Day in the Life: Twitter’s head of content planning thinks ‘feed first’

The biggest challenge is getting brands to think of Twitter-specific content, she said, because traditionally they think about TV first. “Short-form text or audio-optional content are not easy to do at scale,” she said about getting brands to think differently.

With a background working in content strategy for Mindshare and communication planning for American Express, Minero joined Twitter two-and-a-half years ago.

Here’s a recent day in her life, slightly edited for clarity.

7:30 a.m.: On my commute from Hoboken, I check Twitter Moments. It’s a curated capsule of tweets, and it’s become my morning paper. I discover a story about Nike’s new self-lacing sneakers and tweet it.

7:40 a.m.: Today we’re doing a Planning Studio with McCann, one of our biggest creative agency partners. Planning Studios are interactive workshops where we dig into content strategy and creative storytelling designed for the mobile feed. McCann develops work for brands like Microsoft, Mastercard and MGM, and today we’re hosting over 20 of their creative strategists from various accounts.

7:52 a.m.: Running through the presentation in my mind and realize we’re missing something central to consumer moments. Fire off an email to Kerrie Smith, Twitter content strategist, on my team and ask her to create a slide for today.

8:00 a.m.: On my way to the office, I stop at Starbucks for an iced latte. Already had a coffee but feeling under caffeinated.

9:30 a.m: My boss JP Maheu kicks us off with a great opening. He’s a natural at warming up the room and setting up the power of the platform.

9:50 a.m.: I present keys to developing content strategy by defining brand stories to tell and consumer-centric moments to leverage.

10:30 a.m.: We start a module on “designing participation” which is about moving consumers from viewing to doing. Brand strategist Tom Chirico is doing a phenomenal job presenting.

10:50 a.m.: Teams break out to concept ideas. There is a great buzz and energy in the room.

12:10 p.m.: I close us out after presenting how to design “feed first” content. Debrief with Sean McDonald, McCann’s global chief digital officer, we chat about scaling globally. Gemma Craven, who heads up social and mobile for McCann, and I talk about next steps and action items.

12:30 p.m.: Return to office and catch up on emails. I’ve been out of commission for three hours, so scanning for anything urgent. Fire off a few responses to requests for strategy sessions and content best practice materials.

12:45 p.m.: Grab a salad and some pizza from our cafeteria.

2:15 p.m.: I see a tweet from Greg Weiss, vp of Social at Mastercard. He saw the news about the Planning Studio and tweeted, “Can’t wait to hear about this and see some big ideas!” Everything I love about the conversational nature of Twitter is summed up in that tweet.

2:30 p.m.: Jump into a one-person booth for a weekly catch-up with Gina Ballenger, who manages content planning on the West Coast. We debrief on a cool new strategy session she piloted with Netflix. Psyched to see this new strategic framework and start using it.

3:00 p.m.: Touch base with Erin Matt who leads the L’Oréal partnership at Twitter. We align on an agenda for an upcoming meeting with their leadership team.

3:30 p.m.: Touch base with Dave Roter, global director of agency development. The purpose is to talk about resources to help our brand partners optimize video content, but we quickly get off track. We delve into what it means to be a “live brand” — from live streaming moments to targeting real-time conversations with planned content.

4:00 p.m.: Catch up with Kat Gordon, founder of the 3 Percent Conference, which is on a mission to increase the percentage of females in creative leadership roles. Their big fall conference is in November, and Twitter is hosting the kick-off event. Kat and I chat about how we can add some light programming and spark social conversation about their mission.

4:30 p.m.: Head up to get a seat at Local Tea Time in the commons. This is our local bi-monthly all hands where everyone in the company attends to hear updates from new tweeps to our upcoming volunteer efforts like “Friday for Good,” where everyone in the company takes off a few hours to do volunteer work twice a year.

5:30 p.m.: Debrief with Nina Mishkin who heads up content planning on the East Coast. She’s always in another city, so we’re catching up on how the Planning Studio went, and where she’s off to next.

5:50 p.m.: Catch up with Bo Han, one of the smartest and funniest people in the company. He’s recently moved into a role on our CFO Anthony Noto’s team focused on live streaming deals with partners. We chat about strategic resources to help our partners develop programming strategy.

6:18 p.m.: I’m slated to meet my husband by Madison Square Garden in 15 mins and already running behind. He surprised me with tickets to Adele a few weeks ago, and we’re grabbing a bite beforehand.

6:45 p.m.: Try to unplug during meals but have a few loose ends to tie up. Fire off an email with some strategy docs developed for our CMO Leslie Berland.

7:15 p.m.: Check the #TNF Livestream. The feedback on our first game was universally positive, and I’m curious about this week’s conversation. People love to see the first and second screens converging, and I see a bunch of positive tweets about the experience.

8:18 p.m.: Adele takes the stage and I’m transfixed. The beauty of her voice and the brilliance of her lyrics make me do something I have a really hard time doing: unplug.

12:15 a.m.: Get home, say hi to my Goldendoodle Daisy, catch up on emails and head to bed. Check Twitter one last time before shutting off. While Twitter never sleeps, I’m ready to.