On Digital Content, Marketing, and Leadership

Industry insights from a digital content, social media, and fashion aficionado. Ex-YouTuber/Googler turned Condé Nast Entertainment marketer.

[sofiajasmine]

What Mei Taught Me

Condé Nast Entertainment has done a phenomenal job of curating top-tier talent to staff the lean organization, from entry-level roles to executive leadership. This access to successful and experienced leaders inspired me to launch a recurring feature here, in which I pick the brains of women who are truly doing it - leaning in, landing the corner offices, and breaking through glass ceilings.

Mei Lee, formerly the Vice President of Marketing at CNE (my boss!) - and presently a member of the Board of Advisors for the visual content marketing solution, Piqora - was (naturally) the first person I thought of for this series. Here’s what Mei taught me, with her own pearls of wisdom throughout. You’re welcome, readers.

Make the tough decisions. 

Mei was often tasked with making tough decisions - but ultimately, she weighed the bottom-line impact for her team and our organization over any personal discomfort the decision may have caused. These repercussions were temporary, and optimizing team performance and impact took precedent. Says Mei, “99% of the people at the workplace are afraid and unwilling to make the tough decisions. That’s why leadership is rare and hard to find. The best leaders possess no ego and no bias. I always consult my ego and my judgment before I make any tough decisions - personal and professional ones. Once a tough decision is made, you should stand 100% behind it to maintain your integrity.”

Do the work.

Mei is a data-driven marketer, and challenged us to really “do the work.” Instead of waxing poetic about the intangible ROI of brand-building on Instagram, we were in the numbers, looking at week-over-week referral traffic and engagement to inform our strategy. Mei pushed us not to rest on our laurels, but to continue to do the work, first and foremost. I’ll never forget the moment she drove this home for me - it was during one of our many 1:1s, and she looked at me squarely in the eye and said, “Sofia - you’re losing sight of what really matters - the work.” It was the first time I’d been called out on something that I considered to be the hallmark of my career - but I realized she was right. Outside of inevitable office politics and the trials and tribulations of a fast-paced, high-pressure work environment, the real champions are the individuals who keep their head down and maintain an unwavering focus on driving impact and results. Mei’s maxim on this? “Stay close to the facts. No one can ever hurt you when you operate from the truth in corporate America.”

Be yourself.

I always relished hearing about the experiences in Mei’s career that shaped her professional development. During one of our chats, Mei shared bittersweet memories about a previous company in which she felt like she couldn’t truly be herself. (One story involved a distinct desire to drive past her office during her commute - this happened every single morning!) She loved our company, she told me, because our leadership team fostered a culture that empowered team members to be authentic. By opening up to colleagues and team members, Mei built a sense of trust and camaraderie that exists even in her absence now. 

During my career from YouTube to CNE, I’ve struggled with this delicate balance of personality and professionalism. As a woman in the workplace, I was sensitive to being subjected to stereotypes - being labeled as “less than,” or having my intelligence and authority undermined. This concern led me to present myself as the very buttoned-up version of myself, but Mei pushed me to “let my hair down.” By breaking down my own walls, exposing my own vulnerability, and being relentlessly real, I achieved a deep-rooted confidence and a strong network of colleagues, peers, and friends who sincerely respect and value me in a way that simply wouldn’t have been possible before. Being myself enabled me to build my reputation as a professional, and not detract from it as I’d worried. She sums it up nicely here: “Don’t work too hard to impress others at work. Just be yourself and be neutral when you meet anyone for the first three months.”  

Be fearless.

Most notable about Mei is her courage - her Twitter bio even references her love for fearlessness! As a leader and professional, Mei embraces this attitude, and she challenges her team members to operate from a similar place. Under Mei’s management, I encountered many humbling experiences - I’ve been scared that others wouldn’t like me if I delivered negative feedback, I’ve been scared of not having the perfect answer, I’ve been scared of conflict. Her message was always consistent: do the work, and be fearless. She says, “The worst thing that can happen to us is death before life accomplishments. Failure, disappointment, bankruptcy, just fill-in-the-blank with your own word here, is really nothing to be afraid of when you are still breathing.“ It was a hard and uncomfortable journey (to acknowledge your fear and ultimately, co-exist productively with it is no easy feat!), but this is truly what Mei taught me, and it’s my privilege to share with each of you. 

