Category: Writing

https://econsultancy.com/a-day-in-the-life-of-lindsay-turner-ceo-spark-foundry/

Lindsay Turner is CEO of media agency Spark Foundry, part of Publicis. We caught up with her to ask about her typical day, and the demands on her time and skillset.

Please describe your job: What do you do?

I’m the agency CEO. It is a very wide reaching role from working with clients, to setting agency strategy, to overseeing the money flow, to building an agency culture. It is 100 miles an hour and I get to work with some amazing people!

Whereabouts do you sit within the organisation? Who do you report to?

Spark Foundry is part of the broader Publicis Media family, we are one of five media agencies within Publicis Media. We are lucky that we are all under one roof in the iconic Television Centre in White City. I report to Sue Frogley, CEO of Publicis Media UK.

What kind of skills do you need to be effective in your role?

Put simply you need skills in three main areas; people, commercial and strategic skills. You will naturally have a bias towards the skills you are good at and the ones you enjoy but it is important to be able to cover all of these areas.

Tell us about a typical working day…

I leave my house at 7.30am which is when my working day begins. I use my commute to catch up on emails and prepare for meetings I may have that day.

I arrive in the office around 9am and head straight to get a coffee from Television Centre’s Café Marcel. Then the day really gets going. I spend most of my day in meetings which are always extremely varied. I love speaking with clients as well as media owners, strong and straight-talking relationships with both are vital for any agency’s success. I also get stuck into discussions on operational areas from structure or resource to a brainstorm on a new business pitch.

My day tends to finish about 6.30pm when I will get back on the train to Hertfordshire and finish up emails on route home. I flop onto the sofa about 8pm with a glass of wine.

What do you love about your job? What sucks?

I really like the people that you get to work with. We have smart, fun and curious people working at Spark Foundry and that’s always a joy. I wouldn’t say anything outright ‘sucks’, there can be ‘challenges’ as the industry has never been tougher and more complex but my overriding feeling is that this is an exciting and interesting time to be a CEO in media.

What kind of goals do you have? What are the most useful metrics and KPIs for measuring success?

The biggest goal is always growth; helping our clients grow their business, ensuring that our agency grows and that our people grow and develop too. We regularly track client sentiment, alongside how happy our people are and of course, keep a close eye on revenue. If you don’t like data then this probably isn’t for you.

What are your favourite tools to help you to get the job done?

My mobile phone first and foremost! Followed by some brilliant Publicis proprietary tools that allow us to have a market leading view on campaign effectiveness. I always want to understand how our campaigns are delivering business results for our clients.

How did you end up at Spark Foundry, and where might you go from here?

I started at the agency back in 2010 (before it became Spark Foundry), I was attracted by the independence of the business. I still am! Spark Foundry has the independent agency spirit but backed by the might and muscle of Publicis, giving us the best of both worlds. As to the future, as long as I’m spending time thinking about brilliant solutions for brands’ marketing challenges, then I’m happy.

Do you have any advice for anybody who wants to work in your field?

Be tenacious. Media is an amazing industry where you will have to work hard but you will also have a lot of fun.

Read Econsultancy’s Top 100 Digital Agencies report.

The post A day in the life of… Lindsay Turner, CEO, Spark Foundry appeared first on Econsultancy.

https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/6-costly-facebook-ad-mistakes-and-how-to-fix-them/

Want better results from your Facebook ad campaigns? Are you making one of these six mistakes that could reduce your Facebook ad results? In this article, you’ll discover six Facebook advertising mistakes and how to fix them. #1: Mistake: Facebook Ads Aren’t Aligned With a Funnel The biggest mistake that Facebook advertisers make on the […]

The post 6 Costly Facebook Ad Mistakes and How to Fix Them appeared first on Social Media Marketing | Social Media Examiner.

https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/6-costly-facebook-ad-mistakes-and-how-to-fix-them/

Want better results from your Facebook ad campaigns? Are you making one of these six mistakes that could reduce your Facebook ad results? In this article, you’ll discover six Facebook advertising mistakes and how to fix them. #1: Mistake: Facebook Ads Aren’t Aligned With a Funnel The biggest mistake that Facebook advertisers make on the […]

The post 6 Costly Facebook Ad Mistakes and How to Fix Them appeared first on Social Media Marketing | Social Media Examiner.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OnlineMarketingSEOBlog/~3/nj2o8a4aF6M/

You’ve read the news, seen the reports, remarkable real-time graphs and updates from the CDC. Virtually all industry conferences are cancelled or postponed, major sporting events are postponed, most schools and many stores are closed and just about any venue for large crowds from malls to theatres are as empty as the toilet paper aisle at Target.

