Amanda Ciccatelli joins us for an interview that takes us from the start of her career to her current position as the Senior Director of Content Marketing at HLTH. With a heart full of stories and an unwavering commitment to her craft, Amanda shares insights into her experience navigating the exciting world of content marketing and social media.
From innovating at Informa to serving up daily content inspiration at HLTH, her multi-faceted career is a testament to her adaptability and passion. She reveals how her roots in journalism and PR have shaped her approach to marketing, offering wisdom every content marketer needs to hear.
But it’s not just her career we delve into. Amanda gives us a peek into her compassionate leadership style, underlining the importance of empathy and inclusivity in her work. You’re in for a treat!
From being a storyteller at heart to holding key leadership positions across various industries, your journey so far is fascinating. Your loyalty, creativity, and commitment towards making a lasting impact through content marketing and social media are inspiring.
I want to start by discussing your current role as the Senior Director of Content Marketing at HLTH, an organization that’s pushing boundaries in the health ecosystem. What does your work there entail? What type of skills and experience are required in your role?
My role at HLTH is all about creating content that engages, inspires, and educates healthcare leaders all year round through social media and email.
I’m very fortunate to have so much amazing, timely content at my fingertips including event session recordings, podcast conversations, editorial blog posts, photos, and more. I spend a lot of time in my week listening, watching, and reading this content so I can pull out really sticky, share-worthy clips and excerpts that we then have made beautiful by our talented team of designers. Then, I add it to our robust and very busy social media calendar of daily content.
My goal is to make sure our social media and newsletter audience is never bored. I want their social feeds to always have something new and valuable from the HLTH brand. I want them to see our posts, feel connected to the thought leader featured in it, and be excited and proud to share it on their own page.
The best content marketing inspires and motivates.
You have had a long and impactful tenure with Informa, where you’ve held various roles and made significant contributions, from managing social media strategies to spearheading innovative ideas for content marketing. How have these experiences shaped your approach towards content marketing and social media today?
Informa is where it all began. When I accepted the role of Social Media Strategist with them, social media as a job was just coming to fruition. I didn’t have a lot of knowledge about it back then but I was a tech savvy, skilled writer with a burning ambition to make it in NYC.
It was 2013 and I was a fairly recent journalism and PR college graduate with just a few years of freelance writing experience under my belt and a few administrative jobs, looking for a big break in my career. I know once I started specializing in social media and content on a marketing team, it was the perfect fit for my skills and interests. And, I never looked back.
I spent the next 9+ years learning and growing at Informa under two managers who truly shaped me into the seasoned marketer and professional I am today – Anastasia Ioannou and Denise Rosplock. They coached me to push through challenges and to remain agile, to never be afraid of sharing and testing new ideas, and they helped me find my voice and my place as a leader.
The lessons I learned from these two remarkable women, I’ll carry with me for the rest of my career.
Your stint as a freelance journalist with IPWatchdog, Inc. where you wrote about protecting music’s intellectual property, hints at your multifaceted skills and interests. Can you shed some light on how this experience influenced your career?
Although I became an “accidental marketer” when I landed the job at Informa’s marketing team all those years ago, I will always hold journalism in a special place in my heart.
I spent many years freelance writing in the past because my dream as a teenager was to become a magazine or newspaper journalist. I was the News Editor at my college newspaper and did countless internships as a reporter and writer at various publications.
The experiences from writing for publications like IPWatchdog taught me so much that I use in my content marketing career to this day, like:
- Good marketing never sells
- Copywriting can make or break a brand
- Interview and research skills are essential to being a successful content marketer
- You have to be a good storyteller to be a good content marketer
- ChatGPT won’t replace a talented marketing copywriter (but it certainly can help assist!)
Finally, you have mentioned that you’re a servant leader, believing in empathetic and compassionate leadership. Could you elaborate on how you incorporate these values into your day-to-day work and your leadership style?
I’m an extremely empathetic person. I like to even call myself an Empath.
I’m really good at understanding and collaborating with all different types of personalities, and always understanding everyone’s opinions and feelings. I never want people on my team to feel left out, unheard or undervalued. No one deserves to feel that way at work, so I always strive to be inclusive, welcoming, and open.
I really think these are my strengths and are the reasons why I’ve been told I’m a servant leader from past colleagues – This is the greatest compliment I’ve truly ever received in my career.