As part of our growth plans for 2018, we have hired two consultants to join the Ball and Hoolahan team and would like to welcome Julia Geens and Daniella Sullivan to the family. Marc Sigrist, MD for Ball and Hoolahan commented: “Echoing our clients, it's a challenging market to find the right calibre of people that get our business and I'm thrilled to have two such people join the team. Julia is here to build upon our Professional Services and B2B offering, whilst Daniella joins our successful retail team. Both have established backgrounds in their respective fields and I have no doubt that they will flourish at Ball and Hoolahan. It may have taken a while to find them, but I'm excited at their desire to be true to our brand, whilst taking our renowned level of consultative advice and service to all our customers.”

Here’s the scenario. You’re a digital marketer and you have been invited to interview with a company that you’re really excited about. So, what do you do? Do you spend hours making a deliciously juicy presentation with colours and charts and bold numbers in red because who knows what the other candidates are doing, right? What if they really really want the role too and have gone all out? Should you be doing the same? What are you “expected” to do? If you have not been given a brief ahead of the interview, the minimum you should do is do your research. You want to make sure you’ve done enough research that when you’re walking through those doors you’re thinking “I know you. I get it. I’ve got this”. Whether you put that into a presentation or not is up to you, but content and knowledge outshine slick presentations. Here are a few things to think about and research before meeting the team… The Challenges Firstly. You should know what the challenges are. If you don’t know this, ask your recruiter or the HR team. You want to understand what they’re trying to achieve: Is it brand awareness? What are the competitors doing? Is it creating a seamless buying process? Is it building a community? Building brand loyalty? Product or brand education? All of the above? Example: This company is a start-up and have created a new product. They have a wonderful following but their main challenge is product education and brand awareness. The Channels Spend some time doing your research and list all the channels you can see as a consumer: What can you see? What is the company doing across every channel? Channels: website, suppliers’ websites, SEO, PPC, social media, PR, email marketing, customer service etc. Example: Website, social media, online marketplace presence. The Activity Now you know what channels they’re using, spend time understanding the activity for each channel: What are they doing? What can you see? Do this for each of the channels for a full digital audit, show them you understand what their current digital marketing activity is across all visible channels. Example: Website > activity: full website with built-in shop, strong focus on customer stories and community, brand ethos and story, mobile optimised. Suggested Improvements This is where you get to shine with your proposed improvements and go the extra distance. Go carefully here – there is a fine line between suggesting some helpful improvements and insulting their current state: Are the channels addressing the challenges? Could they be using more channels? Less channels? What about the messaging? What could they be being doing better to address the challenges listed at the beginning? Example: Website > Activity > Suggested improvements: Set up a tracking software to get a better understanding of their user journey and how to optimise. Does the site provide the user with everything they need? Though understanding the above, you’ve shown the team that you have done your research and have a clear understanding of what they’re trying to achieve. Not only this; you have just provided them with a taste of how to get them there. Make sure you understand the interviewers’ expectation of you and you can then take that information and put it into a format that is appropriate. There are some very lucky people who can wing it at interview, but preparation outsmarts the gift of the gab. If you can get your head around the challenges the business is facing, then you will shine at interview! Go get ‘em tiger!