Welcome to The 9 To 5, our ongoing series where we highlight and interview creative professionals doing great things. Today’s profile is on Katie Hudson, Marketing Manager at Demac Media and founder of whyirun.co.
1. When did you first know you wanted a career in marketing?
It’s funny because originally, I was in the accounting stream at Laurier. During my time there I was a Laurier Ambassador (part of a team that gives tours to prospective students), and one day a Dad of a potential student on the tour came up to me at the end of it and said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think you’re heading down the wrong career path. You have way too much personality and energy to be an accountant”.
Now it wasn’t because of this comment that I made the switch later on, but looking back it’s funny that even he knew accounting wasn’t the right fit for me! I ended up switching out of the accounting stream in my third year, and instead took a variety of courses (finance, marketing, etc) in my fourth year to finish with a general specialization with an international focus.
After graduating I worked abroad for one year in Medellín, Colombia for a consulting firm as a Market Intelligence Analyst. This was sort of a cross between a marketing role and accounting – meaning, it was marketing but with numbers. I jumped right in. I really liked how everything I was doing was trackable and quantifiable. This was my first taste into digital marketing, and I think it was during my time as an analyst, I realized that this was the kind of industry I wanted to be in.
2. What’s on your typical “to-do” list for a day at the office?
I never have the same day twice, my role is complex, and includes many responsibilities, but an average to do list includes:
- Check my emails, try to clear out as many as possible first thing
- Look at my calendar to see what meetings I have, make sure I’m prepared
- Check my Hubspot Dashboard, view recent leads that downloaded our content
- View OKRs (objectives and key results) and see if they are inline with our projections
- Make a to do list of priority items I need to complete for the day and week
- Check in with my Marketing and Sales Coordinator to see if she has any questions or needs support on any initiatives
- Review my Marketing and Sales Coordinator’s social promotion for the day’s content
- View our marketing calendar, see what upcoming content is due and what we’re promoting
- Work on content for a blog post, eBook, whitepaper or report
- Coordinate with our partners on co-marketing initiatives such as content, and events (ie. planning, logistics, promotion, and execution)
- Organize and promote our eCommerce Toronto Monthly Meetup, coordinate logistics with our lead for the topic selected.
3. What do you do outside of the office to become a better marketing manager inside the office?
This year I launched a passion project that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Whyirun.co is my personal blog/site where I’m able to publish things that I’m most passionate about. These things fall into three categories: fitness, food and music. All content, promotion, future growth plans come from me and me alone. The process to do this on a personal level helps me become a better Marketing Manager inside the office because I oversee the whole process, and am solely responsible. The success or failure of my personal site is determined by my hard work in my spare time. From my blog, I might think of new ideas for how to do something better that I can bring to my team at Demac Media as suggestions, or even content ideas that were sparked from writing something that wasn’t eCommerce related.
The success or failure of my personal site is determined by my hard work in my spare time.
Having my own personal site, and the social media channels that stem from it is another chance to expand my network, meet more people and understand what kinds of content really excites people. This also provides me with a unique inside look into what kinds of marketing strategies work best with people spanning different industries. What might work in eCommerce, might not work for my fitness inspired blog. But sometimes, there can be a lot of cross over, and similar strategies that work for both industries. The digital marketing world is always evolving, so it’s so important that individuals create their own digital presence to practice what they learn as the industry changes. Finally, having your own digital presence makes you a better marketer by giving you the opportunity to really define who you are, what you like to do, and prove your skill set.
4. What are the skills that any marketing manager should have?
- Analytical skills – an understanding of metrics and data to evaluate opportunities and make better decisions.
- Communication skills – the ability to communicate well with anyone, through different channels – email, phone, in person, via social media etc.)
- Time management – the ability to balance and manage multiple tasks at once, while overseeing other individuals. Gone are the days where you are just working on one thing at a time.
- People management – Must work well with others. Teamwork is critical for the success of a project and overall goal. Learn to rely and trust others to help you achieve big things
- Leadership – Lead by example. Always be learning, this makes you a better individual and leader. Give back, and teach others what you’ve learned.
