Matthew Trant is the V.P. of Digital Marketing & Analytics here at ImageWorks LLC and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing him.
Dean - How did you get started in marketing and why do you think you were drawn to the profession?
Matthew - Growing up in the personal computer age, I always had an interest in technology and business. My first job was basic data entry for a massive eCommerce brand…from there I just started soaking up all the information while I was working and conducted detailed research and examples when I was not working. I taught myself how to code, mastered excel, was born with a sales/marketing brain and climbed up within the industry.
Dean - How did you end up working at ImageWorks?
Matthew - After starting my own digital marketing agency, Search Integrations, my business partner and I were constantly working with Jeffrey and ImageWorks. After over a year of working together, we sat down and decided to offer all our services under one roof…as a full-service digital agency.
Dean - What do you enjoy most about working at ImageWorks?
Matthew - The controlled chaos of a multi-industry digital agency who constantly flips between business sizes and marketing objectives….no two days are ever the same.
Dean - What challenges have you faced during your marketing career?
Matthew - Constant change and evolution within digital marketing. The digital marketing world was literally the wild wild west back when I started moving in this career…now it is a fine-tuned system with regulations, expectations, and manipulation. The only people sticking around are the ones that can quickly pivot and adapt.
Dean - What does a typical day in the life of Matt look like?
Matthew - START [what just happened?] END.
Dean - What do you think are the most important skills to possess as a marketer?
Matthew - Observation.
Dean - What trends in marketing do you think are important to pay attention to in the next few years?
Matthew - It would be silly to not mention Voice…with that said, we are just as far from applying voice technology into our marketing systems as we are from the consumer education needed to make Voice an effective and scalable medium. I would also pay close attention to content and how new content is going to be treated. I would watch search marketing and see what is next for targeting options and how SERPs are changing to fit the ever-changing and diverse audience that comes with world integration.
Dean - What was the last book you read?
Matthew - Do comics count? It was either Flash or Dead Pool Team Up.
Dean - What do you do in your free time?
Matthew - Family has been critical to my success and is still critical to my sanity…
Dean - What is your favorite film?
Matthew - I can give you my top 3 in no order… Remember the Titans, The Boondock Saints, Walk the Line.