Growth over going viral
Paige Tapp, Senior Social Media Manager at BÉIS, on brand partnerships, BTS, and what she learned from her time as a professional athlete.
Last year, when I asked subscribers what brands they think exemplify great social, travel and lifestyle company BÉIS was one of the most mentioned. It makes sense, their founder content is genuinely fun and they dream up smart activations that break through. The brand’s collaboration with Gap was one of my favorite social roll outs of 2025. Hours ago they announced their latest campaign with Tyriq Withers.
Today I am talking with Paige Tapp, Senior Social Media Manager at BÉIS. Like many social media professionals, Paige’s path to this role wasn’t straightforward. She started out as a creator herself. Her first few years out of college, she played volleyball on the U.S. national team. As a professional athlete, she got the opportunity to work with brands on partnerships as the talent. She knew when she retired from sports, she wanted to be on the other side of those campaigns.
Below I talk to Paige about the tactic she’s hoping to try in 2026, how she’s built her personal social media following (this video of hers is forever seared into my memory), and why “going viral isn’t the most important thing on social media.”
Rachel Karten: If you had to sum up your social media marketing philosophy, what would it be?
Paige Tapp: I think it should never be taken too seriously. Which shouldn’t be misconstrued as it’s not UNBELIEVABLY impactful and important to a business, but rather, the more you try to fit within the rigid constraints other areas of a business often have to fit within, the more you risk the loss of creativity. The beauty of social media is its ability to relate to communities like never before. We have the chance to pull back the curtain of large corporations and see a bunch of silly adults doing the best they can.
RK: How would you describe BÉIS’ approach to social media?
PT: BÉIS is a rare and wonderful place to work. The people are so clever and our social media is a melting pot of ideas from some of the most brilliant minds out there.
Our approach is flexibility. We try so many different things, of course recreating what’s worked in the past, but always adapting and adjusting to what our community is loving, and what our chronically-online workforce is cooking up.
RK: I’m catching you at the beginning of the new year. Are there any specific strategies or tactics you’re hoping to try in 2026?
PT: A good series.
RK: What’s your favorite BÉIS post that you worked on last year?
PT: This past year was the year of partnerships and collaborations. Getting to work with the teams at Gap, Chipotle, Rare Beauty, and more will always be the most fun and rewarding for me!
RK: As you reflect on the last year, is there something that stands out as having really worked? Maybe a specific format or content theme?
PT: Behind the scenes. Whenever we have a big production, or a final result being executed, capturing the behind the scenes will out-perform the final product nearly every time. Especially if BTS is caught on an iPhone. The less produced, the better. Keep it as organic as possible, and it will work every time!
RK: I love all of the social tips that you post on your personal TikTok account. This one about prioritizing growth over going viral felt timely. Can you talk to me about how that concept might relate to brands?
PT: No need to keep my learnings to myself! I love this newsletter, because we can all be incredible assets to each other. TikTok’s ability to connect like-minded creators is unmatched, so posting social tips to connect with a community of other marketing professionals running social platforms at other brands has been amazing this past yet.
I recently posted a video that said going viral isn’t the most important thing on social media. Reaching the intended audience and connecting to them in a meaningful way is.
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I provided a small example, showing a short, trending video that went viral (reaching 30M views), with a strong engagement rate, +2K follower growth, and hardly any clicks. I then compared it to a long-form, informative video that reached only 50K views, with a similar engagement rate, +2K followers, thousands of link clicks, while simultaneously educating the community on the product and brand.
If brand reach is the goal, the first video is the most successful, being viewed over thirty million times. However, if conversion and brand loyalty is the goal, where the viewer sits for over a minute to learn about an aspect of the brand, or a function of the product, the second video is the most successful. A video with only 50K views can convert 10x compared to a video with almost 3M more views. It’s important to diversify content, creating different types for every goal. Looking at one KPI to measure success could prevent you from seeing the full story. Determining a goal for each campaign and measuring KPIs specific to each goal will better help you track success.
RK: I know a lot of social managers who also dabble in personal content creation. You are clearly doing a great job at it! Any advice?
