by Karen McFarlane
AMA New York launched the Volunteer Spotlight Awards to recognize the exceptional work of volunteers that give their time and talent to grow the organization. This year we are proud to announce that Skyla Li has been named the 2018 Marketing Volunteer of the Year for her contributions to the Marketing Hall of Fame as the Social Media & Digital Marketing Coordinator.
Skyla spearheaded a new social media initiative for the 2018 Marketing Hall of Fame which took place on May 17, 2018. To help drive broader awareness to AMA New York’s signature event, we opted to invest additional resources into organic and paid social media campaigns. Skyla developed comprehensive strategies to maximize engagement in each of our key channels and particularly, in response to Facebook’s updated algorithm that prioritizes posts from friends and family over public content like that of brands. Skyla’s creativity, deep understanding of the social media landscape and her ability to leverage a series of best practices like A/B testing to deliver the most successful content to our audiences, helped increase our reach and interactions across our platforms. Our number of posts increased by 35% over last year and resulted in just over 96,000 impressions. Engagement rates on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook ranged from 5-17% on a consistent basis – giving AMA New York a significant lift in awareness and ticket sales from previous years.
“Skyla is professional, reliable, creative, responsive and above all, enthusiastically committed to AMA New York. She is a critical part of the team with great ideas and a willingness to test her expertise to improve the program. The committee is very excited that Skyla was named the 2018 Marketing Volunteer of the Year. It is a well-deserved honor,” says Nancy Cardenas, Account Manager of GreenBook, a wholly owned subsidiary of AMA New York.
In Skyla’s Own Words…
To get a better understanding of what the volunteer experience is like for Skyla, we asked her. Here she is in her own words.
How did you become a volunteer?
My relationship with AMA and the New York chapter went back a long way before I even realized it. AMA is an internationally renowned association for marketing professionals. After earning my undergraduate degree from City University of Hong Kong, I signed up as an international member of AMA. As an aspiring marketing professional, I believed AMA would help me learn and grow. At my last professional role before I moved to New York, I was the Global Social Content Creation and Marketing Associate Asia Pacific at Toluna. Toluna is a member of GreenBook, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of AMA New York. The AMA New York is not a stranger to me!
When I moved to New York for my master’s program in September 2016, I became a member of the New York chapter and was very fortunate to have the opportunity to join the Mentorship program. At that time, I was looking for an opportunity to get more involved in the marketing community and my mentor; Rick Kendall kindly introduced me to Nancy Cardenas who gave me the opportunity to volunteer for AMA New York’s 2017 Marketing Hall of Fame event. I’ve been volunteering since March 2017.
What is your volunteer role at AMA New York?
As a committee member of Marketing Hall of Fame, I am responsible for the content strategy and creation on MHoF and AMA New York’s main traffic-driving social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. My role includes conducting research and creating content strategies to promote brand awareness, drive engagement and encourage participation in celebrating the brilliance of the marketing community. I work closely with Nancy Cardenas and Molly Purcell in this role and can’t thank them enough for all of their guidance, patience, encouragement, and support.
What do you do when you are not volunteering for AMA New York?
Before moving to New York, I worked in Hong Kong as a B2B marketing professional for six years in the marketing research and international trade industry. Outside of AMA New York, my “day job” is as a graduate student at New York University. I moved to New York in 2016 to pursue my master’s program in Integrated Marketing which includes SEM, SEO, social media marketing, e-commerce marketing, etc. Digital marketing is an area that I am very passionate about. I graduated on May 16th, 2018 – one day before the 2018 Marketing Hall of Fame!
What have you found to be most valuable in your volunteer role?
The volunteering experience at AMA New York is very valuable and rewarding. My biggest drive to become a volunteer at AMA New York is my passion in the marketing industry. I’m also a firm believer in giving back and paying it forward. But what I find most valuable and enjoyable is the ability to contribute my knowledge and expertise in digital marketing to the organization and community that has given me so many learning and growth opportunities. When I am working with AMA New York, the time flies. I don’t see this as a duty or responsibility. I love doing this and enjoy going to the AMA offices to work directly with the team to create a successful event.
What’s next after graduation? Will you continue to volunteer?
The MHoF committee members are very supportive, and they’ve empowered me to take the lead on social media marketing. As a young marketing professional (I don’t know if I can still call myself that), the volunteering opportunity has encouraged me to lean in, step up and to dare to dream big. I’d like to continue growing my digital marketing expertise to help companies implement digital media strategies by tapping into the tools and technology that can grow their businesses.
AMA New York is a very inclusive community. As an international talent and a women/POC marketer, I am grateful to learn and grow professionally through the volunteering experience and for this very special honor. It’s amazing to be named the 2018 Marketing Volunteer of the Year. I look forward to contributing further in the future!
Congratulations to our 2018 Marketing Volunteer of the Year!
It is with our collective thanks – from the Board of Directors and Marketing Hall of Fame committee – that we shine this spotlight on Skyla Li for her outstanding contributions and unwavering commitment to AMA New York. Congratulations!
Become a Volunteer
Do you want to advance your career, learn a new skill or simply share your expertise? AMA New York is a volunteer-run organization that relies on the time and talent of our members to provide the programming, content and networking experiences that our community values. As a member, there is a breadth of opportunity waiting for you. Start your journey with AMA New York and become a volunteer.
