Editor’s note: We’re excited to welcome Julie Preis to Pixlee! Julie joins us with an impressive background within the user-generated content and mobile marketing industry. We asked her to share some thoughts on her journey to Pixlee and thoughts on the industry overall. Join us in giving her a warm welcome to the team!
A Look-Back
Inspired by my work in the mobile ad industry, I was searching for something that was as emergent as mobile marketing was at its inception. Eventually, that’s how I moved into social and user-generated content (UGC). The goal was to expand from the mobile channel to a focus on something that I felt was new and exciting, with nuance and evolution to it.
I started this journey with Olapic, however, the mandate for the team changed shortly after I joined and I realized that I wouldn’t be able to accomplish what I had hoped with the role I had taken there. After parting ways with Olapic in early 2020, I sought out some consulting gigs and independent opportunities.
A few months later, when the Pixlee opening came up, I decided to throw my hat in and explore; ultimately the UGC space was where I still wanted to be. There’s been such a positive vibe surrounding Pixlee in the industry. Everything I had heard about Pixlee was encouraging and that ‘it’s just a cool group of people’. So I thought perhaps this would be a chance to renew my focus, as well as to join a smaller company, which I was also hoping to do.
Here In The Now
I joined Pixlee to continue helping brands build and foster community. I see it as a flywheel; enthusiastic customers become advocates and often make others feel more affinity toward the brand. I really began this quest early in my career in mobile. At that time, we were dedicated to helping brands leverage SMS to open a dialogue, not just for advertising, but also to engage with customers and make them feel like their voices were being heard.
So, I’ve always been interested in shaping brand communities, and the opportunity to continue working in a space I am already passionate about is awesome; now I can pick up where I left off. I think that UGC opens the door to an authentic connection because it comes from the consumer actively engaging with the brand. Instead of the brand initiating the interaction, UGC allows consumers to display their own preferences, and the brand is then welcomed to begin, and actively participate in, that conversation.
What’s On The Horizon
I see the importance of community heightening into the future, as we find more ways to align brand identity and map its evolution, given the valuable feedback these advocates provide. Currently, customers are kind of raising their hands to say “hey, I love you,” and brands need to figure out how to keep those individuals captivated to inform the brand’s voice. UGC is not new, but this is the first step; we’re just at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to brands engaging with customers in a meaningful way.
The Pixlee platform feels light years ahead in terms of helping brands harness the power of UGC. What I love about Pixlee is the level of automation this team has achieved; I’m a huge proponent. We have so much opportunity now in technology to move forward programmatically, to the point where consumers should be able to visit a website and see content that appeals to their personal preferences. This is the track Pixlee is on.
Before joining the team, I felt like UGC marketing was in a slump, where finding content and sifting through it was too manual. As we continue to improve automation to make it easy for brands to access that content and activate it, we can focus more on tapping into the community and evolving its uniqueness. I really love where Pixlee is now in the marketing industry, and am excited to support the team as the platform continues to grow in the right direction.