COVID-19 is serious business and is undoubtedly having an impact on business. Should it stop companies from marketing to other businesses?

We all have an obligation to make the changes necessary to minimize COVID-19 transmission through closures, postponements and having employees work from home like we just implemented at TopRank Marketing this week along with many other companies.

While there will be a period of adjustment, these changes do not mean the work stops. It doesn’t mean companies don’t need information, solutions, support, products and services. The evolving environment we find ourselves in presents new challenges and opportunities to be even more relevant and useful for clients.

While some companies may be distracted or paused in some of their efforts to find solutions, that only means marketing needs to do a better job of providing best answer content in formats that are relevant in the new environment: virtual events, video conferencing, podcasts, webinars, interactive content, recorded video, live streaming and other forms of online engagement. Virtual reality or direct mail are considerations as well.

During this time of transition, it’s also important that marketers review their planned advertising, social and marketing messages to be appropriate to what customers are dealing with right now. Publishing marketing messages as if everything is normal will not resonate or be useful.

Additionally, opportunities may reveal themselves either through data or consumer behavior, like the efforts to encourage gift card purchases from local businesses that will lose foot traffic. A few additional tips for B2B marketers include:

• Stay in close contact with your customers. Learn what you can do to better support them, anticipate changes and offer resources.
• Make sure your brand digital channels are up to date including website, blog, social network profiles, and Google My Business listings.
• Commit to video – convert marketing message activities to video and if you have live video access on LinkedIn for execs or your brand – start using it now.
• Optimize your digital channels: Refresh SEO, social, online advertising and influencer efforts. Identify what is working and reallocate resources and budget as appropriate.
• Reinforce efforts and communications to support community, employees and customers affected through supply of resources, technology or expertise.

Marketers focused on being the best answer for their customers are agile and understand the importance of being responsive to changes, even as large as the Coronavirus pandemic. Being responsible to the health and safety of employees, customers and community should be the top priority while also understanding that the need for information and solutions might slow or change but not stop. We still need to do our jobs and provide useful information, we just need to do it differently.

 

The post Should COVID-19 Stop B2B Marketers From Marketing? appeared first on Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OnlineMarketingSEOBlog/~3/nj2o8a4aF6M/

You’ve read the news, seen the reports, remarkable real-time graphs and updates from the CDC. Virtually all industry conferences are cancelled or postponed, major sporting events are postponed, most schools and many stores are closed and just about any venue for large crowds from malls to theatres are as empty as the toilet paper aisle at Target.

COVID-19 is serious business and is undoubtedly having an impact on business. Should it stop companies from marketing to other businesses?

We all have an obligation to make the changes necessary to minimize COVID-19 transmission through closures, postponements and having employees work from home like we just implemented at TopRank Marketing this week along with many other companies.

While there will be a period of adjustment, these changes do not mean the work stops. It doesn’t mean companies don’t need information, solutions, support, products and services. The evolving environment we find ourselves in presents new challenges and opportunities to be even more relevant and useful for clients.

While some companies may be distracted or paused in some of their efforts to find solutions, that only means marketing needs to do a better job of providing best answer content in formats that are relevant in the new environment: virtual events, video conferencing, podcasts, webinars, interactive content, recorded video, live streaming and other forms of online engagement. Virtual reality or direct mail are considerations as well.

During this time of transition, it’s also important that marketers review their planned advertising, social and marketing messages to be appropriate to what customers are dealing with right now. Publishing marketing messages as if everything is normal will not resonate or be useful.

Additionally, opportunities may reveal themselves either through data or consumer behavior, like the efforts to encourage gift card purchases from local businesses that will lose foot traffic. A few additional tips for B2B marketers include:

• Stay in close contact with your customers. Learn what you can do to better support them, anticipate changes and offer resources.
• Make sure your brand digital channels are up to date including website, blog, social network profiles, and Google My Business listings.
• Commit to video – convert marketing message activities to video and if you have live video access on LinkedIn for execs or your brand – start using it now.
• Optimize your digital channels: Refresh SEO, social, online advertising and influencer efforts. Identify what is working and reallocate resources and budget as appropriate.
• Reinforce efforts and communications to support community, employees and customers affected through supply of resources, technology or expertise.

Marketers focused on being the best answer for their customers are agile and understand the importance of being responsive to changes, even as large as the Coronavirus pandemic. Being responsible to the health and safety of employees, customers and community should be the top priority while also understanding that the need for information and solutions might slow or change but not stop. We still need to do our jobs and provide useful information, we just need to do it differently.

 

The post Should COVID-19 Stop B2B Marketers From Marketing? appeared first on Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®.