You can follow Mei Lee on Twitter at @himeilee.

[sofiajasmine]

Iggy Azalea loves unicorns. Watch the video here: https://thescene.com/watch/vogue/73-questions-iggy-azalea-thinks-on-fleek-is-over

[sofiajasmine]

On Adversity

As we go along this journey called life, roadblocks and challenges are inevitable - tempting to derail us from happiness, from pursuing our passions, from feeling fulfilled.

Unfortunately, adversity is a natural part of our existence - but we can control the way we process, and ultimately, bounce back from it.

I speak from experience. When I was 20 years old, I lost my mother to a decade-long struggle with addiction. At the time, I was interning at NBC, and had just finished my sophomore year at NYU Gallatin. My father was undergoing major legal issues, leaving me and my siblings alone to climb out of the wreckage. That time feels like a blur - I was overwhelmed, lost, and numb.

At times, I wanted to quit - to fall under the pressure of everything I was going through, drop out of school, and simply give up. I was unable to pay tuition, struggling emotionally, and suddenly parent-less.

But I persevered. I applied for scholarships, leaned on a support network of friends and mentors, and invested my energy into navigating these obstacles - sometimes stumbling, but never giving up. By exercising an unwavering commitment to my dreams and ambitions, one step at a time, where there was "no," I made "yes."

Now, in my late 20s, I look at that career I've built - from NBC to YouTube to Condé Nast - and I appreciate my adversity. It helped me get here, because it endowed me with an unbreakable belief in myself, a deep gratitude, and the ability to look anyone in the eye, and say definitively, confidently: "There's nothing I can't do."

When I experience challenges today, I tap into the reserves of fortitude I've cultivated and I know that I am a champion - and I encourage you to embrace the negative experiences in your life as fuel for your fire. Transform setbacks into successes, leverage these opportunities to be resilient, use the ugly to propel forward into beautiful and powerful achievements.

"Fall seven times. Stand up eight." I may be down - but never, never out. 

[unstuckcommunity]

[sofiajasmine]

Unstuck offers community, tips, and tools that show us how to live better every day. Get our free app at www.unstuck.com.

[sofiajasmine]

On Doing The Work

I recently had a meeting with an executive and mentor. During our conversation, the idea of "doing the work" came up. She said, "Sofia, I think you've forgotten the most important thing. It's about doing the work."

The simplicity of her statement floored me. How could I - someone who has always prided myself on working harder than anyone else - have forgotten to "do the work?" That's not to say I hadn't been working - but the quality of the work has being hindered by energy expended elsewhere. Energy wasted on office politics, on comparing myself with colleagues, on frustrations and negative sentiment, and soliciting too much feedback, on self-doubt.

So what was the takeaway for me? When things are the most chaotic, the ones who succeed are the ones who maintain a laser-focus on the work. When your role may be ambiguous, and the path ahead unclear - the only way forward to is to think about the work you've been tasked to do, and elevate. The only thoughts worth entertaining in this kind of environment are: "How can I take this work to the next level?"

When you stop worrying about everything else and can approach the work with a zen-like focus, as an invitation to do your very best and make your impact - that's when you grow professionally.

[sofiajasmine]

On The Long Game

I've noticed something afflicting the millennial generation (myself included) in the workplace - an inability to play the long game.

Blame it on the internet, on our ability to access any piece of information instantly with our smartphones, but one thing is clear - our generation is one that is used to getting what we want, when we want it - and the same is true in our careers.

