Marketers are usually involved in promoting a brand and raising its profile online using social media and digital marketing tools. They help a new brand, product or service go viral, selling inventive digital solutions to help them solve their business problems.
Nathan Nicholls – Switch Digital
What do you do?
I lead one of the largest agency-side digital marketing teams in the Channel Islands. At Switch we consult a wide range of local and national businesses across a diverse choice of verticals on digital marketing, SEO and web analytics best practice. Our goal is to help businesses achieve their goals online, whether it be awareness, online sales, lead generation or customer retention.
What do you do on an average day?
Agency life is fast-paced and demanding but very satisfying. An average day involves meeting with clients, auditing websites, analysing digital marketing campaigns and web analytics data, advising on SEO best practice and working closely with an experienced team of developers, designers and copywriters to plan and deliver innovative marketing campaigns.
Skills you need for the job?
Modern marketers must be both analytical and creative – marketing has become much more technically demanding in recent years and requires a range of skills including strong mathematical and data analysis skills, strong copywriting and communication skills. Web development skills are often not essential for entry-level positions but are very advantageous to anyone looking for a role in SEO and digital marketing.
Advice for job seekers in the same field:
Web developers and designers will always have a portfolio of work at interviews, yet digital marketing applicants often have very few examples of their work – I would urge anyone looking to get into SEO and digital marketing to setup a website or blog and to demonstrate to any potential employer that you have gone above and beyond to learn practical skills.
“Start doing SEO today by setting up your very own blog or website.”
Jessica Stanier – Airtel-Vodafone
What do you do?
I manage the social media accounts, organise events, communications, manage our creative agency, help create new products and work out how to market them to our customers. Every day is different!
Skills you need for the job?
Keeping up to date with all things tech! For the role I am in now, experience. Usually you’re asked for a degree but every route is different. Mine didn’t include university as I chose to go straight into work from school, and worked up from the bottom in PR and communications, sales and then marketing.
Training and development on the job?
Within my last two marketing roles there have been opportunities to study. If you research the course and ask your employer, usually they will encourage you to continue with your professional development and may even support you financially in the course. The best qualification I’ve ever done was the ILM Award 3 in Leadership & Management and I would encourage anyone to take it. I completed it locally through ASL & it was absolutely brilliant – I still use what I learnt there daily, in and outside of work.
Advice for job seekers?
Head to networking events. Force yourself to meet people in the industry. Make a list of businesses you’d like to work for, send them your CV even when they aren’t advertising. Take on some freelance work. There are lots of marketing roles around at the moment, and a shortage of candidates – so it is a great time for the employee. Train up – do as much professional development as you can, and get as much experience as possible in a range of different sectors.
Carys Bird – RBS International
What do you do?
I create and manage strategic, internal communications for leaders and large change projects across RBS International. I also work with our marketing team to develop content for our social media feeds, working with third party suppliers to develop film content which is used for internal and external social media campaigns.
What do you do on an average day?
The day starts with a quick fifteen minute team huddle so we can check how we’re all getting on and what our priorities are for the day, then it completely depends on what’s happening in the business. Recently I was working with our technology teams to deliver leadership video cascades across our six jurisdictions. I’ve also been out and about filming our latest round of videos for our RBS International Graduate Programme, which will feature on our social media pages.
Skills you need for the job?
For me, I work in communications as I love working with people and that passion for people is really important for this role. You also have to be a good copywriter and understand what makes an effective communication. As we also design our own images and visuals, it’s handy if creative or a visual person.
What training have you undergone?
In university I studied Fine Art, after that I went on and joined the RBS Services and Operations Graduate Scheme which gave me a wide range of experience from projects and property strategy to customer-led design and GDPR. In my current role most of the training is on the job or coaching from leaders. I’ve also completed our internal people leadership course as I support the leadership team with their communications.
Career prospects?
We’re a small team but we’re in a privileged position to work across the whole of RBS International so I’ve developed a huge network of colleagues and knowledge about banking in general. Specific to RBS International, where you go next really depends where your passion lies.
“Be yourself – I work in a bank but I studied Fine Art at university and I wear bright colours to work; including my canary yellow suit and in my lunch I crochet at my desk. Life’s too short to be anyone but you”
Lucy Boehlemann – RBS International
What do you do?
I’m responsible for looking after our mobile apps and online banking services.
Skills you need for the job?
