The #MarketingMinds series share real-world stories from marketers showing how digital marketing has helped them develop their careers or businesses.
Marketing Mind:
Adam Samuel
Hi my name is Adam Samuel and I am the co-founder of a new health and fitness startup built on the blockchain called PUML. As a co-founder, I do everything needed to get the project off the ground but specialise in online marketing.
What is your background in Marketing, and how did you come to be in the position you are in now?
Since leaving university in 2001, I have spent 17 years building businesses that use the internet to drive traffic and leads. In the early years, my company was one of the first digital estate agencies in Spain, using Google to drive traffic to the site to generate leads.
It was great timing as broadband was taking off in Europe and there was plenty of liquidity in the market for people to buy property. This business then morphed into a marketing business for property all over the world and nubricks.com was founded. This business was sold post-GFC to the largest player in the market.
Since then, I have consulted with many businesses on digital marketing strategy and have also built many mini-affiliate networks in the cycling and furniture niches.
In 2013 I was offered a position as Marketing Director at a new startup, Zippy, in Australia and ended up investing, and becoming a Founder. That business’ assets have just been sold into PUML, the new business I am working for.
Which technical skills do you believe are most important in your role?
It’s easy to throw budget at generating traffic, but the key skill is in interpreting the data via split testing, CRO and analytics.
Which soft skills prove most useful in your role?
Not skills per say, but general knowledge and experience accumulated since working with the internet since 1997.
Which markets does your organization operate in?
Australia first, global second.
Which Marketing or Business related book would you recommend to a colleague, and why?
NLP: Health and Well-Being. It was written in 1996, but still has some brilliant concepts of how to present your ideas in an influential way.
What can be one of the biggest challenges Marketers face in the industry you operate in?
Too many channels mean a marketer is spread thin these days if the team isn’t large. Being in the blockchain space, Telegram is an important part of the marketing mix and is yet another platform to master.
How do you and your team overcome the aforementioned industry challenges?
Decide on which channels a paramount and have frequency strategies that you stick to. Some channels need daily content and some need weekly.
Describe what a typical day at work looks like for you?
Take a 15-minute walk, have breakfast, check emails, list tasks for completion, make phone calls, block time to complete tasks, take 5-minute breaks every 40 minutes, 1-2 hours cycling (3 x times a week)
Please share digital marketing tools that help you and your team accomplish your goals every day.
- Google Analytics – Looking at sales funnels to see where we are losing traffic
- Hootsuite – Looking for successful campaigns and content to be able to rinse and repeat
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In your opinion, what are the most valuable skills a marketer in your role can have?
Listen to team members. Just because you lead the team doesn’t mean everything you think is the right way. Some of our best ideas come from junior staff and that works well for us all.
What are some of your KPIs ?
Member engagement and growth. In a business like ours, you need more people to love what you do and stick around.
What is your ultimate career goal?
Successful startup exit to a large player. I have sold businesses beforehand, but the market timing wasn’t at its peak. We are in a transition phase right now bringing two businesses and products together, so we will need to align both company cultures to drive it forward.
What are the most important attributes you look for in a Manager?
The ability to listen, and lead.
Across the marketing mix, what medium has brought your organisation the best results?
Instagram has been good for us due to the success of fitness imagery.
Describe one of the most successful projects or campaigns you’ve worked on. Why was it successful?
At Zippy, we were able to get downloads of our app for $0.05 for a period of 2 months from Facebook. It was successful as we really understood how to use the localisation to target an audience.
Have you worked on a project or campaign that didn’t go as planned? Please describe what went wrong, and the key takeaways from the experience?
I worked with a Green Investment company selling a solar investment project. We ran lead generation campaigns via Google PPC, but the CPA ran so high that we had to stop them. The reality was, that it wasn’t a product that people wanted.
What is the best piece of work-related advice you have ever received?
Sometimes just walk away for a while, work will be there when you get back.