Chloe Troia, Emmy-nominated Marketer & Strategist

January 19th, 2020

With 10 years of experience, Chloe Troia is an Emmy-nominated marketer and strategist with a focus on entertainment marketing. She has helped to shape the digital presence for brands including Saturday Night Live, America’s Got Talent, Parks & Recreation and most recently has worked on social strategy and operations for companies like Lululemon and Facebook. She is currently a Strategy Director at Accenture Interactive and previously ran social for Saturday Night Live as well as other shows at NBC Universal.

In this feature, Chloe shares with us key learnings from her first job, how she joined social marketing in its early stages, her experience leading SNL’s digital strategy, and her current role as a Strategy Director at Accenture Interactive. Read along to soak up her incredible career advice for ambitious women, such as yourself.

Early Career

You graduated from American University with a Bachelor in Business Administration and Marketing. What about your college experience helped shape your career in Marketing?

I attended Kogod, which is American’s business school and I think their curriculum is really strong with courses that prepare you for “the real world” and professors that push you. They also have a great career center that offers services like mock interviews, resume editing and career coaching. During my time at American, I also had great internships where I learned invaluable skills and started building relationships. Both were in NYC – one was for a fashion designer named Kate Fleming and the other was Ogilvy & Mather’s summer internship program.

You started your career as an Associate at Ogilvy & Mather. What key learnings did you take from your first role?

I learned that it’s okay to make mistakes. I think that in your first role after school, you expect yourself to be perfect but that’s just not realistic. You have so much to learn and it’s more valuable to go in with the perspective that you’re going to learn from your bosses, managers and co-workers versus expecting yourself to know everything or pretend to know everything. In your first few years, you’re learning how things work, how teams operate and how you fit into the mix. I also learned about the value of having good mentors who you can go to for advice, support and an honest opinion. These people are especially invaluable in your first few years post-grad because they’ve been in the same position as you and can offer a more seasoned perspective.

You’ve held a few social media roles in your early career: Community Manager at MXM where you produced and published content on social platforms for NBC, Social Media and Digital Marketing Manager at Xcel Brands, and Social Marketing at NBC Entertainment / Saturday Night Live. What drew you to this field and why did you stay in it for several years?

I started working on social for NBC at an agency called MXM in 2013. While social was very much a large part of entertainment marketing at this time, the “playbook” for how to effectively market for TV on social was still being built. Videos on Instagram didn’t exist, Tumblr was huge and we all relied heavily on gifs. The opportunity to help shape the best practices – and as cliché as it sounds – “build the plane as you fly” was a very rare and special experience. I also worked with the absolute best team and there was a strong sense of comradery which helped to make the late nights of live-tweeting fun.

When I came to NBC to work on social for SNL in 2015, the show’s approach to digital and social was still being formulated. It was an incredibly exciting period to be there and my time there included the 2016 election which ended up being the highest rated season in 25 years. We had great access to the cast and talent and were able to film Q&A’s and digital exclusives and really “pull back the curtain” for the fans of the show – who are incredibly loyal, dedicated and vocal on social. I stayed at these roles because I was working with great people, constantly learning, being challenged and getting to work with shows and entertainment properties that I am passionate about.

You’ve held roles at several different companies since your first job. When you think about the moments in your career when you made a pivot, how did you know you were ready to switch jobs and what would your recommendation be for individuals considering leaving their role / company?

I think it really depends on the current role you’re in, where you want to be and what your long term career goals look like. I think there are ways to stretch, pivot and grow your current role and it’s always worth trying to do that before making a move. But, I also think that sometimes opportunities unexpectedly come along and even if the timing is not perfect, if it aligns with your overall career goals, they are worth considering.

I also think a lot of it is about whether or not you are still learning and being challenged. While it can be uncomfortable, being thrown into the deep end is how you learn and grow and I think you always want to try to be in a situation where you’re being pushed to become better.

Seth Godin has a great quote in his book The Dip that applies to this – “extraordinary benefits accrue to the tiny minority of people who are able to push just a tiny bit longer than most. Extraordinary benefits also accrue to the tiny majority with the guts to quit early and refocus their efforts on something new.”

As with most big decisions, there’s no easy answer but it should certainly involve a great deal of thought and consideration. It’s also good to remember that nothing is permanent and if for some reason, you make a switch and it’s not a good fit, it’s not the end of the world. Even if it doesn’t end up working out, you will still learn and grow from the experience.

NBC

You led Social Marketing at NBC for two hit shows - America’s Got Talent and Saturday Night Live. How did you land this coveted position?

I was hired at NBC because I worked on the agency-side with them at MXM and had a really positive experience with the team. As mentioned, the team we worked with was very much “lightening in a bottle” and I feel lucky to have had the chance to collaborate with that group of individuals.

