So what's your background?
Mixed! I did a Philosophy degree, and then started training to be a primary school teacher before doing a stint with an educational software company. I was technical support, but elbowed my way into web content editorial. I then did a year-long stint as a technology blogger before becoming Dogs Trust’s Web Editor, eventually morphing into a Digital Marketing Officer (same job, different title).
How did you get this job, and did getting it fulfill a long-held ambition?
I went through a creative agency. It continued my long-held ambition to write for a living, but also took in a long-term aim to work for a charity; I’d wanted to for some time and didn’t have a specific one in mind. As long as it fitted with my personal ethics I was open-minded about where I worked.
How long have you worked at your current organisation?
Two years as of April 2010.
What was your first charity job? And your first communications role?
This is my first charity job, if you don’t count volunteering. It’s also the first role that falls under the communications banner - although really the digital team is part of the marketing team, given the structure here.
What do you actually do on a daily basis?
A substantial chunk of the day will be taken up with the day-to-day admin that keeps the digital world going. So: updating the website, sorting out anywhere between 50 and 100 supporter queries a day, and all the tracking, web analytics and monitoring that tells us what we’re doing, where we’re achieving our goals and where we need to shift focus.
I’m then mainly responsible for our social media pages, so will need to make sure people’s comments and questions are acknowledged and answered, as well as creating and editing content for those pages and spreading the message about what we do.
What's been your biggest achievement in this role so far?
I joke that it’s getting a picture of one of my cats on our website! In actual fact I probably feel proudest of being part of a team getting real results – dogs into homes, volunteers into centres – from social networks and being able to say both internally and to other organisations - with real data to back it up - that if you’re willing to experiment bravely online you can make it worthwhile.
What are the most challenging parts of your role?
Probably dealing with the perception of what we do. We don’t just sit around on Facebook all day, but the 10 or 20 minutes we do spend there has actual value to the charity, and it’s important to communicate that.
Establishing what you want to measure and how you’re going to measure it is always tricky with social media, especially if fundraising isn’t your primary goal all the time (ours often isn’t). You need to keep coming back to the charity’s aims and values and asking if you’re meeting those and how you know.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
The variety. I’m a big believer in friendly, approachable customer service, so it’s nice knowing that I can often be the ‘voice’ that personally says thank you to people who are enabling Dogs Trust to do what it does best. And on top of that I get to do geeky analytics stuff, lots of creative content-based stuff, and training others, such as our fantastic centre staff, in getting online and making the most of it.
Anything you don't enjoy?
Every job has a chunk of admin that can be arduous! But it can actually be a bonus sometimes – it’s a job to do between tasks that require more concentration, as it clears your head, and it tells you a lot about your supporter base, which is very important.
What kind of personality is best suited to working in a job like yours?
Flexible, creative, open-minded. You can’t pre-judge the online world, or look down on people who spend a lot of time on the Internet. At the same time you do need to be organised and it helps to have a team who can remind each other to stay disciplined and focused.
Any top tips for people wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Marketing qualifications are obviously useful, but they’re not necessarily essential if you can get your foot in the door and learn on the job. Thanks to a supportive employer - and specifically my manager - I’ve had a chance to go and learn more from places like the IDM, and hope to achieve certification in the future; it’s great to be able to learn the theory at the same time as being neck deep in the practice.
On that practical level, involve yourself online, and understand how to approach people in an informal yet professional way. Use online tools yourself so you understand what it’s like to be approached by a business or charity online, and how that can be done sympathetically and positively.
Above all, be honest. If you mess up, don’t blame it on the ‘intern’; mistakes will be forgiven, dishonesty won’t!
Published May 2010