Employee Spotlight: Meet Melissa | Marketing Manager

What is your role at WorkCast?
I’m the marketing manager at WorkCast.

I oversee all the marketing activity for the company. So, my role involves everything from overseeing the website and social media, to customer communications, to our own webinar programme.

I say oversee because I have an amazing team who bring these projects to life. I work with them and the other teams across the business, such as new business, events and development, to ensure we are reaching the right customers with the right messaging, generating quality leads, and providing an amazing buyer experience for our customers. 

Describe a typical day for you at WorkCast
I think the theme amongst everyone at WorkCast is no one day is the same. Marketing, specifically, is really varied as we are working on a number of different projects on any given day. 

One thing that happens every day is my morning coffee - or three. My team can attest, I am not a morning person so this helps me get through until I feel like a normal human person.

Then, depending on the day, the marketing team will have a quick stand-up to go over priorities, projects, concerns or just interesting stuff from the previous day. This has become invaluable as we adjust to remote working. It also allows us to troubleshoot as a team and brainstorm. 

After that, it really depends on what our ongoing projects are. I could be doing anything from planning our marketing strategy, to setting up social, to writing and editing copy, to attending project meetings. 

The focus recently has been on customer journey and how to get a prospect onboarded and creating events as efficiently as possible. This has involved a larger project team across multiple departments, which are the kinds of projects I really love.

And, at the moment, I also help run our daily platform demo webinar. I am the host-extraordinaire and ensure that all the customer questions are answered. 

What is your favourite thing about WorkCast?
I feel like as a marketer I should stay away from the cliches, but honestly, the best thing about WorkCast is the people.

We have three offices and I am based in the smallest of them, Edinburgh, with the marketing team and our CEO. Even though I am not always in the same place or even the same timezone as a lot of my colleagues, I always feel like we’re a team, working towards a common goal. They are all such hard workers - everyone is keen to jump in and help wherever needed, even if it isn’t their “job”.

I especially love working with all the members of the marketing team. We’re a small team, so we work very collaboratively. It’s great to be able to brainstorm with them and bring some pretty ambitious projects to life. They’re pretty amazing. And, our Friday afternoon beers also don’t hurt!

What advice do you have for somebody looking to run their first webinar?

One word: plan!

I’ve come across so many people in my career who think they can just throw a webinar together with little to no planning. And, while it is technically possible, those webinars usually end up being terrible. 

Planning is the key to running a successful webinar, something that will actually engage your audience. So make sure you make a plan (we have a great checklist to get you started). What is your goal with the webinar? What is your topic? Who are your speakers? Do you have a script? Will you do it live, simulive, or on-demand? There are a lot of things to consider when running a webinar, so make sure you put the effort into it before the actual event. I promise, it will make everything else so much easier.

OK, now onto the fun stuff...

What’s the last song you listened to on repeat/most embarrassing song you’re hooked on right now? 
I will admit, I have been listening to a lot of the Backstreet Boys at the moment. With the current circumstances and being essentially locked in my flat in Edinburgh, I need something to put me in a good mood in the morning.

Maybe it’s because I still know all the words, but something about BSB has been helping me get through the long days.  

What is your favourite book or movie and why?

My favourite book changes from week to week, but I recently finished reading A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott.  Alicia is a Tuscarora writer from Six Nations of the Grand River living in Brantford, Ontario and the book is a collection of essays that are quite honestly stunning to read. The prose is extraordinary and the themes she explores - trauma, legacy, oppression - are increasingly relevant. It’s not an easy read at times, but it’s a book I cannot stop thinking about. It’s utterly brilliant. 

Also, anything by Tana French. I am honestly obsessed with her. The Dublin Murder Squad series is so well done, and I think I read her most recent book, The Wych Elm, in two days. 

How are you passing the time during quarantine? 

I have been streaming a lot of television. I just finished a rewatch of Parks and Rec, and I can highly recommend it for quarantine viewing. Band of Brothers is next on the list. It’s been a few years since I last watched that. 

I have also been watching a lot of classic films, specifically noir. Night of the Hunter starring Robert Mitchum was an interesting one, and I really liked Out of the Past (also starring Robert Mitchum. There may be a bit of a theme here). I’m hoping to get to some Philip Marlowe in the coming weeks. I’m definitely due a rewatch of The Big Sleep (NOT the Robert Mitchum one in this case - stick with Bogart for this one). 

Oh, and also martinis. Lots of them. Plymouth gin, a dash of Noilly Prat, stirred not shaken, with a twist of lemon. Perfect!

Want to join Team WorkCast? We're hiring across a number of different teams. Check out our careers section for more details.