Peter Mayer is proud to announce a new addition to our team: Lauren McCabe, Associate Director of Social Media. Lauren began her career in PR in New York City, where she worked for an international media company. Since then, she has helped a number of start-ups build out their social media and marketing strategies. Lauren is a graduate of Columbia University, where she studied English, and is happy to back in her hometown of New Orleans.

This week, we caught up with Lauren to talk to her about her new role at Peter Mayer, what the greatest challenges are with social media, and why she has a collage of mermaids hanging in her office.

1. What will you be doing at Peter Mayer?

I’m working to grow the agency’s social media offerings. We’re at the point now where every brand is on social media, even if they don’t actually have their own pages. Consumers are talking about them on Facebook, Twitter, and dozens of other networks, and my job is to help clients figure out how to be a part of this conversation in a way that aligns with their vision.

2. What is the greatest challenge on social media?

Discovering your brand’s voice. Brands are humans on social media; they have emotions, feelings, thoughts, and a personality. They can bring people together, inspire them to take action, and relate to them on a human level. Creating a living, breathing persona for your brand on social media is hard but goes a long way to ensure an enduring presence online.

3. Where is social media going next?

This has been a hot topic of discussion at Peter Mayer. Lately, we have been talking about how social media is becoming more visual. Facebook’s new brand timeline preferences pictures, Twitter is continuing to integrate images and videos directly into the newsfeed, and Pinterest’s major draw is its dynamic visual landscape. Fans are going to expect more visually engaging content, and I foresee a future where most posts have an image attached.

4. Why do you love what you do?

I love the way that social media gives us all the ability to be creators: to write and capture and photograph and share. I feel so lucky that I have a job where I can be creative every single day.

5. Why do you have a collage of mermaids hanging on your wall?

I wrote a novel about mermaids, almost got kicked out of a drawing class in college for drawing studio models with fins (instead of legs), and got my first job from a mermaid business card (true story). The mermaids in my office are my muses; they remind that you need to be creative, different, and a touch irreverent to achieve results.