The Post: Senior Social Media Manager, Ardmore
The Post Holder: Adam Louden
Good time management and creative flair are central to Adam Louden’s role as a Social Media Manager.
Give a brief outline of your career to date.
After graduating with a degree in marketing, I worked mostly in dual Sales and Marketing roles before eventually transitioning purely into digital marketing. It was really competitive after graduating to find a marketing-focused role but I’m thankful because those initial jobs helped me learn a lot of skills and effectively developed me for furthering my career. With four years digital experience under my belt growing brands and successfully bringing campaigns to market, I decided to make a move. I’d always wanted to work for an agency and when the opportunity came up at Ardmore I jumped at the chance.
What was your favourite subject at school?
Aside from PE, my favourite subject at school was Media Studies. I loved studying films and that’s also where I first discovered that I liked advertising and understanding the nuances of how picture, colour and copy can convey and influence emotion.
Did you go on to further/higher education, if so, what did you study and where?
After attending Royal Belfast Academical Institution, I attended Northumbria University in Newcastle Upon Tyne where I studied Business and Marketing.
How did you get into your area of work?
It certainly wasn’t a typical route despite studying Marketing at university. After working in Sales and Marketing roles for a few years I decided Digital Marketing was where I wanted to focus. To help with my experience I started a small side hustle, Boost Hockey Academy, and took on all the marketing and advertising almost like a talent case study. I built an e-commerce website, optimised it for search engines, grew my social media following using paid and organic strategy, as well as creating all the content along the way.
Is this what you always wanted to do?
Like so many people I really didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do until I was a bit older. During school I had some ambition to work in marketing, hence my course choice. Once I got a bit of a taste for that through university and work experience, I realised it was an area I wanted to develop into. I’ve always been intrigued by social media, so I feel that was a very natural specialism to adopt.
Were there any particular essential qualifications or experience needed?
Personally, I think a mix of both is ideal. I would never overlook someone without qualifications if they had commensurate experience. For me, it’s about being able to put what you know into practice.
Are there alternative routes into the job?
I think if you really want to do something then, within reason, you will probably figure out a way to make it happen. From starting a blog, a business, going to university, becoming a content creator, or freelancing, there are many different routes to working in digital marketing.
What are the main personal skills your job requires?
Time management, creativity and communication are probably the most important skills in my role within a busy agency. Things can move quickly and there usually a few different departments involved so I like to try and stay in conversation with anyone I’m working with.
What does a typical day entail?
I don’t get too many days the same and that’s part of what I love about my job. The challenges, the projects and the conversations can all be so diverse which is really enjoyable. The parts of my job that I do each day would be based on ad performance, executing social schedules and planning content.
What are the best and most challenging aspects of the job?
The best part of the job is working with so many creative and unique people in an environment which not just expects it, but also nurtures and encourages it. I’m also extremely lucky to work with some amazing brands who really trust us as an agency to represent them with a creative and original approach. Within Ardmore we work with some amazing charitable partners and seeing the results of some of their campaigns is very rewarding.
Why is what you do important?
That’s a great question because there is so much value to social media advertising and marketing. From a brand perspective social media can help you connect with your customers, shape brand perception, bringing your core values to life in front of thousands of people every day. Social media can absolutely help businesses grow in a very cost-effective way. Being able to measure and report effectiveness such as return on ad spend makes it an important and scalable marketing approach.
How has Covid-19 impacted your business/role?
For me personally, Covid-19 really impacted me professionally and I’ve seen and felt first-hand the economic impact that it caused having faced redundancy in a previous role. In some senses I’m quite lucky because without that I may not have ended up at Ardmore. Thankfully, based on the last few months there seems to be the start of an economic resurgence and that is reflected in how busy we currently are.
What adjustments have you had to make?
I think in terms of my role, one of the main adjustments we’ve had to be mindful of is our tone of voice when representing brands. It’s very important on social media to be able to read the room and have an understanding of the current climate on potentially sensitive topics. I also think that since the start of Covid-19 pandemic there has been an increase in reactive marketing which means that as an agency we need to be flexible and agile.
What advice would you give anyone looking to follow a similar career path?
Try to get as much experience as you can, whether it’s a year’s work experience at university or launching your own social media pages. Immerse yourself in your specialism. The gold is really in the digging. On top of that, don’t ever consider yourself an expert. I hate that term. It’s an ever-changing landscape and it’s really important to keep learning all the time.
If you weren’t doing this, what would you like to do?
My wife is a primary school teacher and I think teaching would really appeal to me but maybe at a secondary level. I have a bit of a background in sports coaching, and I get a lot of satisfaction from helping people improve.
What is the one piece of advice you would give to yourself on your first day?
Ask questions! There is no such thing as a silly question and there is no shame in not knowing. It’s the best way to learn.
Describe your ideal day off
Spending the morning taking my dog for a long walk with my wife, grabbing some breakfast together followed by playing golf, with a couple of beers that evening enjoying a BBQ with friends. Perfection.
And finally, what’s the key to any successful job search?
I think it’s important to rule out anything that just doesn’t excite you. There needs to be some passion that drives you every day. If I can’t picture myself doing the job, then it’s probably not right.
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