‘What brings me the most pleasure is working with an incredible team of talented professionals.’
The world of digital marketing can be complex, but what makes digital marketing at Napier so unique?
I recently spoke with Napier’s Head of Digital Marketing, Helen Greenhead, to discuss her journey to her current role and how she keeps a level head amongst the constant changes within the world of digital marketing.
So what does Helen have to say about the industry?
Tell me a bit about your time at Napier.
I worked for a company called Armitage Communications for 27 years and then it was acquired by Napier several years ago, and I’ve been with Napier ever since.
Upon starting your agency career, what is one piece of advice that has stuck with you?
Not to stress over situations you can’t change. There’s no point stressing when you can’t change something, and that has stuck in my head ever since.
What has led you to become an expert in digital marketing?
Well, I actually started out as a Database Developer, creating and looking after a number of databases for various clients. I guess this led to the start of my journey into digital marketing. I first got involved with the internet and emails in 1993. We started with one email account for the company, and it was my job to check it every day and make sure emails were dealt with. It was a game changer – to be able to send a client an email was like sending a letter electronically without relying on the postal system. Sure, we had a fax machine, but it didn’t provide the level of privacy or clarity that you could achieve with an email. I got a real taste for the internet and found it fascinating how you could have this facility to look up just about anything and it was there – a whole world apart from Teletext! I knew then that this was the field for me. I started to train on anything digital I could find.
My first digital platform was a web page creator. Working in databases, I already had a good knowledge of SQL, so when faced with HTML coding, it wasn’t that hard to get my head around. The new platforms just kept on coming and I couldn’t get my hands on them quick enough. Google Adwords – now known as Google Ads – was another game changer, a way to capture an audience by offering them collateral based on what they were searching for. They also offered a pretty good training programme, which I took advantage of.
Social platforms like Twitter – now called X- started to emerge and were yet another way to build and reach our audience. Over time we started to see a shift in the way that people requested information. The usual ‘form fills’, or bingo cards as we called them, found in the back of journals were slowing down – instead, we would place form links on web pages and push them out via both journal and social channels, for people to complete online. The telephone line requesting literature didn’t ring as often either as people found a quicker way to get their hands on what they wanted, without having to wait for the post. Marketing automation started to evolve, and I enrolled in training for certification in Oracle Eloqua. This was another game changer – now we could generate forms that would feed information directly into the database and enrol potential customers in nurture flows. Mapping out the customer journey from start to end, not only ensured prospects received the right information at the right time but gave us insights into where people were in the buying journey. And so, the real digital was born.
Digital marketing has evolved so much from when I got my first taste and has led to heaps of training. I now have countless certificates in different social platforms, SEO software and marketing automation. The training and certification are a must, but it’s also the experience and ability to be able to provide our clients with the best possible advice and insights for their campaigns, that really matters to me.
What is your day-to-day?
My days are busy! I always start the morning with a cup of tea – I cannot function without one. My next job is to check my inbox and respond to any emails that have come in overnight. There are usually lots of emails to go through as we have a global client base. Most of the time the emails require action, so either I deal with that directly or pass it to a team member, depending on the request. Usually, I have meetings booked in – on a typical day there could be 3 or 4 to attend. I oversee campaigns my team is working on and I am on hand for any queries they may have, including training on new platforms. I work on proposals with our account management team and provide the strategy for the digital campaigns.
Typical activities in a day could include mapping the customer journey for a campaign, managing the digital team, running reports, writing ads for paid media, and picking apart campaign results so that we can make data-driven decisions.
What is a project you’re most proud of and why?
I had to think about this one because I’m actually proud of all the projects that come through the digital team but for different reasons. So, some make me proud because of the success of the campaign and some for the sheer volume of work that’s taken place.
We did a campaign for ABB electrification, and we did it in 27 different languages. I’m proud of that one because it was such a mammoth job that so many people were involved in, and I feel we all came together. We created local language landing pages, emails, forms, and social posts.
As a team, we collaborated and came together, and we pulled it off and delivered a multi-language campaign. That makes me quite proud when I look back at the pages, I think wow, we did good there. It was a mammoth job, and we pulled it off.
What do you feel your best quality is?
I think anyone in Napier would tell you that I’m a calm person. If you’re asking anyone that would be what they would say. I try not to stress over situations or tight deadlines because it’s just so much easier to work with it and get on with it and do it. So, when I’m on the phone with other members of staff and we’ve got a big campaign going and they’re stressing, I always say don’t stress, it’s okay. That’s probably my strongest quality.
Where do you see the digital department in the next 10 years?
I would like to see more growth in the digital team within the next 10 years. We know that digital is going from strength to strength and is only going to get bigger as it becomes more widespread. I would like to continue training team members in specialised fields so that we can continue to offer the very best in terms of knowledge and results for our client’s campaigns.
What is one piece of advice you would give to new starters?
It was given to me and that is not to stress over something you’ve got no control over because if you can’t change it, there’s no point stressing about it.
Sometimes situations arise and you think, it can be stressful. But if you can’t change it and you can’t make any difference, why let it cause you stress?
What is something you have found to be unique to Napier and why?
I think Napier offers an excellent in-house training programme for both new starters and those who want to brush up on existing skills. I think that’s unique because not many companies do that. Not many companies of our size will do. But I think that having that training in place for people that want it, I think is brilliant.
What makes the digital department at Napier so exciting?
We’re always looking for the next big thing to happen in the digital world because it moves so quickly. We always like to look for new tools that we can play with and work with that will enhance our digital campaigns. All the campaigns that we run are different, and something exciting about that is seeing the opportunities that they bring to our clients.
What do you enjoy the most about your job?
Well, this is going to sound really cliché, but I love everything about my job. But what brings me the most pleasure is working with an incredible team of talented professionals and helping new starters to grow in their knowledge and expertise within the digital world. That’s what I love most about my job.
If you had an unlimited budget for a campaign, what is one activity you would want to try?
Probably content syndication. We have used it once, and it is quite budget-hungry, but I think if you use it in the right context, it could be quite good. It doesn’t work for every campaign, so it would depend on the campaign goals. If I had an unlimited budget I would also look to expand across Meta, because at the moment we tend to do LinkedIn, Google, YouTube or the traditional platforms. If we were, for example, running a branding campaign or some kind of recruiting campaign, I think Facebook would be good for that. But mostly, content syndication would be where I would probably want to play around a little bit more.
What is content syndication?
Content syndication is the practice of sharing content in multiple places using platforms like Outrun. It will serve on various journal sites depending on the interest of the reader. So, you’ll have your ads, and you’ll have your journal site and then depending on what the reader’s interested in it will decide whether your ad will show or not, but your ads will appear down the bottom of the site, not on all journal sites, but on general sites that allow ads. So, it’s just a way of getting a bigger reach; you can target certain journals as well, which is why you would need a big budget because the journal is worth targeting.
What skills do you think are essential for future success in digital marketing?
Because the digital world is dynamic and moves at a fast pace, the most important skill to have is the ability to change and adapt to the different things that are happening. If you’re the sort of person who is stuck in your ways and can’t change, then digital is not for you. But being able to move with the pace, move with the times and adapt to the different things that are going on is the most essential.
