SPECIAL GUEST!! Sprout Social's Hailey McDonald 📉 Death by Dashboard Is Quietly Killing Your Strategy | Ep. 539

Partner with Jay: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/contactㅤPre-order Jay Schwedelson's new book, Stupider People Have Done It (out June 9, 2026).All net proceeds are donated to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, let's kick cancer's butt: https://www.amazon.com/Stupider-People-Have-Done-Marketing/dp/1637635206ㅤSubscribe to Jay's newsletter for weekly marketing tips and tactics: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/newsletterㅤRegister for GuruConference (FREE + VIRTUAL!) https://www.guruconference.comㅤCheck out Eventastic (FREE + VIRTUAL!) https://www.eventastic.comㅤConnect with Jay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwedelson/Check out Jay's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@schwedelsonCheck out Jay's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayschwedelson/Ask Jay anything: https://www.jayschwedelson.com/askㅤLeave a comment and follow the show, it really helps us out!ㅤConnect with Hailey McDonald on LinkedIn to jam on social or anything marketing. Grab Sprout Social's new Social Intelligence Report. And for fun, follow her cat's golf-themed account, Cats Gone Golfing, on Instagram.ㅤEveryone's drowning in dashboards yet trusting the numbers less than ever, which is a strange place for marketing to end up. Hailey McDonald, VP of Revenue Marketing at Sprout Social, makes the case to Jay Schwedelson that social is the last corner of the internet where real people still say what they actually think, which is exactly why flooding it with AI slop quietly wrecks the trust you're trying to build. Stick around for the "Customer Zero" idea, a smart take on whether job interviews should ask about your following, and yes, a cat with a golf Instagram.ㅤBest Moments:(02:45) Death by dashboard, more information than we've ever had and less faith in any of it(04:23) Why social may be the last authentic, unprompted signal left online(05:01) Where the AI volume play stops working and starts eroding trust(10:55) "Customer Zero" and why employee advocacy starts with culture, not a Slack post(13:17) Should a job interview really ask about your personal social following now(18:00) Social intelligence in the wild, catching churn risk before it hits the P&L