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Variety and diversity of digital marketing experience coupled with a strong head for numbers and finance sound like the perfect recipe for a successful marketing career. And it is. As we’ve seen throughout the Marketing Experts Series, digital marketers come in all shapes and sizes – from all walks of life and all sorts of backgrounds and education.
Minh Hien To is no exception.
With experience stretching across Australia, the UK and Singapore, Minh currently heads up marketing for Snaphunt. Join us for this issue of the Marketing Experts Series and learn more about how she and Snaphunt not only navigated the changes and challenges of the last few years, but came out thriving.
Welcome, Minh! Excited for you to join us on this issue of the Marketing Expert Series. Let’s start with something easy. Tell us a bit about yourself! How did you get to where you are today?
Thanks for having me! And what a question to start us off!
I am very lucky to have found my passion for marketing quite early on. I feel like there are two different sides to my brain. On one hand, I have always been good with numbers: I’m obsessed with analytics and problem-solving. On the other hand, I’m a storyteller: I love conceptualising and bouncing off ideas with people and eventually figuring out how to make that idea a reality. I studied Marketing and Finance at university and at the time they felt like completely unrelated fields. In retrospect, they are in fact very complementary to what I specialize in today, which is Digital Marketing.
I started my career in traditional marketing in an FMCG firm where I had the opportunities to be part of a spectrum of traditional marketing channels from visual merchandising, events, TV sponsorships, to newspapers and radio campaigns. Around 2014, when digital marketing was gaining momentum, I gained a great deal of hands-on experience from launching a new website and running my first Google and Facebook Ads with a big project I was spearheading. That was when I caught the curiosity bug and decided to delve deeply into Digital Marketing and make it my focus.
Looking at your career, you’ve worked in a variety of different industries over the years. How have your experiences evolved over the length of your career?
That same sense of curiosity and eagerness to learn which got me into digital marketing has led me to where I am today. I now have almost a decade of experience under my belt across Australia, UK and Singapore, working with some of the most innovative brands. I have also gone from FMCG and Retail to eCommerce to Technology. One thing that hasn’t changed though is my genuine enjoyment for what I do. As the Digital Marketing landscape continues to rapidly evolve, I get to try new tools and figure out better and more effective ways to do everything from SEO, Content, social, CRM to paid advertising. And yes, I’m still very obsessed with analysing metrics to optimize exposure and conversions while getting better value for our bucks.
I also believe that the ability to apply and transfer your skills and to adapt to different industries becomes increasingly important as we get further into our careers. I’m always up for a challenge – with every brand that I work with, I have always been invested in the brand story and found a way to relate to the customer persona. Once I’ve cracked that, soaking up information about the industries became a lot easier – it’s like once you have a sturdy foundation, you can always build on it layer-by-layer.
Is there a particular career experience that stands out for you? A project you enjoyed most or a challenge you’re glad to have faced?
I had the pleasure of working with 8020 Ventures which is an incubator for industry-first brands including Bootea, Third living, Cocowhite and Sneak Energy. It was a thrilling experience leading an in-house marketing team that acts like an agency, in a start-up environment! Each brand had its unique target market, a completely different tone of voice and strategies which meant that we had to be super organised, but also agile to be able to jump on opportunities and activate campaigns all year round. So no two days were the same and it was an amazing and stimulating playbox for any marketer! I was also able to experiment a lot with various channels from podcast advertising to gaming influencer marketing and target niche audiences from socially conscious millennials to hard-core gamers. I’m also super proud of what we achieved with such young brands in such a short amount of time, not only in terms of revenue but also brand loyalty and international reach.
Currently, you’re the Head of Marketing for Snaphunt. Tell us about Snaphunt and the work that you do there as the Head of Marketing.
