Here is a transcript generated by Otter.ai of The Content Mix podcast interview with VeraContent’s Kyler Canastra and Adriana Carles, content and social media at e-commerce company Visual Meta, on the importance of creating relevant content:

Kyler Canastra 0:03
Hi everyone, I’m Kyler from the content next and I’m happy to be here with Adriana Carles, head of content and social media at Visual Meta, originally from Venezuela, Adriana is multinational marketing experience has allowed her to work for a number of organizations across different industries in numerous continents, from her experience and brand marketing in LATAM to her current work and MBA at Visual Meta. Adriana Carles’ expertise has allowed her to develop strategies and lead creative teams in order to connect with her target audience all through different online marketing channels, and social media marketing. According to Adriana, connecting with people is one of her biggest strengths. And we’re excited to connect with her today on our episode. So without much further ado, I want to welcome Adriana to The Content Mix. Thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you, Kyler. Thank you for having me. Yeah, no problem. It’s our pleasure. So to get the ball rolling, I want to ask you a bit more about yourself. Can you tell our listeners know who you are, where you’re from? And kind of what’s your connection to content marketing in Europe?

Adriana Carles 1:05
So my name is Adriana I am originally from Venezuela. And basically, I’ve ended up in Europe because of life, you know, personal reasons, I would say, I’ve, my connection to content marketing in Europe is that I’ve been working in Germany for I guess, the last couple of years, seven years already, and working particularly in different types of companies. So mostly startups and mid sized companies, also myself as an entrepreneur, and I work in Germany, but I also work with content not only for the German market, but for other markets in Europe. So Spain, Italy, France, and I’ve had the opportunity to not only create content, but also work with content creators across Europe.

Kyler Canastra 1:46
That’s awesome. That’s the kind of people that we want to spotlight. People like you. So like, I guess I’ve kind of want to know to like, you’re interested in marketing, you did work in Latin America, before coming to Europe. So can you tell us a bit more about how you got get that spark? Where did that ignite for you for marketing and kind of your journey? Before Europe? I guess you could say,

Adriana Carles 2:06
yeah, so I worked in marketing. So I, I studied communications, and I worked in marketing straight up out of college, you know, it was like my first job, I just landed there, because I did an assessment center in like one of like, multi multinational company. And in like, you know, and there, I kind of did many roles within marketing, I did research, I did sales, I did project management, I still have like a really broad view. And I kind of developed destructor for marketing, I really love marketing. Overall, I find like I have a passion. And it didn’t last time, and I had the opportunity to work in Venezuela. But then I also lived in Chile. And in Chile, I also had the opportunity to work for this alum cone. So I worked with Argentina, Peru, also with Brazil, I you know, so I know my way around Latin America and Latin America customer. So I had this broad range, right. And then I moved to Europe for personal reasons, family reasons. And I had to kind of find my way, again, you know, like, what am I going to do here? You know, it’s like, you have all this knowledge of this great continent, and then how do you find the value now coming to a different place? And in Germany, particularly, you actually ended up in Austria first and then in Germany? So how are you able to find yourself again, in a new place and add value in a new place? And I this is, and this is like, we’re in the journey, where I’m still I still am, you know, I think nobody really ends this journey of finding themselves. But I also feel that right now, and I’m really good position, and I’m happy where I am. And, and yeah, so marketing, you know, it’s my passion. Basically, I’ve done everything around it. And yeah, now it’s content. So

Kyler Canastra 3:42
that’s fantastic. And it must have been like a crazy shift, right to move to Europe, because as a Latina, you must have been very least a bit more familiar with the, like, the markets you were working in, and like Chile and Argentina, but then coming to Europe with such a diverse in terms of like night language and cultures, and it’s so much in one place, it must have been like a big shock to kind of learn everything over again. For sure.

Adriana Carles 4:05
Yeah, it was super interesting. I have to say, I think one of the like, one of the things that I really like, is adapting. So I found that I’m very good at adapting to different places and different companies. So I’ve done so many roles, not only to see me to be different types of industries from financial firms, fmcg and I think like this, I’ve had to do it, you know, it’s not like I’ve had to learn how to adapt. And now it just comes easier. But of course, it is kind of hard when it’s a culture completely different to mine, especially in Germany, you know, kind of learning the inter cultural things, you know, of like, not only being punctual which I’m really good at now, but like being very like direct to the point. And you know, like having 30 minute meetings, which was like 30 minutes. No mind blowing to me. But yeah, now I kind of really feel comfortable. And I think if I would need to go back, I would be like Okay, it’s not gonna be easy anymore. You know, I, I’m fine with this kind of like middle ground where I’m at right now.

Kyler Canastra 5:06
That’s awesome. And I have to ask you because you speak English like me, and I’m American, and you’re from Venezuela. How did you learn English, though? Well,

Adriana Carles 5:14
yeah, seems like a globetrotter experience. So I actually lived in the US when I was a kid. My parents, yeah, my parents. Were doing their MBAs there. So I grew up in actually Colorado for a couple years. Wow. Yeah. And this is why I have this language. Yeah.

Kyler Canastra 5:31
So think about how you’re adaptable. You know, you lived in the US, he doesn’t fully live in Chile, which, by the way, is an amazing country. But also then, like living in Europe, like that also must impact you in a positive way when it comes to marketing, because you’re able to kind of keep an open mind. And take everything in.

Adriana Carles 5:47
Yeah, completely young, very fortunate. I have to say I love I think people like always joke, like, how long are you going to stay in this country? Again? You know, Mike, I don’t know.

