Although his role at Webgains represents Rob’s first foray into affiliate marketing, he has been working in digital marketing since 2012. After starting in the branding and design industry, Rob switched to focus on B2B technology. This path led him to roles in data analytics, cybersecurity and more recently, travel technology. In some ways, Webgains represents the marrying of a marketing agency and technology provider in a single organisation. With his experience spanning both, Rob is perfectly at home with us, and we’re excited to have him here.

Welcome, Rob to our latest Meet the Team! Our first question, how do you like to start your working day?

I like to start each day by listening to either Jenni Falconer on Smooth Radio or Tim Lihoreau on Classic. I got a Robert’s iStream three radio for Christmas, and I’m obsessed. A great addition to any home or morning routine! If it’s not raining outside, I like to pop out for a thirtyish minute stroll before turning on my laptop. This is my current lockdown routine by the way, so hopefully, it won’t last that much longer, and restrictions will ease. I’ll miss Tim and Jenni if they do though.

 

Your morning routine sounds great. Our next question Rob is, what do you do here at Webgains and in what circumstances would I come to you for something?

As a digital marketing manager, my job centres around demand and lead generation. So, you might talk to me regarding anything related to lead magnets, content, SEO, paid media, the website and landing pages, email marketing, marketing automation, inbound funnels, and web forms.

Good to know, so what would you say is the coolest thing you’re working on right now?

We’ve just started a partnership with the Bristol Flyers basketball team, and I have been doing a bit of digital work and comms around that. I’m a huge sports fan and played a little basketball in my teens. My interest piqued around sixteen when I spent about two months trying to increase my vertical leap so I could learn to slam dunk. Never got close but it’s quite funny/tragic thinking back.

Our next question, who has influenced you the most when it comes to how you approach your work?

I’ve always had my own style of working and being productive, and I don’t think that has changed that much since I was at school. However, there are loads of habits and skills that I have learned from talented colleagues since I started in marketing about eight years ago.

 

What is a mistake you made early on in your career, and what did you learn from it?

I think I’ve probably made quite a few. One that springs to mind is sending out a mass email to thousands of people with an incorrect merge tag. I think it started with ‘Dear {First Name}’. What I learned from that is that different email service providers use different merge tag formats. I thought it was a uniform tag previously.

What has been your experience of working at Webgains so far?

Brilliant. Although we’re all working remotely, there’s plenty of support, and we are all in this together. Working from home for all these months has been bleak, but Webgains makes it as painless as possible. I work in a great team, and everyone I’ve interacted with here has been lovely.

We’re glad to have you on board too, so Rob, what keeps you energised at work?

I think starting to see the results of your efforts. To know what you are doing is making a difference and that it’s working. In my case, that could be something like a redesigned landing page producing increased conversions.

What’s one thing that surprised you about working at Webgains?

The attention and care Webgains has for staff as individuals and also to equality and diversity in general. These things are incredibly important, and it’s excellent that Webgains takes them so seriously.

Finally, what’s your secret talent that no one knows about yourself?

I wish my answer to this was that I could slam dunk a basketball into a full-sized hoop. Alas, that is far from the case. Instead, I would probably say that I was really into acting, singing and dancing at school and university. I still love going to the theatre, but my performing days are well behind me. Actually, I just re-read the question and saw it said ‘talent’ when in reality my short-lived stage career probably demonstrated a complete lack of it. Still, the ‘secret’ part is accurate enough.

Hopefully, we can witness your singing & dancing talents at our next Summer or Christmas Party then 😊 Thanks Rob for taking the time with us today!