Member Spotlight: Emerald Creative Content

Member Spotlight by [Emerald Creative Content]

Provide us with a brief summary of your business’ services

Emerald Creative Content is an SEO-first digital marketing agency, meaning all of our services are done with the goal of boosting discoverability for our clients. Whether it’s SEO strategy, copywriting, website design, social media services, video, brand photography, or blogging, we’re always asking the question—”how can we optimize that for search?” Many agencies can create beautiful creative, build a nice website, or write decent copy. But what good does any of that do you if all your marketing channels are bringing you crickets? Your content should be like a magnet for your audience, and that’s what makes our digital marketing services unique.

Tell us about your company’s mission and values

Our mission is to be THE BEST SEO agency in Columbus, OH and beyond. When someone says, “I need an agency that actually gets results,” we want the people of Columbus to say, “then you have to reach out to Emerald. They’re incredible at what they do.”

To do that, we have to be on the cutting edge of the algorithms we aim to dominate and we have to develop a deep understanding of clients, their USPs, and most importantly, their audiences. Therefore, two of our most important core values are EDUCATION and TRANSPARENCY. We aren’t gatekeepers of knowledge as many SEOs have traditionally been, but instead, we’re on a mission to pass on this knowledge and put all the sketchy SEOs who give our industry a bad name on full blast. Once every business owner in Columbus knows enough foundational information about SEO to tell the difference between a strategy that works and a strategy that’s really a grift in disguise, we will have achieved our mission.

Another important set of core values at Emerald are CREATIVITY and being RESULTS-DRIVEN. We believe SEO content should be on-brand and engaging, not boring and robotic. Not only that, it should improve core KPIs within 3-6 months. There is a myth that SEO takes years and years to work. If you’re looking for massive vanity gains, then yes, it could take a while, but an excellent SEO strategist will find you the low-hanging fruit and quick wins and aggressively go after easy gains that start impacting your business within just a few months. Combine that with a bit of paid ad spend and watch out—hopefully your team is ready for a boost in business because it will come!

Our most important core value that we hold above all else is RELATIONSHIPS. Our clients are people who have put their heart, soul, and savings into their businesses. They have families and teammates depending on them to make payroll every month, and that’s not something we take lightly. We want our clients to feel the love that comes with being part of the Emerald universe, and so we go out of our way to support them beyond just being a trusted marketing partner. There is a level of trust that comes with hiring a marketing partner that we hold sacred.

What are the services you use the most (or are looking forward to using) from the Columbus Chamber?

There’s nothing like a good Chamber AfterHours! We have met some of our best business friends at the Chamber Happy Hours. We’re also looking forward to getting more involved in the new Women’s Collective—we’ve heard AWESOME feedback about the magnetic energy in the room during these events and want to make it a point to attend more of them. We have major FOMO!

How do you stay engaged with trends that you see in your industry?

If you are looking to stay engaged with trends in the world of SEO, you’ve got to block off a Tuesday afternoon to attend a Neil Patel webinar. Be prepared—your brain is going to explode a little bit—but Neil’s agency is THE go-to SEO thought leader right now. He has so much data, so many case studies, and he shares his insights openly and in language that anyone with a bit of a marketing background can easily understand. We try to attend every single one. Also, read the book “Everybody Lies” and the book “Don’t Trust Your Gut,” both by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. He takes big data (like the SEO-data we parse through from Google when creating our SEO strategies) and humanizes it in a way that makes it tangible, relatable, and actionable. He helped us start to see keyword data as psychological data—people will tell Google things they’d never tell another person, and if you’re a business owner looking to create content that pokes at audience pain points, that’s an invaluable piece of information!

In addition to attending webinars and reading books, we also network and attend educational workshops like crazy. There’s so much to learn from other experts around Columbus and things are constantly changing in the marketing industry, so we’re always seeking opportunities to refine our knowledge.

What is your company culture like?

Our company culture is built around the needs and goals of a modern professional woman. We expect excellent quality work from our creatives, but we also understand that they have lives, families, and aspirations outside of work. So we build systems and procedures intentionally to support great work/life balance. Our agency is hybrid, so 1-2 days we work together in person, and the rest of the week is remote (except, of course, when we have to be on location for video or photoshoots). We offer unlimited paid time off, generous maternity leave, and will pay for any professional development opportunities our employees are interested in attending. There’s also tons of room for advancement since we’re a growing agency. We’re going to need leaders to help us manage teams here pretty soon, and we prefer to promote internally. We’re also exploring how we can offer health insurance and retirement options to our employees as we continue to grow. Creatives often go without these benefits, so we’re determined to create a company that takes care of the whole employee. Finally, Emerald is just a fun place to work! We do themed photoshoots, grab happy hours and fancy lunches together, and find a ton of joy and laughter throughout the day—even when things are stressful.

What does it take to be a successful employee at your company?

Employees feel successful here when they can measure the impact their work has on our clients AND that impact hits the goals and expectations we set for the business. There’s no better feeling for any of us than knowing we helped our clients improve their bottom line.

What makes Columbus such a great place to do business?

Columbus business owners are the best in the country, I 100% believe this to be true. Our ecosystem of small businesses is so strong and supportive, and I’m always impressed at how willing everyone is to rally behind one another. Being an entrepreneur is one of the most isolating paths you can walk down, but I can honestly say that I’ve never felt like I’m on an island. It’s so easy to meet new friends, clients, and business partners through all of the terrific organizations there are here in Columbus. There are places in our nation where businesses struggle to thrive, but Columbus is not one of them thanks to the community we’ve built together. There are many opportunities to find success here, and most people around here are willing to help you find what you need in order to get there, all you have to do is ask. I’m grateful every day that I happened to start my business in a city like Columbus.

Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Emerald-Creative-Content/61571738292594/#
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-kern-a96ba2224/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emeraldcreativecontent/
Website: https://www.emeraldcontent.com/