My Breakdown Of The Industry and What Agency Life’s About

The State of Digital 2015 Summer Series continues today, giving young talent in digital marketing a chance to shine in front of our audience. Today, Sally Newman from Koozai talks us through her take on life in an agency, four months into her digital career.

Hi, I’m Sally and I’ve been working at Koozai, a Digital Marketing Agency for just over four months now. Even after just four tiny months within the Digital Marketing industry I already love it more than I could have ever dreamed. I’ve always been a bubbly character but being at Koozai has allowed me to be myself..and then some! If you don’t know quite what agency life is like, I’ll summarise it in a few words for you:

• Sociable
• Fast-paced
• Every day’s a school day

These three things make agency life for me but the most important aspect is how much I’ve been able to learn in so little time. In my interview in February with Koozai I remember my manager, Ollie, saying to me that he learns something every day and I can remember thinking to myself ‘every single day..really?’ – but it’s true. Every day since I’ve started working for Koozai I have learnt something, whether it’s how to spot a link worth removing or disavowing when completing a Backlink Analysis or getting to grips with all of the SEO tools that keep flying my way.

As I’m lucky enough to work for such a socially connected agency such as Koozai, I’ve had great training camps with such luminaries as Kelvin Newman, Barry Adams and Matthew Barby. Getting these kind of opinions and observing and absorbing their skills and knowledge first-hand is so important for someone like me, who’s so early in my digital career with so many exciting avenues to explore. I guess my eyes have been really opened.

What Did I Think The Industry Would Be Like?

Looking back to before I started my job as Digital Marketing Executive at Koozai, I’ve got to thinking about whether I had any preconceived views about what I thought the industry was like. I suppose I knew that it would be well connected in terms of people and having previously studied an advertising degree at Southampton Solent University, I knew the types of books to read, some of the influencers to follow and resources to suss out but I don’t think I quite knew how many opportunities I would be given and how many talented people I would be able to learn from. When I was at university I remember feeling slightly as if there was an arm of marketing that was glamourous, it was Digital Marketing. And so it has proved to be whilst simultaneously being lots of hard work and fun..

Learning More As Time Goes By

As I am becoming more informed about the industry, I feel in a stronger position to be able to form objective opinions on changes I see. An example would be the mobile update, ‘Mobilegeddon’ and the hype that surrounded it but the reality in terms of client fluctuation in data, did not materialise. This was no doubt down to when Google announced that being mobile-friendly would be a ranking factor in mobile search results. They did say that the algorithm change will see a “significant impact” on SERPs, which in turn then made the digital marketing industry go into a mobile frenzy. However, I am now able to assess that we, the industry, over-hyped the update and the anticipated impact didn’t happen.

As time goes by and I learn more about the fabulous industry I’m in, I find myself embracing more resources and influencers as my love for the work I do continues to grow. I’m very excited for the future challenges that lay ahead.

I hope that I am helping you to have an insight into the exciting world in which I am lucky enough to work. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have about getting into the industry. Don’t be shy. Think about coming on board – it’s a great place to be!