Ronke Adeyemi aka Ondo Lady is an award winning Blogger, Marketer and Social Media Consultant.
With over ten years’ experience in Marketing and PR, Ronke tells us how she “fell” into an industry that at first, she knew nothing about!
What do general tasks in your career consist of on a daily basis?
I work as a freelance Social Media and Digital Marketing Consultant so my day can consist from writing proposals, creating marketing strategies, compiling a Social Media audit, preparing reports based on marketing activities, contacting various advertising executives to placing banner ads or sponsored posts on their sites, writing copy for marketing collateral and creating content to updating websites. On the other hand, I can be out of the office all day attending meetings, meeting with suppliers, networking at events and attending launches.
Why did you decide to become involved in marketing?
I originally wanted to be a journalist but fell into marketing over ten years ago. I liked the fact that I could combine my creative side with project management. I got the bug and was hooked!
When did you make a start on your career?
I guess it was ten years ago when I gained a role at a design company. I had no idea what I was doing and why I was doing it; but I learnt a lot and really gained an insight on how to work with people from a wide variety of backgrounds.
How did you make start?
I just saw a job advertised and applied. At the interview, I gave many examples about my skills, projects and work experience that I had done prior. The manager was impressed and hired me.
Who helped you?
My family always encouraged me to go after what I wanted and to believe in myself, so I would say it was them who have helped me.
What have you learnt during your experience?
I have learnt an awful lot during my career. Most of all I have learn’t that in order to succeed in marketing you need to be able to communicate with people, you also need to like people and to be able to empathise with others. In order to sell your product or service to your customers you need to be able to put yourself in their shoes and understand what and how they think. You also need to be able to think strategically (no matter what level you are at) and be able to plan your workload. Yes, marketing is creative but it has an analytical element and you need to be able to say why you are doing an activity and what you plan to get out of it. Then you must be able to track the results from your activities and report on what worked.
What advice can you offer to aspiring Marketers?
I would say make sure that you are aware of what marketing actually is. Also, always keep your eye on your customer; make sure you know who they are, where they are and what platforms they use. Make sure you can use those platforms – always adapt your skills to meet your customers’ needs not the other way round and never be afraid to try something different.
