Career Lessons from Efe Uduigwomen - Product & Growth Marketer

You will find only a fraction of African Marketers who have embraced data as much as Efe. She started her career like most of the leaders we’ve spoken to at the hub — she got a social media job, starting with the creative side of marketing. However, after working for 3 major Fintech startups in Nigeria, she soon realized how marketers who understood data deeply were going to change the world.

When we noticed that she studied marketing analytics for her master's degree, it got us intrigued. But what we didn’t expect to find out was that she never liked math or numbers growing up and was excelling as a data-driven marketer.

Another interesting fact about Efe is that she began working as a marketer in fintech before its popularization in Nigeria. She’s an ‘OG tech marketer’ in every right.  

If you’re in marketing and interested in building a global marketing career by taking a master's or simply would like to embrace data better, keep reading as we take a peek into Efe’s journey.

Tell us about yourself: What did you study at University? How did you get into marketing? What was your first job?

I studied sociology in my undergrad. It was one of those degrees where people say, 'Oh, you studied sociology, you can do anything.' which got me confused about which path to take, I applied to a bunch of roles after graduation: banking, consulting, hospitality, and even considered becoming a flight attendant. Like most graduates fresh out of school, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but was hoping one of these applications would lead me to the right path.

I was quite active on Twitter (now X)  as a student, and after my graduation, I noticed Twitter was becoming more popular. After that, I met a friend who referred me for a job to manage a startup’s social media account. It was an online photography startup, back when online businesses in Nigeria were just starting to bud. The job requirement stated they needed someone who knew how to use Twitter. And I thought, 'Well, I can tweet, why not give it a shot?'

So, I joined the company as a social media manager. I was managing their social media platforms and online community of photographers. That went on for about a year, and then I moved to another company where I started working in communications. I did that for a bit, and then it naturally morphed into marketing, because I was doing both comms and marketing tasks (the whole deal of promoting and selling products). And yeah, that's how I got into comms, then marketing, and eventually narrowed it down to just marketing as my core focus.

At what point in your career did you feel marketing was for you?

It was simply a natural transition for me. I got bored with comms because I'm always seeking positions where I can be very active — that is, being at the forefront of things. 

Before working in comms, I worked as an account manager at an agency, managing accounts for a bunch of brands and doing some advertising on the side. I enjoyed it. And when I shifted to my first tech company, I started in comms. It was interesting for a while but I got bored. A lot was going on, but my team was also the last to get roped in on company-wide plans. And I wanted to be at the center of things.

I wanted to solve problems like — ‘we're trying to get this out there, what do we need, who do we need to involve, what are the decision-makers saying?' I wanted to be involved in the whole process. So, I thought, 'Okay, I'll get into marketing.' Marketing was at the center of all that.

So then, I was moved to doing marketing communications. This was still a comms role, but it was a lot more at the forefront of things, more data-driven, more planning and strategizing. Instead of just, 'Hey, we have this coming up, let's just write a press release,’ I finally felt like part of the whole decision-making process.

You’ve had a diverse career journey, notably in Fintech startups. Could you elaborate on how you secured your first tech job? Also, how have you effectively communicated your values to secure these roles? Lastly, how do you know when it’s the right time to move on from one organization to another?

My first job in Fintech was at Paga, and I still appreciate that opportunity today. Before that, I worked at Surkreo Communications, and Paga was one of our clients. The agency was great, and I was gaining valuable hands-on experience. I was the social media and content rep for Paga and other brands, along with a few other colleagues. We'd usually go to the Paga office three times a week, and I liked it there because it was more structured, more corporate, and more fun. It felt young and vibrant. 

Then, an opportunity came about at Paga which I was headhunted for. I had a conversation with my manager at the agency, about the head of marketing at Paga offering me a role, and I was given the green light and made my move to Paga. It was the place where I wanted to be. It was one of the first Fintechs to be established in Nigeria and that singular action set me up for success in my future roles. 

At Paga, I managed social media and developed strategies to improve our online presence and product conversations. I also handled communications between the office of the CEO and his communications team. Anything related to products, events, or communications, was in my purview.

After Paga, I moved to another company, Visionscape, which wasn't in tech, but in waste management. I made that move because I believe, and still do believe, that working in different industries helps a marketer become more well-rounded. If you focus solely on one industry, you're limited. So, I told my manager at Paga that I wanted to move on. They loved my work and understood why I wanted to leave, but my manager suggested if I wanted to come back, I could.

Unfortunately, I didn't quite vibe with the structure of Visionscape. I enjoyed the people I worked with there, but it wasn't the environment I was used to. Paga felt like home to me. So, when I realized it wasn't working out, I went back to Paga. We had conversations, and I joined the team for the second time, this time with newer people. We were like a family. At the time I rejoined, we were celebrating Paga's 10th anniversary and planned everything together.

While at Paga, I met the founder of Risevest, a new fintech product. They wanted someone with marketing and fintech experience, and my experience at Paga stood out to them. We had a conversation, and I liked the product. It was a one-stop solution for dollar saving and investing, which was timely given the currency situation at the time. They were looking for a marketing manager, and though I already had a job, I agreed to work with Risevest part-time while I assessed the fit.

Deciding when to leave a company isn't a one-size-fits-all approach. It's about recognizing when there's something bigger you want to pursue and simply going for it.

After a while, juggling both roles, things were picking up at Risevest, and I realized I needed to give it my full attention. So, I left Paga and joined Risevest full-time. It was my first head of marketing role, where I led product and growth marketing and had a team. It was challenging, but I enjoyed building and extending the value of different products from the ground up.

