantly, they gave me chances to prove myself in strategic roles when my resume might have suggested otherwise.

Getting There: A Real-World Guide

Shifting Perceptions (From Inside Out)

The thing about being "the social person" is that people put you in a box pretty quickly. Start small – when you're in meetings, talk about what community conversations reveal about the brand, not just engagement metrics. Track patterns in how people talk about your products. Notice when the language around your category shifts. You're not just managing social channels – you're watching your brand evolve in real time.

Following the Money

Here's the thing – you need to understand how your company makes money. Not just surface level, but really get it. What drives revenue? What's the cost to acquire customers? What keeps them coming back? Get friendly with your analytics teams. Ask for access to sales data. When you can connect social activity to actual business movement, people listen differently.

Building Bridges (Without Overstepping)

Start with what you know. When the product team asks about feature reception, don't just share screenshots – point out patterns. When marketing needs campaign insights, give them the actual language customers use, not just metrics.

Build relationships by:

• Asking thoughtful questions in cross-team meetings

• Offering relevant social insights when other teams hit roadblocks

• Being responsive when departments reach out

• Positioning yourself as a helpful resource rather than trying to be the strategy expert overnight

Building Knowledge and Reputation

Get smarter, and share the wealth of knowledge you’re acquiring. This is quite literally the reason why my newsletter is called thinking out loud :)

Share what you learn:

• Write about how social drives real business value

• Break down successful campaigns through a business lens

• Share your frameworks and thinking

• Post articles you find interesting on LinkedIn

Finding connections:

• Join strategy communities (Ladies Who Strategize, Sweathead, Outside Perspective, Space to Grow)

• Connect with others making similar moves

• Reach out! People are pretty friendly

The Interview Room

Let's be honest – these rooms aren't always ready for someone with a social background. But remember this: you understand how brands actually live or die in culture, not just how they look in pitch decks. When I was interviewing for my current role, I emphasized my experience building brands from inception to real-time iterative execution. I also played up how dynamic my experience was, from decks to decision making (real story: I was reworking a launch plan on Jan 6…)

Some hard truths:

• Most strategists haven't had to defend their work in real-time like you have, over angry slacks from leadership; social is often the most visible work, and the most confronted - because everyone uses social media(!)

• Many people interviewing you might still think social is just memes, reference scammy e-books, or talk about ‘growth hacking’

• They'll question your strategic thinking. Stay confident and steady - do not let your voice waver

• Your social background might be seen as tactical until proven otherwise

How to Handle It

Don't apologize for your social experience or try to hide it. Use it. When they ask about your background:

• Talk about predicting behavior shifts before traditional research has caught up

• Share how you've tested messaging in real-time, not just in focus groups

• Show how you've built brand equity through community, not just campaigns

And present it as an opportunity too – for my studio, my deep understanding of comms and marketing enables us to offer services we couldn’t as a pure-play branding shop!

A Reality Check

Some places won't get it. Let them. Find the organizations that understand where brand strategy is actually heading.

Where to Look Next

1. Direct-to-Consumer Brands These companies live and die by community. They get that social isn't just marketing – it's where brand meaning takes shape in real-time.

2. Tech Startups – Series A-C Startups need people who understand building brand equity in digital spaces. They're often more open to challenging traditional approaches.

3. Create Your Own Path Start freelancing, even on the side. Once you're in the room, it's easier to get called back versus competing with other strategists. Build trust gradually. Freelancing definitely accelerated my transition.

4. Agencies That house brand and social under one roof - or that might even have a PR bent, as PR agencies are being tasked with brand and social now too.

In Closing…

Brands today live and die in real-time, shaped by conversations happening right now in comments sections and DMs. Social strategists have been navigating this reality for years. Some parts of the industry are catching up to this truth. Others are still catching up.

For those making this jump: your experience reading cultural signals and building real community engagement isn't adjacent to brand strategy – it's where brand strategy is heading. The question isn't whether you can make the transition. It's which organizations are ready for what you bring to the table.

In the next edition of this series, I’ll interview other strategists who have made the transition, and write a guide for brand strategists to think more like a social strategist. Note: this is my personal experience – it may or may not work for you, but I hope the lessons in this are relevant across the board.