This week we had the honour of hosting Chanel McFarlane, a standout in strategic communications and digital strategy. Celebrated as one of the Top 100 Black Women to Watch and Top 25 Women of Influence, Chanel brought her expertise and personal journey to life, offering insights that resonated with both seasoned professionals and those just beginning their careers.
As Chanel explained, “I want to have this channel to just communicate with others, share my experiences, my expertise in certain areas, what I’m learning along with my career.” This passion for open communication underpins her approach to sharing high value content, where each piece of advice becomes a bridge to connect with people at different stages in their professional journeys. For Chanel, the key lies in adapting to each platform’s unique audience preferences and engagement styles, highlighting that effective content repurposing is crucial to maintaining relevancy across platforms.
One of Chanel’s strongest messages was on defining your target audience through research. When she started, she spent significant time in analytics, uncovering that her audience primarily consisted of women looking to excel in their careers. This led her to refine her content to focus on career-advancing strategies that truly resonated with her followers. Chanel emphasized that, to create content that matters, “Do research so your content resonates.”
One particularly inspiring concept Chanel shared was the significance of user-generated content. People trust the voice of the everyday social media user over that of brands, providing organizations with an incredible opportunity to leverage the authenticity of influencers and content creators. Chanel pointed out that, “Brands and organizations really have the opportunity to tap into those influencers or content creators that have that established trust.”
Her final message to us was clear “Stay curious when it comes to content.” According to Chanel, the best professionals continuously cultivate a curiosity about their industry and what’s happening in the broader content landscape. This curiosity helps them remain agile, fresh, and responsive in a world where trends and audience expectations evolve rapidly.
As I reflect on Chanel’s talk, I feel inspired to explore new ways to create engaging content that captivates audiences from start to finish. This session highlighted the importance of not only reaching people but connecting with them meaningfully by aligning content with their needs and aspirations. Chanel McFarlane’s wave of knowledge this week encourages us all to ride the current of curiosity, creativity, and connection, setting the foundation for impactful communication.