Both shows required a strong work ethic to do the long hours, the ability to pivot quickly, creative thinking and really strong judgement. Especially with SNL, you’re representing a brand with an iconic 40+ year legacy that has launched some of the most talented and legendary people in comedy and entertainment. You are also getting the chance to work with some of the most brilliant and creative minds in the business. I think for roles like this, you need to demonstrate that you are willing to go the extra mile, take the extra time to ensure that every piece of content is the best it can be and always have your finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the world as that can greatly affect your content plan, tone and overall strategy

Looking back, what were your favorite parts about your roles in NBC?

There are so many things but the number one thing is the people. The teams I worked with were one-of-a-kind and we all became very close from spending almost every Saturday night together at 30 Rock. You really had the sense that everyone was in it together and there was a strong sense of community. I look back and I remember laughing hard almost every single day at work.

I also loved working with such creative content and people. I am personally a huge fan of SNL so to get to be surrounded by it all the time was very special and fun. It was also exciting working in live television because you never really knew what was going to happen.

SNL Digital was nominated for a Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Interactive Program in 2016, 2017 and 2018 (under your tenure). What skills and strengths did you realize were key to succeeding in this field?

All of the work we did, including the Emmy nominations, was all rooted in strong collaboration and teamwork. In terms of my skills and strengths, I think the ability to lead and champion a team, the ability to work cross-functionally across all different teams from analytics to creative, the ability to use data to inform strategies and creative decisions and the critical thinking skills needed to pivot and make decisions quickly were all extremely important.

You’re currently a Strategy Director at Accenture Interactive. What exactly does your role entail and what is your day-to-day like?

My role at Accenture is unique in that each project I work on is completely different. I’ve worked on clients in entertainment, e-commerce, tech, and each one is a new challenge. Some projects are a five week sprint and some are a year plus. The role has strengthened my ability to learn quickly and come in and assess situations to identify the pain points and areas for development and growth.

The day-to-day really depends on the client project but some projects involve social content strategy, some involve broader marketing strategy, some involve doing indepth assessments of a brand’s marketing efforts and their competitors, and some are more operations and management focused. Each project offers the opportunity to sharpen a certain skillset, learn about how particular teams function and go into what can be a chaotic situation and build out processes and new ways of working that streamline things for the client.

Advice

What do you wish you knew when you were first starting your career?

Trust that it is all going to work out. When you first start out, it can feel overwhelming and intimidating but it’s important to remember that it’s all part of the process. You’ll look back and realize why something didn’t work out or why you didn’t get a certain role. In the moment, it’s easy to get caught up in the stress and panic but things eventually work themselves out. It’s also important not to constantly compare yourself to your peers. It sounds corny but everyone’s on their own journey and just because one person is doing well at a certain company or in a certain role, doesn’t mean that it’s the right role for you. Someone once told me to “keep your head in the boat” and focus on how to make the best of your time at a company and your role.

What advice do you have for young women in their early career who are looking to build their careers in Social Media?

Work hard and find mentors and peers who you really trust. I still keep in touch with almost all of my former bosses and frequently go to them for advice, to bounce ideas off of or to hear about how they approached a certain situation. Whether your goal is to go into social or paid media or marketing strategy, if you demonstrate that you’re willing to go above and beyond the scope of your role, come up with creative solutions and ideas and listen, you will differentiate yourself. Taking the initiative, anticipating what your boss needs and being thoughtful/ using your EQ (emotional intelligence) are also very important soft skills. With social especially, it’s important to be flexible – 90% of the time, things will not go as planned and you need to be ready for that. When you demonstrate to your manager that you’ve proactively thought through the different scenarios and come up with a Plan A, B and C, you’ll earn their trust and show them how well you understand the space. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for help and always admit when you’ve made a mistake and come up with a proposed solution before bringing it to your boss.

Who is one woman you aspire to be like?

There are many women – many of whom are former bosses and current mentors, that I look up to and try to emulate. One of my former colleagues is someone named Katie Trainor. She is the VP of Social Marketing at NBC and to me, she is the vision of a strong leader. She is extremely smart, strategic and creative and cares so deeply about the work and her team and has the strongest work ethic of anyone I’ve ever met. Despite being incredibly busy, she is also very generous with her time and has always been willing to offer advice, support and real talk. She is incredibly genuine and authentic and isn’t afraid to be radically honest which I think is really valuable.

I also admire and aspire to be like one of my mentors, Rachael King. Rachael is the founder of Pod People, which is the on-demand workforce for audio production powering the podcast industry with a vast network of hand-picked professionals. Rachael is also someone I go to for extremely honest advice and the occasional pep talk. When she saw an opportunity in the emerging podcast space, she started Pod People completely on her own and built it into the power house that it is today. She also recently launched RomComPods, a new fiction romcom podcast which she co-wrote and produced. I think she is unbelievably creative, fearless and also one of the funniest people in the world.