#Databoss of Red Flag Alert: Alberte Touani

Our #Databoss series is all about our employees that make Red Flag Alert a great place to work. Throughout this series, we’ll be showcasing the incredible team here at Red Flag Alert, celebrating their achievements, and examining the how they got to the position they are in today. We also hope to give potential future talent an idea of what it’s like to work inside the #DataHQ!

Alberte is our Head of Demand Generation team at Red Flag Alert. She joined earlier this year to manage the email and Hubspot activities of the Marketing team and support the lead generation activities of the Sales team.

Can you tell us about your role at the company and what your responsibilities are?

I’m the Head of Demand Generation here at Red Flag Alert.

My duties are to develop and execute marketing strategies and initiatives for the demand generation part of the marketing team to drive awareness, new leads and nurture our existing leads and customers using HubSpot. My focus is to create and manage a process that will help to optimise our conversion rate from lead to closed won. Most importantly to reduce deal time through various stages of the funnel.

I’m working closely with senior stakeholders across the business to ensure that their objectives are understood and exceeded.

How did you first become interested in working in your current field, and what’s been your journey to Red Flag Alert?

My interest to work in marketing started when I saw my dad’s business close after he passed away 27 years ago, I was only 15. I really wanted to do something to prevent this from happening as I saw him work so hard for his business. That strong desire to do marketing then turned into a passion when I started my marketing studies.

I studied international marketing for my bachelor’s degree in Birmingham. After that, I completed an MSc program in Marketing and Management where I achieved an MSC Postgraduate diploma and certificate. I also completed the CIM Professional Postgraduate training program in Marketing. This strong passion has helped me to achieve first-class grades in all my key marketing subjects during my undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

I don’t just have an excellent academic background in marketing, but I also have professional accreditations in marketing as I’m a Chartered Marketer, a HubSpot Champion User, a HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certified, and I have obtained a few professional certificates by completing some marketing courses listed on the HubSpot Academy platform.

Overall, I have about 14 years of experience working in Sales & Marketing (B2B & B2C) with startups, SMEs, and Fortune 500 organisations in various sectors such as telecommunication, finance, software SaaS, travel, marketing, staffing & recruitment, accountancy, beauty, E-commerce, renewable energy and MedTech.

What’s one piece of advice you’d like people to take from your journey?

I strongly believe that passion, determination, hard work, discipline, and the desire to succeed are key factors for success.

Also setting goals is so important because it allows you to create a plan of actions that you need to take to get there. Dream big, don’t set small goals. I really love this quote: ‘If your dreams don’t scare you, they are too small’ - Richard Branson.

My advice to anyone just starting their career in marketing is to stay up to date with marketing trends because tools are constantly evolving. Never stop learning and growing to stay relevant and successful. Be open to feedback and learn from both successes and failures as this will help you to continuously improve your marketing skills and knowledge. Follow professionals and experts in the marketing field. Attend marketing networking events.

Most importantly to succeed in marketing you need to develop excellent communication skills and you also need to combine creativity with data-driven insights to drive your marketing strategies.

Overall, I strongly recommend adopting the behavioral competencies required to become a Chartered Marketer: ‘Creative, Commercially Aware, Collaborative, Influencing, Inspiring, Challenging, Entrepreneurial, Financially Literate, Responsible, and Innovative

How would you describe yourself?

Looking at the 18 recommendations received so far from my ex-colleagues on LinkedIn, see below the top words they have used:

• Attention to detail; Precise in her work.
• Highly intelligent and knowledgeable about her profession; A true expert in her field
• Alberte is a fantastic marketer; Alberte is passionate about her fields of expertise; Alberte is extremely hard working. 

Why did you join Red Flag Alert?

I have joined RFA, and I love working here because what they offer, my duties and my role as the head of demand generation are aligned with my aspirations, passion, and career goals.

Most importantly with my 14 years of experience both in marketing and sales and as a Chartered Marketer and HubSpot Champion User, I really wanted to use my expertise, experience, and skills to make a huge impact and contribute to the growth of a business with such a great vision and mission of £10million or die.

RFA help businesses use data and insights to grow revenue and protect their company from financial risk, and I have a strong passion for using data and insights to drive my marketing strategy and initiatives, so I’m a big fan of RFA vision.

I strongly believe that with the right data and insights in your hand, you can make confident business decisions.

Overall, there are other reasons why I have joined the company and why I love working here.

For example, the work environment here at RFA is supportive, inclusive, and positive and values collaboration, respect and diversity which are key elements that drive job satisfaction.

Also, working for a company that fosters creativity encourages new ideas and promotes innovation is key for marketers because in marketing we love doing experiments and tests, and then using the results for campaign optimization. And at RFA you are welcome to share ideas, the company offers opportunities for innovation and professional growth as RFA invests in employee growth.

RFA also offer a fair and competitive salary and benefits. I appreciate being compensated appropriately for my skills, experience, and contributions – Thank you RFA!

Any favourite moments or experiences you can share?

My favourite moments so far at RFA are when I’m investigating issues reported on our HubSpot account to find the solutions we can apply to fix them. Also, I enjoy analysing data, insights and KPIs for our marketing campaigns to find opportunities for optimization. I just love it!

Overall, I love using data to drive my marketing strategy and initiatives. Data analysis and market research are critical tasks in marketing. When you analyze data, you can identify opportunities and insights to inform your marketing strategy and tactics. 

Who inspires you?

My colleagues at RFA inspire me a lot because you can see how everyone here at RFA is passionate about what they do and the projects they are working on. I really love the marketing team a lot and the RFA team overall. I’m so grateful and thankful for the great collaboration with my colleagues as it is a key element that drives job satisfaction.

I’m also inspired by the senior leadership team here at RFA as you can see the passion they have for RFA products, vision, and mission.

I’m a big fan of Brian Tracy – If you want to stay motivated, follow him. He is a CEO of a company specialising in the training and development of individuals and organisations. Here are some of my favourite quotes from him: ‘Approach each customer with the idea of helping him or her solve a problem or achieve a goal, not selling a product and ‘Set peace of mind as your highest goal and organise your entire life around it’.

I love Oprah Winfrey – She is an American talk show host, actress, and author. She's very inspiring. I had the opportunity to watch her live at INBOUND 2021. Here are some of my favourite quotes from her: ‘It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from. The ability to triumph begins with you – always’ and ’the big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you are willing to work.’

How do you keep up with the trends in your industry? 

I follow professionals and experts in the marketing field, attend marketing networking events, and read books/blogs.

Most importantly I do activities that are required for my Chartered continuing professional development (CPD) program as annually we need to submit a CPD report as this is one of the requirements to maintain your Chartered marketer status. Overall CPD are learning experiences which help you develop and improve your professional practice.

What do you enjoy doing when you are not working?  

I love cooking, listening to music, reading books and blog articles.

I like going to parties and nightclubs because I love music and dancing. I also really enjoy walking along the seaside promenade. Overall, I enjoy leisurely walks especially to enjoy the warm weather.