At Content Marketing Sydney, you will be talking about Inspiring Creativity. What’s the key message you are looking to share?
It can be hard to stand out in this mad, hectic and competitive online world unless you have a goat that sings Taylor Swift songs. If, like me, you don’t own any farm animals, the best way to create content that will have an impact is by being creative. Through exploring a variety of creative strategies and techniques, I want to encourage people to think more creatively, have the confidence to generate more unique ideas, and take more creative risks, both personally and professionally.
You describe yourself as a Humourist & Social Media Trainer, tell me more?
I also describe myself as a supermodel and a surgeon. Perhaps that didn’t make it into my original bio? Medical and modelling dreams aside, I have worked in the media for more than 10 years as a journalist, photographer, content producer, music editor, social media marketer and online community manager. Comedy started as a coping mechanism to deal with a bad date but quickly turned into a really fun career pathway. Over the last four years I have performed at clubs in Melbourne, Los Angeles and New York, and have written and performed sold-out shows in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. I now combine my social media, online content and humour experiences, with my industry knowledge, to develop and enhance creativity, content creation and social media marketing skills in others.
Do you feel companies take themselves too seriously online?
There are a lot of brands and businesses that use humour to deliver and communicate their messages in really funny and creative ways, and they really stand out. I don’t necessarily believe companies take themselves too seriously, however I do believe the misconception that many people have – that either you’re funny or you’re not – limits some marketing, content and executive teams from exploring ways in which they could actually employ humour strategies to deliver their key messages in more fun, meaningful and engaging ways. Humour is a really powerful tool because it helps brands and businesses truly connect with their customers because when we laugh we’re engaged and ‘in the moment’ which is a huge achievement in today’s distraction-filled digital world.
You have travelled to America dressed as a giant Facebook like. Do you ever embarrass yourself?
If you mean embarrassing myself in the sense of ‘Was it difficult to travel from Melbourne to Silicon Valley carrying a giant, oversized, neoprene LIKE costume’ I would say ‘Well, yes, actually’ – but otherwise, absolutely not! Every single time I wear my Facebook costume, or hit the stage for a stand up routine, or even go out on a blind date (with or without my giant LIKE) I absolutely feel nerves but it’s an essential part of the creative process. I believe if you don’t take risks in comedy, and creativity, and life, you’ll never stand to gain anything.
What advice would you give to companies who are looking for the next level for their content marketing?
Within content marketing, content creation is my focus. Humour aside, I would start by looking at how they can make their content creation process more open, creative and flexible, every step of the way. From brainstorming and ideas generation, right through to the presentation of content. How can brands communicate their message in a more engaging way? What other stories can they tell? How can they make their brand voice more memorable? The more engaging the content, the more they’ll capture people’s attention.
Who are you looking forward to hearing at Content Marketing Sydney?
It’s a really hard question to answer because as a content marketing enthusiast, I’m excited to absorb as much information as possible from all of the speakers at this year’s event. I can’t wait for Content Marketing Sydney to come around. I’m already in countdown mode, actually. I look forward to seeing you there!