One of the best ways to evolve as a marketing professional is to generate, collaborate, and nurture ideas among like-minded peers. This post is part of a blog series called “Marketing Minds,” where I solicit thoughts and ideas from cutting-edge marketing leaders and post them on PuzzleMarketer.com. Below is an interview with a true marketing thought leader.

Maddy Osman

SEO Content Strategist[email protected]The Blogsmith

Maddy Osman creates engaging content with SEO best practices for marketing thought leaders and other brands that have their hands full with clients and projects.

What brought you into the field of marketing (tell your story) and what makes you feel so passionately about it?:

I stumbled into marketing accidentally. I always knew I wanted to pursue a career in business, after watching my father’s successful entrepreneurial journey. In college, I did web design in the student life marketing and design department and got to see how many different moving parts came together in a campaign.

Since then, I’ve been obsessed with the creativity and science behind marketing. I love learning about the psychology of influence, and finding ways to tell a compelling story for the brands I represent (as well as my own!).

As marketers, we’re constantly seeking for the right tactics or channels to propel our organizations forward. Which tactics or channels have recently surprised you as a viable source of qualified leads?:

Social media is an often overlooked and badly executed means of lead generation. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and even Snapchat can each be utilized to collect leads if used strategically. On top of that, paid ads make it possible to hyper-target your ideal customer, and they tend to be much more cost-effective than traditional ad spend. Best of all, you can track your ROI - not as easy to do on a billboard, TV, or radio!

My own social media channels have become an endless source of leads after constantly posting/curating quality content and engaging with my followers (and prospects).

We’ve all seen the influx of marketing technology that has been created over the last decade. Which technology has been most impactful to you as you plan, launch, or measure your marketing campaigns?:

I love any tools that help me do more with less time, or that allow me to batch out certain activities once a week. Social media scheduling tools like Buffer and Hootsuite make it possible to schedule out content for myself and my clients. Grum does the same for Instagram, though it’s a grey area tool in terms of Instagram’s strict terms of service. IFTTT helps me automate tasks that don’t need my direct input. And insights on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest help me be more effective with social media marketing for myself and my clients. Cloud technology like Google Docs and Dropbox make it easy to communicate with team members and clients without endless and unorganized email chains.

There are many enterprise tools I’d love the chance to mess around with, but it’s not in the books for right now. Luckily, the vast majority of tools I need or use are very affordable - or even free!

Looking forward… What forces (social,economic, political, or cultural) do you see having the biggest effect on your marketing in 2017 and what are your plans to address them?:

I’m most concerned with social factors with regards to my marketing in 2017.

Regarding social, you may notice how Google is constantly updating their search algorithm. Oftentimes, their updates benefit the user and hurt the content provider. A recent example is their smackdown on email signup popups, and how having them will hurt your SEO rankings in 2017.

As a marketer, we could waste time complaining about how much time it’s going to take to make changes and still be effective in getting people to sign up for emails (pop ups are great converters), or we can be flexible and use the time between now and the algorithm change to determine a solution that works. So that’s what I will be doing - keeping up to date with the factors that affect my efforts, and staying flexible enough to change with them.

If you could give one piece of advice to a college graduate who just took their first job in marketing, what would you say to them?:

The experience you’ll get in a corporate role is invaluable. You’ll learn the subtle nuances of how to communicate with coworkers and (hopefully) clients. You’ll have access to training that would cost thousands of dollars if you pursued it on your own instead.

Soak up as much knowledge as you can. Sign up for after hours trainings and other events if they’re offered. But know when enough is enough and don’t be afraid to move on to something that makes you happier. After all, your first job in marketing will not be your last!

Connect with Maddy on LinkedIn and follow her on Twitter at @MaddyOsman, she’s an expert you consider hiring for digital marketing!