Transatlantic Journal with Goda Marcinkeviciuite

A couple of weeks ago our team traveled to the US to start working on new marketing opportunities together with our clients and partners. We took this chance to ask our Digital Marketing Consultant Goda about what it was like to travel to America and if Europe and America are truly two worlds apart when it comes to digital marketing. Find out her answers, below...

Before we start, how did you find yourself working as a Digital Marketing Consultant at Eurodev? 

I began working at EuroDev at the end of my studies and have not looked back since. Professionally, I would describe myself as inquisitive and dedicated, however, personally, the main two traits I would highlight in myself are my sense of humor and motivation. The latter has no bounds. If I set my mind to something, no matter how large in scale it may be – it will get done, even if I must move mountains to do it.  

What are your responsibilities as a Digital Marketing Consultant? 

I manage our North American B2B clients' digital marketing activities in Europe. This ranges from strategy development, funnel development, and buyer persona identification to PPC campaign management. 

What are the biggest differences for you, when interacting on a professional level, between the US and Europe? 

Professionally, the way of communicating is the biggest difference I have noticed. In Europe, it is very common to have incredibly direct communication for speed and efficiency while in the US this is not the case. Most of my customers have a very nuanced way of communication and working together that they are used to internally and adapting to that bench is quite a big aspect of my role. 

On a personal note, what are your favorite places to visit in the US?  

It's difficult to pick just one. I liked Chicago. The architecture is impressive.

When you start a new project, what excites you the most? 

As I work with primarily B2B clients, being able to see them through the entire development process and witnessing them gain traction online brings me the most happiness. In most cases, this development takes a fair bit of time, therefore knowing that the customer puts this much trust in my hands, is also an added benefit. On a separate note, as I am quite inquisitive as a person, I find it incredibly fun to run SEO (Search Engine Optimization) audits and patch up websites as soon as I get my hands on them. 

Take us through the step-by-step...

The best way to explain the journey we usually take with our clients is through a more practical metaphor. If we were working in architecture and construction and a client asked us to remodel their house, we would kick off with a general evaluation. First, we would see to it that the general infrastructure is evaluated – make sure that the foundation is solid and that there are no cracks in the walls and no leaks in the roof. Following this, we would establish what the client wants to see in the remodel as well as what resources and timelines we are looking at. Once we would get the green light; we would kick off the work and see to it that the house starts looking more like a castle. Personally, making sure that we are in alignment with the client and that there are no leaks in their roof is my favorite part of my work.

What role does digital marketing play in a success story of a North American company that wants to grow in Europe? 

Independent of the scale of integration to the European market, Digital Marketing serves as the blueprint for building one fortress of a brand. Nowadays, it is the only way to ensure a European presence, which is vital when targeting European customers. Ensuring the company is visible to the European market, for example - showing up in international search queries is incredibly important for targeting the right audience at the right time.  

How do you and your team help the most? 

The main value the team and I bring is the international no-nonsense approach to the digital marketing funnel. It makes for a very productive engagement in most cases. We can isolate necessary variables in a customer's success journey incredibly early on, which usually makes for a much higher success rate within the European market. Whether it is the number of languages we provide marketing support in or the speed at which we can redevelop our clients' CVI – identifying the needs early on while keeping the big picture in mind is one of our biggest strengths. 

What are the most common challenges that North American marketing teams face, when growing an audience in Europe? 

In most cases, the lingual and cultural aspects of marketing are the most difficult to tackle for North American marketing teams. Being used to the American way of marketing, it can be quite difficult to adapt that tone of voice to the European audience. This directly impacts the intended strategy for the EU, both from an execution perspective and from an expectation perspective. Failing to take the extent to which cultural and lingual differences impact marketing is a roadmap to identifying unrealistic expectations and goals. 

So, building a strategy is essential. What is the value of in-person meeting with clients in the States and how do you do it? 

When thinking of how strategies are drafted stateside, usually an image of a meeting room filled with people shows up in my head. In most cases, bigger strategic decisions are made by getting the most valuable and important persons in one room and letting them discuss goals, expectations, and resources. While this is doable with a European team, the distance usually makes it so that the online meetings need to be split into multiple days, which is not the most practical way to carry out the exercise. Traditionally, we book a full day of our and the clients' time to be able to execute this exercise in the most efficient way possible. The usually invited team includes both the domestic sales and domestic marketing departments as well as international sales and marketing. The goal of this exercise is to get insights from all ends of the brand and sales spectrum starting from international sales ranging to domestic marketing. Learning from each other, establishing realistic goals, and deciding on resource allocation are all things we do during this day. 

Interested to work with our team of experts in Europe? Connect with us.

About EuroDev

EuroDev, established in 1996 with offices in The Netherlands and France, has a single, defined purpose to help mid-sized North American companies expand their business in Europe. We have created a proven, successful business development model and since our founding, have partnered with over 300 companies to help them define and meet their European business goals. Services provided include Sales Outsourcing, HR Outsourcing, and Digital Marketing.

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