It’s an exciting new chapter for Boston Content!
Sarah Dudley will be stepping in as the organization’s new Executive Director to oversee continued growth for New England’s largest organization for content professionals.
Get to know Sarah here:
Her career to-date and today at IBM:
I’ve spent the last 6 years at IBM working across a variety of roles spanning content marketing, communications, social media, and product marketing. In these various functions, I’ve been able to work on exciting technologies that shape and change how we live and work like the cloud, blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Right now, I’m in IoT working on solutions for smart buildings. This means helping real estate and facilities managers understand how to best use their spaces, create environments for their employees to improve collaboration and productivity, and make sure everything runs smoothly while balancing the rising cost of real estate. We actually have a virtual assistant for buildings named Sarah that we take around to tradeshows. She looks oddly like me too so we tell people she was created in my likeness. It’s my claim to fame.
Before IBM, I worked at both GE Aviation and Hasbro as I was working towards my MBA. With limited marketing experience up to that point, I spent my extra time volunteering with the American Marketing Association running their social media accounts. Doing this while I was in grad school was a key element of building my resume to set me up for the career I wanted! It’s why I find communities like Boston Content SO important.
In 2016, I was named a Top Millennial in Marketing to Follow by LinkedIn. I’ve always been a huge advocate of using social media to grow your personal brand and had spent the years prior doing so. Today, beyond my work at IBM, I have my own blog and podcast where I talk personal development across many areas of life.
The role of content played in her career journey:
I was (and still am) a huge book nerd so I have always appreciated and recognized a good story. Character plots fascinate me and I love digging into why certain stories work and others don’t. So I’ve always been drawn to the content/creative side of marketing. But when I got started in marketing 9 years ago, content marketing wasn’t really a discipline yet.
I remember my first few years at IBM when the title of content marketing manager didn’t even exist yet but there was this ill-defined role emerging around it. So I put myself at the forefront of it and have been able to watch it transform into the practice it is today.
Only 6 years later it’s now an entire discipline with specified career paths, best practices, and top-tier marketers. I’ve actually recently moved into a product marketing role because I want to expand my skill set but it was a hard move to shift from the core content function that has shaped so much of my career. But luckily I can get all the content love again with the Boston Content community!
Why content is so important now for all brands:
No matter what your title is, people are people. We have emotions, challenges, aspirations, and fears. When we are buying something for ourselves or as a decision-maker for our organization, we don’t want to feel sold to.
People want to feel connected to the brands they engage with and buy from.
They want to buy from brands that care about building a relationship. They want a company that shares their values. And they want to be entertained. Posting consistent, engaging content in the places that your audience lives is critical to staying competitive.
What’s special about the Boston Content community:
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again...this community has a unique energy. Think of how much creativity is in the room when 100 Boston Content members get together! And this group of marketers is eager for the opportunity to talk to other content peeps and hear about how they are addressing similar challenges. It’s still a relatively new discipline but it’s growing rapidly and there is so much opportunity to share best practices, make new connections and friends, and get free pizza.
Her hopes for the future of this group:
I want this to be the coolest, most resourceful community for content marketers in Boston.
Since it already is that, I’d really like to give people even more opportunities for connection. This may be in the form of an online community or forum where members can share ideas, ask questions, or we can host live Q&As. Many of our members are storytellers in some way, shape or form. I’d love to highlight more of the work our members are doing and spotlight who they are. And ultimately continue to provide more resources and education for members in various stages of their careers or those seeking content jobs. This could also be in the form of creating opportunities for mentorship between members.
What she does outside her day job:
I’m a personal development dork. I’ve seen in real life how powerful it is to have a mindset of positivity, growth, and self-awareness and I just love talking about it, reading about it, and implementing new ideas.
I have a podcast with one of my friends from college called the Entry Level Podcast and we talk about navigating the first 10 years of your career. And my blog, Flourish to Conquer, is all about different areas of personal development including spirituality, relationships, fitness, finances, etc.
I grew up in a pretty different world than the one I occupy today and it’s inspired in me a deep respect for our ability to craft the lives we want. But it requires a dedication to lifelong learning and growing - so if you ever want to get me yammering on forever, just ask me what I’m reading about personal development these days.
Her one piece of advice to anyone in marketing as we head into 2020.
Join TikTok to see what the kids are up to. And remember that you really don’t need that many buzzwords in one paragraph. Talk to your audience like you’re talking to a human...because you are!
The one quote she lives by:
“Change can be scary but you know what’s scarier? Allowing fear to stop you from growing, evolving and progressing.” - Mandy Hale
Call for volunteers!
If you’re interested in helping grow any of the initiatives mentioned above, or expand your social, digital or event planning skills, we’d love to have you join us as a volunteer.
Email bostoncontent @ gmail.com if you’re interested!
To learn more about Sarah, follow her on Twitter @sarahdudley3