You need to enjoy working with technology and be familiar with or have previous experience working with digital banking services. It’s also important to be highly resilient and a good planner and organiser, as you need to priorities your workload often working flexibly across multiple tasks with stakeholders from across the bank.
What training have you undergone?
It’s mainly been on the job training – both technical and systems related. I’ve also received mandatory banking industry training. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some very knowledgeable people, and I’ve learnt the ins and outs of digital banking from the very best.
Advice for job seekers?
Keep up to date with industry developments, there are always new, emerging technologies in the market, it’s good to understand them and form your own opinion about how they’ll affect the industry. Plus be an avid user of lots of digital services. That way you’ll have lots of first hand customer experience to talk about.
Career prospects?
The banking industry is constantly evolving and new jobs are emerging all the time. In this role you develop lots of transferable skills which you can use to move into other areas of the bank. There’s also the potential to move into customer journey management, technology services, or even into training or people leadership.
Geoff Langdon – Webreality
What do you do?
I work with a wide variety of local and national businesses to help meet their goals through sophisticated digital strategies. Digital marketing is a powerful way to connect and engage with people across digital channels; SEO, social media, email and online advertising. My job is to plan, create, manage and report on these marketing strategies.
What do you do on an average day?
There is no average day! The diversity is one of the reasons I love working in the industry. Certain days may revolve around project management and client meetings, other days may be working with a team on project planning and creative work, and others on analysis and reporting on the performance of campaigns.
Skills you need for the job?
It’s essential to have a good standard of literacy and numeracy – accuracy is really important in my field. After that, a good basic knowledge of all digital marketing channels is essential. You’ll need to show that you’re interested in the area. I’d recommend learning the best practices (or dos and don’ts) for each channel. An interest in the data and how it can be used to improve performance is also key – set up a free Google Analytics account and explore for yourself!
Training and development on the job?
It’s in the nature of digital marketing that formal training has limited value, because the environment changes so fast. When I transferred from my original role as a web developer at Webreality I was given continuous mentoring to help me learn about the principles of digital marketing as quickly as possible. I was also supported to take all of the relevant Google exams, which I’d wholeheartedly recommend to anyone interested in this field. Webreality encourages and supports self-directed learning, and that’s how we stay abreast of the ever-changing world we work in.
Holly Morison – States of Jersey
What do you do?
Our team oversee the administration, content, design and architecture of States of Jersey websites for the public and SoJ staff. We make sure our websites are accessible for everyone, easy to understand and help our customers. We also train staff on how to write great content for our customers and work with teams across the SoJ on user research.
What do you do on an average day?
Each day starts with a catch up either over email, Trello or in meetings. I can then prioritise my week but also keep time free for approving content that may come in, reviewing scopes and action any urgent pieces of work. A lot of my time is spent reviewing content and writing. However, another side I really enjoy is training other people to write their own content. Often I’ll be setting up training sessions and following up with our trainees.
Skills you need for the job?
I always say to people transferable skills are essential is this type of role; communication, project management, time management and
being able to think about the bigger picture. The job market over the past 10 years has changed massively and will continue to change. New jobs and skills are going to be needed so to be in with a chance you need to show how you can adapt quickly based on what you already have in the bank. Above this, start playing around with copy, websites and different content management systems.
Training and development on the job?
There are leading organisations in our field who run conferences, seminars and training. If I think there will be something that could be of benefit then I flag it up, or a manager might suggest a course to me.
Advice for job seekers?
Keep learning and challenging yourself. Getting out of your comfort zone can be terrifying but guaranteed you will learn from it.
Lydia Lamy – Infuse group
What do you do on an average day?
No two days are ever the same in my job. I spend a lot of time speaking with clients and the Infuse Group team to understand the business objective so I can implement a marketing strategy to help achieve this. I liaise with various agencies and team members to execute the plan.
Skills you need for the job?
I had a very academic start to my career. Studying psychology has certainly contributed to my ability to understand human behaviour and devise marketing campaigns to appeal to a target audience. However, you don’t need a degree to get into marketing. If you have a creative flare, good organisational skills and the ability to think outside the box. You can go straight into an entry level role.
Training and development on the job?
Trends and best practice in marketing are constantly changing and evolving. At Infuse Group we constantly share insights with each other but it is crucial that you keep up to date with industry changes yourself. Subscribing to newsletters from the likes of Hubspot and Marketing Profs are a good way of keeping abreast of marketing trends.
Career prospects:
At Infuse Group, if you have the drive and commitment to achieve great things, we’ll give you an environment that you can thrive in.
