Ashley Goldman

Why am I not shocked???????? A former American Eagle social media manager is going viral on TikTok for sharing what she knows about AE corporate: Senior leadership has never understood their own customers. American Eagle’s execs have allegedly always envied Abercrombie and, because of those blinders, have always misunderstood their own key demographics. This is too familiar: Leadership gets hyper-focused on "big swings" like major campaigns, trending celebs, dramatic rebrands, or high-dollar ads to beat out the competition. Oftentimes, these decisions are made without anyone in the room who understands the audience they're trying to reach. They will invest in ads that are tone deaf or off-brand to make a splash. They'll kill engaging content in favor of slimy or salesy product pushes that literally never convert. Then they’ll ignore the problem, continue to live in their boardroom bubble, and complain, "Marketing doesn't work." Because they missed the mark. Because they were misinformed. Because they were too far removed from their own audience. If you want to stay relevant and cut through the noise, take off the blinders and pop the bubble. Fixating on the competition, exploiting your brand, and ignoring your customer will eventually cause a crisis. Do better. Differentiate yourself. Don't make this misstep. Marketing works, but only when you connect with your customers correctly. Act 👏 accordingly 👏

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PSA: Please try to be kind and sensitive right now to those affected by the TikTok ban announcement. This includes but is not limited to: TikTok employees, creators who make their incomes through the platform, folks who work in social media marketing, and regular users. The loss of this app will have a major impact on those people whose jobs and careers have been influenced and/or rely, in part or in full, on TikTok, as well as anyone who has found joy, education, connection, community, and a truly unique and non-replicable culture and algorithm through the platform. Know this: We are collectively grieving. If you can't empathize because you don't use or "get" TikTok, consider if adding your POV could be seen as unhelpful at best or insensitive at worst. So, before you post something like, "What's the big deal? Just go to [insert platform here] instead" or share criticism of the app or its users, imagine that your audience just learned that their beloved pet is terminal and has only a couple of days to live. It's not a perfect analogy by any means, but perhaps it could help you get a closer sense of how a lot of people are feeling right now. Yes, there's a possibility that Trump could come in next week and sign some sort of executive order delaying the ban or similar, but we are dealing with what we know right now. And personally, while I hope something like that happens, it still could likely mean that TikTok will be in a state of purgatory for the foreseeable future. Remember: Empathy doesn't cost you anything. <3

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A word of advice for anyone seeking a job in marketing: - Your resume matters less than you think. - Thank you notes matter more than you think. - If your experience doesn’t resemble the ideal candidate profile for the role, you’ll probably need to get creative if you want an interview. This week on Substack, I’m sharing seven job-hunting tips I've picked up throughout my career, including email templates you can steal and advice to help you stand out. 🔗  in the comments for more.

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If you bring on a Chief Marketing Officer, you’re looking at a $250K salary + bonus. And if they’re smart, they’re going to ask you what your marketing budget is in the interview process. Depending on your industry, you can quickly pour another $250K into events and/or ad dollars if you aren't already. Fortunately (or unfortunately?), some of us haven’t had the luxury of big budgets in our careers and have learned to be scrappy. My POV? The best, inexpensive thing you can do in B2B marketing is create good content. That means good content on your website, LinkedIn, downloadable value-add assets, articles, blogs, press releases, etc. Creating good content isn’t easy. It takes understanding your audience, the industry, and the products. It requires unique positioning and messaging for your product as well as a unique position for your thought leadership content. It takes time and manpower, but it doesn’t take a lot of money, and the value and credibility far outweigh what you’ll get from an ad or an event that doesn’t have the same level of research behind it. Any time I start marketing a new product, I ask a lot of questions about the positioning. It helps me understand the product and create a story for the rest of the content. What brand content has resonated with you? 👋 Hi, I’m Jacki, a fractional marketing leader for Travel & Hospitality. If you’d like help with your positioning, messaging, and content – let me know!

