In this edition of Tech in Check, I shared with A+M my first digital role and the common challenges I faced in today's digital landscape.
This article was originally written by Advertising + Marketing (A+M) and can be found here.
Tech in Check: An Interview with Nicholas Goh, Head of Digital Marketing at INTI Education Group
Nicholas Goh, Head of Digital Marketing at INTI Education Group, has amassed a wealth of experience, having been on both the client and agency sides, and having delved into the worlds of creative and media. With over 18 years of digital experience, his expertise spans web development, digital advertising, and digital media.
Goh joined INTI in early 2014 and is responsible for leading all digital marketing activities and day-to-day digital operations for the INTI brand across six campuses in Malaysia.
Prior to INTI, he worked at GroupM, where he provided consultancy and digital media planning strategies for a diverse clientele. His portfolio included major brands such as Citibank, Sony, Colgate-Palmolive, L’Oreal, Shell, GSK, Nissan, U Mobile, Walt Disney Pictures, and HTC. During his time at digital creative agencies, Goh managed accounts and creative projects for brands including Mitsubishi, Starbucks, Berjaya Hotels & Resorts, Hewlett-Packard, Astro, Petronas, RapidKL, and Maxis.
In this edition of Tech in Check, Goh shares with A+M his first digital role and the common challenges he faces in the digital landscape today.
The Interview
A+M: What was your first digital role like?
Goh: When I graduated, having your own website and domain was the cool thing to do and became a hobby of mine. Having taught myself to create web pages and code through books, I managed to turn my hobby into my first full-time job. I started my career as a web programmer, developing websites and web applications for online billing systems. This is where I truly began to learn and develop my understanding of how the internet works.
A+M: What was your biggest tech booboo?
Goh: A few years ago, we launched a campaign for one of our clients. Everything was planned out—digital banner takeovers and influencer engagements—all set for launch day. The banner ads were designed to drive traffic to a microsite for a month-long campaign. The client was keen to track how effectively we were driving traffic to the microsite using the various online channels.
Unfortunately, we inserted a wrong piece of tracking code on a portion of the microsite which was necessary to provide the client with that information. We only figured out the error after the second day of launch. We lost two days’ worth of data because of that mistake.
A+M: How did you overcome it and what did you learn from it?
Goh: The main takeaway is this: Prior to launching any digital campaign, always make sure you have a checklist or a task list of what is needed to be done. Critically, you must always include testing as part of that checklist. You can never do too much testing.
A+M: What are some of the common challenges you face with digital today?
Goh: The term “analysis paralysis” comes to mind. In today’s digital marketing world, we are simply overwhelmed by the fact that there are too many data sources and too many data points to look at. There are also too many ways to cut the data, and in turn, we tend to over-analyze things.
However, digital marketers nowadays not only require digital marketing knowledge, but also the know-how to analyze and make sense of data to be able to come up with actionable strategies. For me, this particular skillset is vital for digital marketers of the future.
A+M: Are there any digital trends which excite you or that you are wary of?
Goh: Definitely AI and machine learning. AI could help brands simplify marketing efforts and operations if applied correctly. We now live in a data-driven world where business decisions are made and driven by insights uncovered by data. Applying machine learning to help speed up the uncovering of those insights is definitely important.
A+M: Any top tips for marketers and brands embracing digital?
Goh: Digital is not as scary as it seems. Though initial investments can be a bit expensive, in the long run, the returns will definitely justify the cost of the initial investment, if you do it right. Think about it, which other media enables you to track and optimize your marketing investments in real time? The key is to start small, keep on testing new things to see what works for your brand, and then scale upwards.