Kyler Canastra 5:56
I don’t know. We’ll see what happens. So we’re happy now I live in Berlin. And I love it. So yeah, I haven’t been but hopefully I get there one day, for sure. Now, a lot of times, we have guests in the show, and especially like during like, you know, peak pandemic times, we’re always curious to know, like, what’s a typical day like at work for you? Or your heirs, responsibility and kind of what’s I don’t know, life, like in your workplace. So can you just give us like a little glimpse into like, your typical day, at the office or at home, I guess.

Adriana Carles 6:22
So right now, I’m literally doing hybrid work. So I get to go to the office couple days a week, which I really love. Because my day basically is talking to a lot of people during the day, I you know, I meet with stakeholders, like from other departments to align on like business goals and what we want to achieve. I also meet with my team, you know, I have a team, I think it’s like, we’re like 12 people on the team. So it’s like, you know, across different countries, we manage not only the the on site part, but also kind of like what we want to do off site. So we do. So I talked to a lot of people during the day, this is basically my work and we align and what we want to do, what’s the strategy, what, which one of which, what things we want to push forward, I also give a lot of feedback on things that are happening, and I, you know, I kind of want to coach and help people be better and develop them forward. So it’s also like, planning, organizing, like finding budgets to produce things, and you know, like trying to negotiate around that, and look for new ways to innovate and create new formats of content. So it’s, this is basically what my day looks like. So I would love to say that I write more, but now actually, I think I have a feeling where I’m really happy because I see the writing a bit creativity through other people, and get to talk to a lot of people during the day, which is, you know, one of my passions, as you said at the beginning, so yeah,

Kyler Canastra 7:45
that’s awesome. It’s like, it seems like it’s very dynamic. So you know, not every day is the same, which is important. But it’s also cool to like, you know, you’re taking a step back. So you’re not like 100% in the writing or the creativity, you’re not producing yourself, you’re overseeing it, you’re helping people grow. So it’s kind of like paying it forward in a way, which is really cool. Like you’re giving your expertise and sharing that with your colleagues. Now, when we were preparing for this interview, you said, Kyler, I want to talk about content marketing. So we’re going to talk and do a deep dive today into some content marketing, and kind of learn more about your perspective on content marketing, and also how that’s impacted your career and your success. So just to start this topic, I want to ask you, why content marketing? How did you specialize in this field? And where did this passion come from?

Adriana Carles 8:28
So, like, like we said, In the beginning, I started with marketing. So basically, I did all the roles, right, and I had to do some that I’m happy with, like sales. And it was kind of like, you know, like, I was trying, I was being pushed in many directions into you know, like, yeah, you’re gonna face but you’re also did that and I’m like, Yeah, I don’t, I wasn’t really happy where I was. And then I, when I had to leave Latin America to come to Europe, you know, I had, I had my first daughter, and I didn’t have a job, I had to learn German. And I was like, What am I doing with my life? So I started a course Actually, I did, like an online course at Duke University actually, was like all about digital marketing. And there was like this huge module just about content marketing, and I was like, Oh, my God, this is amazing. And you know, why I really liked it is because I started communications, I consider myself like a, like, I’d like creativity I love you know, I love being creative. I love writing. And I was missing that part when I was just working in marketing and sales and research No, and, and, and I and I saw that by doing content marketing, I can mix those things that I really like, you know, I can do my creative work, but I could also do marketing in the same at the same time. So this is where I find kind of like, Oh my god, I just want to go into that direction. And then all my following kind of career paths, you know, we’re taking into Okay, I want to be in content marketing, I want to do content marketing, and they, even if I would have a role that wasn’t related to it, I somehow, you know, made myself be the content person within the team. And yeah, kind of make that role for myself somehow. So, yeah, that’s kind of how I ended up doing it.

Kyler Canastra 10:08
That’s so cool. And I feel like something that’s like, I really resonated with that. Because in my personal experience, like I studied linguistics, and I was like, oh, like, dude, I didn’t know I was gonna be an academia. And then I was like, I’ll do translation. And like, kind of, then I was like, What can I do with this and kind of, I want to be creative. I want to use these skills. And my interest, especially like, when people are something you mentioned before, and it seemed like content marketing is something that really involves all these things, you know, it’s not, it’s kind of like bringing this creative side to the corporate world, that you’re able to, like, express yourself, use creative things. And I was writing for like, a year and a half. So I did a lot of content writing. And it was so much fun to be able to, like, bring my personality, but also like help people get their voice across, which is something that know, our goals, right, as content marketers is to do that. So it’s really, really cool. What See, you never know, if you do an online course you might, it might change your life. So it seems to you now. So lately, we’re curious to know about like, what’s your main piece of advice? Would you like to give to other content marketers for executing successful campaigns, from your experience, because you have a lot of experience, you know, you’ve done this before, I’m sure you’ve done campaigns that have failed as well. So it’s kind of what is one good piece of advice you to give to another content marketer.