I was recently chatting with a young woman who had reached out to me via LinkedIn. She'd been working as an intern at an organization for a few months, and volunteering in her free time to help write for the company's blog. In our meeting, she expressed frustration to me that she hadn't been promoted yet. Though I admired her passion and tenacity to move forward in her career - something I could personally relate to - I was surprised at her lack of long-picture thinking. YES, express your desires to grow to the next role. YES, be aggressive even, in continuing to communicate those goals - don't be a martyr, and don't be afraid to be assertive (something that women all too often tend to do in the workplace for reasons sociological and institutional). But just because you feel you deserve a promotion you may not have gotten yet, don't stop doing the work. Why? Because even if you don't stay at your current workplace, the opportunity to learn in real-life scenarios is a privilege, and one you should take advantage of. In my meeting with this individual, I explained that the work she was doing outside of her core role was a learning opportunity and that it would pay dividends in her next role, regardless of whether it was at her current organization or a new one. I also shared my own personal experiences - working weekends during my internship at NBC to help the producers edit footage, working with an associate when I was a legal assistant to proofread briefs and analyze case law despite being paid to make copies and organize documents, learning SQL at YouTube to better understand the paradigms our researchers were working with. I explained how those moments were the ones that ultimately propelled me forward in my career - whether they resulted in a stellar recommendation, or a new skill set to add to my resumé.

Things worth working for, are worth waiting for. And even when you're working towards a goal or a future that you truly deserve - it's not something you should quit because you simply aren't at the finish line yet. Every moment you are learning something new is one that will get you to where you need to be. As long as you are authentic and consistent in expressing your ambitions - to yourself and to your employers - have faith in the journey, believe in yourself, take those learning opportunities. And keep looking at the long game.

[bingchen]

[sofiajasmine]

On Leadership

With the holiday season well underway (and email auto-responders set up to divert corporate email!), it's the perfect opportunity to reflect on the year past. From successes and failures, trials and tribulations small and large, resolutions achieved and others lost along the way, every year provides a wealth of experiences to learn from.

This year, I made the tough decision to leave my role at YouTube and to embrace new challenges at a start-up, accepted a promotion to Associate Director of Marketing, and managed reorgs and team staffing changes. There were many successes along the way, but equally, there were failures. And as I think through some of my pivotal career moments this year, there's one thing that I keep coming back to - leadership.

Through my career, I've studied leadership with an almost academic rigor. From becoming chairwoman for the Women@YouTube organization and voraciously reading books like Lean In, Linchpin, #Girlboss, Tribal Leadership (and so many more!), I've endeavored to glean the skills that I'd need to be an effective leader. 

Speaking from the platform of my experiences this year, when called upon to lead, the books often come up short.

Why? Because scenarios, workplaces, and people are unique - and while there are broad-based principles that you can certainly leverage, the only way you truly hone your leadership style is not to craft it academically, but to exercise it daily, like a muscle. It's a classic example of "do," don't philosophize.

I'd always imagined myself to be the type of leader that would lead by example - to be authentic, compassionate, and live in the trenches with my team. While this is a great in theory in practice, it wasn't always as simple as it seemed. I often found myself in new and uncharted scenarios, encountering, head-on, nuances that the books I'd read hadn't prepared me to navigate.

The first step in the path to leadership is failure. I've had to look at myself - to look at the things I was failing at, day in and day out - to understand my growth opportunities. And it was tough! It was a truly humbling experience to walk into the office every day and accept, "I am going to fail at this again today." But this is the first step. From there, you build. 

What else does it mean to be a leader in the workplace? It means that you are going to put yourself out there - to make choices - and when you do that, inevitably, people will have opinions. People will disagree with you, and sometimes, people you used to have great relationships with may suddenly stop liking you as much. Once you create (a brand, a product, or simply a course of action) you become a target for criticism. It takes real courage - a wholehearted and profound type of bravery - to lead. It requires you to exert the confidence to make mistakes, to be disliked at times, to remove yourself from the finger-pointing comfort zone, and to be vulnerable.

