With over 8 years of online marketing experience, Nathan Jokers has been deeply rooted in the digital evolution for many widely known brands. While keeping on top of emerging trends and technology, Nathan ensures social and digital opportunities are brought to his client’s table to help create an authentic and engaging brand experience with proven business-driven results. His work has differentiated clients from their competitors, and propelled brands to best in class among corporate portfolios.
Currently at FCB Chicago and previously at VML, Nathan has worked across industry verticals on brands including Coca-Cola, Xerox, Nestlé Purina, Dow Chemical, Kellogg, Sears Holdings and Kimberly Clark to fine-tune their strategic approach to digital media and conversational marketing. Additionally, he began his career in public relations working to integrate social and digital efforts into the holistic communications ecosystem for a multitude of B2B, service, retail, production and financial brands.
What role do you see Influencer Marketing playing in brand marketing strategies in 2016?
Influencers are a major part of the marketing spectrum. As marketers, we’ve spent too much time talking to people, rather than talking with and understanding them. Once we started to explore the frontlines of our social communities (that we worked hard to build), we quickly discovered a huge wealth of consumer advocates who love what our brands offer. While paid influencers have slowly entered into the fold (with advertising disclaimers), I’m a huge fan of the true advocates who simply love the brand for what it does for them, and are more than willing to spread reviews, answer questions and share the admiration. There’s power in other people helping us tell our brand story, providing transparency that a brand alone simply can’t replicate. Tapping into (and rewarding) our advocates is huge, and I’m hoping that 2016 marketing strategies will involve more influencer marketing tactics to help champion these true, authentic voices for our brands and communities.
What is the most widespread mistake you’ve seen brand marketers make in 2015 that you hope they learn from in 2016?
Connecting the dots within their own digital ecosystems. Marketers have such a wealth of knowledge and data about their consumers across a variety of touchpoints. Departments – such as email, web and social – have long been in siloed, each with individual goals and benchmarks. It’s time we understand our consumers better, and truly have these teams working in collaboration to provide the right communication at the right time. Our goal is to move away from generic marketing messages – and while some industries have it down to a science through retargeting tactics, for most, the conversion funnel still has gaps. As marketers, this is a huge opportunity that’s being missed.
What word do you hope is officially banned from the marketing vernacular in 2016?
I’m certain this has been mentioned (this year, and in many years past), but the term ‘viral’ needs to be laid to rest (can we please all make a pact this year?). Simply put, good content posted to the right people at the right time needs to always be the goal. Marketers should know their broad and targeted audiences very well, and social media is the perfect testing ground to understand what content resonates. If the content works, amplify it. If it doesn’t, learn from it and adjust the content strategy accordingly.
What marketing events are you most looking forward to in 2016?
I’ve always been a huge fan of the Digiday summits throughout the year, and hoping I’ll be able to make it to a few in 2016. With the phenomenal wealth of knowledge in the room, networking and great content being shared, these events are always invaluable. On the local level, Social Media Week has always been an excellent resource to connect with both agency and brand professionals within the community.
Aside from his current work at FCB Chicago, Nathan is highly involved in digital and social marketing organizations within the Chicago area. Want to hear more? Connect with him on Twitter!