Adriana Carles 11:17
So like, the first thing is that don’t start talking about yourself from like, line one. Because like, we tend to kind of like, you know, of course, we have a business, you know, this is the thing, like you have this business, you have business goal. And you of course, want to kind of say who you are, what you do, and what you sell, you know, but on the other hand, there’s like, kind of like the audience, you know, and you really need to kind of find, like, you know, you know, that sweet spot, you know, that everybody talks about, which I just think it’s kind of like that place where the needs of the audience and your business needs meet. And that’s not easy to find, I have to say, because it’s like, what do people really want to know about, but I can only tell you that if you start talking about yourself, that’s not it, you know, like a, because people are really kind of interested in finding value in the content, you know, you need to create something that is going to entertain, educate, give them something in return, like you, you need to think of it as like a currency, like, I always like to think about content as like currency, right? Like, you exchange something, and I, you know, and I give your attention back, I give you a lead, and you need to give value to that content. And you need to kind of think, Okay, how do I, like increase the value of this content? So like, if you’re doing a campaign, and you feel like, okay, I don’t know why I’m doing it, this is the first thing. So you need to really know why you’re doing the content that you’re creating, what’s the purpose behind it? What the audience, you know, what are they looking for? What’s the need? What is the you know, what is it that they kind of pain point that they have? What questions do you have to answer from them, if you don’t have these things, like figured out yet, don’t go into the stage, or, like, you know, I always feel like, and now we’re going to do a white paper, you know, because then you fall into this trap of like, creating the content based on the format that you want to have, and not based on the actual need of the of the, you know, the user or the customer, or even the business in the end. So yeah, I think this is kind of like a very valuable piece of advice that I have learned, because of failing, you know, in the past, because, you know, we wanted to do something, and we think this is really cool. And in the end, nobody cares, you know? So yeah,

Kyler Canastra 13:23
actually, it really resonates with last week’s episode, we had a woman named Hayley Collingswood on the show. And she talked about this kind of like, before you dive into anything, you really need to understand like who you are as a company, what your images and also, like, what’s the purpose, and I think a lot of times, especially when I talk to people, about content marketing, they’re always like, Oh, yeah, you just read a bunch of blog posts and put it online. And like, there’s so much more as you just went over, that goes into this. And it’s kind of, you know, and a lot of it too is this patient, I think a lot of people don’t think like, you know, content marketing, a big thing is being patient, like you need to be really like under you need to understand who you are, and your image and your voice. And then trust in that base, and the rest kind of, you know, execute a strategy based on that. And without losing sight of who you are. And always trying to like, I feel like we always want to get more numbers, you want more leads, you want this and that. But that’s not the main part of marketing, it’s so much more of storytelling and kind of, you know, expanding on that, and sharing your your voice and also giving like your readers or whoever is, you know, your target audience, giving them content that’s valuable, that actually could impact them. So not only are you just trying to sell something, which obviously the main point of content marketing, but at the same time, you want to give them something that’s purposeful and meaningful that they can use, but I do we’re going to be curious now I want to know a bit more about you know, and your experience and it like a campaign that’s kind of helped bring in more sales. So you’ve, you know, you’ve worked in many different organizations, and you’ve helped these companies, you know, appear as experts in retail, especially, that’s kind of the area you’ve been working in, on throughout many different marketing efforts. So I kind of wanted to know, like, if you have an example or if you have any like, yeah, like an example of any campaigns or strategies that you’ve implemented, that led to like, more leads or more like, you know, I guess international recognition for your company that you’ve worked for, and kind of how that happened and anything else, like a particular piece of advice you could take from that for our listeners?

Adriana Carles 15:12
Yeah, so we’ve I worked before and with the company that worked as has had a sign. So late retail was one of the clients and we kind of wanted to position ourselves as you know, thought leaders in the retail area, but we also wanted to get traction and get some leads for the sales departments. And we thought, like, the good way was to use the unique data that we have within the company to kind of create, like, interesting report that would be around the seasonal, you know, holiday season, but also kind of make fun with animations, and in a way that was like to read, but interesting at the same time. So I think this kind of reports, you know, even though I just said before, that white papers, no, and it’s kind of like a, it really resonated with the audience, because it was kind of like, something easy to read with lots of unique data that they could use, but that it actually had enough unique data that was relevant for the press, to put on the, you know, to mention across like different trade magazines and international media. So that was something really good, because we managed somehow, to tie the needs of two different customer segments into one same type of, you know, report that would get the leads, but that would also help us to get international press clippings, and I think that actually really performed well. And we also use it in a way that, you know, that was fun and light hearted. And that would also get like a storytelling behind that, you know, so it’s not like you have, sometimes I feel that people think that because, you know, you want to have data as to be like, super strict and like hard, but nobody likes to read that, you know, you only read that when you’re in university, and you’re forced to, so you have to make content that is digestible for people, even if it’s like hard data and unique data. So I think that was a really good way of doing that. And I thought it was like really nice leads and press clippings. And yeah, I know, after that, you know, we did it in a small scale. And then we, you know, we saw the results, and then we did it even bigger. So is also a good way to when when you do campaigns like that, and you’re not so sure, and you want to test things out, instead of going and asking for like huge, huge budgets from like, you know, for it that then don’t result in something positive, you know, make it smaller, get good results, ask for more money, and then you have kind of like them buy in from the company to do it bigger the next time around.

Kyler Canastra 17:27
That’s fantastic. And I was gonna ask you to like, but I think you kind of touched upon it. But someone asked the question, it was just like how, I guess maybe storytelling was like the key to like bringing these two like polar opposite, you know, segments and like, people together, do you think that’s the story, because, obviously, you know, people who are just going to our consumers and just want to read this aren’t going to be interested in the data. But somehow you had to weave that together in a way that was, you know, obviously beneficial for the people who want the data, but also for the people that aren’t even interested in that at all. So do you think the storytelling was kind of like the the tool or the engine behind this?

Adriana Carles 17:59
Yeah, I definitely think that like storytelling and having a good concept behind it, and storytelling somehow, it’s the way that you know, you can do that. And I think, you know, when you do content, you do it, right? Like, you just need to kind of think like, how do I got it to the different touch point, if you have a good concept, you know, and a good story, you can tell that story in many different ways throughout your journey, right? I mean, it can be like for the press, or it can be for you know, for social media, but it really needs to have like a really good concept that then you can weave that story around.