Snaphunt is a leading remote hiring platform that helps companies find and hire the right talent for their teams, anywhere in the world. What has really drawn me to this role from the very beginning is the opportunity to make an impact at scale. With what we’re doing at Snaphunt, we give job seekers the chance to accelerate their careers internationally and the flexibility to choose the best job for them, no matter where they are based. At the same time, we’re helping employers reach their business goals by hiring A-players from their teams and removing the geographical boundaries when it comes to recruiting for talent.
As the Head of Marketing, I am in charge of both B2B and B2C marketing. My ultimate goal is to:
- Raise brand awareness and attract candidates and employers to the platform,
- Build the customer acquisition funnel and pipeline, and
- Drive customer engagement from both audiences. We do these through a range of organic and paid channels, from content generation, SEO, social media to partnerships.
I can imagine that the Pandemic has impacted how Snaphunt and its competitors have had work – has COVID-19 impacted your marketing strategies?
Funny story! I had worked at Snaphunt for exactly 4 weeks before the world went into lockdown. As a tech startup that depends on hiring, this changed everything!
There were a lot of uncertainties in the world which led us to take a supportive approach with our marketing instead of an aggressive sales approach. It came down to how we could bring value to our target audiences, build connections and help them navigate through this turbulent time. We hosted webinars for job seekers to guide them through the virtual hiring process, and guide managers on leading from home for instance. We also leaned more heavily on organic channels and partnerships rather than paid advertising to nurture leads until the market picked up.
Do you feel that there has been a change in the demand or need for hiring platforms like Snaphunt?
Definitely! I think the world had already been moving towards digitalisation prior to the pandemic but we certainly accelerated that process drastically over the last 2 years.
When it comes to the world of work, our perception of how work is done has completely changed and we’re seeing companies and people choosing remote work as a permanent option going forward.
Companies are a lot more comfortable with hiring virtually or remotely and it’s now a candidate-short market where companies need to expand their pool in order to find the right talent quickly. There’s definitely momentum that has built and we are seeing that traction first hand at Snaphunt. Last year we hit 10x growth and we are now helping thousands of companies hire remote and onsite talent in 90 countries.
Do you think we’ll be seeing more developments for hiring and recruitment platforms and their strategies as the world adapts to new normals?
With the opportunity of remote work, there are tools that help with not only hiring and employing global talent but also in employee productivity and engagement. There is also a lot of synergy that can be created between brands to provide end-users with comprehensive solutions to solve their problems.
How do you think this will impact your marketing strategies at Snaphunt?
I believe what we created and are offering at Snaphunt is pretty unique. We are riding on the waves of not only last year’s amazing growth but also the remote work momentum. On top of that, we’ve built an audience in APAC, which is arguably one of the world’s best tech and digital talent hubs.
This gives us the confidence to explore new channels for marketing to draw in new audiences while ramping up our customer engagement and retention strategies to ensure we communicate our values clearly and quickly to drive conversions.
Many marketers have reported a lasting impact on their lives and careers, how has the pandemic affected you personally and professionally?
As I mentioned, professionally, the pandemic impacted literally everything I do for work and navigating it continues to be a fun (and sometimes stressful) rollercoaster.
Personally, I really appreciated the reset. Working from home means I’m saving so much time from commuting, I’m also eating better because I can prepare my food daily and I can work from anywhere.
And finally, any advice you’d give to young and aspiring marketers?
Stay open and continue to pick up new skills. There are so many aspects to marketing that it can be a little overwhelming at the beginning. And you don’t know what you don’t know! There are many online courses out there but I found I learn best when dealing with practical problems. So keep at it and give everything a go!
Thanks for taking part in this Series, Minh, and for sharing your experiences with us! How can people connect with you if they’d like to know more about you?
You can hit me up on LinkedIn – I’m always up for a chat or a virtual coffee/tea!
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The Marketing Expert Series features marketing and communications experts from across every industry. Every month, 2Stallions will showcase the stories and expertise of marketing experts from around the world, join us as we explore how marketers navigate the challenges of the regions and industries they work in. If you’d like to be featured in a next issue of the Marketing Expert Series. Please reach out to us via email.
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