Nicole Pereira is a Marketing Technologist and Co-Founder of a marketing agency, design firm, business growth consultancy and a non-profit marketing association. She’s a middle-of-the-funnel obsessed Entrepreneur who loves developing marketing stacks, lead generation, lead nurturing and marketing automation.
We recently asked Nicole about her experience in digital marketing and what advice she’d offer fellow IT pros on salary negotiations. Here’s what she shared:
Can you tell us about your professional background? How did you get to the position you’re in today?
I graduated with a degree in Latin American Studies which goes to show you that what you graduate with matters little about what field you end up in!
While in school I worked in the computer lab and I believe that set the tone for my future positions. I took on roles that were heavy in IT but had small elements of digital marketing or marketing technology involved.
I always seemed to have difficulty solidifying my identity because at the time most people did not pursue passions in tech and in marketing. Every position I had before starting my companies held this dual role and this double identity. So early on in my businesses, I took the title of CTO, I was doing all of our tech AND all of our digital marketing. CMO just didn’t feel like the right descriptor for me. It wasn’t until I discovered chiefmartec.com that I found my home and the correct title to truly convey my place.
What excites you about the field of digital marketing today? What drives you to succeed in your business?
Digital marketing is SO VAST. The great thing about this field is that you can connect with a larger community of digital marketers and share a common passion, yet still specialize and earn the respect from your peers on a small little corner of the digital marketing world.
We’d like to hear about your experiences with salary negotiation in the digital marketing field. Can you tell us about a time you were especially pleased with the outcome of your negotiations?
What I found in my career was that I could advance faster jumping companies versus climbing within a company. At the time most companies were lucky to have a dedicated digital marketer on staff so advancement was never really an option. Soon I would find that my ambitions and talent outgrew my employers.
I was building my own companies on the side so for a few of my employers I was able to transition them into marketing clients of my company and they were able to retain our services at a slightly lower cost. It generally became a nice transition for us both.
What advice would you offer other IT professionals on negotiating a fair salary with their employers? What are best practices?
Compensation for a job can come in many forms. Many new workers tend to only focus on their round salary amount but there are multiple forms of currency. Time, food, culture, office space, tech toys, trips, etc. … Know your currency. If having Friday’s off or going remote would make you happy then negotiate these benefits over money. At times companies are better positioned to offer you other valuable benefits versus a salary increase.
Pursuing a working life that matches what you want to do in per personal life is a great way to ensure you love what you do and who you work for. In turn, happy productive employees make employers more motivated to offer these incentives.
What type of research or insight is helpful for employees to have on hand when going into a salary negotiation?
Know your worth. If you are asking for another position, make sure you already have the qualifications and successes for the role. If you are asking for more money, make sure you have a flawless record based on your company’s success standards for your role.
In all cases research the market rate for your role at like kind companies. Be realistic and make sure your ask is fair. If you want something more than you have, you will need to already have been giving more before you ask for it.
IT has a reputation for being a male-dominated and male-oriented field. What advice would you offer fellow female IT workers on achieving their career goals and getting a fair salary?
This is really true. Tech-focused fields tend to be a hard space for females. I would say most females attempt to show their worth and hope to be recognized whereas men tend to be more outspoken and ask to be recognized even if they may not deserve it.
Women in the workforce, not just in IT, need to speak up and ask for the things they want. If you work hard, have successes to highlight and your request is fair, most managers will help you get what you want.
What’s the job market for digital marketing positions today? What skill sets are most in demand right now?
Technologists and Strategists are in high demand. There is a huge flood of mediocre marketers out there and it seems like every single one of them applies for my open positions. There is plenty of talent capable of being told what to do. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough people to tell these people what to do. Additionally, marketers and strategists tend to have limited mastery of the tools needed to execute their plans with excellence. The Marketing Technologist role is very hot and serves as a great entry for programmers, IT professionals, and other tech-focused individuals into the digital marketing world.
What trends are you following in the world of IT today? Why do they interest you?
The Chief Marketing Technologist Blog tends to serve as my core source of information and inspiration in my field. I have also spent many years developing almost 8k LinkedIn connections with people mostly in my field. My stream tends to be a nicely curated list of great information that my networks developed for me specifically in digital marketing. Lastly, I cleaned up my Facebook follows to only include business pages that were professionally and personally interesting to me. My wall tends to be full of interesting information in tech and gaming.
I really don’t go out looking for information. I spend time making online communities that send me hottest information out there.
Thank you Nicole!
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