Kyler Canastra 18:36
So important. Now, we haven’t even touched upon really what we talked about what you did at your company, but can you tell us a bit more about like, what Visual Meta is? And kind of like, What are you reading about what your content marketing revolves around.

Adriana Carles 18:49
So I work at Visual Meta, which is an e commerce, e commerce platform, we do comparison product website across Europe, so we have a different platform. So it’s LadenZeila, and ShopAlike in Europe. And there I look a set of content, and I have, you know, I lead a team of people that, you know, do content not only for the on site part, but also on other channels. So it’s both b2c and b2b because as we were like a comparison product platform, we have shops, so we have to do both of them at the same time. And it’s really really interesting I just joined actually a couple of months ago but so far we’re kind of in the phase of like changing things around and like getting to know the team and you know, like moving things in a different direction which is really really interesting. And I have to say that I work with really great talented people every day and I you know, I we get to a point point ideas about going forward and yeah, I I’m just really, really in a really good place right now. And I love the kinds of things that we’re doing together. Yeah,

Kyler Canastra 19:46
that’s fantastic and as your team are based in Germany with you,

Adriana Carles 19:50
so it’s all based in Germany, but there’s people from different countries so like you know, there are editors are like Italian speaking French speaking depending on the market. So you It’s so interesting because like, I really like you can tell, you know, I told you, I lived in so many places. So I guess like I’m in a place where I’m like, everybody, like coming from different places. And I just really love that I feel like it’s something that I have a lot of passion for, like cultures and people. So I get to work in a place every day where I need, you know, when I talk to people from different cultures, and they just like right next to me, they’re on my same team, you know, so it’s amazing,

Kyler Canastra 20:24
that’s awesome. And it’s so cool to have like an international team without actually having to travel every day. That’s great. Now, you mentioned right that you manage the team and you have a lot of management experience, you also help your you know, people on your team to, you know, produce lat long lasting results, especially this is really important now in your role at Visual Meta, so you have a lot of experience to leader and I can tell it must be great to work with you, because he seemed like a fun person to work with. And but could you just elaborate a bit more about how or why it’s important to like, really know how to organize and nurture your editorial team and kind of what you do in order to do that.

Adriana Carles 21:00
So I think what’s really important is like, you know, creative people like ourselves, you know, we have like a different mindset, you know, we have a different sensitivity. And I think when you put creative people like in the corporate world, and just like throw them off like that, you know, it’s kind of like, you know, it’s not good, like, you can not maybe nurture the creativity from them, you can actually get the complete opposite effect, right? So I feel that when you have a team of creative people, you know, that you’re working with, you really need to find, like, the perfect way into how to challenge people, you know, like, you know, I really think you can do more, I don’t like what this is coming from, but we without kind of like, you know, being in a way that then it becomes something negative. And because creative work is basically like producing a child, you know, it’s like you put your soul your heart, you’re writing something that it came out of your brain, you know, so when you get feedback from it, or when you tell people you don’t like it, you have to find a way to do it in a positive constructive manner that would actually push to have positive results, and push people to be better at what they’re doing, and not feel like they’re being pushed down. You know, and I feel this is really important when you talk to pay to people in general. So how do you push people up, but still challenge them enough? So they did, like they do great results, and they like they push the bar forward? You know? So I think this is like the nurturing part, I would say. And when it comes to the organization, well, of course, like, you know, when you yourself, you know, you need to be producing content all the time. So content is a flow. And in order to do that, you need to have a team that is super synchronized that knows exactly whose role is doing to do what, you know, like, when is production happening? When are the planning phases going to happen? How do we track what we’re doing, and that needs to be like, a machine. And I wouldn’t say it like this, but it has to be a machine that should be working, and everybody should know the role. But also in a way that is fun. And, you know, interesting that everybody’s learning from it. So I think this is kind of like, what to me is really important than that what I want and like want for teams to have, you know,

Kyler Canastra 23:02
I was really hoping you would say what you just said, because I think for me, at least like one of the hardest parts of like least going into copywriting when I worked as a copywriter, which is like, have been creative, but then being told that’s not right, or you know that the clients not going to be happy with it and really putting your ego away. I think that’s the hardest thing. But if you’re in an environment, like the one you just talked about, if you create an environment for your team, that they feel like they can take creative risks and not get punished for it, even though it might be totally off. That’s so important, because then you don’t lose that creative flow and that creative like juice that we need in order to produce content. I think what you said to like, the hardest thing is that it’s a product you’re selling. So like, you know, content, for example, something that we need to produce all the time and some days, you know, you’ve ever writer, they might have a bad day, or they might be having personal issues in your creative, like juice is not you’re not flowing, you know. So it’s really hard to be able to kind of find that sweet spot, going back to that idea of the sweet spot with your team. Because as you know, you have to treat them like humans, you have to respect their creativity, but also be like, well, I need to also produce numbers, then. So it’s really, really hard. And I really think it takes like a special type of person to do that. And that’s also something that I’ve experienced too more now, like moving into the sales side of things. It’s like, have I work with a team that’s all creative, but also like trying to sell things and not, you know, overwhelming my team. So it’s kind of finding this balance between that. I think it really takes like a very, I don’t know, a special type of person to do that. And it seems like you’re able to do that while making it fun. But also, you know, getting results, which I think that’s probably the main point of our jobs, right. You should ask my team after that. Let’s see, we’ll get some feedback from them. But also something that I’ve in the research I did to prepare this interview, you talked about hacking content. And you said this idea of hacking content is super important for you and your overall strategy. But what do you mean by hacking? And why is it important for your content to be both scalable and quick or faster?

