A day in the life of a Techspert Senior Marketing Manager: Sam Mabaso

Hi, I’m Samukelisiwe but you can call me Sam. Originally from South Africa, I relocated to Cambridge in 2016 and I’m the Senior Marketing Manager at Techspert. I’m responsible for developing and implementing the organization’s marketing strategy. In this blog post, I share what a typical day is like for me.

Fun fact, this picture of me was taken on my first day

9:30 AM – Prep for the day

I usually get to the office between 9:30 and 10:00. Thanks to the company’s flexible hours policy I can structure my day around core hours which are 10 AM - 12 PM and 2 PM - 4 PM. Unlike the majority of Techspertians who run on coffee, I’m a herbal tea drinker so when I get to the office I make myself a big cup of that and get cracking. 

The first thing I do every morning is check on our different platforms and campaigns to ensure that everything is on track. We use HubSpot as our marketing CRM system, so I use that platform to check on various activities such as website, blogging, email and social media performance. I also use this time to respond to emails, and social media engagement. 

10 AM – Meetings and writing

Next up is a directors and execs meeting so I need to prepare for that. Every month the MDs and heads of the different teams (business development, marketing, operations, and tech) meet to discuss company-wide strategies and objectives and provide updates on various developments. After the meeting, I’m going to spend the rest of my morning editing a blog I’ve written on Techspert’s 2019 highlights.

Currently, I handle all aspects of the company’s marketing efforts including blogging, email marketing, social media, and website maintenance so it’s vital that I remain organized (I love being organized, so this isn’t an issue). Fortunately, we’re in the process of hiring a digital marketing executive who will champion our digital marketing activities. This will give me more room to ensure that our marketing initiatives are having an even bigger impact on the overall company objectives.

With next week’s blog sorted and the directors and execs meeting out of the way, it’s time for lunch. 

1 PM – Lunch

Lunch is festive today; we’re decorating cookies and the office Christmas tree. I’m a big believer in having a balance between work and play. Everyone here works incredibly hard so that part of the equation is taken care of. When it comes to “play”, we have a social committee, which I’m a member of, and we plan monthly activities to ensure that our work/play balance remains in harmony. Some of the other fun activities we’ve organized include pumpkin carving, go-karting, karaoke, cocktail and canapé making, and punting.

With Christmas songs happily ringing in my ear and a belly filled with cookies and hot chocolate, it’s time to get back to the grind. But before that, I’m off to fetch Mabel, a friend’s dog who I regularly take for walks and bring to the office with me. Yay to working in a dog-friendly office. 

Cookie and tree decorating in progress (I’m behind the camera)

2 pm – Strategies and planning

With Mabel by my side, I spend some time reviewing candidates for the digital marketing executive role and scheduling interviews. We have some great candidates lined up so hopefully, the marketing team will double soon.

Next, I turn my attention to a strategy I’m developing to optimize the methods we use to attract, engage and delight our customers. A crucial element of this campaign is ensuring that we develop the right messaging for the right people. So, that’s what I’m going to work on this afternoon, the core messaging, the format we’ll present it in (for example, guides, white papers, blogs, and videos) and the delivery channels we’ll use (for instance, email, PPC and social media). This is a big project and not one that I’ll finish in one afternoon but I’m hoping to make some good progress today!

Mabel living her best life while I’m hard at work 

5 PM – Final push for the day 

At this time of day, I either get a second wind or lose momentum. Today, my left brain is tapped out, so I’ll use this final hour to do something creative and develop some designs and content for our social media channels to be used next week.

6 PM – Done and dusted

It’s time to take Mabel (the dog, remember?) for a walk, drop her off and head home for the evening. Although no two days are ever the same for me, I hope this gives you an idea of what a typical day is like for me.

Striking a pose with fellow Techspertians after conquering the escape rooms

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