Tell us how you got started in your career
I started out in 2018, fresh out of university. I got an internship at a media publishing company, The Guardian Nigeria, where I worked as a social media executive for about 6 months, then moved on to work as a content and social media strategist at a tech startup in 2019, and the rest they say is history. So far, I have worked on Africa’s largest real estate project, Eko Atlantic and today, I currently work with the Nestcoin team, where we are unlocking crypto opportunities in Africa with Crypto-Native Products.
What makes you so passionate about this career path?
Lol. I wouldn’t call myself passionate about this career path to be honest, but I am pretty passionate about excelling at what I do. And for now, that is marketing (content, product & growth). I think it is interesting how the right marketing can shape businesses and help achieve their core goals/objectives, so I am here for it.
In your own words, what’s the goal of marketing?
For me, I’d say the goal of marketing is to help achieve business goals & objectives at different points. Regardless of virality, huge vanity metrics and the likes, if your marketing efforts aren’t impacting the bottom-line business goals, then you may have to rethink who your marketing is for or what exactly you are doing.
What has been some of your best moments in your profession? Achievements you’ll always be proud of.
I have been fortunate to work with companies considered as big industry movers in my career so far, and I think being a part of highly regarded industry professionals counts as something. There have also been a lot of marketing successes in my journey, but I’d say some of my best moments still happen to be at various points where I was able to help other people get started in the field.
I remember someone in particular who started her first role in the field as a social media intern sometime in 2021, she didn’t have a perfect experience, but months later, say 6, she was at a better point where she could say no to certain jobs and choose only the one, she really wanted, which to me was a proud moment. I find joy in helping people navigate through career huddles that I once had to face myself. I know how much having senior/more experienced folks in your corner can help your career, and I am always happy to help people starting out in the field. People have taken chances on me, so why shouldn’t i pay it forward?
Three most important skills for a successful marketing career?
Having worked in this field for a while, especially in content and social media marketing, I still do not feel like I really know that much, which is what I would say keeps me going.
The thought of knowing that there is so much I still don’t know, the fact that there are always ways to do things better is a big motivation. So, I’d say the 3 most important/core skills for a successful marketing career are;
- Always looking to be better, wanting to learn new ways to do things.
- Having great communication and people skills will be highly necessary because working in marketing means working across different departments and even stakeholders. These departments could cut across the product team, sales, customer relations, design, and other creative teams. So, you must be able to build valuable relationships across.
- Finally, while this is not necessarily a skill, it is very important – There is nothing like working alone in marketing. Yes, I said it.
To have a successful marketing career, you will need to find a marketing community or more experienced folks to relate with. That way you get to learn from other people’s experiences and also share yours to help others, and the good thing is the more you share, the better you become.
Some good marketing communities include:
- DigiClan (Africa: Whatsapp)- for all marketing professionals
- The growth network (Global: Telegram) – for growth marketing enthusiasts and professionals
- Product Marketing Alliance community (Global; Slack) – for product marketing enthusiasts and professionals
- Digital Enthusiasts (Nigeria: WhatsApp) – for digital marketing starters and professionals.
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Really exciting profile