We recently caught up with Laura Lopez, a key member of our Demand Gen team. She told us a bit about her working life at Fifty Five and Five and what she loves most about her job as a digital marketing executive.
Hi Laura. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m Laura Lopez, digital marketing executive at Fifty Five and Five. In my role, I cover most fields in digital marketing. This includes PPC, social media, SEO, and the strategy behind these fields as well.
Where are you from?
Zaragoza, Spain.
What did you study at university?
Journalism. I loved it at first and still love writing but I realised later on that journalism wasn’t right for me.
Where did you work before Fifty Five and Five?
Directly before Fifty Five and Five, I worked for a technology company in the Microsoft partner network. At first, when I started, I was so taken aback by all the Microsoft acronyms, I didn’t understand a thing. I spent the whole time trying to work out what all the Microsoft tools were doing. But now, I’m an expert. That experience really set me up well for this job. Sometimes I feel like a nerd. A Microsoft nerd.
If you had to pick a favourite area of digital marketing, what would it be?
Pay per click campaigns.
That was a quick answer.
I like working on Pay Per Click campaigns the most. PPC is more straightforward in terms of getting tangible results, fast. When you drive a lead gen campaign, you actually see people responding to your ads. Seeing people react to all your hard work is very satisfying.
Describe a typical working day… in the office.
In the office? The one that we don’t have access to at the moment?
If you can remember life before lockdown?
Ha. Ok. So, the day starts with me catching up on my tasks and projects. If there are paid media campaigns running, the first thing I would do is check on that. To make sure everything is in place in terms of budget, in terms of links, making sure everything works correctly.
Then I start catching up with SEO, to make sure we are on top of any updates or any algorithm changes that have happened. And the same for social media – for instance, if there are any notifications or mentions we need to be aware of for our clients.
Then we have our ‘stand-up’ meeting and I start in on my list of tasks for the day ahead.
It sounds like a busy schedule.
Yep, but it is enjoyable, rewarding work and we have a great team here at Fifty Five and Five that supports us.
What’s the stand-up meeting?
This is our daily meeting in the morning, where we meet with the entire company and quickly go through our priorities for the day. It’s a nice way to catch up with everyone, but also to make sure we are on track and on the same page with all of the various projects going on.
What’s your favourite part of the day?
I think what I like most is analysing data and finding out the reason behind the performance of ads and campaigns. For example, when there’s a campaign going on, I enjoy checking in to see how it has progressed. Analysing how many leads we’ve got over the day and understanding why that has happened. This might sound a little bit weird, but I even enjoy having a quick check over the weekend. Even when I don’t have to. Just to see how it’s going.
So, this is 24 hours, seven days a week PPC?
Well, actually, when I am tired of Netflix, I go to LinkedIn and check it. Just to see if there’s anything exciting going on… ok, I am joking. Whoever is reading this is going to think, woah, chill out.
But, seriously, what I enjoy the most is research. Normally we come up against many challenges, because a lot of the work we do is quite technical and best practice is always evolving. I find SEO quite challenging in this respect. And so, what I enjoy most is when I research something and suddenly the light comes on and I find the answer to a problem. That is the happiest moment of the day, of the week.
I said that I love PPC because it delivers results fast. But I also love SEO because you never stop learning. And when you figure out an answer which helps you overcome a challenge, it feels great!
What skills do you think are needed to be good in your role?
Perseverance. Because some projects can be quite time – and energy – consuming.
It is important to have a positive attitude. It’s hard work. But it’s rewarding work. You know, I was only half-joking about looking at LinkedIn on the weekends. You might laugh but PPC is quite exciting sometimes.
Another important skill is wanting to learn. Being very open to the latest news, announcements and developments in every field. You should be… I don’t how to say it, but it’s important to be an expert in what you do, but at the same time you need to be open to what is going on in other areas of marketing, or technology, so that you can respond to challenges with a broad view and with a contextualised understanding. Because digital marketing is always a mix of different fields. Being open-minded and willing to learn is crucial.
What do you like about Fifty Five and Five?
The people… obviously. I love all the people at Fifty Five and Five. It’s a great team. If you need something, someone is always willing to help you.
There’s also always room for you to investigate your way through things. There’s no “it can’t be done” attitude. I like the freedom to be able to work on my own projects in my own way, but also, at the same time, knowing that I have the full support of the team.
What advice would you give to anyone starting out in your role?
I would say: always ask questions. There are many new things coming up every day. And it’s difficult to keep up, so we have to help each other.
Also, because things keep changing, it’s always good when someone comes in with a pair of fresh eyes. So, it’s really useful, when you are new, to speak up – because it can be helpful for the whole team. And everyone brings different experiences and skills to the job.
If you had to start again… in life… what would you do instead of marketing?
I don’t know. I started out in journalism. But I realised I didn’t like it. Maybe photography? I have always enjoyed that.
What’s your favourite thing to do on the weekend?
Before the lockdown my favourite thing was going out and exploring South London. I’m looking forward to doing that again soon.