Our February #ExpertWithInsights is Sara Ajemian. Sara’s focus will focus on Corporate Communications and her posts include:
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Data-driven storytelling - how to connect with your audience
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The convergence of communications and marketing - benefiting from the industry evolution
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The future of communications - where are we heading
Meet Sara
I am a storyteller through and through, and it’s something I’ve proudly been able to build a 16-year career around. I have loved stories ever since I was little: my dad would read me The Chronicles of Narnia at bedtime, a tradition I’m now passing on to my own two kids. But what really powered my storytelling passion was the story my paternal grandmother wrote for me just before she passed away when I was a little girl. I’ve now re-read that story—about a grandmother spending a day at the beach with her granddaughter—so many times the type-written letters are starting to fade, but it has always been my source of inspiration to write and tell my own stories!
For the last decade and a half, I’ve driven communications strategies for an incredible range of companies and sectors. I spent the first half of my career in-house, helping build out R/GA globally and working with Kinetic Worldwide at a time when mobile and digital out-of-home was still “new” tech. Around 2014, after a very short stint at a defunct social media start-up, I popped into the PR agency world and built high-performing teams for DiGennaro Communications and SourceCode Communications. I’m a bit of a jack-of-all-trades and so I just wrapped the last year back “in house” overseeing corporate marketing for RollWorks (NextRoll’s account-based marketing platform), running corporate communications, brand, content, and many, many other projects and initiatives. I’ve had the privilege of sitting on both communications and marketing teams. And while both sides are different, the similarity that always exists is storytelling. And that’s really the heart of what I do.
As a communicator, I’m particularly enamored with the brand-consumer relationship and companies solving for better ways to unify the two. An inquisitive person and curious problem solver, my approach to communication is rooted in the word “why.” Why have things shifted for consumers? Why have marketers needed to change their strategies? Why is what we’re doing making a difference and how? Why should this matter? The richest opportunity to make people feel something through storytelling is always found, I think, in answering these questions.
When I’m not working, I spend my downtime voraciously reading all the magazines my mailbox can hold (sadly, fewer and fewer), collecting the kitschiest coffee mugs I can find when I travel, fumbling my way through cookbooks, and trying to master the New York Magazine crossword…all while helping two little humans find their own way in this ever-changing world.
My Scope
I spent 16 years running highly impactful integrated communications programs for high-growth technology companies. My expertise spans martech, advertising, e-commerce, customer + employee experience, workplace productivity, and enterprise technology. I’m passionate about multichannel data-driven storytelling and building inclusive teams. Discovering new ways to make technology companies more human from the inside out is what keeps me motivated.
I recently wrapped up a one-year engagement working with NextRoll to build up visibility and brand awareness for its B2B ABM platform, RollWorks, and I’m currently looking for my next opportunity.
My #Experts Focus
I hope to engage community members with 10+ years of experience in the field. We’ve seen the industry change drastically in the last decade, and I’m keen to discuss how evolving technology impacts the way we work today. My topics of expertise for this series include the following:
Week 1 Post:
- Storytelling with Data
Week 2 Post:
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The convergence of communications and marketing
Week 3 Post (02/20):
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Rethinking the future of communications
I look forward to connecting with you in the community.
You can also reach out on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraajemian/
