Tabitha Adams (BA, MBA, VIP, HRH) is the Senior Demand Marketing Manager at Integrate, and a Board Member / Head of MarTech & Community Management at The Growth Ops Community. A demand generation and marketing operations expert with 10+ years’ experience, she is the go-to for anything Marketing; ops, adoption, analytics, attribution, automation, optimisation, scoring. And breathe. She is also a volunteer for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County!
Jobs in Martech are always super layered and complex. Your position is no exception! So to make things a little bit clearer, could you describe your role in five words or less?
Orchestrate multi-channel programs with MarTech
What is your biggest martech/ marketing ops gripe? Don’t hold back!
I don't have one at the moment - we've done a lot of work to remove the biggest pain point; shared goals. With shared goals we're on the same page for targeting, activation, and how we report on success
It’s a bit 2008, but do you have a personal mantra?
It's more important to be courageous than perfect
Have there been any women along the way, who have helped you out and supported you?
Yes, women and men actually. I've been blessed to have mentors across my different jobs or through other avenues like my MBA program. Key people I have learned more about business, perseverance, and importance of success through community include executives who took the initiative to guide and mentor (Sean Whiteley, Hilary Headlee, Larry Stein, Don Piluso), amazing managers and co-workers (Ken Grossgold and Sara Kinsey) and friends I've made across my network (Jill Melchionda, Melissa McCready, and Karla Torres).
How do you see the martech scene in the Post-Covid days? Apart from everyone going straight to the pub, of course.
I see an impending need to consolidate and rethink how we prioritize MarTech changes. There will be less of a focus on point-solutions and more of a need to select or refine use of tools that allow for buyer-focused programs. Marketing (including mops) need more visibility into the journey of a buyer and less tactic-centered tools.
What are your own plans Post-Covid? Are you looking forward to being back out, or are you enjoying the Netflix binges?
We'll see how quickly it occurs, but I'm hoping to fill my calendar with live music. Until concerts come back, I'll plan for a few road trips to visit nearby states and get out of the house!
Do you have any advice for bouncing back from failure or difficulties, especially for young women within the industry?
It's rare that your failure or difficulty isn't shared by someone else in the industry. Bouncing back requires tenacity and the ability to learn from where you started. I'd also note that you don't have to rush in your career. Hitting the next milestone or finding your "dream job" takes time - learn from where you are and make connections to build up a community that can help you along the way.
What career advice would you give to your younger self, on how to succeed in marketing and tech?
Don't be afraid to share your learnings, whether from success or failure, with your peers and your network. You don't have to be a "thought leader" to have a voice and influence your industry.
Who are the professional women that really inspire you?
Key individuals probably overlap with the women who have influenced my career, but I'm constantly inspired by those who are able to illustrate what I'm feeling through their own words. Nothing inspires me faster than someone I can connect with through similar experience. I also look for professional women who are taking the time to find solutions to problems that females in technology and/or marketing face today. There's a lot to be said of those that enact change instead of just highlighting the problem.
What are your plans for the future? By this I mean what are your upcoming projects, and what are you having for dinner?
I'm doing a lot of work to help maximize marketing, and sales, ability to align with the buyer through every activity or outreach. This means connecting the "who is your audience?" question to each phase of our marketing process and how we prioritize engagement follow up. I'm also really looking forward to some of the larger virtual conferences this year like Forrester and Adobe. It's time to reprioritize learning and see what insights companies are gathering from the challenges of 2020 - 2021.
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