A conversation with Infinite Global’s new digital strategy lead, Jamie Obertelli

Infinite Global recently welcomed Jamie Obertelli to its team. He joins as Digital Strategy Leader, based in London, where he’ll be providing clients with strategies that drive content engagement and help tell their stories to audiences more effectively. Infinite Global Vice President Steven Andersen recently sat down with Jamie to learn more about him, his professional background and his philosophy toward digital marketing as part of a larger PR, branding and content marketing strategy.

In your early career, you rose fast through the ranks as a journalist, becoming one of the youngest editors ever at the publisher where you were working. Tell me more about how journalism influenced your career.

My first job was in sports journalism. In a way, it was a dream come true because I love sports, but it was also unexpectedly instructive in the area of public relations. All the sports stars I interviewed were so thoroughly media trained and gated behind an army of publicists, that the work felt too sanitized.

Eventually, I moved onto mortgage journalism, and my move happened to coincide with the credit crunch. It was a really turbulent time for the industry and as a result I found myself editor of the magazine within two years of my starting, so I had to learn a lot very quickly. After that I moved around a few trade publications before switching to PR.

As a journalist, I had watched colleagues in public relations and the opportunities they had to shape narratives and protect reputations — in effect, they were story builders rather than storytellers — and this fascinated me. I moved into an agency and began working to learn client management skills, leveraging my journalism background to become a PR professional.

Tell me about some of the work you have enjoyed most since you’ve been in PR.

Some of the most powerful work, the work for which I am most proud, has been behind the scenes, helping to shape messages for clients who are facing crisis situations. So much is at stake that this work can have a very big impact on a company’s bottom line.

Prior to joining Infinite Global, you served as Head of Content for the international real estate consulting firm Knight Frank. What did you do there?.

My role was to leverage in-house content output across various digital channels in order to grow the firm’s online footprint. One of my key projects was to take Knight Frank’s signature publication — The Wealth Report — digital for the first time, to maximize its reach and build out key web, influencer and social channels.

It was exciting to take print content that was already well respected and see what it could do when adapted for a digital audience and distributed through social media channels. Material that’s created with a print-first mindset will always offer more value when supplemented with more easily digestible and social media–friendly formats like video, podcasts or infographics. The impact was significant, with strong growth in social media metrics and SEO traffic that was sustained beyond the initial launch campaigns.

This work opened my eyes to the opportunities out there for firms that have yet to fully embrace their online channels to maximize the power of their thought leadership and research. A more strategic approach to how content is used digitally can go a long way in helping to reach new audiences.

As the Digital Strategy Leader at Infinite Global, I’m continuing the push into this space to help our clients realize their online potential. For example, our UK real estate team recently attended the MIPIM conference, where we launched a microsite showcasing a number of interesting podcasts and video interviews by placemaking experts, an approach to developing real estate that is more holistic than just building. It’s much easier for people to digest more-technical topics and discussions in these sorts of forms than finding the time to sit down and go through long articles.

What do you believe is the secret to success for digital marketers?

Demystifying content and evangelizing the idea that content should be viewed as one of the greatest assets any company has to offer. If you do it right you can build your business and your relationships exponentially.

Also, and this is key, the only constant in digital marketing is change. You need to be fluid in your approach and don’t become wedded to a single set of tools, because they won’t necessarily work tomorrow. To be effective you must be constantly learning.

What do you do outside of work?

Mindfulness and meditation are central to me; they have helped me be more successful and centered both in my personal life and my professional life.

Think of the mind as a being like a smartphone and your thoughts are like apps; if you have too many apps running at once it will drain your battery and you’ll start to glitch. You have to find a way to clear the noise, slow and reset, find a place of stillness. In doing so you are rejuvenated and have more to give toward achieving all your goals.

I began meditating last year as a way to calm my thoughts and find stress relief. Now I meditate every morning and I also teach several classes.

You’re headed to the Legal Marketing Association’s annual conference in Atlanta. What are you expecting?

Well, this will be a trip of a lot of firsts for me … first time in the United States, first time on the ground working with the Infinite Global US team and first time at LMA. It will be a lot to take in but I’m very excited. I’m really keen to talk with anyone and everyone who has an interest in digital content and social media.

Steven Andersen is Infinite Global’s Vice President for Content and Client Strategy, based in New York. A former business and legal journalist, he founded the firm’s Content Center in 2012. He can be reached at StevenA@infiniteglobal.com.

Jamie Obertelli is Infinite Global’s Digital Strategy Leader, based in London. Having spent 15 years in both the consumer and B2B sectors, Jamie leverages his experience to provide clients with digital solutions that drive content engagement and help facilitate better communication with their online audiences. He can be reached at jamieo@infiniteglobal.com.

Are you working to enhance your firm’s digital content and social media strategy? Contact Jamie to discuss how your company can create stronger digital content that connects with its target audiences. If you’re attending the LMA Annual Conference in Atlanta April 8-10, 2019, Jamie would be happy to meet with you in person.