Leadership also means navigating interpersonal politics for the bigger picture, and no longer being able to hide behind the security blanket of "oh, well, that's not my job." It means being the solution, finding the solution, and never stopping at "good enough" - you now have the privilege and unique challenge of moving your organization, your project, or your team, to "even better."

Being a leader was, without a doubt, my biggest professional challenge of 2014 - and for that, I am grateful. I'm grateful for the opportunity that a new year brings to me - to appreciate where I am, here at the starting line, and know that I'll have another 365 days to put in my 10,000 hours.

Wishing you all of the personal & professional successes you're looking for in 2015,

Sofia

[sofiajasmine]

Marketing to Millennials

Three recent studies - the Moosylvania 2015 Millennial Ranking Report, Content Marketing Best Practices from Yahoo, DigitasLBi, Razorfish, and Tumblr, and Hashtag Nation by Havas, all looked at what it takes to connect to the millennial consumer. I break down key insights here.

Current millennials are more savvy than previous generations, and are acutely aware of their power in building brands. Platforms such as Twitter and YouTube, through which individuals are empowered to enact meaningful, real-time impact in the world - have created consumers who intrinsically understand their value.

Moosylvania's study points to a "friendship" piece that brands need to build to generate loyalty with millennials through personalized interaction, and engaging experiences (via OOH marketing and app or video-based experiences). 

For content marketers, the Yahoo/Digitas et al. study provided some actionable strategies such as ensuring that content speaks to emotion or human experience, providing millennials with the "good life" ("reinforcing the millennial values of embracing life and finding happiness along the off-roaded path to adulthood"), fueling creativity via mash-ups and memes, spotlighting pop culture, and helping them succeed via how-tos or lifehacks.

AdWeek created the infographic below to outline the top 8 ways that millennials engage with brands they love:

The studies also articulate what millennials expect from brand content: they want to be immersed, they want to be "in the know," and they want resources that will bring them success.

[sofiajasmine]

Instagram - a TV Substitute?

An interesting AdWeek read explores the potential of Instagram as another TV-substitute, a la YouTube. The piece was motivated by reports that the top branded Instagram posts in the end of October were driven by TV talent Ellen Degeneres. Cord-cutting adolescents have turned to YouTube to satisfy their entertainment needs, but with more content publishers leveraging the Instagram platform as well, there's potential for Instagram to eat into YouTube's inventory here.

[sofiajasmine]

YouTube CEO Shares Future of Platform

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki shared her goals for the video-sharing site at the 2014 Most Powerful Women Summit. Wojcicki revealed that her two focus areas for the company are to support its users' ability to communicate globally (pointing to tech concerns like minimizing latency), and to enable creators to develop sustainable careers on the platform (echoing recent marketing efforts to make YouTube talent names mainstream). 

[sofiajasmine]

Snapchat to Debut Ads

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel confirmed that the platform will debut ads. This announcement is exciting for brands who want to appeal to young millennials - it also makes ad campaigns compelling due to the ephemeral nature of Snapchat content. Since the Snapchat platform is opt-in (no banner ads - users have to hold down to view content - it provides an incredibly desirable level of engagement for advertisers (especially when compared with other digital paid media metrics like impressions, that don't reflect engagement).  

With 100M monthly uniques, and 16.5M daily active users, Snapchat has achieved the kind of scale that can drive big advertising dollars to the platform.

The challenges associated with this launch? Currently, lack of ability to target audiences due to the fact that the content on the platform is constantly disappearing. IMO, the main challenge will be the Snapchat generation's intrinsic dislike of commercial content. Brands will have to create unique experiences - that add value - rather than push notifications that will likely alienate and aggravate their intended audience demo.

[sofiajasmine]

Programmatic: Still A "Black Box" For Many Marketers

Programmatic buying is one of the biggest buzzwords in the paid marketing industry, but according to a recently survey by Forrester & the Association of National Advertisers, only 23% of advertisers feel that they understand how programmatic works.