Adriana Carles 24:56
Actually, this term I didn’t I had a job interview. I was like, I don’t know when law Before now, and I was explaining how I build confidence and like the innovative the asking about the innovative things that I did. And it’s like, also I like how do you hack confidence, I’m like, Hey, I like this term. So then I started using it, because it just made meaning just for me just means like, you need to find unconventional ways to produce content somehow, specially in, like, startups or smaller businesses that don’t have like huge budgets, like big corporations, you know, it’s like, yeah, the normal approach to a big company would be okay, let’s go through the agency, the agency then creates the concept, then they find the production company, the production companies, when you have quote, after quote, after quote, after well, and it’s slow, right? So the, how can we be okay, how do we do this in a way that, you know, we can do fast, and then we can scale and then we can test, you know, so it’s always trying to find this way. So it could be like, for example, even doing an in house, like I mentioned, you know, we did like, find the data yourself, find a designer, find a freelancer and then build it up, and you don’t have a consistent story, and then test it out to see if it works. If it doesn’t work, if it works, great, you can get more money for the next time. If it doesn’t, then Okay, you didn’t, you know, you didn’t waste six months in the process, to trying to create something that you could have done yourself in, you know, a month, you know, and then you already know if it worked, or it didn’t work. So this is something what I mean with it, you know, so finding unconventional ways, like, there are so many platforms nowadays that create content. And not only you know, and I always like, talking to suppliers, because I never know what I you know, where I kind of learn and what I’m not doing, you know, there’s like photo platforms, video platforms, you can just go directly to the stores, as opposed to having to, you know, doing everything via the typical agency way. And I feel that, you know, as content marketeers, we really need to explore or all of this, we need to, you know, be bold, be innovative, try to do things ourselves, get a camera, you know, find people on our team to do so. And yeah, take some risks. And this is what I mean, with hacking content a bit. You know,

Kyler Canastra 27:01
that’s awesome. I think it’s so important to like, keep that in mind. But I also think like hacking content means thinking outside the box. And I think, you know, using the tools that are out there and making yourself unique, which I think is so important now, because with the world of the internet, and you know, there’s so many, you know, one concept could have, like, many different people at different companies are working on the same thing, and what’s gonna make you different. Yeah. And I think a lot of times, too, when I especially if you’ve talked to different people in the industry, especially at smaller companies, they think these things are impossible, I can’t scale up the way no other big agents, big companies do, or I can’t hire an agency, but a lot of it’s kind of being innovative and seeing like, what can I do with what the tools that I have, and then worry about scaling up or getting bigger down the line, I think that’s something that you just got really covered really well, because it’s not just you don’t have to be traditional, right? You don’t have to follow the rules everyone has, it’s about thinking outside the box and being creative. Now, this also kind of ties into this idea of the sweet spot that you mentioned before, when strategizing and executing campaigns. Now a lot of content marketers struggle with this nowadays, and kind of knowing, you know, how am I going to do this effectively, but also staying within budget, but also making sure I get the results that I need to produce? But then also, like, I don’t know, making sure everyone’s motivated and behind the idea that I have. So how and like for you, like, what’s your content marketing? sweetspot? And how do you like execute that? Well?

Adriana Carles 28:23
Cool. I mean, I think it’s a good question. Because like, I like I think PowerPoint can hold anything, basically, you know, you can put anything on a PowerPoint slide, and they will look amazing, or it can look, but the thing is, like when you the real work is like in the delivery part, right in the implementation part. And I think sometimes we stick too long into the strategizing part, and like, don’t get fast enough to the implementation, because like I just mentioned before, a lot of the things that you put there are not going to work unless you go and you try and you do them, period. So like, for me, the sweet spot is how do you get the fastest you can from the PowerPoint to the reality, right? Is it like, first of all organizational life planning YCS have a good plan, have a good end game have a good goal and strategy so they can measure along the way, but then also have kind of like what we just talked about, like, you know, different ways to create this content that you don’t have to go through these long flows, because in the end, you might take a long time to just see that it didn’t work. And then you could have you know, that you could have done something differently, you know, and you could have learned more about your audience just by doing it faster, because also part of having content is learning more about your audience and their needs and having insights from them. So I think for me, I think this is kind of like the sweet spot for me, the sweet spot would be how do I shorten this time? And this is actually where, you know, it is hard, like, you know, by you know, doing this with the team, you know, like how do we get to the production faster, and having kind of like, identify different flows and then you can just repeat you know, because some of the things like once you’ve done it once and they work, there are things that you can just go ahead like, again, content, kind of like something that should be a flow that produces ones and again, and you improve learning from it. So once you kind of have that in place, which is kind of like the hard part, starting for me is the hard part. The first, you know, the first time you do video shoots, or the first time you do a new segment, or the first time you try new format, it’s kind of like the hard time. But once you get over it, you get the learning curve, you know, then it’s kind of like, it just becomes easier. So for me, that’s the sweet spot, like how do I get to that first spot faster, you know, so then it becomes something regular, that we just implement regularly.