PT: When you work in social media, you live and breathe it every day. For some, when work ends, they may need a well-earned break from content, but for others it’s time for a creative outlet to maintain the love for it! For me it’s the latter, creating personal content is how I started, and it’s always been fun for me. We’re the experts in what works and doesn’t work, and it’s not hard to adjust our brand findings to apply to our personal accounts. The hard part is finding the time!
RK: I’m curious if there was anything you learned in your professional athlete life that has been helpful to bring into your social media career?
PT: When I was a part of a team, we were the product. Telling our stories was always the focus. When I switched over to a brand, the focus was on the product, or a celebrity face, but beyond that, behind every product is a team, people that bring it to life, and we’ve seen social media cares about that. I think the team aspect of being an athlete inspired me to let our community into the behind the scenes of our brand.
RK: What’s the best social media tip you’ve ever received?
PT: Just try it. As long as an idea isn’t offensive to anyone, go for it. You’ll never know how it will perform until you try it. Take the risk and test it. If it doesn’t work, there’s always tomorrow, and the next day, and 365 other days to try something else.
RK: Any final thoughts?
PT: It should always be fun. Yes, there are business goals to meet. Yes, there are KPIs to track. Yes, the entire company can watch your every move. BUT, on the flip side it can be as creative and fulfilling as you want it to be. If it gets to be too much, lean on your teammates for support. Start a group chat to share ideas. The less you gatekeep your brand’s social media to only your ideas, the better the content will be and less stress you will feel to constantly create original ideas.
What I’m scrolling
Creators are posting like it’s 2016. Which means brands are following suit—Eater here, Chipotle here, and Billie here. Dig back in those Valencia-hued archives.
Gap has named former Paramount top executive Pam Kaufman executive vp, chief entertainment officer. "Fashion is entertainment, and today’s customers aren’t just buying apparel, they’re buying into brands that tell compelling stories and drive cultural conversations."
I loved Play-Doh’s “a post you can smell” carousel. I noticed Walmart made a similar carousel with rotisserie chicken yesterday. Three would make it a trend!
The team behind Seattle’s new socialist mayor, Katie Wilson, breaks down how social media played a role. “We committed to posting one explainer video a week, no easy feat given that our entire video production team was composed of volunteers.”
One month later, Canada Dry Ginger Ale finally responded to the Heated Rivalry conversation. Someone wrote, “As someone who worked in social for years, I can only imagine the layers of approvals it took for you to be allowed to post this and the scrutiny it probably went through before you did. But at least you’re here now. Welcome, the fans are the best!”
CAVA partnered with Courtney Cook to announce that sweet potatoes are back on the menu. It’s one of her first brand partnerships! The post has almost 1M views in less then 24 hours. (Disclosure: I consult for the brand.)
Left-leaning watchdog Media Matters is leaving X. The Bulwark has a good explainer on the legal reasoning behind the move.
NFL on Fox is getting roasted for posting AI-generated graphics. I assume the Senior Designer at CBS Sports quote tweeting a post from NFL on CBS with “New game graphic just dropped! (zero ai)” is a wink at the discourse.
Emily Sundberg reported that Myles Tanzer will be deputy director of WSJ’s Talent Lab. Part of the role is to coach reporters to “talk to readers more directly: that could be in a variety of ways, including making their own videos, pitching a new newsletter or moderating a live event.”
A brand should hire photographer Szilveszter Makó for their next campaign. He’s behind this shoot with Elle Fanning that was everywhere this week and those perfect Rama Duwaji portraits.
For any social managers thinking about joining their brand’s subreddit, what’s happening on the HelloFresh page might be worth looking at. The mods introduced u/KatieFromHelloFresh one month ago and the reception has been mixed.
According to eMarketer, social media still dominates marketers’ priority lists. “Social media tops the priority list for 84% of US digital media professionals, outpacing influencer marketing (61%) by 23 percentage points.” This is a good stat to show your boss when advocating for a raise or more resources.
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"...going viral isn’t the most important thing on social media. Reaching the intended audience and connecting to them in a meaningful way is."
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I love this! Connecting deeply with your audience matters far more than catering to the masses. Your niche deserves your heart and attention.