Ari Mason
Today we have Ari Mason on the show. Ari is a fractional CMO and marketing consultant for growth stage startups. She does brand and content marketing and takes a people first approach after being a journalist for NBC. Ari started her marketing career at SharkNinja, the makers of the Shark Vacuum and Ninja Blender where she led website strategy and optimization.
Ari then worked at a marketing agency in her home state of Connecticut where she owned web strategy and digital marketing for financial clients nationwide. She’s been a marketing director many times over and has also led PR, brand activation and community impact. Ari’s experience spans product launches to brand building. She finds quick wins for clients while laying the foundation for long term growth. Ari lives in Utah with her husband and rescue dog. She’s passionate about workplace culture and on a mission to bring humanity to the heart of business.
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Who is Ari Mason?
Early Life and Education
Ari Mason is from Georgia just outside of Atlanta. A big move at age 10 shaped much of her early life and sparked her love of writing. The move to Connecticut where most of her extended family lived gave her new opportunities to develop her writing skills in a classroom setting.
A Young Writer
From a young age Ari was a writer. She remembers dictating storybooks to her mom who would write them down and staple them together for Ari to illustrate. By second grade Ari was writing novels and series on her own. Her poetry in 5th grade led to publications in poetry competitions.
A Turning Point
A big moment came after the 9/11 attacks. Ari was 10 years old and wrote a free verse poem as part of a class exercise to process the event. The poem moved her teacher so much it ended up in the hands of a state representative and was read on the House floor. It’s now in the Library of Congress.
Education
Ari attended the University of Connecticut where she double majored in Spanish and Journalism. She was able to study abroad multiple times and developed a love for languages. She started as an English major with a creative writing concentration but found writing creatively on deadline was constricting. So she switched to journalism and was able to report on real world stories.
Current Projects that Excite Ari
Fractional CMO and Consultant
Ari is currently a fractional CMO and marketing consultant for growth stage startups. She gets to use her experience across many industries and company sizes.
Personal Growth and Business Evolution
Ari just took what she calls her “summer vacation,” a mental and physical health break. She’s now re-ramping and taking on new clients. This break has led to a redefinition of her business and personal brand:
“I’m redefining myself in my work, not reinventing. A reinvention sort of implies that there maybe isn’t that level of authenticity and staying true to those original values which is so important. But redefining… I took a little bit of a step back… and I’m in the process now of really re-ramping and taking on clients.
Brand and Content Marketing
Ari is most excited about her work in brand and content marketing. She says taking a people-first approach is key which aligns with her mission to put humanity at the heart of business.”
Tactical and Strategic SEO and Social Media Advice from Ari
The Symbiotic Relationship Between SEO and Social Media
Ari emphasizes that SEO and social media strategies are deeply intertwined and support one another. She breaks down this relationship into two main areas:
- On-Platform SEO: This involves optimizing content for search within social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
- Website SEO Enhancement: This focuses on how social media activities can boost a brand’s website SEO.
Domain Authority and Its Impact
Ari explains the concept of domain authority, a metric developed by Moz:
“Domain authority is basically your single metric measurement for the likelihood of your website to rank on that search engine results page. There’s a lot of analytics metrics that you can break down on site, social media. So this is a great high-level kind of macro perspective to look at directionally.”
A robust social media presence can positively influence domain authority by sending signals to Google that increase the likelihood of ranking in relevant search results.
The E-E-A-T Framework
Ari introduces the E-E-A-T framework used by Google:
- Experience
- Expertise
- Authoritativeness
- Trustworthiness
She emphasizes the importance of building a brand reputation founded on these four aspects to demonstrate to search engines that your content is high-quality and authoritative.
Content Strategy Across Platforms
Ari stresses the importance of a holistic content strategy that spans across different platforms:
“When you’re developing your content strategy, you always want to be thinking very deliberately about what type of content is serving what purpose and for whom. And when you’re looking at different users, different audiences in multiple stages of their journey.”
She recommends creating content at least a couple of times a week, ensuring it provides real value and contributes positively to ranking factors.
Technical SEO Considerations
Ari highlights the importance of technical SEO elements, particularly schema markup:
“One important consideration when it comes to both social and on-site SEO is the inclusion of schema, which is structured data. This is a piece of code that goes into the head tag of your web page, and it sends different signals to Google based on the type of schema markup that you’re including.”
She specifically mentions organization schema and local business schema as crucial for connecting social accounts to business profiles and enhancing local search visibility.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Lack of Comprehensive Strategy: Not having an overarching content strategy and calendar.
- Over-reliance on Paid Advertising: Neglecting organic growth in favor of quick paid results.