Kyler Canastra 30:37
Anything, it’s like, going back to the idea of sticking to the basics, you know, and not overwhelming ourselves and like, Okay, if something worked well, the first time, we can obviously do it better, and maybe see if any way to improve, but like, Don’t lose sight of that, you know, and like also like breaking things down into smaller pieces. And, you know, I think a lot of times when we have like a new goal or a target or something that you want to achieve, and it can be overwhelming, it’s and this is something you can apply to not just marketing life is break it down into like, attainable goals that will lead you to your final goal. So I think that’s something I’m really good to keep in mind. Now, we’ve talked about things that you seem like you have, you know, expertise and you’ve been successful by organizing teams and knowing how to execute a strategy. But for you, what’s the most challenging aspect of content marketing? And maybe like, for you, what has been the biggest challenge you’ve had in your career? And what are some tips which that you could give to our audience to overcome such obstacles?

Adriana Carles 31:27
Yeah, you were kind of mentioned a bit when you started talking about, you know, the long term thing that content, you know, it’s like, it’s not, it’s not a fast pace, you know, content marketing is a marathon, it’s long term, it’s a long term strategic goal, right. And companies that decide to go down this path have to have this in mind, that it’s not going to give you immediate results, it’s a long term thing, you build on it, because you grow an audience with it that’s engaged, that’s interested, you start building a reputation, you build trust with it, right. So I think this is the hardest part for me, because I, you know, I’ve had, you know, many, many places to explain that value, you know, to like top executive director managing, you know, people who are just expecting fast results. And this is not content marketing, yes, we can deliver hard metrics. And this is kind of like a way to balance that out. We have to track we have to, you know, we do deliver traffic, we have to deliver on, you know, what is it that we can revenue? What is it that we can add to like the hard metrics, but I also believe that it’s kind of hard sometimes explaining that, and also competing against other departments, you know, like, for example, you know, ads, that you just put money into it, and somehow you get a return quicker. But yeah, sometimes people are not looking at it, they’re not, you know, they’re not engaging with it. So when you have to compete for budgets, you know, for other departments that you know, can show that connection shorter in a shorter span, then you can, I think that is kind of like the biggest challenge for me, in general, when it comes to content marketing.

Kyler Canastra 33:02
Yeah, it’s hard. I think this kind of reminded me too, I had a friend on the show, Andrea Aldana, and she’s like, she operates a digital marketing agency and budget in Madrid, and a lot of the content she’s worked on, and she’s worked in content marketing, and advising clients, stuff like that. And she’s actually talks a lot about how it’s important to say no to a client and break up with the client, it’s okay. Because a lot of times, you’re gonna be working with clients, who is like, from an agency perspective, working in a company with stakeholders, if they’re agreeing with you that they don’t understand the concept, then it’s like, you’re gonna be running into so many roadblocks and sometimes it’s okay, just be like, I’m out of this, like, I’m done. Like, it’s not gonna be been if you’re looking for that kind of result, you don’t understand what like, the whole meaning of content marketing is and how it works. And it’s kind of you’re starting with a bad so it’s okay to say no, or be like, yeah, situations, I think that’s important to keep in mind too. Because if you start off a collaboration, or you’re starting off a new initiative, and the stakeholders aren’t, don’t understand or don’t value it, then it’s going to be a kind of a recipe for disaster, I think, for sure. Now, before we move on to the recommendations, part of the of the interview, I want to ask you to about your experience in b2b marketing, because you have a lot of experience with that. And we kind of want to just like pick your brain a bit to know a bit more about, like, what are the main differences between b2b marketing and b2c in your opinion?

Adriana Carles 34:21
So I’m actually I think they’re more like that people tend to think it’s because in the end, it’s marketing, right? I don’t want to go back to like college spreads, like the four piece, they still apply, you know, everywhere, right? So, like, in the end of the day, like by having this, you know, kind of like experience with different types of companies, like it’s easier for me to adopt them, because it’s like, I just have to think of a product person you’re selling to where I’m gonna sell it and what’s the price I’m selling to in terms of the marketing, right, it’s the same. So once you kind of are like, okay, where am I? Where am I? You know, and when it comes to b2b and b2c, it’s exactly the same kind of needs that you have. It’s just You know, what is this person needing from you when it comes to content, or in general, when it comes to marketing, you know, and also like, you know, and there’s a person behind there, because also you tend to think that causes B to be you have to talk to a company, but really, you are addressing a person. And that is working in a company, but there are so people there. So it’s kind of like you forget that when you’re doing need to be marketing a bit, you forget that there’s a person behind the computer behind the company that you’re working for. And then you still have to speak to them in a way that is interesting and relevant to them. Just because you are doing b2b doesn’t mean that you have to be a super serious company. And that actually takes me to my point where, you know, like, people tend to think of the tone and I think actually companies that are doing B2B in a really, really good way. Like I would say, like Salesforce and SAP, like even Eliane some examples, they have managed to take pointers from B2B companies, because they are putting in storytelling, they’re putting in values, they’re putting in emotions. And if you think about it, at the end of the day, what closes a sale, from B2B, I mean, you’re signing a contract for what, I don’t know, a year or two years, it can be a lot of money at the end of the day. You’re not closing the deal because you saw a fact sheet all the way up, you’re closing the deal because you have trust in the brand, you have trust in the people behind that. And you only achieve that through storytelling and emotions. I struggle with this, particularly in Germany, because in Germany to put emotions on B2B, like what? No. This is like one of the experience I had in my previous companies like, no, we need to put entertainment, we need to put emotions because it’s the only way that people are going to relate to us as a company, as you know, as people here. And I think this is actually what really big good B2B companies are doing. And in terms of the b2c of course, the difference is like, you know, the scale of it, you know, like, you know, with b2b, you have a smaller, usually smaller target groups, maybe the touchpoints are different, the formats that you address, people are different, especially when it comes to content marketing, you know, but there’s events, there’s a lot of other things, and the scale of b2c is just bigger, because it’s a mass market, right? And of course, but in the end, it’s, you know, it all goes down to the same, you know, marketing wise, you know, the same kind of focus, and you have to kind of think, through the four P’s you’re going through, you’re doing a strategy somehow.

