What’s your name and role at Brew Digital?
My name is Haydn Woods-Williams, and my role is Digital Marketing Team Lead.
What does a typical day look like for you?
It’s never the same. At Brew Digital, our people are our most important asset so a lot of my time goes into team management and making sure the team feel empowered and have the freedom to do their job to the best of their ability. It’s also important for me to be there to offer support both personally and professionally.
On the digital marketing side, I tend to work on a lot of digital marketing strategies, bringing our experts in SEO, email, paid and social together and getting everything pulling in the same direction. I’m also involved in designing and delivering workshops for our internal and external clients, and I host our podcast ‘Marketers of the Universe’, which is great fun.
How did you end up in digital marketing? Was it always an interest or did you find your way here over time?
Totally by accident. I’ve always been a passionate writer and I studied drama, literature and creative writing at university so I wanted something that allowed me to use that creativity.
Writing and the opportunity to be creative at work is what led me to follow a career in digital marketing – although in hindsight it’s not all writing stories and creative campaigns. I’ve found that during my career my interest in strategy, tech and data has grown substantially as I've had the opportunity to play with new things and test new ideas. I’ve been lucky enough to always have amazing managers and to always have the freedom to question the status quo; to try and do something different and to always be learning. That’s what has kept me here.
What’s your favourite part of the job?
Trying new things. Learning new things. And making a total mess of things. I hate not trying out new things and if I'm ever in a position where I'm just repeating the same stuff day after day I think I would go crazy. That’s why I have a collection of random sporting equipment laying around the house – I’m the same in my personal life as I am at work.
What are the bits that are most challenging?
Not getting carried away and ending up down a 5-mile hole. If I am passionate about something I will work incredibly hard to drive it on but that can backfire in that I have to slow down and make sure everyone is keeping up with my thoughts. Having a great team around me ensures that I stay grounded and my rabbit holes are productive rather than endless.
Do you have a secret skill or talent your work colleagues don’t know about?
We’re a pretty close-knit team so I think most of my secret skills have been outed at some point. I’m dead keen on map reading, navigating and am planning to do my outdoor leadership qualifications in the near future.
Not much use in digital marketing but if we ever get stranded in the mountains, I'm your man.
Is there anything about the job that surprises you? Or something people might not know about what you do?
How knowledgeable I am and the team are. Since we’ve been doing our regular podcast sessions I've seen so much knowledge sprouting from the team’s mind. It goes to show that sometimes you just need to be put in a position where you are comfortable to speak without judgement. The team is amazing at that, you never feel stupid.
Is there a particular project you’re particularly proud of?
I once worked on a project where we created a virtual reality environment to promote a new exhibition. We didn’t have much budget but we created something that was super cool and way beyond what you would expect from what we spent. We sent out mobile VR headsets to all of our key target customers.
It did absolutely nothing to drive revenue and was in all honesty probably a total flop. But I loved that campaign.
What is a common digital marketing mistake you often see companies make, and how can they avoid it?
Not thinking about your content. We get so caught up in SEO and Paid Media and Social Media and ABM and all these other buzzwords that people so often forget that if your content is rubbish nothing else matters.
Focus on creating things that your audience wants to read, or hear, or watch, or experience. Think of them as people – put yourself in their shoes and you’ll realise that most of the stuff you're putting out in the world is crap. Ask yourself, honestly, how many downloadable pdf white papers have you ACTUALLY read?
Is there anything about the industry that you would change, if you had the chance?
No one should ever be referred to as a marketing/paid/SEO/content wizard. Unless your name is Gandalf, Merlin or you happen to live in Oz, it’s just stupid. That, and making things really complicated. Why do we have to make things so complicated? Complicated marketing/sales funnels, using vanity metrics to bamboozle people, marketing buzzwords. Dumb it down for me at the back, please – if we can’t articulate these things simply then maybe we need to work on understanding it some more.
Digital marketing has gone through a number of seismic shifts over the years. What have been some of the most impactful, in your opinion, and where do you see it going next?
I think AI is pretty cool, and all of the tracking and attribution technology is awesome as well. But honestly, if i’m looking at B2B marketing, it is the shift to storytelling, people-first marketing that I love.
Gone are the days of dry, tasteless B2B campaigns – well, mostly. You can actually have fun with things now, and even get a little more creative. I think many of us are standing at the door, looking out at this new world, and asking ourselves, "Really, can I go out there and be my genuine self?" It's intimidating to step out, but it definitely pays off.
I think we can all be a little bit braver and more creative in what we do for brands – that’s the future. The best companies let you be unapologetically you so people aren’t just worker drones any more. The sooner we all treat each other as humans the better, then the robots will come in and blow it all up. So who knows, maybe I'm wrong.
How do you spend your ‘off-time’?
I have two dogs, Hector and Perseus, so lots of dog walks. I also do hiking, and try literally any sport I can get my hands on. I’m currently doing a lot of bouldering, Muay Thai and paddleboarding but I will literally have a go at anything. I've got my eyes on ice climbing or glacier walking next.
I’m not particularly good at any of them, I just love trying new things and having new experiences. I also really like cooking and growing my own fruit and vegetables.
Do you have any book, film or TV recommendations?
Not much of a TV/film buff if i’m being honest but my wife convinced me to watch a few of the Studio Ghibli films recently, and I really enjoyed My Neighbour Totoro and Howl’s Moving Castle.
I’m much better at books and am currently on a female author sci-fi binge, as I realised that most, if not all of the sci-fi books I read growing up were male authors. I can recommend Becky Chambers, Nnedi Okorafor and, of course, Ursula K. Le Guin.
Is there an upcoming or emerging technology that has you really excited?
I try not to get too distracted by brand new tech; there’s some rabbit holes that I can get myself really lost in. But it is hard to ignore AI.
I can go to an AI image generator and ask it to create a picture of Geralt of Rivia having a picnic with Sonic the Hedgehog and it creates something for me in seconds. It doesn’t always get it right but it soon will.
Why do you love working at Brew Digital?
There’s lots of things. It puts me first. I get to put my team’s wellbeing first. We talk about mental health and it isn’t a taboo. We prioritise learning. There’s so many things that are great. But without sounding cliche, the digital marketing team really are first class. The people I work with everyday make me love working for Brew Digital.