Gaynor Johnson from Ladbrokes breaks down her daily work routine and the responsibilities her role entails.
Gaynor Johnson
Job Title: Marketing manager
Job Description:I manage and deliver a multi channel marketing strategy from brand positioning through to acquisition, retention, CRM and PR.
Qualifications needed: To be a marketing manager one should ideally have a marketing degree or an equivalent. I had four years experience in marketing and operations strategy development in an online membership product before I was marketing manager for Ladbrokes.co.za, therefore I would say experience is also vital.
1. How did you get into your line of work? Ten years ago I started in the customer service team for an international online gaming operator and worked my way up. I have been in and out of the industry ever since.
2. What's the first thing you do when you get into the office? I review the financial results from the day before. Marketing is all about getting the best ROI and you constantly have to monitor the numbers and adjust your strategy to achieve the best and most efficient returns.
3. To do my job, you have to love... Communicating with different people on a daily basis as that is core to the role. I constantly have to manage resources and match them to requirements in order to maximise the business opportunities. Every day is about negotiating, making deals, compromising and pushing boundaries.
4. I spend most of my day… Working with my supplier agencies to refine the strategy and implement the most efficient methods to deliver the marketing plans. This involves a lot of briefing and managing the allocated budget.
5. What is the worst aspect of your job?
The job comes with a lot of administration and “paperwork”, although we do our best to use online filing, since we are an online service. It is best in the long run to have everything documented and processed, but it is my least favourite thing to do and so I try to set aside Fridays to do this.
6. What is the best thing about your job?I am constantly challenged to improve on the last campaign I delivered or last month’s results or the last technical development. Every day brings a new opportunity and this keeps me motivated and ready to take charge.
7. The next job up from yours is... General Manager. This role oversees the wider operations and commercial side of the business as well.
8. What's the one thing no one knows about your job? It is important in my role to understand the technical side of the business, from internal betting systems to creative agencies’ design techniques. I always maintain that you make the best strategic decisions when you understand the technical aspects of your business.
9. What is the starting salary of someone in your job? It depends on the position of the company and the industry you operate in, but an average for a marketing manager would be around the 360K mark.
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