Alicia Esposito is a content Strategist for G3 Communications.
What led you to start working in digital/media publishing?
I was in college when the publishing industry underwent a seismic shift. While the move to digital publishing was happening years before, I realized during my tenure at William Paterson University that I had two options: 1) I could complete my major taking the bare minimum of courses, or I could 2) Feel out my options and explore as many forms of content creation as possible. In four years, I explored traditional magazine and newspaper journalism, public relations and TV writing. I even completed a marketing internship where I got my feet wet with website copywriting and digital publishing. But it was my time interning at G3 Communications that was most invaluable. I was first exposed to business-to-business journalism, and now, about seven years later, I have dabbled in digital content creation for several of its brands and now, it’s agency brand: Content4Demand.
What does a typical day look like for you?
The best part about being in digital media and publishing (and at G3 specifically), is that no two days are the same. I rely on my handy to-do list, which is constantly updated with last-minute tasks and is even color-coded to help me determine the importance of these tasks. But for the sake of simplicity, I’ll tell you that my day usually consists of some (or all) of the following:
- Sitting in on calls with customers, prospects and media partners
- Creating and editing content for client projects; and strategizing campaign work
- Writing pieces for the Content4Demand blog
- Defining messaging and creating content for demand generation efforts across all brands
- Providing strategic content support for digital and in-person events across our brands
- Expanding our portfolio of product offerings and content formats — from eBooks, white papers, and infographics, to listicles, iPapers, interactive infographics, videos, content hubs and interactive experiences.
What does your work setup look like? (your apps, productivity tools, etc.)
We’re in the process of migrating our entire organization from Google to Office 365. Because I work across brands, I’m using O365, as well as our previous tools, so I’m using a combination of the entire O365 suite, including Outlook, PowerPoint and Teams, and Slack. We also use Trello to manage internal projects and campaigns, which is great because we can add mini milestones and deadlines to larger projects, share drafts and provide comments and feedback within one central feed. On a personal level, I can’t seem to part with Evernote, so I tend to use that to record and take notes for internal calls, project brainstorming and research, and use the app Todoist to track my tasks.
What do you to get inspired?
The best way for me to get inspired is to read others’ work. To simply search the web and see what content and information currently exists on the topic I’m delving into. Simple mind mapping helps me get any clutter out of my brain, and list-taking helps me prioritize. If I’m working with my design or marketing colleagues on a project, I tend to sketch a lot, as it helps me “walk in their shoes” and see how stories and narrative concepts translate. This also helps me keep myself in check: If I see how things are executed visually, I know whether to scale back or scale up the content I’m creating — or if I need to add more interactive or visual elements.
What’s your favorite piece of writing or quote?
I’m a huge fan of Malcolm Gladwell and Hunter S. Thompson, so I find myself re-reading their work often. My favorite quote from Hunter S. Thompson is “buy the ticket, take the right.” I always gravitated to his rebellious style, and his eagerness to call out hypocrisies and the utter weirdness that exists in the world around us. Discovering his work encouraged me to begin to take more chances with my writing and be more critical and analytical in my writing and reporting.
From the web, I tend to gravitate to Thrive Global for its breadth of content that focuses both on career and personal fulfillment.
What’s the passionate problem you are tackling at the moment?
At G3 Communications, we’re constantly striving to find new ways to create compelling content that stands out from the pack. We’ve been zeroing in on interactive content and visual storytelling, so my personal goal has been to explore ways, as a content strategist, to bridge the gap between content creation and design.
Is there a product, solution, or tool that you think is a good match for your digital publishing efforts?
I’ve become a big fan of BuzzSumo. It provides a lot of valuable data and insight into most-shared articles, top-trending content, how content is shared on social and most of all, what content approach (trend-based, tactical, etc.) gets the most shares. This is extremely helpful as we develop content ideas and narratives, and the influencer feature allows us to see what subject-matter experts we can engage for articles, videos and other forms of content.
Do you have any advice for ambitious digital publishing and media professionals who are just starting out?
If my career to date has taught me anything, it’s to not be afraid to dive in. Or rather, don’t be afraid to get thrown into the deep end. A lot of my work in this industry has been rooted in doing things I’m unfamiliar (read: uncomfortable) with. I used to merely gravitate to topics and tasks that I knew I would be good at. But now, I’m excited by the idea of testing something new and different — whether it’s a new tool, format or approach. This industry is constantly evolving, so you must evolve along with it. If you fail, simply learn and move on. And as someone who has had her fair share of failures and faux-pas, I can definitely say that is key.
