As part of my Day in the working life of series, I caught up with Martin Calvert, the Marketing Director at Blueclaw. Read on to find out about his current position and future goals within the industry!
Please describe your job: What do you do?
I’m the marketing director at Blueclaw – we’re an SEO-focused digital marketing agency based in Leeds, although we work nationally and internationally. I’m responsible for our own marketing, advising prospective clients on strategy and making sure the agency runs smoothly as part of the senior leadership team.
Whereabouts do you sit within the organisation? Who do you report to?
Within the marketing and sales function, I report to the CEO, and I work across the whole company to draw on our internal talent to support our marketing efforts.
What kind of skills do you need to be effective in your role?
A mixture of people-focused and hands-on marketing skill is needed to be effective – and make sure that Blueclaw is represented accurately and unmissably in the right places – in the media, events, digital channels, top industry awards and more. I spend a lot of time writing, public speaking, digging into data and testing out different approaches and marketing platforms – so there’s a variety of skills required.
I’d say the most important skill is the ability to listen and adapt. Understanding the potential (and limits) of different marketing channels we work in is important to be able to advise clients effectively, keep our own marketing on-point and to make sure that we’re talking the same language as the people who can benefit from our services.
Tell us about a typical working day…
There’s a lot of diversity in my role but a more typical day would likely involve speaking to potential clients, planning event participation, writing for industry publications and working closely with our sales team to ensure they have the collateral they need.
It usually comes down to making sure we have the right marketing material, promoting it through the most effective channels and getting involved with subsequent conversations with brands to match up our services with their requirements.
What do you love about your job? What sucks?
I love the diversity of my job, and the opportunity to engage with different brands across a wide variety of industries – I love being in problem-solving mode and introducing our strategies to companies that have great opportunities to capitalise on. I’m a fan of writing and speaking and generally getting out and about to meet with industry peers, constantly learning new things to improve our own marketing capabilities, and the service we provide to clients.
The most challenging part of the job is usually the travel schedule – when we’re invited to speak at events internationally, it can result in some long journeys and a lot to juggle – but that’s part and parcel of fast-paced agency life.
What kind of goals do you have? What are the most useful metrics and KPIs for measuring success?
Our goals are to grow the agency by doing excellent work for a diverse mix of clients. On a day to day basis, we measure success by inbound enquiries, media coverage, audiences at our events and downloads of our marketing collateral. The ultimate KPI is when we welcome a great new brand on board.
What are your favourite tools to help you to get the job done?
To manage our marketing campaigns and keep track of deadlines, I’m a big fan of Trello and we track our relationships with potential clients using Hubspot CRM.
How did you become a Marketing Director, and where might you go from here?
Having worked client-side for several years I made the jump into agency life almost three years ago.
To become a marketing director, you don’t need to be an expert in absolutely everything – but you do need to demonstrate how you can apply the knowledge you do have, and successfully delegate to get the right results. It’s all about being practical. From here my goal is to continue contributing to Blueclaw’s success and growing the agency.
What new technology are you most excited about (if any)?
I’m always interested in new pieces of technology that can make things easier for clients, help our campaigns or support our own marketing efforts.
I’m more interested in small, focused and practical tools and software than anything ‘transformational’ – I check ProductHunt every day – I always find new tools through ProductHunt.
Do you have any advice for people who want to work in marketing for an agency?
The main thing is to show energy, appetite to learn and show you have the passion to deliver practical results in what will always be a very fast-paced environment. You don’t need to be awesome at everything – but know what you’re good at and how that will help an agency delight their clients. That will always make agency decision-makers take notice of your CV.
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