Kyler Canastra 37:25
I love that. And I think that’s something that I’ve been saying, for like the whole, especially now in the pandemic, that we always have to remember that there’s always a person on the other side of marketing, for sure. And it’s like, and I think in general, I think it’s something that’s a life skill that we need to keep in mind, especially as we shift more into like a virtual environment, that like, every email, you send someone, a human is going to be reading that every piece of content you write a human is going to be reading that and it’s not a robot, so you have to make sure you treat them even if you say like, it’s b2b, like, still someone’s reading that robots not doing the business, you know, so it’s important to really touch into, like, the human aspect of who we are, as human beings.

Adriana Carles 38:03
Yeah, I always, like when I’m writing or reading something that anybody’s writing, I always like, ask myself, like, why should they care? You know, it’s like the questions like, why should they care about this piece of content, or whatever is being raised in an email, whatever, why, you know, and I think it’s a person and you really need to think about that. In any case, when you’re doing anything.

Kyler Canastra 38:26
I love that. And I think Yeah, especially now with like, social media. And it’s like that we’re so used to not, you know, having as much enjoyment human interaction or thinking about humans, like we’re producing stuff that people are just not going to really care about. But yes, they will. So it’s so important to keep that in mind. So thanks for saying that. You said that because to me, I really believe in thoroughly. Now, we’re gonna switch now to the recommendations part of the interview, which for me is always like my favorite part. And especially cuz I get to pick the minds of very successful people, and they get to tell me their insights. Take notes all the time. But before we kind of shift more into like your daily habits, and kind of, you know, books or inspiration that you have, I wanted to know, do you have any resources that you’d recommend to learn more about content marketing? I mean, you did that course at Duke. But is there anything else that you would recommend to other people?

Adriana Carles 39:13
Yeah, I mean, I read a lot, you know, online. Like for example, I could do I’ve done like market motive. I’ve done like Content Marketing Institute. So I do a lot but I honestly don’t have like a one to go source. But I think overall, these would be kind of like, one of them. I usually I just read a lot books in general. So

Kyler Canastra 39:31
yeah, like continuous learning, you know? Yeah. Can never stop. Yeah, exactly. You will never know everything. Yeah, exactly. It’s impossible. Now besides reading because seems like you like to read a lot. Um, do you have any other daily habits that you would attribute to your success.

Adriana Carles 39:45
You know, I, when I saw this question about your success, you know, I even kind of felt like what is even success, you know, like, it’s just like when I went all metaphorical about it. But it’s just really like, you know, I just I just wanted to make that kind of clear. Like I think like Nowadays people tend to, I think people tend to think like careers like, you go like this, you know, and it’s not really like that career. It’s kind of like up and down and up and down. And I’ve also been on this quest, you know, like, I’m a mom, I have two kids, I stopped, I immigrated. And I think what’s really important is just like, what at least has been, for me important is to kind of like, just go with the opportunities that are given to you, you know, like, you don’t know what’s going to come out of it. And sometimes you think, Oh, my God, I can’t do this. But in the end, you just figure it out somehow, really, you figure it out somehow. And if it doesn’t work, you need to be smart enough to say, Okay, this is not working, I need to find something else. But in the end of the day, like, if you I’m not, I don’t know, if I’m a huge believer in like this, like long term goal kind of thing. I’ve actually been more of like, this, okay, I am in a good place right now. I’m learning I’m continuing to learn. And if it works for me, yes, I’m going to take the opportunity and like you say, you know, break things into smaller pieces, have little milestones. And then, you know, when I look back, I’m like, wow, I did all that. And I, you know, I didn’t notice it, you know, because I managed to break it up somehow. And yeah, maybe my career has been looking like this. And now when you look back at it, it’s still kind of like, ascending, you know, so yeah, yeah, this is this is just know, if I want to say something to myself, like, you know, when I started my career would be to just not get discouraged when things aren’t going a bit down, just keep going and keep challenging yourself. Because

Kyler Canastra 41:28
I think we’re wired in a way, like, at least in Western society, about this whole, like, success. And, you know, once I get my goal, I’m going to be happy. And it’s more like, you need to be happy with the process. And also, you know, not get overwhelmed, because I think a lot of people get overwhelmed, and they never achieve their goals, because they let this anxiety, like not being you know, this perfect, or having the perfect life, the perfect career, it gets to them. And I think what you said is really, really important to keep in mind, you know, we met could be, you know, the most successful person in the world, but you should always be challenging yourself and always trying to do different things and learn. So I think that’s really, really awesome. Now, I guess, in terms of like, professional role models, or sources of inspiration, do you have anything that really kind of kind of fuels your passion?

Unknown Speaker 42:09
For your career?

Adriana Carles 42:10
This is probably the cheesiest thing anybody will say in this. I am like a Disney fan. Yeah, okay. I love it. I’m a huge Disney fan. I read all the books in all the documentaries, like, you know, if any storytelling thing like Pixar, Disney, because I just find that, you know, like, I’m in a rut, and I would just go and watch some movie or read something, and I just get inspired, but the way they can do storytelling, you know. So yeah, I would have to say, this is something that I really like. And I love it that like even when you go like on their page, like from the email you get while applying to the job to like, the movie, everything is connected somehow. And I just really think that, you know, okay, when I’m thinking of what I want to do always thinking I have to do it like this, you know, cuz even the email has to sound the same as the content piece that you’re putting out in the end. So I really, really find that.

