First Interviews aren't as Bad as You Think

This was my first one. Enjoy.

Article posted here: https://bit.ly/3Aeli25

Marketing a product or service today is easier than ever before in history. Using platforms like Facebook ads or Google ads, a company can market their product directly to people who perfectly fit the ideal client demographic, at a very low cost. In this interview series called “How to Effectively Leverage The Power of Digital Marketing, PPC, & Email to Dramatically Increase Sales”, we are talking to marketers, advertisers, brand consultants, & digital marketing gurus who can share practical ideas from their experience about how to effectively leverage the power of digital marketing. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Samantha Hoey Nelson. Samantha has told stories for a variety of brands such as Disney, Walmart, Target, Mattel, John Deere, and Unilever brands such as Dove and Axe, executing 360 campaigns, working on brand strategy, social channels as well as online and experiential advertising. Sam is unique as a creative who blends storytelling and business acumen to connect with the user journey. Sam has her MBA from USC. Experienced leader well-versed in advertising, design, technology, and creative strategy. Sam has rolled up her sleeves in start-ups and Fortune100 clients to help build businesses tell their stories through creative work. Storytime is based in Los Angeles, California.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started? Hello, I’m Samantha Nelson, the Chief Storyteller and owner of StorytimeLA, a boutique agency that offers branding, design, strategy, social, and content development through the lens of storytelling. I’m a storyteller and creative at heart. I got a BFA (Bachelor in Fine Art) in Design and Illustration from Radford University in southwest Virginia, then quickly jumped into the boom of Seattle’s internet scene of the late 90’s. Self-taught in web design, my background is primarily in digital design, branding, and online advertising. I have worked both in-house and within the agency world. I pushed more into the digital marketing and strategy space 10 years ago when I earned my MBA from USC. Since then, more of my focus has been on creative brand strategy and storytelling. Can you share a story about the funniest marketing mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that? As a new Art Director at Disney, at a time when I didn’t have kids and wasn’t familiar with the talent, I was working on a promotion with Hewlett Packard and the Hannah Montana Tour. I was unaware who Hannah Montana was (AKA Miley Cyrus) or just how large of a following she had. It was a few weeks into developing the campaign before it became clear, and I had to readjust our creative strategy. As a friend irritatingly had to explain to me that she way Billy Ray’s daughter, I realized working in advertising I needed to have a much broader cultural awareness. Just because I wasn’t a parent, or was much of a country music fan, as an advertiser, I still needed to be aware of cultural trends that affect my target audience. That lesson still resonates with me today. None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story? One of the most valuable lessons of my career came, appropriately enough, during my early advertising days at Disney. I was in a weekly meeting with my creative director. He looked at the first project I presented, a set of banner ads and asked, “So what’s the story”? His question left me confused. “What do you mean, what’s the story? I asked. It’s a banner ad… simple. “No”, he replied. “Everything has a story, even a simple banner ad.” Something clicked. It was truly a pivotal moment in my career and for me personally. I realized I was no longer just an art director; I was a storyteller. POWER MOMENT. I never told him how that conversation affected me and over time, profoundly changed me.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story? The focus on branding through the lens and power of storytelling, starting with my story as a multifaceted agency veteran, mom of three, who chose to bypass obstacles in her career, write her narrative, and channel her passion and energy for her craft into her own client’s work. You are a successful business leader. Which three-character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

1. Tribal leadership — A concept of bringing together a talented tribe of similarly minded people all working for the good of the tribe, which is based off a book written by one of my professors Dave Logan while I was at USC.

2. Transparency and mutual respect. I have always maintained both as a leader. I have always made time for my teams and valued their work and time, if someone on my team was working late, I was working late.

3. Staying at the end of my comfort zone. (Always be evolving) following my sister’s mantra, “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”. My sister passed away 4 years ago from Cancer. Continuing to live that mantra in her honor drives me every in every area of my life.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people? A re-branding of a Global Climate change non-profit, as well as launching a series on IGTV for my agency StorytimeLA. Hopefully the series will connect with an audience by bringing authentic conversation about brand, business, and entrepreneurship.

Ok super. Now let’s jump to the main questions of our interview. As we mentioned in the beginning, sometimes companies that just start exploring with digital marketing tools like PPC campaigns often see disappointing results. In your opinion, what are a few of the biggest mistakes companies make when they first start out with digital marketing? If you can, please share an example for each.

