Outsourcing Social Media: Dorien Morin-van Dam on Nailing Your Brand’s Tone and Voice

In this video, you’ll learn: 

• Dorien’s Path to Social Media Consulting: From Stay-at-Home-Mom to Business Owner 
• Common Roadblocks When Outsourcing Social Media Marketing Services
• Discovering Your Voice Through Collaborative Onboarding
• A Look Into the Future: How AI Will Impact Social Media Outsourcing 
• Rapid Fire Round: Dorien’s go-to social media app, and more!

Dorien’s Path to Social Media Consulting: From Stay-at-Home-Mom to Business Owner

Welcome, Dorien. You've had such a cool journey in social media strategy and consulting. What sparked your passion to start More In Media? 

Dorien Morin-van Dam: [00:00-1:35] I was a stay-at-home mom for 12 years, and when my youngest started kindergarten, I had a different reaction than most moms. While others were crying, I skipped out thinking 'What's next?' This was around 2010 when social media was emerging, and no one locally was providing those services. I took an online course, added a title to my LinkedIn profile, and started learning. My teaching background came in handy - I'd learn something new about Twitter or Facebook, then rent a room at the local college to teach others. That's how I started getting clients.

Common Roadblocks When Outsourcing Social Media Marketing Services

In your experience helping companies build their social presence, what are some of the challenges you've seen for outsourcing social media and keeping that brand voice? 

Dorien Morin-van Dam: [1:36:4:42] The hardest part of brand voice is convincing stakeholders to let you do your thing. They often say, 'Our competitors are doing this, can you replicate it?' But I push back - we don't want to just marginally improve on competitors, we want to do something different. That mindset shift is challenging.

I tell clients to give me 6-9 months and permission to experiment, especially in organic social. I'm upfront that we need freedom to test different formats, voices, and even emojis. What helps convince them is my data-driven approach - I look at metrics daily at first, then every few days, with weekly reports and real-time adjustments based on findings. But the biggest roadblock remains their desire to just copy competitors. 

Discovering Your Voice Through Collaborative Onboarding and Text Analysis

How would you coach clients to develop their brand voice and personality? Do you need to have that already before you start to talk to social media agencies, or is that something you offer as you're onboarding them? 

Dorien Morin-van Dam: [4:44-8:38] I build voice discovery into onboarding, starting with a 90-minute discovery meeting with key stakeholders. I don't provide questions beforehand because I want authentic responses about their business, goals, and audience. For larger companies, we conduct text analysis of customer service communications - emails, call recordings, and testimonial responses. Most businesses already have a voice in these materials; they just haven't documented it. As a certified Agile marketer, I advocate for frequent client meetings early on. I'll present voice examples, get feedback, and record working sessions where we discuss 'How would you say this?' This collaborative approach, combining text analysis with regular feedback, helps us nail the voice quickly.

Are there any other tools or sources that you found helpful businesses can bring to a social agency to help get that off to a good start?

Dorien Morin-van Dam: [8:39-10:41] AI tools are game-changing for voice analysis, but here's the right way to use them: First, ensure clients have their own internal chatbot or system - never put client data in public AI tools. Feed the bot your existing communication assets - customer service scripts, emails, past communications. Then prompt it to analyze how to best communicate with your audience on social media, including elements like whether humor would resonate.

Remember though, the AI does the analysis, but you need to do the inference. Use your human judgment to validate the AI's suggestions and test them. While five years ago my answer would've been different, today AI makes voice analysis accessible to everyone - you just need to implement it thoughtfully and get stakeholder buy-in.

For businesses worried about losing control over their brand’s voice, do you have any go-to tips for making sure the in-house team and the outsourced team is collaborative and aligned, especially when it comes to testing messaging?

Dorien Morin-van Dam: [11:18-13:51] Start testing in more private channels - direct messages on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn are perfect for this. You're having real conversations with clients without the public exposure that might make the C-suite nervous. Chatbots are another great testing ground. If you adjust the voice and people engage longer or respond more positively, that's valuable data. Much better to test there than post something publicly and get that dreaded 'take it down' call from executives. Once you have data showing success - like people staying on the chatbot four minutes longer with a certain tone - you've built a case for expanding that voice to public channels. Then suggest testing it on just one platform first. It's about taking those small steps that make stakeholders comfortable.

What specific KPIs do you recommend businesses focus on when you're working with them, and how do you kind of demonstrate success of different campaigns with the changing social landscape? 

Dorien Morin-van Dam: [13:52-17:56] KPIs really depend on your goals. Let me share a recent example: I worked with a SaaS startup that initially just wanted awareness - they weren't even focused on sales. About 6-8 weeks into our social campaign, something interesting happened. The founder noticed people coming to demos were already familiar with their features from our social content, especially TikTok. They were asking specific questions rather than starting from scratch. This dramatically shortened their sales cycle. We'd done a founder-led strategy, and our key metrics weren't just on company pages - we tracked engagement on his personal LinkedIn where he was building thought leadership. The ROI showed up in better-qualified leads and faster closes, even though that wasn't the initial goal. Your KPIs should align with three things: your goals, your budget, and your resources. You can have ambitious targets, but without the team or budget to support them, you need to be realistic. Start by measuring any growth - daily at first, then weekly - and adjust based on what's working.

A Look Into the Future: How AI Will Impact Social Media Outsourcing

Where do you see the future of social media outsourcing going with the integration of AI? 

Dorien Morin-van Dam: [17:57-20:32] Business owners are getting smarter about AI. Soon, they'll start asking agencies 'How do you use AI?' instead of just 'Can you handle our social media?' I want to differentiate myself by showing how I use AI responsibly - considering cybersecurity and data safety. AI is already transforming my workflow. Tasks like competitor analysis and social media audits that used to take hours are much faster. I still interpret the data and create strategy, but AI streamlines the data gathering process. I compare this to when smartphones emerged 15 years ago. 

Just as we needed social media education then, we need AI education now. 

Once this new generation of marketers and business owners understands AI's potential and proper use, the panic will settle and we'll use it more effectively.

Rapid Fire Round: Dorien’s go-to social media app, emojis, and more!

If you could only have one social media app on your phone, what would it be? 

Dorien Morin-van Dam: [20:36-21:08] I've doubled down on LinkedIn in the last few years, testing every new feature they release. The daily ROI I'm seeing there makes it my must-have platform.

Which brand that you're currently following has the best social media presence? 

Dorien Morin-van Dam: [21:09-21:51] I love HubSpot's Inbound - their 'humans first' approach really showcases their community, employees, and customers. And Pretty Little Marketer by Sophie Miller - she combines great marketing insights with a fun, pink aesthetic. Her enthusiasm is infectious.

What are your go-to emojis when crafting posts? 

Dorien Morin-van Dam: [21:51-22:33] My go-to emojis are the shrug and eyes. For bullets, since there's no perfect-sized dot emoji, I use check marks or plus signs. And instead of writing 'click here,' I use the pointing finger to indicate links.

About Dorien Morin-van Dam, Owner of More In Media

Dorien Morin-van Dam is a social media strategist, organic social media specialist, trainer, community manager, and keynote speaker. She has been a social media professional for over 10 years and is a Certified Social Media Professional and Agile Marketer. Dorien, often recognized on-stage by her signature orange glasses, has experience in a multitude of industries from local B2B and B2C clients to national and international brands.

Interviewed by: Katie Hollar, VP of Marketing at Clutch