- Keyword Stuffing: Overusing keywords in an unnatural way.
- Neglecting Technical SEO: Focusing only on front-end content and neglecting back-end optimization.
Tools for Tracking Social Media Success
Ari recommends using native analytics platforms for each social media channel, as well as comprehensive tools like:
- Hootsuite
- Sprout Social
- Later
She particularly praises Sprout Social for its social listening component, which helps understand brand sentiment and community engagement.
Where Does Ari See the Future of SEO and Social Media?
The Long Game of SEO
Ari emphasizes the importance of patience when it comes to SEO:
“The critical mindset when it comes to optimizing for SEO is that it’s important to be patient. As I mentioned, it is the long game… it can be very frustrating and very easy to under-invest in SEO and content.”
She advises businesses to look at the holistic customer journey and invest in nurturing relationships before people are even close to making a purchase.
The Dark Funnel
Ari introduces the concept of the “dark funnel”:
“It’s called the dark funnel… people are doing independent research. So they’re going to hear about you in a number of different ways, getting back to brand discovery on social media, sometimes it is targeted, but more often than not brands are discovered through the community posts, whether that be influencer or community members.”
She explains that in B2B sales, people are about 70% of the way through the funnel before they even make contact with a company. This underscores the importance of building a strong online presence through blog posts, social media, and other content channels.
The Rise of De-influencing
Ari points out an emerging trend called “de-influencing”:
“There’s a really interesting sort of trend that cropped up about a year ago called de-influencing. In which influencers… were kind of so tired of the product pushes and feeling like, okay, I’m following these influencers and these content creators because I trust them… but I also don’t know if I can really believe some of what they’re saying, because I know that they’re going to get paid to say it.”
This trend highlights the importance of authenticity in marketing and the evolving nature of influencer marketing strategies.
How to Get in Contact with Ari
Ari welcomes connections and is open to fostering her community. You can reach her through:
- LinkedIn: Search for Ari Mason
- Email: ari@arimason.com
- Website: Visit her LinkedIn profile for links to her portfolio and more information about her work as a fractional CMO
Advice to Younger Self
While Ari doesn’t directly answer this question in the provided transcript, based on her career journey and experiences shared, we can infer some advice she might give to her younger self:
- Trust Your Instincts: Ari made a brave decision to leave her job at NBC when she realized it was affecting her mental health. She might advise her younger self to trust those instincts and prioritize well-being over prestige.
- Embrace Change: Ari’s career has involved several transitions and relocations. She might encourage her younger self to be open to change and see it as an opportunity for growth.
- Build and Nurture Your Network: Throughout her career, Ari has benefited from professional connections. She might advise her younger self to actively build and maintain a strong professional network.
- Continuous Learning: Given her evolution from journalism to marketing to becoming a fractional CMO, Ari might emphasize the importance of continuous learning and adaptability.
- Balance Technical Skills with Human Touch: Considering her focus on bringing humanity to business, Ari might advise her younger self to balance technical marketing skills with a people-first approach.
Books, Podcasts, and Leaders That Inspire Ari
While Ari doesn’t mention specific books, podcasts, or leaders in the transcript, she does reference some companies and concepts that have influenced her thinking:
- HubSpot: Ari mentions HubSpot several times as an example of excellent content marketing and nurturing customer relationships before they’re in the market for a product.
- Slack: She mentions Slack alongside HubSpot as companies that have become dominant by focusing on the entire brand experience, not just the product.
- De-influencing Trend: Ari shows interest in emerging trends like “de-influencing,” suggesting she stays current with evolving marketing concepts.
- Dark Funnel Concept: Ari’s familiarity with the “dark funnel” concept indicates she’s engaged with current B2B marketing thought leadership.
- E-E-A-T Framework: Her knowledge of Google’s E-E-A-T framework suggests she follows SEO industry leaders and best practices.
While we don’t have specific names, it’s clear that Ari is inspired by thought leaders in content marketing, SEO, and brand strategy. She likely follows industry publications, attends conferences, and engages with content from marketing technology companies to stay at the forefront of her field.
Conclusion
SEO and social media are deeply interconnected aspects of digital marketing that require a holistic, patient approach. As Ari Mason emphasizes, success in these areas comes from consistently producing valuable content, understanding the technical aspects of SEO, and recognizing the importance of the “dark funnel” in the customer journey.
By focusing on building authority, trust, and engagement across multiple platforms, businesses can create a strong foundation for long-term growth. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, staying adaptable and authentic will be key to navigating trends like de-influencing and maintaining a strong online presence.
Remember, while the results of SEO and social media efforts may not be immediately visible, they are crucial for building the foundation of your brand’s online presence and ultimately driving long-term success.
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