International Women’s Day offers a great opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the success of women in tech. It’s also a good moment to offer support to women who are considering or just starting out in their digital careers. That’s why we asked our female Fluid teammates to explain a bit about what they do, and give their advice to others who are considering a career in PPC, marketing and development.
Selina Patel – Paid Search Manager
My current role as a PPC Manager has been focused on managing our client-base, working closely with them to develop PPC growth strategies and providing internal training to all junior team members.
Other key responsibilities in the role included:
- Assisting the Head of PPC with the recruitment of new PPC Executives
- Developing internal PPC processes, reports, training docs, personal development plans and new service offerings including CSS, Criteo, Feed optimisation
- Liaising with tech partners
- Creating audit proposals, forecasts and assisting with the on-board of new clients
- Building strong relationships with clients through regular communication and detailed reporting
- Creating Shopping feeds & assisting with tracking implementation
- Managing accounts across a variety of verticals and budgets on Search, Shopping, Display (GDN, Criteo), YouTube.
What got you interested in Paid search?
After studying a masters in Marketing, I was interested in pursuing a career in digital marketing. I’ve always been more technical and analytical from doing a Science undergrad, and therefore when I researched digital jobs that cater towards my skills, PPC was top of the list.
I’ve always wanted to work in a creative environment and PPC allows me to be analytical but also creative within a box (as the ad messaging must be short and snappy). I love working with clients on how we can build their brands and seeing the success/results is what makes me love my job.
What advice would you give anyone else looking to work in tech?
There’s a huge range of jobs in this sector to suit anyone’s skill set, whether this is creative writing, design, analytics etc.. So do your research as this will help you to find the perfect role!
Rachel Blackburn – Amazon Marketing Strategist
My job is elevating client performance on the world’s largest online marketplace, Amazon! I do this through paid ads, brand stores, A+ content, and listing optimisations.
What got you interested in your current career?
From a young age, I had big plans to become a family lawyer. At 18, I finished my A Levels and embarked on a law degree at the University of Manchester, but soon realised it wasn’t the right career path for me. Out of principle and stubbornness, I completed my degree and was then struck with the harsh reality of ‘what am I going to do with my life?’.
Of course, in an ideal world, I’d be a popstar. But (for now at least) digital marketing is the next best thing. I’d been selling vintage clothes on eBay and Depop throughout uni to help make ends meet, so I always had a particular interest in eCommerce. Falling into Amazon marketing was almost incidental, after an existing client asked for help setting up their Amazon Ads.
What advice would you give anyone else looking to work in tech?
Find a niche. Being an all-rounder is good to start off with, but as you scale clients are looking for people that really know their craft inside-out. Anyone can watch a few YouTube videos and learn how to set up a Squarespace website. What is your value proposition? What sets you apart from everyone else? These are tough questions, don’t expect the answers to come to you overnight.
Charlotte Rimmer – UX UI Designer
As a UX UI designer, I work alongside the analytical team to find key data to drive conversion through A/B split testing, heat mapping, UX audits and usability testing. I also work closely with the project team to deliver website redesigns, journeys and better usability for new and existing clients.
What got you interested in your current career?
I have a background in visual arts and during my MA at Camberwell College of Arts, I loved watching people interact with interactive systems, artwork and books. This led to an interest in usability and how it can impact people in day to day life.
What advice would you give anyone else looking to work in tech?
Always seek to learn more. Listen to podcasts, read articles and books, attend talks, ask questions and enjoy talking to others about your passion.
Also take time to listen to your colleagues and peers and respect their skills and knowledge because having different perspectives and ideas can lead to better solutions.
Olena Bysko – QA Engineer
I am a quality assurance specialist and my job is to ensure that the final product observes the company’s quality standards. In general, I’m responsible for the development and implementation of inspection activities, the detection and resolution of problems, and the delivery of satisfactory outcomes.
What got you interested in your current career?
Curiosity about how things fit together, and a passion for driving improvements to raise the overall quality level of software and operating environments.
What advice would you give anyone else looking to work in tech?
Be a perfectionist in your professions – you bring joy to users who use your product with ease and without problems.
Liz Walmsley – Head of Marketing
I run the in-house marketing for Fluid Commerce, raising brand awareness of the company with the ultimate goal of generating more leads and clients. The way that I go about this includes content marketing, working on co-marketing ventures with our tech partners, running webinars and events, writing award bids, securing PR opportunities and making sure the website is as optimised as possible. I also look after our stakeholders, ensuring that our clients and staff feel engaged and excited to be part of the Fluid family.
What got you interested in your current career?
Marketing is something I slid into almost by accident. I spent most of my 20s pursuing a career in the theatre as an actor, then writer and producer. As part of this, I set up my own theatre company and realised that without bums in seats no one would see the show – and so I got into marketing! It’s been a natural fit with my skills of creativity, story-telling, project managing and strategy.
What advice would you give anyone else looking to work in tech?
Digital marketing is so broad that there really is something for everyone. My advice would be open-minded and let your natural talent or interest guide you to your niche. I started off as a copywriter, then moved into a content strategist role before finally ending up as head of marketing.
I’d also advise people to learn as much as they can from their peers and colleagues. Though you might not want to work in SEO, PPC or UX, for example, having a good understanding of these will give you a better all-around understanding of the digital space that we live in.
Beth Jordan – PPC Executive
My job includes monitoring the day-to-day optimisations of Google & Microsoft ads accounts. I also implement strategies and changes to improve account performance.
What got you interested in your current career?
I first became interested in PPC as I had a natural curiosity about customer behaviour, how people interact with ads and how you can harness this into potential leads or conversions.
Before I started working in digital marketing I had no idea that this type of role even existed. I was inspired to work in the sector after working alongside some really great managers that were really helpful in teaching me the ins and outs of PPC, I found their endeavours to provide me with the best training really inspiring.
What advice would you give anyone else looking to work in tech?
Have the confidence to ask all the questions you need to. Don’t be afraid to be honest if you don’t understand something because this will only help your learning and your client(s) more. Celebrate the little wins!
Careers at Fluid Commerce
Interested in working with the team at Fluid? Check out our Careers page for the latest vacancies.