This week, our Coffee Qs guest is Becky Potter, junior display planner/buyer at digital marketing agency Greenlight.

First of all, Becky, how long have you been working at Greenlight?

Becky Potter: In October 2015, I started on the Greenlight Graduate Scheme, so nearly two years! Following completion of the scheme I then moved into a display buyer role in October 2016, which I have been enjoying for the past eleven months.

Could you describe your role in one sentence?

BP: I plan direct and programmatic display plans for clients keen to drive performance and awareness (either or both).  

How did you get into performance marketing?

BP: Before I began working at Greenlight, I was running a branch of an online student newspaper based at my university campus. I was fortunate enough to work with the national site to launch the local site at my university and through this I gained experience measuring web and social traffic and generating and optimising content for readers. During this experience, my interest naturally translated from journalism into digital marketing, this was further cemented by a week-long training course with the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (IDM).

My time at IDM resulted in an introduction to Greenlight and the graduate scheme. Their focus on creativity, innovation and measurement is what appealed to me in regards to performance marketing. When it came to choosing an area to specialise in, audience and data focus in display is what interested me the most.

What about your job gets you out of bed in the morning?

BP: Constantly trying something new, every single day. The display space is always moving and innovating, therefore when we get a new brief we always ask ourselves as a team, “Can you do X programmatically?” Or “Wouldn’t it be great if we could show X as part of the user journey?” In most cases what we think we are capable of doing, we can always do and that is always very exciting, especially when it materialises and over-delivers on your initial expectations.

What’s been your biggest career learning curve?

BP: Moving into a completely technology-focused channel. When I worked in content, I had more of a content and analytics-driven view of digital marketing. However with the move into display, I’ve not only had to have a view and knowledge on creative and basic reporting, but also of how the technology stacks up and functions in order to sell it more effectively into the client and take a more transparent approach towards the ad tech industry. That, coupled with the amount of jargon we use, has been the hardest thing to wrap my head around, but there is always so much support from the rest of the team if I need a bit of guidance on the latest buzzword.

And what keeps you awake at night?

BP: Luckily, I sleep very well at night… However, in terms of where my mind wanders when I’m supposed to be switching off, I would probably say it has a tendency to think about my next challenge – professionally or personally. 

What would be your top tip for newcomers to the industry?

BP: Maintain your enthusiasm, inside and outside of the workplace. We are fortunate enough to be at the forefront of our careers in an incredibly fun industry, which involves some of the most cutting-edge technology. It can be easy to get bogged down by what your specific vertical does and not think about the wider picture and the range of possibilities. However, if you remain enthusiastic and do your reading around your channel and the marketing industry in general, you will stay inspired, interested and more importantly engaged with what you do every day.

So I guess what I’m really saying is, find a way to stay inspired, whether that’s reading publications, blogs, listening to podcasts or attending talks and seminars – consume content about your industry wherever you can.

If you didn’t work as a junior display planner/buyer at Greenlight, you’d be…

BP: Probably doing something in publishing – books, magazines or papers.