The Art and Science of Marketing: Caroline Maselli’s Approach

Almost everything in life requires strategy. Budgeting to fit in both needs and wants during your month, or coordinating with friends to plan an evening hang. Even putting up holiday decorations can take a bit of careful planning (unless you’re going for the eclectic, non-themed look, which we support and applaud). And, of course, marketing is no exception.

One of the biggest roadblocks when it comes to strategy is how to tie data-driven decision-making with creativity — and how to do it well. How can you make the numbers work alongside content, video and design to form an effective piece of advertising?

While we could throw our hands up and assume ignorance is bliss, this question is exactly why Brafton has an amazing team of strategists. One person who has mastered this approach is Caroline Maselli, a talented Senior Content Marketing Strategist on our team. 

Curious how she got her start in content strategy and how she wound up as an irreplaceable part of the Brafton bunch? Here’s her journey to the company, plus some tips you can use in your next marketing campaign.

From International Relations to Account Management

Some people’s paths to the marketing world are straight and to the point, while others are a bit more winding. For Caroline, she didn’t know marketing would be where she’d end up, but her interests eventually led her exactly where she was meant to be. 

She studied Diplomacy and World Affairs at Occidental College in LA, which allowed her to dive into the sphere of politics, economics and language courses. While she loved these topics, she was also excited to take one “for fun” course, which was on music video production, allowing her to write a deep dive into her longstanding love for Britney Spears. 

She then got her foot in the advertising door by starting work as an account manager for EF Education First, organizing the various complexities of projects and ensuring everything ran smoothly. After this job, she worked at an online education company called edX that started under MIT. This was also an account management role on the enterprise learning side of things, meaning she worked with organizations that offered courses to employees as part of their benefits programs, upskilling or reskilling programs or professional development.

In this role, she learned how to manage differing client expectations and communicate value through marketing work. Also, she fell in love with managing client relationships and ensuring these partnerships would be beneficial for everyone involved. She got the itch to take on more creative projects and join the marketing landscape that she’d grown so interested in. 

Choosing Marketing Strategy

As she followed her intrigue for creative marketing positions that would enable her to take on lots of different types of clients and work, she found Brafton on LinkedIn and was hired as a Content Strategist in 2022.

“I figured an agency would be a great way to dive right in and get a pretty varied experience across organizations and industries,” she said. “And I would say that has definitely been the case!”

The biggest reason she wanted something different? She was curious to explore careers that would allow her to be both creative and analytical, which she says Brafton has truly delivered on. While every day is different, a typical day in her life consists of planning, creating and executing content strategies that are relevant to the client’s audience and drive ROI. She gets to scratch her creative itch by using analytical trends, numbers and insights to ideate impactful project ideas that set companies apart from their competition and that clients will love.

She closely examines target audience demographics, SEO opportunities, past project performance and competitor data to determine the best approach for each task, positioning her to make impactful decisions and provide value to teams. Her ability to tie together the art and science of marketing so successfully led to her promotion to Senior Content Marketing Strategist in 2024.

Wondering what has been most memorable about her experience at Brafton so far? The people she gets to work alongside. 

“I was initially nervous about onboarding remotely and how I’d get to know my colleagues. Though, as Senior CMS, I’ve had the chance to quickly get to know people across production teams, channel marketing teams, project managers and more,” she said. “Everyone truly wants to help, share an idea or learn from one another, which are keys for a positive working environment.”

And her varying client projects keep her on her toes, ensuring she’s never bored or doing the same types of work over and over again — one of her favorite aspects of the job.

“I love having the chance to work with clients across all industries and with Brafton employees who are truly experts at what they do,” she added. “I feel like I learn something new from my colleagues every day.”

Caroline’s Creative Approach to Marketing Strategy: What You Must Know 

Want some advice from the expert on creative content strategy herself? Caroline says it’s all about choosing the right marketing channels that will best serve the target audience and goals, and considering how those channels will work together. 

“It can be tempting to feel like you need to be doing everything across all channels, but being thoughtful and targeted about what you’re sharing can help ensure you’re reaching the right audiences authentically,” she said. 

So, how can you create precise campaigns that always hit the mark? Here are five tips to implement this approach:

1. Choose channels with purpose: Rather than spread yourself too thin across every platform, select the marketing channels that best align with your audience’s behavior and your campaign goals. Focus always beats volume in the end.
2. Build a cohesive cross-channel experience: Think about how each channel supports the other. Ensure your messaging, visuals and timing work together to create a seamless journey. 
3. Prioritize quality over quantity: Resist the urge to post everywhere, all the time. Share content that’s meaningful, relevant, on brand and adds value. This method strengthens authenticity and audience trust.
4. Let audience insights guide your creative work: Use data to understand what your audience cares about, where they engage and what motivates them. Then, tailor your creative and channel mix accordingly for precise targeting.
5. Test, learn and refine: Even a thoughtful strategy needs iteration. Run small tests across channels, learn what resonates and adjust your approach to continuously improve your performance. 

Her 5 to 9 After Her 9 to 5

When she’s done completing strategic work for her clients and clocking out for the day, you’ll find Caroline doing lots of other activities to keep her right-brain active. She loves taking her dog, a poodle named Willow, to the beach or on a run — especially while catching up on podcasts. While out and about, she’s most often listening to the latest episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, which she says can make her laugh like no other — except her brother Dan. 

She also loves to hang out with the people in her life, spending quality time with her husband, Tom, or FaceTiming her nieces and nephews. She’s also known to frequent the concert venues in her area or stay in while diving into whatever she’s reading at the moment. Not only does she read about 120 to 150 books a year, but she’s always game to provide a recommendation (seriously, take her up on this — I already did, and her suggestions were amazing!). Her favorite genre is contemporary or literary fiction, but that doesn’t stop her from picking up historical fiction, memoirs or even the occasional thriller now and again. 

Creativity is always at work in Caroline’s day-to-day, whether she’s perfecting a project recommendation pitch deck or putting together a list of books to add to her friend’s TBR. And with her tips and best practices for marketing strategy in hand, you can take her approach for a spin and see how it improves your results. 

Just remember: You don’t have to choose between being analytical or imaginative. Both work hand in hand for peak performance.