Things I’ve learnt over three years marketing WooCommerce

When I joined the WooCommerce marketing team in July 2014 we were three. Today we’re a team of thirteen and the landscape of how we work, what we produce, and how we engage users, has changed a lot. Also, WooCommerce has changed a lot! Including being acquired by Automattic. This is a talk I delivered at WordCamp Europe 2017 in Paris, June 16.

Transcript

1. Things I’ve learnt over three
   
   years marketing WooCommerce
   @marinapape
   marinapape.com
   

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7. The world of WordPress was a very technical, I didn’t understand a lot of
   what people were talking about. It seemed the people who coded were
   the kings and queens. Data mattered a lot. The products were 100%
   digital with no physical touch points. It was also very global.
   What did marketing look like in this new world?
   

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8. Learning to embrace change
   Dwelling on strengths
   Unconscious bias
   Content should exist to serve
   The importance of connecting to ‘the who’
   Social media and R.O.F.
   Emailing as you grow
   Data and instincts
   

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9. Learning to embrace change
   Balancing hope and realism
   Unconscious bias
   Storytelling and connecting to ‘the who’
   Social media and R.O.F.
   Emailing as you grow
   Data and instincts
   

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11. CHAPTER 1
    Learning to embrace change
    

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12. ✏
    
    } =
    }
    

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14. “
    ”
    MOLLY GRAHAM, ‘GIVE AWAY YOUR LEGOS’
    There’s a unique feeling of ambiguity, chaos and stress that
    comes with doubling or tripling your team every six months. If
    you don’t manage scaling proactively, you can end up in
    trouble.
    firstround.com/review/give-away-your-legos-and-other-commandments-for-
    scaling-startups/
    

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16. CHAPTER 2
    Balancing hope and realism
    

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17. “
    ”
    JOHN MAEDA
    It’s important to find the right balance of hope and realism,
    not becoming too gloomy about the future or unrealistically
    optimistic about our current state.
    

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20. CHAPTER 3
    Unconscious bias
    

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21. “
    (FROM A DEFINITION OF UNCONSCIOUS BIAS)
    The brain uses social stereotypes in order to simplify the
    massive amount of information that it receives from the world.
    And heightening the effect is the human preference for people
    who are similar to us. The vast majority of these processes are
    invisible to the conscious mind.
    
    

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22. ?
    &
    

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25. How do we create inclusive marketing?
    

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26. CHAPTER 4
    Storytelling and connecting
    
    to ‘the who’
    

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32. I don’t think you can really have a sense of the ‘why’ of your organisation,
    if you aren’t deeply connected to ‘the who’ it is you exist to serve.
    

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33. Including customer stories in your marketing plan:

    Set up regular User Research calls
    Turn the conversations into stories
    Tell them externally* and internally.

    

    *Not going make you heaps of money necessarily.
    

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35. CHAPTER 5
    Social media and R.O.F.
    

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38. Like with blog posts, we measure success in terms of traffic and
    revenue – but always have room to do things that are just for fun, or to
    make someone smile.
    R.O.F.
    

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42. I have always believed, and still firmly do, that there is something healthy
    about brands that have room to do creative things ‘just because’.
    

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45. “
    In a company, creative thinking must occur on a spectrum
    between art and commerce.
    ”
    RON CARUCCI
    hbr.org/2017/05/how-to-nourish-your-teams-creativity
    

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46. CHAPTER 6
    Emailing as you grow
    
    

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50. kb.mailchimp.com/lists/manage-contacts/about-contact-ratings
    

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51. ❤
    ❤
    ❤ ❤
    

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54. Social media and emails are just channels and chances to speak to
    people. It’s what you put in them that makes all the difference.
    

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55. CHAPTER 7
    Learning to love data
    

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57. We will never stop doing things by our gut. If and when we’re wrong, we
    course correct. We experiment, we iterate based on the results, we trust
    our gut, we trust data.
    

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58. IN CONCLUSION
    Branding today
    

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59. medium.muz.li/when-everythings-the-same-it-s-the-brand-
    that-makes-the-difference-a60e5b40fdf9
    

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62. TO END
    A definition
    

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63. Marketing is about reaching people – fetching, converting and keeping them.
    It delivers value above the noise and creates emotional connections. It seeks
    to serve, include, understand and delight. It requires empathy, flexibility and
    humility of its makers. It thrives when powered by instinct and data.
    Marketing is an invitation.
    

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64. Thank you
    Marina Pape
    

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