By Taylor Bartley
At the 2015 State of Digital Media Marketing Conference, we have speakers coming from all over the nation to speak about their specialties in digital marketing. One in particular is Kari Rippetoe, a jack of all trades in the digital marketing world. Not only does Kari understand the importance of content, but she is an SEO expert and can brand a business with the best of them. We got the chance to talk to Kari about the her favorite aspects of digital marketing and along with the challenging aspects. We also got great tips for fellow digital marketers! Check out the full interview below:
The company you work for, Marketing Mojo, offers a variety of services, which is your favorite to do?
In my role, client services, I’m primarily involved in are content marketing, link building for SEO, and persona building for social media advertising campaigns. I definitely have a love for content marketing, though – it’s always interesting to dive into the core of a brand and learn about not just their products and services, but their mission for their customers, and what drives those customers to buy. This information helps me to create content that is in tune with all of those elements and helps tell the brand’s story.
Which is your favorite social network and why?
I like Facebook, although I only use it for personal updates rather than professional. It’s enabled me to connect with friends and family I wouldn’t get to see or talk to on a regular basis. In that way, I think Facebook really personifies the value of social media, and what marketers need to tap into in order to use it for business.
What tips do you have for digital marketers who are just starting out?
Marketing in the 21st century is not what you see on Mad Men. It’s not just all about creative and branding. Most of my career has been focused on digital marketing, and there are 3 key things to keep in mind if you want to be successful:
- It’s not about one tactic, it’s about a fully integrated strategy. Step back and look at the big picture, and how all your digital marketing tactics (SEO, online advertising, social media, content, email) are working together in harmony to achieve business goals.
- Keep those business goals in sight at all times, and use data to your advantage to prove marketing’s worth. You will need to have a really good grasp of your metrics, data analysis (learn Google Analytics!), and key performance indicators to do everything from making a business case to execs to measuring the success of a campaign and tying it back to that most important of metrics, money.
- Technology is your friend. Marketing SaaS (software as a service) is a quickly growing industry, and for good reason. If you have the opportunity to work in an organization that uses marketing automation, customer relationship management (CRM) tools, content management systems (CMSs), or any other types of technology platforms, your career will benefit greatly from knowing how to use these tools.
What app can you not live without?
Spotify. Music keeps me focused while I’m doing everything from writing a blog post to putting together reports.
What has been the hardest part in your digital marketing career thus far?
Keeping up with all the changes! Digital marketing is continually evolving at break-neck pace, and that’s a big challenge for a majority of marketers because they feel they can’t keep up with it all. But a big advantage of working at a digital marketing agency is we keep ourselves abreast of all the changes so we can keep our clients up-to-date. And for the clients, that’s a big advantage of working with an agency!
What are you most excited about in regards to the State of Digital Media Marketing Conference?
I’ve never attended this conference, and I always look forward to going to new conferences and learning from other experts I may not have heard speak before. But I’m also excited about dropping some Panda and Penguin knowledge during my session!
Follow Kari on Twitter
