When Sara Hassouneh was journeying into the depths of marketing during her academic years, she came to understand the gospel. ‘Every successful marketing approach is embedded with a strong message.’ It’s the underlying building block of a more crowded and clamorous online environment. It enables a brand to break through the noise. Speak on a deeper level to its target audience. And ultimately, it inspires actions of choice.

Even the most glamorous marketing campaign, without a clear, compelling, and consistent message, will not bring in the desired results. In a busy marketplace, a powerful central message becomes the brand’s identity, its promise, and its distinct voice. It expresses not only what a brand has to offer, but why it will be important to the customer.

The Origin of a Marketing Mind

Sara pursued a bachelor’s degree in Mass Media Communication, which laid the foundation for her understanding of how powerful messages influence people. Later, she earned a degree in Business Administration, where she deepened her strategic thinking and developed a strong interest in how businesses connect with their audience.

It was through the intersection of these two disciplines that Sara’s passion for marketing truly emerged. “I realized that marketing wasn’t just about promoting a product—it was about creating relationships, telling stories, and understanding the deeper psychology of consumer behavior.” Whether through a well-crafted ad or a powerful brand story, marketing offered a space where she could combine creativity with business impact. “That combination continues to inspire me every day.”

Creativity Backed by Data: A Day in the Life at Snap Story

As the Founder of Snap Story, a typical day for Sara involves directing the company with diverse strategic approaches. She usually begins by reviewing key metrics—how their campaigns are performing, what the data is telling them about audience engagement, and where they might need to optimize. “This helps ground our creative efforts in real-time insights.”

The AI Advantage: Supporting, Not Replacing, Creativity

Creativity and data may seem like opposites, but they’re deeply connected. To balance human creativity with AI-driven insights, she’s learned that sometimes the best ideas come when you step back from the screen. She often engages in side activities like reading, sketching, or walking to refresh her mind and generate new ideas. These moments of reflection are essential to producing meaningful and original content.

She also believes that AI tools like ChatGPT or Canva’s Magic Studio can enhance creativity, not replace it. They help with ideation, drafting, or visual layouts, but the core ideas, emotional resonance, and storytelling still need a human touch.

Sara’s rule of thumb: Always use your creativity, but don’t be afraid to let AI support and sharpen it.

Marketing has evolved rapidly over the past decade. Sara, too, believes that the shift from traditional marketing to digital-first strategies was a major turning point. “I had to continuously upskill learning SEO, content marketing, PPC advertising, and most recently, social media algorithms and AI tools.” Platforms like LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, and HubSpot Academy were incredibly helpful for structured learning.

One of the biggest changes has been the explosion of short-form video content, especially on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels. This forced marketers to become not just advertisers but entertainers. Additionally, personalization—driven by data—has completely reshaped customer expectations. Today’s consumers expect tailored content, not generic ads.

Campaigns with a Soul: Turning Messages into Movements

Sharing something she is particularly proud of, Sara cites one campaign that stands out –a brand refresh initiative for a regional beauty brand that wanted to reposition itself for a Gen Z audience. “We developed a storytelling-based social campaign called ‘Your Beauty, Your Rules,’ which combined influencer partnerships, interactive Instagram Stories, and behind-the-scenes content.”

What made it stand out was the authenticity—it wasn’t about selling a product, but about celebrating individuality. The audience engagement was incredible, and it led to a 40% increase in social media engagement and a 25% spike in sales over three months.

The biggest lesson was the power of aligning brand values with audience identity. When people feel seen and heard, they respond organically and passionately.

Customer-Centric Strategy in a Rapidly Changing World

Customer behavior is always changing. Attuning to the audience’s needs, a marketer must align her strategies. Sara accepts. Understanding customer behavior requires a multi-layered approach. She relies heavily on social listening tools like Brandwatch and Sprout Social to monitor trends and sentiment in real-time. Additionally, surveys, feedback forms, and even comment sections provide direct insights.

Another key method is developing and updating customer personas on a quarterly basis. This ensures that every piece of content or campaign is created with a specific audience in mind.

Flexibility is key—what worked six months ago might not work today.

The Power of Storytelling Across Platforms

According to Sara, storytelling is the heart of all effective marketing. It’s how brands move from transactional to emotional—how they build trust, loyalty, and advocacy. A good story humanizes a brand and gives customers a reason to care.

To ensure consistency across platforms, she creates a core brand narrative and adapts it to each channel’s unique tone. For example, a LinkedIn post might emphasize thought leadership, while the same story on Instagram would be more visual and personal. “Tools like Notion and Trello help keep our messaging aligned across teams.”

Leading with Empathy, Curiosity, and Courage

In terms of leadership, Sara believes certain traits define an effective marketing leader today. Fostering innovation starts with creating a safe space for experimentation and failure. She encourages her team to test new ideas, even if they’re unproven. “We hold monthly ‘ideation labs’ where no idea is too crazy to pitch.”

Transparency and active listening are crucial. Sara also invests in professional development, giving the team access to courses, conferences, and mentorship.

An effective marketing leader today must be adaptive, empathetic, and tech-savvy, believes Sara. They should understand data but also be deeply connected to culture. Most importantly, they should lead with vision and humility because great ideas can come from anywhere, she adds.

Building Resilient Brands in Turbulent Times

Talking about challenges, Sara says one major one was leading a campaign during a time of social and political sensitivity. “We were launching a new product line during the height of a global crisis, and consumer sentiment was volatile.”

Instead of pushing forward with their original promotional plan, they pivoted the campaign to focus on empathy and support. They collaborated with nonprofit organizations and used their platform to amplify important causes.

While it required fast thinking and strategic adjustment, the result was increased trust and long-term brand loyalty. The experience taught Sara the importance of context, timing, and listening before speaking.

Marketing in the Age of AI: A New Kind of Strategist

With the rise of AI and automation, she sees the marketer’s role evolving in the next five years to a significant extent. She says that AI will continue to transform the marketing landscape, especially in content generation, predictive analytics, and customer segmentation. Tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, and Midjourney are already helping marketers accelerate the ideation and execution process.

However, the human touch will remain irreplaceable, particularly in areas like brand voice, emotional resonance, and ethical decision-making. Marketers will shift from task executors to strategic orchestrators.

A Message to the Next Generation

Finally, in her advice to the next generation of marketers who are just starting to find their voice in this ever-changing industry, Sara says:

First, embrace lifelong learning. Marketing changes fast, and staying relevant means staying curious. Second, don’t be afraid to experiment—some of the best ideas come from trial and error.

Focus on building relationships, not just clicks. Learn how to tell compelling stories and back them up with data. And most importantly, find your “why”—what drives you—and let that guide your approach to work.

Also, build a strong personal brand. Share your thoughts, work, and insights on platforms like LinkedIn or Medium. The more you engage with the marketing community, the more you’ll grow.