Founder of Digital DNA Marketing, Dawn Kole remembers the internet WAY back in 1997 when things were just heating up and she cofounded an internet design and marketing agency. No one knew quite what to do back then and so you just figured it out and paved a path. Dawn continues that passion today, paving new paths for a ‘digital first’ omni-channel world where customer experiences are connected seamlessly.
To keep things real, all projects are fully researched and planned by Dawn. Once a plan is finalized, she works with either your own internal staff or her team of specialists to execute the plan, measure results, and continually evolve your digital marketing program. The modern day buzzword for Digital DNA Marketing role in your company is “marketing technologist”, that perfect blend of right brain and left brain thinking. That’s what we are – Marketing Technologists.
In the beginning…
Dawn’s background includes both entrepreneurial pursuits as well as intrapreneurial. So far, she has started 3 businesses.
Dawn began her career in the digital world back in 1997 co-founding one of the first internet marketing agencies. Indemark focused on building database driven web sites (cutting edge at the time) and creating digital one to one communications via personalized email marketing.
Prior to founding Digital DNA Marketing, Dawn previously held the position of Director of Digital Experience at Belk Dept Stores for 3 years where she led a 42 person team to create all Belk digital content, from website to mobile to marketing.
Dawn spent 10 years at Meijer culminating her career there launching their first Ecommerce site and growing it to a $30 million business as Director of Ecommerce Marketing.
Over the years, she has served on Shop.org committees, school technology groups, and has presented at Women in Retail Summit, Shop.org summit, Etail as well as many local organizations in her community.
Dawn served as the board director of marketing for NAWBO – Charlotte Chapter in 2016 and is currently looking for her next board service opportunity!
She also serves on the Advisory Council for B2BTribe, a publication focused on small business growth strategies.
Dawn lives to solve problems, thrive on change, must have multiple key initiatives in play so wait time on roadblocks doesn’t mean nothing moves forward. Dawn expects passion and competency from everyone with whom I work and expect direct communication, but with utmost respect and honorable intentions. No drama. Fast decisions with adequate risk evaluation and minimization. Value “think” time as much as execution time. Believe that a good plan means you get it done twice as fast and twice as good.
Dawn believes that your staffing decisions have a significant effect on your ability to get digital marketing results. She has planned organization structures, reporting hierarchies and hired entire teams from scratch, as well as reorganized teams to keep up with new work stream processes.
On a personal note, Dawn loves boating the ocean blue, hiking the mountain green, and of course technology.
A Few Personal Testimonials
“…seasoned digital media leader who combines clear vision, creativity, passion, exceptional analytical ability and effective problem solving – all of the necessary components to drive superior marketing performance”
“For organizations seeking an experienced advisor to help guide them on key digital business and technology decisions, I know Dawn can bring value and expertise to a wide range of engagements”
“…great asset to any e-commerce initiative or organization that needs to move the needle and deliver results”
“…great management style…personable and very professional…high work ethic, motivation and vision to lead… wonderful personal aspect to her management style that I’ve found to be very rare in corporate America management throughout my career. I admire and appreciate that.”
“…good listener with the ability to soak in the entire situation and offer a thoughtful and knowledgeable solution… respected by those who work with her while being fun and approachable….depth of experience in online marketing combined with creative sense of humor brings the people she works with together and makes working with her a pleasure.”
“…exceptional talent who delivers work of the highest quality… insightful and creative and has a relentless passion for delivering work that meets the high standards she sets for herself. Dawn has always been helpful as a business partner to me and my team seeking innovative ways to accomplish goals with an inclusive and collaborative approach. I have truly enjoyed the opportunity to work with Dawn and know that she adds tremendous value to the organization.”
“Dawn is a superb manager and consummate team player. She is a keen marketer and an excellent tactician. Dawn brings to the job a rare combination of being being both passionate and driven and conscientious and kind. I have been consistently impressed by her ability to find ways to get things done in the face of daunting challenges. She has been simply instrumental to the success of the large initiatives on which she and I have worked together.”
“I have worked with Dawn since November of 2006 where we had the opportunity to lead the transformation of Meijer.com to a transactional website. Dawn was the key leader on the site design and development along with the project management. She has a very broad knowledge base in the internet space and is a thought leader that has a comprehensive vision on how technology trends and customer behavior will evolve in the future”
“Dawn is a detail-oriented and directional lead to Meijer.com ecommerce group. With CRM background, she puts a perspective to web analytics data from customer stand point and initiate projects in monetizing site content and online marketing spends. Dawn kept Meijer.com ecommerce team analytics driven and focused on bringing qualified traffic through marketing channels and increase site conversions”