Growing up, I always knew I wanted to write for a living. The best Christmas gift I ever got was a desk my parents refurbished by hand. Before that I was using an old short bookcase as a desk. I kept loads and loads of journals and wrote all the time. I don’t really feel like there was a true beginning, writing was just always in me. So, when I began to look for careers, I knew I wanted to do something where I would get paid to write.
I can think of two examples. First, when I was in elementary school, I entered a contest where girls could submit chapter ideas for a book called, “Girls Know Best.” I was chosen and got to actually write a story for a book. I remember being so excited because it was the first time my dream felt real. Second, I had been established in my career as a marketing professional for a while, but I missed writing and the art of storytelling. Shortly after, our marketing team went through a restructure, and I voiced my desire to be more dedicated to improving our content strategy. My boss agreed, and the content marketing team at Eide Bailly was born. It has been quite a ride shaping the content strategy at the Firm, and one that I have loved being a part of.
Ms. Johnson (my fifth grade teacher) for demanding excellence, Ms. Aimers (my AP English teacher in high school) for making me a better writer, Cathy McMullen (my college journalism professor) for helping me hone my skill and be less wordy, and my parents for truly believing that a girl from small town Minnesota had every right to live her dream of writing.
I have a lot of opinions about content (just ask the marketing team at Eide Bailly!). I use the words quality over quantity and strategy quite regularly. But I think one that may not be as popular is the goal of content. In a digital-based society, the goal is often to be searchable - how do you get found online? How do you generate leads? But I think the larger goal should be - how can I be memorable? How can I create content that’s so good and so high quality that people have to take notice? Then - how can I perfect that content and use it across multiple mechanisms? Search is great, but it shouldn’t be the only goal. Let’s give up random acts of content for high quality, memorable projects.
No, I’m not an accountant: How scribbled journals and a love for writing led to content strategy for a Top 20 CPA Firm.
Katie Hutton is the Content Marketing Manager at Eide Bailly LLP, where she oversees the content marketing direction for a top 20 CPA firm in the nation. With the dream of writing for a living, Katie graduated with a print journalism and public relations degree from Concordia College and a master’s in mass communication from North Dakota State University. A native of Pine River, MN (a.k.a. lakes country, which she believes to be the most beautiful place on earth), Katie began her career doing marketing and writing for the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber. She later joined Eide Bailly in their Fargo office before taking on the firm’s first content marketing role. Katie and her team are in charge of shaping content direction, external facing communications and lead generating content strategy for the firm. A firm believer in the power of women’s leadership, Katie is proud participant of the Firm’s First Focus initiative, immediate past chair of The Chamber’s Women Connect committee and 2012 graduate of the United Way of Cass Clay’s 35 under 35 Women’s Leadership program. In her spare time, she enjoys wine dates with girlfriends, a good book (she joined her first book club this past year), dreaming of MN lakes and cabin ownership and loving on her boys: her husband and their three sons.