Kyler Canastra 43:03
No, and I think like Disney is not a cheesy example. Because I think they would they do. And for me, at least, I think watching Disney movies as a child versus as an adult, you kind of as an adult, you realize, like, wow, like all the intricacies of the storytime they do because they’re also making entertainment that’s enjoyable for adults, but also like, like recently, in some of the cleanest Pixar movies and stuff they’ve done, they’ve tackled, like, you know, mental health, like life and death, like these really dark or like, traditionally dark or like complex, like concept that you would never share with a kid. And they do it in a way that could be helpful for kids growing up, but also like, just kind of brings awareness on these topics, which I think is really, really cool. So I don’t think Disney is a cheesy thing. So but yeah, so I really enjoy it. Yeah. Yeah. So also, I guess more like tools or practical things. Do you have any, like apps, or platforms, or even a book that you really would recommend?

Adriana Carles 43:57
So I guess like, I mean, books, yeah, I have a couple of them. The apps and things really, like, there are many tools there. I’m currently super happy because we have a new translation tool for localization, which Yes, but other than that, like it just, you know, really, like I think book wise, I have to wonder it’s like, I am obsessed with it. And I tell anybody I can like walk by the street, like please read this book, which is Range by David Epstein. I think it’s pronounced and I love it. Because like, what you asked asked me about, like success in my career basically, kind of describe this book because like, you tend to think that in order to be successful in life, you have to go like, especially on a specialized specialized flat pack, you know, if you are you know, a gonna be a biologist, you studied biology, biology every single day and by you know, doing that, like four hours and you’ll be the best biologist and yes, that’s probably going to be true. But this will kind of tells you that, you know, in a way when people have the opportunity to have a range of topics and like discover many Different things, it might take you a little while longer to kind of find your path along live. But once you do, you are like super passionate about it. So I kind of feel completely, you know, connected to it. And also you take things from all the other things that you learned and kind of make that like, amazing. So I really recommend it for anybody who’s kind of like looking to find, you know, what they want to do in life, or, you know, where they see their career going. even, like, I for my kids, you know, I think like I would like now apply it to them, like guinea pigs, no. I really, really enjoy it. And then like this, and I think it’s Think Again, from Adam Grant, which is kind of pretty open. Now. It’s also kind of in the same way of like rethinking things that you’ve always done in the same way, you know, and lastly, this Leaders Eat Last from Simon Sinek, which is, you know, very famous, you know, start with why kind of authored, but I read this book a couple of years ago about leadership, and I really liked it, because, you know, I grew up in Latin America, and I grew up with, you know, with this approach of like, being a leader, you have to be mean, and you have to be like straight, and you have to be like the boss, you know, and I am not like that at all, and like, super empathetic, so I thought I’m gonna be the worst boss in the world, you know, but then I read this book, and it’s like, Hey, no, actually, to build to be a great leader, you have to build trust, you have to build empathy, you have to get to know the other person. And I thought, Hey, I like this type of leadership. So it really resonated with, with my style, and I, you know, kind of helped me be a better person. So I always recommend it to people who are also trying to find their way around new teams, and, you know, having new challenges.

Kyler Canastra 46:35
That’s awesome. And I think the point about leadership is something that I always tried to implement when I was like leading a team and stuff like that, it’s just, I want people to treat like, I want to treat people just as I treat anybody on the street, or like my friends, or I don’t want to appear intimidating, there’s a way to be, you know, have authority, but also to people like humans, and let them like, grow. And I think that’s so important. And I think it’s like a nice shift that we’re having, hopefully, you know, across sectors and organizations around the world. But unfortunately, we’re at the end of our interview, which is, it’s sad, cuz I feel like we could talk all day long. And it’s a pleasure to really get to pick your brain a bit and hear more about your experience and how that’s shaped who you are today. But do you have any final takeaways or parting advice you’d like to give our audience before we sign off?

Adriana Carles 47:18
So my parting advice, it’s really just again, like, you know, read get inspired. Like, I think especially for content marketers, or any marketer, in general, we really need to kind of like, go on a hunt for you know, inspiration. So whether that would be like looking at YouTube reading like, going to Netflix, or like watching movies, old movies, new movies, reading anything from like biology to even marketing topics, I think we can get inspiration from so many different areas. And I believe, like, you know, like, it’s kind of, it’s gonna make us better at delivering excitement and fun and valuable content to to our audiences, that it’s relevant for them, too.

Kyler Canastra 47:57
So yeah, fantastic. Now, if anyone wanted to, like get in touch with you, or kind of follow you, as you go, you know, do great things and content marketing. Is LinkedIn, the best way to get in touch or you’re in other platforms, or?

Adriana Carles 48:09
Yeah, right now, actually, LinkedIn, I used to kind of be before doing like marketing and like marketing communities, but like after COVID, they kind of stopped but yeah, right now, I would guess LinkedIn and super approachable person. So just feel free to send me an email or like a message and everything. And yeah, I’m, like I said, I really like connecting with people. So I’m open to them. Yeah.

Kyler Canastra 48:29
That’s awesome. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. And yeah, it was great to connect with you. But I also want to thank our listeners for tuning in. And as always, for more perspectives on the content marketing industry in Europe, please check out veracontent.com/mix. And keep tuning in as always, to the podcast for more interviews with content experts like Adriana, so we’ll see you all next time. So thank you so much again.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai