From Crisis Communications to Marketing Trends: Insights from Ebony Vaz

Today, we are pleased to speak with Ebony Vaz, the CEO and Founder of Above Promotions.

With over 15 years of experience in marketing, Ebony has helped over 100 brands, professionals, and entrepreneurs find solutions to their most challenging problems.

She is an expert in marketing technology, analytics, trends, and crisis communications for cybersecurity incidents. Ebony is also a sought-after speaker and contributor to various publications, panels, and conferences.

We are excited to hear about her journey into the marketing world and her insights into the industry.

What first drew you to the field of marketing?

After transitioning from an industrial engineer to a corporate role at an online company, I was an Associate Editor for a magazine on the side.

I would attend and speak at different events and see how small businesses and entertainers struggle with telling their stories. Then, someone sent me their CD wrapped in toilet paper to review.

Let’s say that pushed me to focus more on taking my human factors and efficiency background and meshing it with creative and professional storytelling. The rest is history.

What is your favorite part of working in marketing?

As a lifelong girl nerd, I love working with technology to help measure storytelling effectiveness and use it to deliver stories and brand interactions in new and exciting ways to attract consumers for brands.

These days, the biggest challenge is that the marketing tech software industry has grown so much. Inside of Above Promotions, we spend much time in “the lab,” testing and reviewing products.

It’s one of the reasons our clients like working with us. They know our finger is on the pulse of technology, so they don’t have to spend time scouring for solutions.

Yet at the same time, we are finding that for all of these new marketing tech companies and products, there are still gaps in the needs of businesses to run targeted and effective campaigns from beginning to end.

Can you share a specific example of a marketing campaign or project you are particularly proud of?

I don’t want to single out just one. I enjoy every project we get to work on. 90% of the work we do, we are proud of.

A project we worked on before that we are proud of was the AT&T Small Business Circle. We produced content they used to engage and educate their small business customers and leads.

Unfortunately, the program is since gone, but it felt great to be a part of helping to provide directions and answers for small businesses worldwide to use to help grow.

What are some of the biggest marketing trends we expect to see in the coming years?

We’re always looking at trends since it is a big part of our business model. I would be remiss if I didn’t say the growing use of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to create custom and personalized experiences.

We will continue to see the expansion of privacy laws and regulations to keep all tech growth in check and customer data safe from cyber criminals.

How do you stay up-to-date with the latest marketing technology and tools?

We usually review publications daily, online marketplaces for software, and open-source repositories.

Additionally, we’re not looking at just what is occurring here in the U.S. but also what is taking place around the globe. Another reason we have a global workforce at Above Promotions.

Can you discuss your experience with crisis communications for cybersecurity incidents?

Sure. So we focus on marketing technology, but the other side of our business is crisis communications for small to global companies.

It is not typical for marketing agencies, but my previous work doing research for the government in password information security was an excellent way to put my past expertise to work.

We provide training, plans for incidents, assistance in practicing business disruptions, and help after a cyber attack. In addition, we love to work with companies on educating their team members on keeping a 360-degree culture of security.

Still, we’re also prepared to step in at those weird hours to deploy communications internally and externally when an incident happens. This allows our clients to continue their everyday marketing and communications schedule while we help extinguish the fire.

What advice do you have for brands that want to use storytelling to connect with their audience?

One thing I usually share when consulting or training clients and their teams is to go back to the company’s long-term revenue, sales, and brand goals.

Focus on prioritizing creating stories that resonate with the target audience to get them to their destinations.

Often companies focus on too many audiences at a time, and what makes them unique gets lost in the noise of trying to generate sales.

Instead, speak specifically to your target audience and how you can resolve the audience’s problems or satisfy their needs to belong. You will likely hit those KPIs sooner than later if you do.

What marketing analytics do you find most important to track and analyze?

It is different per brand and the goals people are looking to hit.

However, as someone who focuses on storytelling, I heavily emphasize ways to measure traffic throughout the customer journey. It lets us know if the story needs to be corrected, if the pricing is off, if customer service needs improving, or if the product needs to be more attractive.

These days that is becoming more challenging since we’re moving to a cookieless world, but I believe you can still gauge at what point you need to update what you are sharing or let certain content continue to run.

What are some common mistakes you see brands make in their marketing strategies?

Brands set it and forget it too much. They don’t check trends to see what is happening in the marketplace or the economy.

They fail to adjust their strategy, and the next thing they know, it has been nine months of not reaching planned goals for the year.

What essential tools and software do you use in your daily marketing work?

A project management tool is critical. Keeping up with various client projects and the timeline for production, review, and distribution of content or tech solutions couldn’t happen without a good tool.

Many are partial to specific platforms, but you should focus on one that resonates with your workflow and will allow your entire team to use it easily.