This August, we hosted a networking breakfast which focused on the world of social media for businesses. The event featured a talk by Harriet Tuite, Head of Paid Social at our Digital agency partner Embryo and was hosted by Sinéad Flood, founder of jewellery company July Child, a business with a huge social presence. This was a hot-ticket event for anyone interested in the power of social media for business.

Get the insider scoop on what happened at the event and all of the key trends, advice and industry insider tips Harriet had to share with us.

MYP’s Networking Breakfast Events

At MYP, we do networking differently. We create authentic events where people from different sectors and stages of their careers can mix and mingle over activities that cater to their interests. 

Our ever-popular networking breakfast events combine getting together to eat at some of the best food venues in Manchester with speakers who offer a window into areas of interest with their unique expertise.

Our August 2024 Networking Breakfast Event

While our networking events are open invitation to professionals at all stages of their careers, we’re connected with professionals at some of the biggest and brightest businesses in the city. We invite speakers from those businesses to share insights from their wealth of career experience over a delicious breakfast. 

For our August event, attendees enjoyed delicious Bavarian breakfast food at Albert’s Schloss, made valuable new connections and sat back with a coffee to listen to Harriet share what’s happening on the cutting edge of social media for businesses.

Meet the Speaker: Harriet Tuite


Harriet Tuite (left) and Sinéad Flood (right) at the August MYP breakfast networking event.

Harriet Tuite currently works as Head of Paid Social at Embryo, a leading digital marketing agency in Manchester. Her career journey has seen her rise to Head of Paid Social through various marketing and social roles both agency side and in-house.

Her career trajectory has seen her graduate from Lancaster University and rise to Head of Paid Social position all within a decade. As a UK rising star of Paid Social, she was happy to share her thoughts about what success looks like for businesses that use social media and give her thoughts on future social media trends.

What does Paid Social Media Marketing involve?

Paid Social marketers are the savvy professionals who ensure your brand shines in social media feeds. This role combines a unique blend of creativity and data analysis to craft ‘stop you in your tracks’ content and then optimise how it performs. 

Their ultimate goal is to cut through the noise on the social media feeds of their target audience to build brand awareness, interest and ultimately sales or leads.

Paid Social sits within the marketing function of a business. Learn more about pursuing a career in digital marketing in our deep dive into this buzzing industry.

Our Interview with Harriet

Here’s an excerpt from our interview with Harriet, where Sinéad asked some of our burning questions about how businesses can get started with using social media to drive growth.

Sinead: ‘If you’re thinking about starting to grow your business on social media, which channel is the best place to start? How do you know which channel is for you?’ 

Harriet: ‘It’s important to understand your audience first before you even consider which channel is the channel for you. 

Where does your audience spend time? Use that insight to guide you. 

Don’t feel like you need to be on every channel – consider your resources and which channels you can realistically invest your time and energy in. It’s better to do one channel really well than four poorly!’

Sinead: ‘If there was one piece of advice you would give to a social media marketer, what would it be?’ 

Harriet: ‘Test test test! Test everything – audience, creative, campaign types.’

Harriet’s Key Insights Into Social Media for Businesses

As someone who crafts social strategies for a multitude of successful clients, Harriet gave us some insights into the nuts and bolts of effective social media marketing for businesses.

On Paid vs. Brand Team

Harriet shared some wisdom about how to carefully balance growing your business’s social media presence while maintaining a stable brand identity.

She told us,

‘The battle between paid and brand teams is real. While your brand team might say, “That’s not on brand,” it’s vital to listen to your paid team too. Their insights could be the difference between just gaining followers and converting them into loyal customers.’

On Trends to Watch

Asked what trends to watch closely for if you to reap the rewards of being an early adopter, Harriet let us know her predictions as someone on the frontline of social media platforms:

For organic social media:

 ‘Reels are giving TikTok a run for its money, and carousels are powerful tools which have now been increased on Instagram to challenge their rivals on TikTok. 

UGC (User-Generated Content) continues to thrive—people trust people, and this is where business owners can shine by coming into the limelight. 

EGC (Employee-Generated Content) is also going to keep being a big trend for B2B and B2C businesses alike!’

For paid social media:

‘Boosted posts within Ads Manager can actually achieve great results.’

If you’re watching closely to see which trends emerge on social, it could pay dividends to be on the early wave of social media trends rather than lagging behind. Why not take Harriet’s advice and pursue Employee-Generated Content to be on the frontline? 

Get More from Your Networking Events

If you’re looking for networking events where you can rub shoulders with people at the top of their career game as well as people just beginning theirs, MYP’s events could be for you. 

Our careers partners regularly attend our networking events, so if you’re looking for career advice you’ll be in the right place with the right people. 

Searching for mentorship? In addition to our networking events, we also run a career mentoring programme that cleverly matches experienced mentors with ambitious mentees.

Harriet Tuite was a mentee on our scheme, so if you’re looking for an extra way to boost your career progression, it could be the perfect opportunity.

Check out when our next networking event in Manchester is and follow our Instagram or LinkedIn page to keep upcoming events and announcements on your radar.