Bethany, the newest member of our team, is all about Adwords and analytics. She is the queen of keywords and master of marketing. But there is a lot more to Bethany than optimizing our clients’ accounts to give them the biggest bang for their buck.
What made you choose marketing?
Marketing chose me, because that’s just how my brain works, and it’s what I’ve pursued, perhaps unknowingly, my whole life. I love strategy, and I love coming up with creative solutions for clients that will get them results I can measure. If I didn’t find a job in marketing, I would still be trying to get my friends to let me experiment on their websites with all the new tools I wanted to learn.
What is your favorite part of working for Imagebox?
The people at Imagebox are very supportive of learning and morale. In the month I’ve worked for Imagebox, I would say that I’ve at least doubled my skill set. In addition, I feel like my coworkers are always approachable if I have questions or concerns, and we all work well together to create a positive environment for everyone.
What is the biggest thing you feel people don’t “get” about marketing?
People either see marketing as a magical solution, or they don’t think it works because the results are sometimes elusive. Website traffic varies month to month, and even day to day. It probably won’t work immediately, and people need to look results as improvement over a long period of time instead of just a single month-to-month report.
What is your favorite social network and why?
My favorite social network changes every couple months, every couple weeks or every day. Right now I’m really into Klout.com because I enjoy seeing how influential my posts are on my other social media accounts. It’s like a game trying to increase my score and seeing what gets people to interact with me online.
What is your favorite part of working with clients?
When I work with clients, I love being able to exceed their project expectations. It’s important to me that a client reaches their goals, and when I am able to provide solutions that help them do that, it feels awesome! Being able to make things happen in the lives of other people and working toward that end goal makes every day at work satisfying.
What do you love about the city of Pittsburgh?
I grew up in Pittsburgh, and I chose to come back to live and work here because there were so many career opportunities, so many places I still wanted to visit in the city, and so many dreams I had growing up to live here one day with my family. The diversity and history of the city makes it more beautiful than just the great views of it. Pittsburgh is filled with people who strongly identify with the city they live in, and I love being part of that.
What is the quote you live by?
My dad always told me, “You can’t control anyone but yourself.” This was said mostly when my sisters and I would fight, but I take it to mean a lot more these days. One meaning relates to marketing! Are people going to look at my website and be interested in what I have to offer? I don’t know, I can’t control their thoughts and actions. But if I familiarize myself with my audience and try to give them what they want, then maybe I can influence them 😉
What is your favorite website?
I’m a fan of Stereomood, a website that plays music to fit your selected mood. I get distracted if I listen to music with words, so I usually listen to the “studying” or “reading” channel that has few, if any, words in its songs. I’m listening to a lovely piano solo on it right now!
What do you do when you need to be inspired?
I really love brainstorming sessions with a group of people, with no restrictions on what ideas can be thrown out. I love being silly and laughing about ridiculous ideas, only to find out that something about it might actually work! When I don’t have a group of willing participants for brainstorming, honestly, I create a document and I just format it. No real content involved. Making outlines really forces my thought process, for some reason.
To read what Bethany has to say, read her blog posts.