Wes Green
Title: Search Marketing Strategist
Years at Matter: 1
What fuels your passion outside of work?
Classic “awww” answer: my giant 110 pound puppy, Dutch. I think I work hard just to give that spoiled mutt a better life, I swear (small price to pay for unconditional love). I’m also really close with my family and friends; they inspire and motivate me every day to grow and succeed in work and in life.
What is your favorite part of working in PR?
Being surrounded by truly smart and creative people elevates me in my career and in my personal life. A collaborative and light-hearted atmosphere is where I thrive, and that’s exactly what a PR agency like Matter is built on.
What do you think SEM will look like in 5 years?
I think the lines between SEM and Social are blurring daily. You need to have a background in SEM optimization, keyword research, and analytics to be successful in Paid Social, and you need to understand audiences, content creation and conversational tones to have a successful Paid SEM account. These two medias are becoming so complementary to each other that it’s hard to tell what is what. I think 5 years from now, the new “boilerplate” techniques will be a more holistic approach. We will be reaching an audience in every aspect of their life – complete emersion into our messaging, subconsciously advertising using a person’s daily routine.
What is your key piece of advice for those that are new to the business?
First, always ask questions and keep an open mind. While you are learning/training ask as many questions as it takes for you to fully understand what you are doing, even if you think you “sound dumb” or are “being annoying.” Your managers and peers are your greatest assets; use them and then pay it forward, when it’s your turn to teach. Second, don’t “pigeonhole” yourself with just one technique or service. “I only need to know Google Search to do my job, why do I need to learn paid social or SEO?” You don’t NEED to learn new medias to do your current job, but if you want to advance in your career, remember that those who can do more rise higher. Digital marketing is such a fluid type of business that you will be doing yourself a huge favor if you can answer “yeah I can do that” to an unusual client request, and mean it.