- Ability to learn new technology quickly – this world and specifically our technical world, is constantly evolving. If you don’t stay on top of the latest trends, gadgets, and tools you’ll be left behind.
- Design skills (Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator) – Even basic knowledge of these programs will take you far, and cause you to rely on designers much less, thus speeding up your project completion time.
- Creativity – Thinking outside the box. Don’t stray from different or quirky ideas or different ways to do things. In this day in age, creativity and unconventional ways make you stand out.
5. What do you know now that you wish someone might have explained to you before entering your position or industry?
- The best jobs are never posted. Case in point my position at Demac Media. I got my job from networking with an old Laurier friend who knew that the CEO was looking to bring on a Marketing Position. My job was never posted online, and was filled after my first interview with Matt (our CEO). If you know what you want, make it happen for yourself and don’t bother going through those huge HR computer systems just to get sifted out because you didn’t have the right key words on your resume. Obviously always tailor your resume to EACH and EVERY job you apply for, but use your network to your advantage, and seek out help. You’d be surprised how open and willing people are to just meet with you for a coffee to talk about their job, experience, career path, industry etc., and who they might be able to introduce you to.
- Have a digital presence on the web – whether it’s your own simple static website, or a blog, if you’re wanting to be a digital professional, have a digital presence! It not only goes to prove your technical abilities, but also showcases your passions, how you take advantage of your spare time and ensures you stand out from the crowd.
- If you have design skills, use them! If you know how to use Photoshop, Indesign and/or Illustrator and will be putting it on your resume as a known skill, use those programs to create your resume. Do not send a simple pdf that was created in Word. This proves nothing to your recruiter. Have design skills? PROVE IT.
6. How do you prioritize your time?
I live off of lists. I take about 15-30 minutes each day to evaluate where I need to prioritize my time first and foremost. What needs my attention today vs. what can wait? What are the deadlines and go lives of the content I’m working on?
I always try to ask myself, “is this really the best use of my time?”. When your job starts to accumulate many different and diverse responsibilities, time becomes a scarce resource. Writing out everything I need to do helps me map out what I need to accomplish in a given time, then I’m better able to sort through what I should tackle first and leave for later. I also have a strange satisfaction of crossing things off a list once they’re done, so I find it very motivating!
7. What are the ways you get in the “zone” while working?
For me, it’s music and noise cancelling headphones. It really helps me block out everything that’s happening around me and focus on what’s in front of me. If I need to focus on writing, I usually like to be in a quiet environment so I’ll usually move to one of our many rooms we have in our office, preferably the one we call the “5 Boroughs” where there are comfortable couches and large windows with tons of natural light. This is probably my favourite place to write and get in the zone.
I also don’t drink coffee, so if I’m feeling a little drowsy or am hitting a post-lunch wall, I will usually turn to black tea to help me kick start my energy again and get back on track.
8. What are you snacking on while working?
I’m a pretty healthy eater so I love to eat: bananas, cheese strings, apples, granola bars, tortilla chips & salsa, nuts, apple sauce, etc.
I also keep a stash of Dark Chocolate on hand if I get that late afternoon chocolate craving!
9. After a long week, are you reaching for a pint of beer or a glass of wine?
Neither, a glass of prosecco or a gin and 7.
10. What’s the best part of your job?
My job is pretty awesome for many different reasons. I think it all starts with how much autonomy I have, and the number of different things I am responsible for on a daily basis. It’s also the trust and confidence my CEO has in my to completely take ownership of whatever I want to try out for our company in terms of digital marketing strategies.
The people I get to interact with day-to-day both within Demac and outside of it are also a reason I love my job. We have an amazing culture here at Demac, one that makes coming to the office fun, and enjoyable. While we work very hard, we also have a lot of fun. I’m always excited to get up every morning and go to work, as my job doesn’t feel like a job. It’s a place I go to foster my creativity, interact with other passionate individuals and produce amazing work.