AdWeek reports that programmatic placed in the top 10 concerns of respondents in terms of media buying (others included a reliance on served impressions vs. viewable impressions, distrust as to whether agencies are profiting from media sellers, lack of visibility into audience targeting, and click fraud/bots).

For folks (like myself!) interested in learning more about programmatic buying, AdWeek has outlined the core benefits in the infographic below: 

[unstuckcommunity]

When we feel stuck, at the heart of it, we feel lonely. We’re not understood. We’re not connected. Our worries sap the energy and imagination necessary to see our way out.

We need empathy. Stat!

We need someone to acknowledge us and show that they understand how we feel. To give us a sense...

[sofiajasmine]

Brands Moving Away From Facebook, Towards Microsites

An interesting piece in AdWeek today reports that brand publishers are moving away from Facebook, and instead creating custom microsites as vehicles to engage directly with their target audience/consumer base. 

Changes to the Facebook platform, like the launch of its EdgeRank algorithm - which has made organic reach a challenge for advertisers - are cited as part of the reason for this shift. Arguably also at play here? The platform's decreasing popularity with millennial consumers.

Brooks Thomas, AT&T's director of digital & social media stated, "Brands will always have more control over owned spaces than rented ones."

With 57% of social clicks now pointing to owned & operated sites, who's winning in this space? Madden's NFL 15 launch saw the creation of its "Giferator" microsite, which saw a strong average engagement time of 6 minutes of the 200K unique visitors it received on launch day, indicates that the company was able to create an experience that consumers enjoyed - which may see dividends in brand loyalty.

[sofiajasmine]

A Guide to Cross-Platform Marketing

It's a recent axiom in the content marketing industry that audiences are being fragmented across an increasing number of devices. But what does that mean for marketers when trying to reach your target audience?

eMarketer recently published a report on cross-device trends, which I've consulted in this guide. If you only read one thing here, remember this: "Cross-platform marketing is no longer a nice-to-have, but a need-to-have."

We know cross-platform marketing is challenging - how do you identify the same individual over different channels? How do you measure a campaign's success? However, respondents to a March 2014 survey by Constant Contact indicate that their multi-channel campaigns resulted in higher engagement, more clients, and increased digital traffic. It remains the #1 subject that media professionals want to learn more about in 2014.

The crux of cross-platform marketing is not whether it's an important initiative for marketers, but how you create a strategic campaign - instead of simply generating more noise in a crowded market. 

Besides ensuring that your content is available across all devices and implements adaptive web design, it's integral to understand the nuance of content that resonates across specific digital touch-points and trending consumption patterns.

For example, understanding that paid search traffic turns into sales more often on desktops is a vital principle for marketers focused on e-commerce. However, weigh that against the fact that "webrooming" is becoming an increasingly significant factor in purchase decisions (78% of respondents to a November 2013 survey by Accenture reported engaging in this behavior) - and it's clear that a healthy media mix between mobile, desktop, and traditional brick-and-mortar is the most effective way to impact the bottomline.

In terms of content marketing, current consumption patterns largely indicate that tablet users are more engaged video consumers that mobile audiences - Colin Helms, SVP of connected content at MTV reports that their audience streams 80% more content on tablets per user against smartphone viewers. When advertising to a mobile digital media consumer, creating experiences that are not obtrusive is paramount. Rob McLoughlin, VP of Consumer Research at PopSugar, notes, "Across the board, we found that the most effective content on smartphones is native content. That’s true because of the screen size and because of the personal attachment that consumers have to their device. It’s a very personal device and sometimes ads can feel intrusive when they are not native to the content- consumption experience. We found that smartphones are not an ideal environment for display advertising, but they’re definitely a great environment for native advertising. On tablets, the screen size is different, so we see a mix of native content and content-aligned display ads work well." 

[sofiajasmine]

Simplicity Can Be Powerful

Simplicity can be powerful. Look at Starbuck's Instagram video, which broke into the Top 10 Instagram Brand videos (historically saturated with high-action NBA, Go Pro, and Victoria's Secret content).