1. I think companies rush to get “something” out branding and communication wise, they put out content that is not serving them or their followers/customers. They need to do their due diligence in understanding their own goals and strategy, make a plan for where they are, and where they want to be. I have had numerous experiences with clients big and small who had to pay multiple agencies for the same work. They probably weren’t ready for the work they needed to do and had to start over. This is a common story. It’s hard when companies are managing so many other elements of their business but starting branding on the right note is critical.

2. They need to be authentic in their communications, not just consider themselves and what their story is, but their audience and what they need. Simply said, there is a lot of junk online. Brands that are authentic with their story and desire to connect, will build a much better relationship with their audience. We engage with brands because we trust or connect with them on some level, not necessarily because of the product.

3. They are not consistent with their communication, frequency, and messaging. You can give a client the best strategy in the world, if they don’t follow it, it’s not going to work. I work with several smaller businesses who I create a strategy and educate them on execution. Due to budgetary issues, they are not yet able to pay for social media management. They come back to me and say that social isn’t for them. It’s because they are not being consistent in their communications and message.

If you could break down a very successful digital marketing campaign into a “blueprint”, what would that blueprint look like? Please share some stories or examples of your ideas. There is a standard strategy of basic marketing steps I’ve used over the years (Establish goal and timeline of campaign, market assessment, concepting, planning promotion, and execution, response, reporting, and finally analysis. I’ve used this process for simple 3-month campaigns as well as yearlong quarterly initiatives. I used this process regularly for digital campaigns with Disney Branded Entertainment as well as my co-branded work with Walmart and Unilever. Let’s now talk about email marketing for a bit. In your opinion, what are the 3 things that you need to know to run a successful email marketing campaign that increases sales? First and most important, a great story, second told in a concise way, third, email sent at the right time. Like any communications… timing is a huge make or break in the success of a campaign. What are the other digital marketing tools that you are passionate about? If you can, can you share with our readers what they are and how to best leverage them? I mentioned Clubhouse, which has been a game changer for me recently. It’s like having a curated conference available to me 24/7. Otherwise, podcasts, and I read very regularly (industry, business, and cultural, magazines, blogs, news feeds) I regularly subscribe to industry email lists, mostly as a reminder to check them out regularly… I have 3 kids I need reminding :)

Here is the main question of our series. Can you please tell us the 5 things you need to create a highly successful career as a digital marketer? Can you please share a story or example for each?

1. An understanding of general business skills, marketing, strategy and communications. You don’t need to get an MBA like I did, though that was life changing for me. I learned to be strategic, financially, and operationally aware, gained analytical and leadership skills which are key for high levels of success, though going to USC was one of the best things I ever did for myself.

2. You need to be connected to the pulse of your industry and current events. The world has become a much smaller place, events now have a much wider reach that can affect any business or consumer. Recently there was lots of attention to Naomi Osaka, smart marketers were aware and jumped in with support for the tennis star. It was an event not just supporting a celebrity but mental health awareness which is a hugely important topic right now.

3. An expansive network. Like any good relationship they take work. Use tools like LinkedIn and participate in industry groups and associations. I regularly reach out to my USC alumni network and to Women’s business groups and women led conferences I have joined. I participate in groups for support in my industry as well as groups focused to my target clients to be a part of their conversations and better understand their needs. Clubhouse is great for this. I regularly talk to women business owners about challenges in branding or sharing their stories as a method of business development. Regularly sharing and exchanging ideas is one of the best business tools out there in my opinion, as it builds relationships and trust.

4. Constantly be listening and learning, from other marketers, brands, and consumer/user trends. I try to spend 30 minutes a day on social media scouring content for interesting tidbits of useful information. It’s a great way to also give back by sharing what you find. I’ve had some great industry conversations and have made authentic relationships through sharing content. Consistently including my opinions and thoughts on what I’ve shared has been a great connection point.

5. Understand UI and UX, (user experience) even at the basic level will make you a more successful marketer. I explain to people, User experience is like religion. It is a philosophy and practice you will always keep with you. It is a practice that can be used not just in design, but in all areas of marketing from emails to social media strategy.

What books, podcasts, videos, or other resources do you use to sharpen your marketing skills? I’m a bit obsessed with Clubhouse app right now, I also listen to Brene Brown, Peter Levitin, Varun Duggirlala, and I have regularly taken classes on LinkedIn, which used to be Lynda.com. I have taken courses from her since she was in print, and that is how I taught myself web design, the basis for my career! Thank you for all of that. We are nearly done. Here is our final ‘meaty’ question. You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-) Storytelling. Why I started a company called Storytime. I think storytelling in business and personally is the key to everything. It’s communication, education, gaining understanding and most importantly connection. How can our readers further follow your work? Storytimela.com or @storytimela on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!