Interview

When and how did you get your start in marketing?

I didn’t come into marketing through a traditional path. I’ve been a camera operator, produced interactive media, developed online communities for schools, was part of the dot com boom with on-demand publishing, and was a project manager working in eCommerce for software publishers. When coming to Speedway Motors I first worked with the development team as we evolved and improved our website. It was when the marketing team needed assistance migrating to a new email platform that I started on a marketing path and haven’t left.

What brings you joy in your role? 

What brings me joy is implementing new technologies that improve processes or that brings new tools to marketing. As we started using Iterable, our development team was also adding tools that helped provide better customer information that enabled us to move our personalization initiatives forward.

How did COVID-19 change the way you work, what did you learn? How did you adapt?

For me, covid didn’t change too much about the way I work, just the location. Our marketing team has always worked well together and are highly motivated to jump in and do what is needed to get the job done. That just continued with a few more tools with Zoom and Teams meetings. Working from home gave opportunities to really focus on the task without some of the distractions that can come from an open office layout. However, there are aspects of those face to face interactions that cannot be replaced and are missed.

What is one piece of advice that you would give to a new Iterable user?

It is hard to narrow down to just one piece of advice. Read the documentation, take the courses, understand the power of the platform so that you can get the most out of the personalization options that are possible with Iterable. If you are using a tool that doesn’t have a direct integration with Iterable, bring it up to the team. We mentioned a loyalty platform we are bringing on, and the Iterable team worked with them to make the connection much easier and documented the process.

What does customer experience mean to you and how does Iterable play a role?

Customer experience means getting the right email in front of a customer at the right time with the right content. As we continue to integrate our own platform tools with Iterable I feel we are in an exciting place to be able to continue to build on that theme. Ease of integration was a reason why we chose to go with Iterable.

What challenges and/or problems was your team experiencing prior to Iterable? How does Iterable solve for these?

Our previous email platform didn’t have easy entry points to help with technology integration. With Iterable it has been pretty easy to set up API connections and continue to build out customer profiles as we have additional information. We also use the data feed functionality to provide suggested products dynamically based on browsed or purchased products, as well as promotional codes on the fly from within our platform. The handlebar logic that can be used within templates is fairly easy to implement, and when we do hit a roadblock the Iterable support team and account managers are always there to bounce ideas off of as well as to provide guidance on next steps.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

Keep an open mind and stay curious. You’ll never go wrong when you continue to learn and grow.

What’s one thing that can instantly make your day better? 

Figuring out a complex task or coding issue and the results display on screen always makes the day better.