Zakia Baniabbassian

Handling client questions on inconsistent sales data could be done through a monthly acquisition report. This is where the marketing team and sales team need to coordinate closely together. The client needs to know exactly what the marketing team and sales team are doing and where the leads are coming from. Sales data gathered on a weekly basis will most likely show fluctuations because a week is not long enough to determine a pattern. Creating a detailed monthly acquisition report is key to understand what activities took place, where did it take place, how it went to learn how to improve them the following month.

Include your long-term goal in your marketing strategy and start with a small budget - because chances are the results might not always be in your favor in your initial campaigns. As you analyze your performance in your monthly report, you’ll be able to identify what’s working and what’s not. Stay focused on the end goal, be agile to make quick changes based on results, and increase your budget gradually over time.

I use a bullet-proof marketing strategy that I frequently go back to as my guide before investing in any campaign. If you’re trying something new, conduct industry research and look at your revenue stream; just because everyone is doing it doesn’t mean it will work for your business. If you don’t have revenue then you’re not ready yet. If you decide to go for it, make sure to A/B test and start with a small budget. Document the process and keep a report then analyze how you could improve.

Apart from creativity, major qualities include being able to stick to the brief, being receptive to feedback, brand guidelines and quick turnaround times. Before hiring I like to test their capabilities through a skill assessment.

If you’re a business providing products or services limited to a specific location (such a meal plan company only delivering in the UAE for example), it’s extremely important to include a geographical keyword strategy so that people within that area would be able to locate the business online when searching for “meal plans in Dubai”. Remember that people who are ready to buy typically search with long-tail-keywords on Google. So it's very important to consider adding the city or neighborhood to stay relevant.

Create a report for each initiative you’ve conceptualized and managed. Then prepare a case study presentation with the company’s previous challenges and impact of your efforts. This visual illustration, side by side with numbers, will clearly show the scale of your achievements in a nutshell.