Meet Tammy Mangan, Director of Marketing, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox
Tammy Mangan has a note stuck to the wall of her office that reads, "Be Strategic and Intentional." It was clear from our conversation that she takes that message to heart.
You may already know Tammy since she has worked in the legal industry for 20 years, including serving as a member-at-large on the Capital Chapter board in 2009. She started out in legal recruiting, but switched to marketing when she was recruited by the director of marketing at her previous firm. Ten years ago, she was hired as the first marketing professional at Sterne Kessler and now, as the Director of Marketing for the firm, she leads a staff of two full-time professionals and two part-time college interns.
She recalls, "When I got here 10 years ago, I was the firm's first dedicated marketing professional-a one-person shop. My first projects were branding the firm and developing a replacement for an outdated and static website." With the help of Greenfield Belser, the website won the firm its first Your Honor award. She said, "I never thought of myself as a creative person, but this job has allowed me to develop that part of myself."
As her position at the firm expanded, she was able to get more involved strategically, both internally and externally. Meeting with attorneys who are marketing in different industries, she helps them to develop business plans with specific business development targets, focusing on goals and tactics. Now, Tammy plays a bigger role in RFPs and pitches, getting more involved in business development. "I'm thinking about the big picture in terms of what do we need next. What will make us more efficient-better," she said.
One of the challenges she faces is keeping pace with constantly changing tools and techniques. Two years ago, at the LMA Annual Conference, she attended a sessions called Ten Golden Rules of Search Engine Optimization. She says, "As a result of this program, we developed a step-by-step strategy for the firm starting with LinkedIn-making sure people's profiles were working for them and focusing on the brand, links to the firm's website, etc. Once we felt like we had some success there, we moved to the next thing." She says the methodical approach helped to identify when something was working. Now she focuses on connecting the dots between all the different forms of communication, from videos on YouTube to the firm's Twitter page, so that they work together and not just as independent activities.
Tammy feels that learning is a lifelong pursuit. She said, "When I first came to Sterne Kessler, I didn't have experience working with the press or writing press releases so I enrolled in a graduate certificate program in public relations at The George Washington University. It was one of the only times in my life when I learned something in the classroom and used it at my desk the next day."
Her advice to colleagues is, "Don't forget to think big thoughts. Most of us are so busy, we can't take time to think creatively or look at the big picture. Make sure that if you spend time on something, that it's worth it."
Profile written by Elaine Noble, partner and creative director at Noble Pursuits LLC