Social and Digital Content Lead

THE DETAILS: Job Title: Social and Digital Content Lead Department: Digital & Social, Strategy Hub Reports to: Digital and Social Strategy Director Responsible for: No direct reports Hours : Full time, permanent Location: Manchester, Northern Quarter. We operate a Hybrid working policy of ideally minimum 3 days in Manchester HQ per week. You'll also be required to travel for production shoots when necessary. THE ROLE: The Digital and Social Content Lead is a strategic and creative thinker who drives the development of impactful, insight-led digital and social content for clients across sport and gaming. Sitting at the intersection of strategy, creativity and performance, this role ensures all storytelling is grounded in audience insight, aligned to business objectives and executed with creative effectiveness. Working day-to-day with a defined portfolio of clients, this role partners closely with insight, creative, influencer, and production teams to deliver integrated campaigns and content strategies that are measurable in their effectiveness and award winning. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: 1. Setting Up For Success (10%) Lead the development and delivery of integrated digital and social strategies from a content-first perspective. Act as the strategic bridge between client objectives, creative ideation and content performance. Use research and analytics tools (Pulsar, Audiense, Trackr, GWI, Fan Intelligence, FanCore, Neurons and our campaign database) to uncover insights and inform content strategy. Provide clear, data-backed recommendations on channels, formats and content approaches to maximise campaign success. Support the D&S Strategy Director and Client Services teams by identifying growth opportunities and contributing to new business pitches. 2. Creative Briefing and Ideation (25%) Feed in clear social strategy guidance and work collaboratively with project strategist(s) that shape and guide creative briefs from a digital and social perspective. Lead and facilitate ideation sessions, ensuring a social-first mindset is embedded in all concepts. Confidently brief, challenge and elevate creative ideas, ensuring they are both innovative and strategically grounded. Source best-in-class content examples and cultural references to inform and inspire creative direction. 3. Creative Effectiveness and Optimisation (25%) Guide creative teams to deliver high-performing content tailored to each platform’s behavior and audience expectations. Define and champion best practice approaches across all digital and social channels (Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube, etc). Use performance data and past campaign learnings to inform creative ideation and optimisation. Lead post-campaign reviews and share actionable insights on what worked, why and how to improve future output. Champion a test-and-learn culture, utilising Neurons and Fan Intelligence to gain insights into the impact of messaging, visuals, and formats on performance. Present regular content performance reviews and learnings to creative and marketing leadership, highlighting what works and why. 4. Production and Delivery Collaboration (25%) Partner with internal, freelance and influencer production teams to ensure all content adheres to social-first best practices, from briefing through to editing and final delivery. Support in sourcing and directing appropriate production partners who can deliver authentic social storytelling. Attend and direct shoots when required, ensuring the digital, social, and influencer perspective is represented on set. Maintain and enforce efficient workflows and approval processes across creative, digital and client teams. Creating bespoke social guidelines per project to ensure content is as native as possible and meets campaign objectives, while balancing client creative guidelines. 5. Expertise, Development and Innovation (10%) Act as a subject matter expert on digital and social content, providing guidance and mentorship to colleagues and junior team members. Develop and maintain content playbooks, style guides and best practice frameworks to ensure consistency and quality across teams and markets. Stay ahead of emerging digital trends, technologies, and creative formats, introducing innovative ideas to keep the agency’s output future-facing. Contribute to thought leadership internally and externally through POV documents, blogs and whitepapers. Support the continuous improvement of agency processes and collaboration models for more effective content delivery and results. 6. Additional Responsibilities (5%) Provide consultation on best practice on delivery phase for projects you’re not casted on, when required. Contribute to client-facing strategy presentations, ensuring clarity and impact in digital storytelling. Collaborate across departments to ensure smooth communication and alignment during project delivery. KEY REQUIREMENTS: Our ideal successful candidate will have: 3 to 4 years experience in a creative, digital or social agency, developing insight led content strategies for major brands. Strong understanding of platform behaviours, formats and best practices across TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X and emerging channels. Ability to turn audience insight and performance data into clear content strategies, optimisation plans and actionable recommendations. Confident briefing and challenging creative teams, with a strong social first mindset and knowledge of what drives cultural impact and platform performance. Hands-on experience using social and audience tools (Pulsar, Audiense, GWI, Trackr, Neurons, Fan Intelligence or similar). Comfortable presenting to clients, contributing to pitches and supporting cross team collaboration. Strong organisational and communication skills, with experience managing workflows across creative, digital and production teams. Passion for sport, gaming, music and entertainment, and curiosity for emerging trends and tools. Alignment with Ear to the Ground’s values and belief in fan first thinking. THE AGENCY Ear to the Ground is a global sport, gaming, and entertainment creative agency with a unique model that sets us apart. We are driven by Fan Intelligence®, our global network of 12,000 influential tastemakers and fans. Our real time insight into what fans truly want, enables us to create compelling work that consistently pushes the boundaries of culture. We pride ourselves on being the agency that listens better than anyone to solve our clients' challenges, maximise their sport, gaming and entertainment partnerships, and ultimately build brands that lead culture. We’ve helped clients including Nike, PlayStation, JD, NBA, Coca-Cola and 2K turn fans into consumers by delivering culturally relevant, fan-first campaigns that inspire emotional connection and measurable business impact. You can learn more about the agency with our 2025 agency show reel here . OUR CULTURE We are dedicated to making Ear to the Ground an amazing place to work where people grow, develop and thrive. We pride ourselves on our dynamic and exciting culture, excellent support of staff and fantastic benefits package. We have made it our mission to lead the way in being an inspiring, future-thinking, creative agency and are invested in our people because they are the ones that will make that happen. Some of our benefits include: 🕒 Flexible & hybrid working 🎉 Birthday off 👶 Workplace nursery benefit 👩👧👦 Enhanced maternity, paternity and shared parental leave 🏥 Private medical insurance and health cash plan 🤒 Enhanced sick leave 🚴♂️ Cycle to Work scheme 🐶 Dog friendly office 🚗 EV salary sacrifice scheme 📈 Personal development coaching + more