​​​​Nicole Cassis​

Building the function

When I moved into the VP of Communications role at Web.com in 2019, there wasn’t a mature content team for me to inherit.

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My first hires were a writer/editor, an SEO specialist, someone to manage content operations and publishing, and a social media lead. At that point, I was still doing much of the strategy, planning, ideation and PR myself.

As the work expanded, I added content strategy, technical writing, PR and agency support. Later, video came into the organization as well.

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Today, the broader team includes 25 people in content, a four-person video team, social, reputation, technical SEO, PR and agency partners supporting brands in the U.S. and APAC.
 

How the work gets done

As the team grew, I had to build the structure around it.

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I created the intake process, editorial workflows, approval paths, review standards and QA. I also developed tone-of-voice and editorial guidance for Web.com, Network Solutions and Register.com.

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When we rebranded Network Solutions in 2025, I built the content playbook and refreshed the brand voice so the new positioning carried through the storefront, blog, social, product messaging and customer communications.

I also wrote our content team’s AI-use guidelines. I wanted us using AI where it genuinely made the work faster, without handing over the writing or editorial judgment.

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Today the team uses tools like AirOps, Claude, ChatGPT and Kling for research, outlining, optimization, transcription, editing and repurposing. The final work is still written, reviewed and approved by people.
 

The Content Tree

One of the things I pushed early was getting away from one-and-done content. I created what we call the Content Tree.

The idea is simple: start with one strong piece of content and build around it.

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Our annual holiday-prep program is a good example. A long-form video interview becomes an ebook or guide. That becomes several blog posts. The interview gives us short video clips. Those clips and articles feed social and email. SMEs and executives can extend the story through their own channels.

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We use the same approach for product launches.

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A launch may include a press release, blog content, a technical explainer, product-page copy, video, social, customer email, SME posts and executive amplification. Sometimes we add paid media too.

The point is to get more value out of the work we are already doing.
 

Executive storytelling

A large part of my job since 2019 has been working directly with senior leaders.

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I’ve supported three consecutive CEOs and personally written speeches, bylines, video scripts, interview prep, talking points and town hall presentations.

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I’ve also handled communications around acquisitions, divestitures, partnerships, leadership changes, investor announcements, major product launches and a large merger.

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The part I enjoy most is getting close enough to a leader to understand how they think, then helping them communicate it in a way that still sounds like them.
 

Above the Fold

That executive work led me to create Above the Fold, a recurring CEO-led video series that started in 2021. Over four years, we produced 149 episodes and six additional sub-series.

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I personally handled the guest planning, pre-interviews, CEO scripts, interview questions, recording flow and the communications around each episode.

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It became a regular way for employees to hear directly from leadership and learn more about the business, our people and our priorities.
 

Technical content

A lot of our content is highly technical. At Network Solutions, the team writes for developers, IT professionals, web professionals and other technical users across domains, hosting, cybersecurity and AI.
 

In summer 2026, we supported the launch of a new line of advanced VPS hosting products with blogs and landing pages explaining VPS hosting, self-managed VPS, cloud hosting and related topics.
 

We also supported the launch of Dark Web Monitoring with product content, educational material, PR and thought leadership around cybersecurity.
 

That kind of work feels familiar to me. Earlier in my career at Arizona State University, I spent almost nine years communicating about NASA missions, engineering and scientific research.
 

I’ve always liked taking something complicated and figuring out how to explain it clearly without dumbing it down.
 

Data journalism

About a year and a half ago, I started building a research and data-journalism program.

We began with our own customer base. I helped identify topics where we had interesting proprietary insight, personally wrote survey questions and worked with our Customer Insights team to field research through Qualtrics.
 

Because internal surveying could be slow, we later brought in an agency partner focused specifically on data journalism. I’m still closely involved in the ideas, survey concepts, editorial review and media strategy.
 

The content is often published behind a password first so we can pitch the findings exclusively to media. Once the exclusive lands, the piece becomes public and continues working for us through search, backlinks, social and ongoing thought leadership. That program has already earned Tier 1 coverage, including Inc.
 

Measuring what works

I also pushed the team to build a scorecard so content performance wasn’t treated separately from the rest of marketing.
 

We review it in our monthly reporting and in weekly performance meetings. We look at audience growth, engagement, organic search visibility, AI citations, referral traffic, video performance, earned media and business impact.
 

By August 2026, the blog program had generated more than 540,000 visits year to date, 986 blog-assisted orders and more than 9,000 keywords ranking in the Top 10.

More important, we use the data. It changes what we write, what we refresh, where we distribute and where we invest.
 

Global content

The team supports a global portfolio, including three APAC brands. That matters because the same piece of content does not always work the same way for every market or audience.
 

My other role leading Communications & Content for Newfold Digital has reinforced that even more. I’ve spent years communicating with more than 6,000 employees across 18 countries. It has made me very aware of audience, culture and context.
 

The big company moments

Because my role sits across both corporate communications and commercial content, I’m also the person behind much of the communications for major company events.
 

That includes partnerships, acquisitions, divestitures, investor announcements, product launches and a major merger. I may be writing the press release, internal announcement, employee FAQ, executive talking points and social posts, while also coordinating video, media interviews or broader content around the story.
 

For me, it’s all connected. The audience may be a customer, journalist, employee, developer or executive. The job is still to understand what matters, tell the story clearly and make sure it reaches the right people.