Please can you introduce yourself and provide a brief history of your digital marketing journey?
Hello, my name is Aoife O’Toole and I didn’t actually set out to work in Digital marketing. I studied Math and Irish in University which I didn’t use in practice for a few years. Now it’s come full circle and it’s great to utilize analytical thinking and a creative approach in my work today. That’s the magic of Marketing – you can use both sides of your brain!
I started working in Social via community management after university, then grew into the Paid space as it evolved. Moving to London in 2014 gave me a great opportunity to gain experience in organizations of different sizes such as InterContinental Hotels Group and Deliveroo.
In recent years given all the upcoming industry developments and opportunities, I’ve been focused on future-proofing Display, Paid Social and Paid App strategy in Skyscanner, a global travel leader.
What aspects of the “Growing your eCommerce platform – from local to global” session at DMWF Global on the 25-26 June 2024, are you most excited about as a speaker?
There are established best practices in this area but with all the influences of a modern marketing landscape opportunities are shifting and evolving constantly so I’m looking forward to exploring how marketers can balance these considerations.
I’m also excited to share some of the insights we’re seeing at a market level and to chat about how Marketeers can utilize the insights they have to hand to craft their creative, audience and platform strategy.
Which project from the past year stands out as your proudest achievement?
In the last year within the Display and Paid Social world we’ve been developing our Midfunnel strategy. 51% of travelers coming to Skyscanner are exploring, browsing prices with no fixed destination or dates in mind. That gives us a wonderful opportunity to help inspire with ideas for destinations, introduce users to helpful features within our product such as Save to List or even to download our app which gives you access to Skyscanner (the ultimate travel hack) at all times.
What marketing advancement and trend are you most enthusiastic about in the digital marketing landscape?
I’m happy to see data-driven insight fueling content. 110m million users visit Skyscanner’s site every month and as you can imagine we have developed a wealth of data around travel trends. I love that marketeers are tapping into a value exchange through their activity to offer content that is adding to the lives of their users. Insight is all around, whether you’re grabbing a coffee with your colleague in User Satisfaction or seeing real-time feedback from users on TikTok – that’s gold dust for you to use to better personalize your marketing.
What single piece of advice would you give to a friend working in the digital marketing space?
My advice would be to lean into your strengths, there’s room for big ideation and creative thinking alongside the super technical work. The joy of Marketing is that it can be all of those things at once, and it takes many skill sets to make up a great team so don’t be afraid to share your “out there” idea or to be yourself. Think about what your superpower is and how it can make your team and business stronger.
Lastly, could you share what is your favorite marketing campaign and why it resonates with you?
I recently came across the National Down Syndrome Society campaign #EndTheStereotypes which I loved. I shared it with friends and went back to watch it several times, which is a campaign manager’s dream result. Their storytelling was engaging, educational and entertaining which shows advertising across the funnel can be enjoyable and that it is possible to grab attention even in this hectic digital world.
Aiofe will be part of our Panel: Growing your eCommerce presence – Strategies and tactics so make sure you register here and visit DMWF Global at London Olympia on 25-26 June!
