Hélène Ioannidis: Creative Industries and SEO-Optimized Content
This spring of 2023, we’re welcoming Hélène Ioannidis to our team! Hired to strengthen our web content team, she naturally stood out for her keen analytical skills, her impressive general knowledge, and her sense of humor that always lifts everyone’s spirits. To introduce her to you, an interview seemed the perfect way to do so. You can follow her on LinkedIn and Twitter. In late August, you’ll hear her voice in an episode of the Euphonie Podcast, which we produce. You’ll also have the chance to meet her very soon in Versailles at SEO Camp’us 2023, as well as in Brighton this coming September for BrightonSEO!
Who are you, and what was your career path before joining Assonance?
My name is Hélène Ioannidis; I’m 30 years old and have lived in Reims since 2016. I hold a master’s degree in communications for the creative industries, and to date, I’ve primarily worked as a community manager. My early experience involved managing digital communications for cultural venues and concert halls, including Mains d’Oeuvres in Saint-Ouen and La Cartonnerie in Reims, along with its festival, La Magnifique Society.
Motivated by the idea of branching out into fields other than music, I started my own small business in 2018. My projects? To name a few: running online sponsorship campaigns, providing live-tweets, writing articles for the city of Reims, and managing digital communication strategies. In 2023, I joined the Assonance team with my first challenge: mastering the fundamentals of SEO while learning the agency’s tools.
In your opinion, what are the key criteria for successful content?
Content is successful if it appeals to its target audience. That’s what it’s all about: working to engage and convince a persona with high-quality content. But beyond simply being successful, content truly leaves a lasting impression when it’s bold.
The perfect cocktail, in my opinion:
be innovative (but not too much);
stand out (just the right amount);
and be bold (often).
I'm impressed by the agency's subtle sense of humor BuzzMan , which manages, quite simply, to carve out its own niche. A prime example: its playful nod to its main competitor, McDonald’s. In this case, originality is the secret to its success.
Here is an example of a campaign poster created by the agency for Burger King:
In my opinion, creating an experience through storytelling is also incredibly important for the user. We’re often more convinced when a brand’s story resonates with us personally as individuals. Dating sites and apps are particularly good at this… Love touches all of us, doesn’t it? #okayI’mASentimentalSoul
What is your perspective on the role of visuals in online content?
I think it’s absolutely essential. You can be very interested in the content and a dedicated reader, but in my opinion, you shouldn’t overlook the power of images or videos to complement text on a web page.
Photos aren’t just there to illustrate a point—they also help structure a text and make it easier to read! Media outlets have significantly shortened the length of their articles to ensure that younger readers read them in their entirety. They enhance them with videos, and sometimes the image even takes precedence over the words.
Still, you have to choose your images carefully 😉. The good news is that today, visuals are right at your fingertips. With Midjourney, you can even create a custom image.
Without further ado…
ChatGPT is here and here to stay—do you have a favorite way to use it?
It's true that this tool has been part of our lives for quite some time now. Personally, I'm still in the experimentation phase.
On the professional side, I’ve used the tool to summarize and organize texts, or to find simplified definitions for complicated terms.
But my favorite is definitely coming up with a cool recipe in no time at all, using nothing but the words "carrot" and "leek"…
