• Matter Employee Spotlight: Wes Green, Search Marketing Strategist

    Matter Employee Spotlight: Wes Green, Search Marketing Strategist

    /></p> <p>As a veteran search marketer, Wes brings a decade of search engine marketing (SEM) skills and agency experience to Matter. He specializes in creating highly focused, efficient, and effective search strategies for clients of all categories and industries. We recently caught up with Wes to hear more about his passions, the future of search, and advice for new SEM professionals.</p> <p><b>Name:</b><span style= 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.

    Matter

    , ,

  • Matter Employee Spotlight: Lydia Fakhouri, Vice President

    Matter Employee Spotlight: Lydia Fakhouri, Vice President

    /></p> <p>As Vice President at Matter leading the charge in our Portland, Oregon office, Lydia brings 10+ years of B2B and B2C tech PR experience. Lydia has led every type of campaign – from a strictly byline-driven program for major corporations like Toshiba to interactive marketing campaigns that leverage media relations, social, graphics, video and more.  We recently caught up with Lydia to hear more about her passions, the future of PR, and advice for new PR professionals.</p> <p><b>Name:</b><span style= Lydia Fakhouri

    Title: Vice President

    Years at Matter: 1

    What fuels your passion outside of work?

    It’s a little cheesy, but I suppose it’s the idea that we’re all on this planet for a short amount of time, so you should make it count. I love connecting with others to explore ideas that could change the world – even if they’re far-fetched! – and improve our lives and future generation’s lives. Part of that is knowing how to really soak in a moment, whether that’s opening your door after a long work day to greet your family (furbabies included!), or sitting around a table with friends and a good bottle of wine.


    What is your favorite part of working for a PR agency?

    I love being part of so many journeys. There are millions of incredible companies out there, it’s astounding. And they’re all making a difference in their own way. To be part of that, and specifically, to be part of helping them connect with audiences so they can in turn help MORE companies or people – there’s just no other feeling like it! I’d also be lying if I said I didn’t love the hustle – there’s never a dull moment.


    What do you think PR will look like in 5 years?

    I think it will be even more focused on high-quality content, and influencers will play a much larger direct role in dispersing messages. Of course, there’s a focus on content today, but the mediums that it’s distributed under is siloed. So a brand may have a content strategy for Twitter but it’s inherently different for Snapchat, and that same brand may also rely on press releases – which still provide value, but that’s a topic for another time – but different types of media are interpreting that news in their own way. As an industry, we’re going to figure out how to condense those platforms so that content is consistent across all of these platforms and mediums.


    What is your key piece of advice for those that are new to the business?

    Learn as much as you can about how digital marketing integrates with traditional PR tenants. Your understanding of this will help us ensure that we don’t lose sight of how smart PR can make or break a brand while the world continues to shift its communications patterns. Look for firms that offer digital marketing, or find an in-house role that lets you explore the practice.

    Matter

    ,