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I've worked in tech PR my entire career. While the tech industry isn't perfect, I've always felt a connection to its drive to be better and innovate. But Mark Zuckerberg's recent comments about the need for "more masculinity" in corporate culture sound like an attempt to reinforce the existing power structure. This continues a trend of white male tech billionaires seeing diversity as a threat. It challenges their dominance, introduces new perspectives and demands accountability for systemic biases. I couldn't disagree more that tech needs more aggression and less compassion. As a female in tech, I'm disappointed and scared by the comments I've heard from leaders like Zuckerberg and Marc Andreessen. I want tech to be a safer space for women and other underrepresented groups, not less so. As my favorite billionaire, Taylor Swift, eloquently said, "If you're being met with resistance, that probably means you're doing something new. If you're experiencing turbulence or pressure, that probably means you're rising." To my fellow women in tech: Don't let these outdated and harmful narratives discourage you. Keep rising. Keep pushing for a more inclusive and equitable tech industry by being badasses.

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💥 I don’t know who needs to hear this January 1st, but: I’d argue that 90%+ of b2b tech companies DO NOT need a 2025 PR plan. Repeat: do not. 🤯 The reality on the ground changes so fast on the public relations front that even a *Q1 PR plan* will need several real-time tweaks & iterations. And that’s ok! So yes, do that Q1 plan with your PR agency. And execute against it aggressively. And yes, have stakes in the ground around big pending news percolating across the calendar year. But give yourself (and your mental health) a break. Do smaller PR plans throughout the year. Trust me on this. Sometimes less is more ✌️ This is the way ✊ #publicrelations #techpragency

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You’re spending $100K/month on ads… but don’t do CRO or A/B testing? That’s like buying Super Bowl stadium space and sending people to a broken vending machine. Look, I’m not calling anyone out. But some of y’all are lighting money on fire with a smile on your face. You have: - A product people want - Ads driving traffic - Great team - Revenue flowing But your landing page? Your conversion strategy? Your customer psychology? Totally winged. And when you do test, it’s: 🟦 “Let’s try a blue button” 📸 “What if we moved the image left?” 🤷‍♂️ “Let’s see what happens” That’s not testing. That’s spaghetti logic. Real A/B testing means: ✅ Finding friction points ✅ Repositioning offers ✅ Emotional triggers ✅ Changing angles ✅ Strategic price splits ✅ Compounding revenue lifts We’ve seen one test unlock a +27% uplift. Another added +178% in RPV. All without spending a dollar more on ads. So no, CRO isn’t “extra" or "nice to have" It’s the only way to squeeze every $$$ out of your funnel.

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This is your friendly reminder that if you ask an employee at your organization to appear in social content, they should be paid just like you would pay an influencer or content creator. On-camera work is stressful. Being the face of a brand is stressful. Filming yourself in the middle of keeping 10 channels afloat is stressful. Putting yourself out there to the point where SLT members no longer see you as an effective marketer and "the TikTok girl / guy" is stressful. And these employees are putting their personal and professional lives at risk when the brand faces a backlash. It's not hard. Your HR can do it. Your finance team can do it. It's as easy as a quarterly bonus or a salary increase. Pay your employees if they're going to be on-camera. BONUS: Very few people want to see C-level executives in their feeds if your target market is Gen-Z and young millennials. They want to see THEMSELVES in your feeds.

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More money doesn’t always mean better media. The US Secret Service spent $2m on a recruiting add to air during the Super Bowl. While this equates to a roughly $16 CPM it’s not a targeted CPM and will be seen by a large cohort of unqualified applicants. While I have no doubt it will be a well made commercial, the spend here is not the best option. A $100k commercial would produce similar results with $1.9m in spend that could go on platforms allowing highly targeted ads to more qualified groups. My guess is this tactic was recommended by a large marketing agency that provides services to the USSS.

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Hot Take: In-office work doesn't improve productivity or build culture if you've hired trustworthy people who are invested in your mission. The only people who are more productive in an office are distracted, uninvested, or scared to lose their jobs. You can't force people to be friends. Company culture is like a personal relationship a company has with every employee. Relationships are built on trust over time. What could hurt trust more than forcing someone to come to the office? Some people might like working in an office (I do), but I would never try to force someone to like the things I do. Trust me, I have two teenage children; it doesn't work. Content Workshop 🥸 has been 100% remote since we were founded in 2013 and always will be as long as I have anything to say about it.

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