So to answer your question in a full circle form, getting my first fintech job was because I worked at an agency that gave me diverse experience in multiple industries and when the opportunity arrived to work in a more structured place, I grabbed it. It was easy to communicate my value for those roles because only a handful of marketers had core fintech experience and I was fortunate enough to be one of them, I know when to leave an organization if a new opportunity comes along and I’ve accomplished something significant in the previous company, enough to leave it for other people to grow.

To marketers reading this, embrace every experience you can get your hands on and find your unique value proposition. The right opportunity is getting closer.

Efe working at Paga

What do you do at Remitly? Also, what are some of your hobbies and interests outside marketing?

So in my current role at Remitly, I am a  Senior Growth Marketing Associate. It's another very interesting and challenging role for me because I've mostly been in product and growth, but more focused on product marketing rather than growth, especially when it comes to customer acquisition. Product strategy, launching new products, content, event strategy—yeah, that was easy for me. But driving digital acquisition at a large scale is a new challenge for me.

Outside of work, I swim, especially because I live in Chicago and it's cold for about eight months out of the year. I'm looking forward to summer. But for now, I hit the gym in my building. I also hang out with friends, watch movies, and explore different restaurants in the city.

You currently hold an MSc in marketing analytics. What would you consider the most impactful knowledge or skills you gained from your Master's program? Would you recommend pursuing a Master's degree to fellow marketing professionals?

When I was considering pursuing my master's degree, I had discussions with friends about my options and they suggested I do an MBA. They said an MBA would open up many possibilities, but I realized I didn't see myself doing anything other than marketing, at least for the next five to seven years. I wanted to focus on marketing and grow within the field, maybe eventually becoming a director or VP.

Initially, I thought about pursuing a traditional marketing master's degree, but when I looked into it, I didn't see anything particularly new that I couldn't learn from regular online courses. If I wanted to pay so much for my master's, it had to be worth it. After working at Risevest, I worked at an insurance tech company, called Casava. There,  I became more interested in data analysis and numbers. The role required me to do several data-driven projections and I knew I had to learn more. I realized I wanted to enhance my analytical skills alongside marketing.

I started searching for marketing analytics master's programs in the United States and found several schools offering the program surprisingly. Eventually, I got accepted into Illinois Tech in Chicago. It was a challenging experience because I come from a non-technical background. Right from when I was in school, I didn’t like math, but I took on the challenge and it showed me just how great being data-driven was,  which proved invaluable for my marketing career. Despite being initially intimidated by numbers, I ended up taking courses in R programming, text analytics, SQL, and data visualization and excelled.

One of the most fascinating projects I worked on was analyzing tweets to understand sentiment about remote work. Learning these analytical tools and applying them to marketing has been incredibly valuable for me. So, yeah, that's been my journey with pursuing a master's degree in marketing analytics.

My advice for anyone considering a master's in marketing is to choose a course that goes beyond traditional marketing skills and challenges you in areas like analytics. Nowadays, to secure a well-paying job, it's crucial to have proficiency in at least one data analytics tool, such as Tableau or R programming. These were the skills that caught the attention of recruiters and helped me land my current job.

Consider developing a skill that sets you apart from the average marketer and continue to grow in it. Whether it's mastering a specific analytics tool or diving deep into another aspect of marketing, continuous learning, and specialization will significantly boost your career prospects. 

A master's degree is all about upscaling. You might not immediately apply everything you learn in your current marketing role, but going to grad school is about gaining a deeper understanding of concepts and skills that are crucial for your career growth.

Before choosing a master's program, think about the specific skills you want to develop and enhance through this degree. Consider what gaps you want to fill in your skillset or what areas of expertise you want to gain. Once you have a clear idea, look for courses that align with those goals and will help you acquire the knowledge and skills you're aiming for. 

Efe Uduigwomen graduating from her masters in Marketing Analytics at Illinios tech

There's ongoing debate surrounding the responsibilities and value of a Growth Marketing Manager. Could you shed some light on what this role entails and how it differs from other marketing roles like Product, Lifecycle, and Content Marketing?

Of course, before I went to grad school, one thing I didn't fully grasp was the distinction between all the various forms of marketing. People tend to lump everything under marketing, but there are various areas within marketing. In the company where I work, we have a sizable marketing team, and there's a clear difference. We have product marketing, lifecycle marketing, content marketing, brand marketing, and many more teams working towards the same goals of customer acquisition, awareness, and retention.

Growth marketing is about driving strategic business growth through different marketing channels. It's more about customer acquisition—how to bring in new customers or retain existing ones. It's heavily data-driven, constantly measuring the impact of campaigns and optimizing them to ensure that the customer acquisition cost aligns with budgets and overall strategies.  

What I find most exciting about growth marketing is the experimentation and testing aspect. There are countless channels, strategies, and budgets to consider, and not all of them yield results. So, having a growth mindset allows you to experiment with different features, strategies, and channels to see what works best. It could involve A/B testing different copies, channels, or campaigns to determine the most effective approach. You make mistakes and then finetune your process. For example, Google could launch a new feature and you throw a hundred dollars on it to see how it performs and how many customers you acquire. It could do very well or not but you can never really know without testing.

However, in a Nigerian context, there might be less flexibility due to budget constraints, so I can understand why Growth Marketing is being debated about constantly. In such cases, it can be challenging for growth marketers to implement experimental strategies.

On the other hand, product marketing is more focused on the product itself. It involves collaborating with various teams to understand the market, identify customer needs, and position the product effectively. It's about the entire customer journey, from acquisition to retention, and involves strategies like lifecycle marketing, where you engage with customers at different stages of their journey through personalized emails, push notifications, and more.

Content marketing, another essential aspect, focuses on the messages you convey to your customers. It's about what you're saying to them, how you're positioning your products, and the channels you're using to reach them. Whether it's social media, emails, or other mediums, content marketing plays a crucial role in shaping the customer experience and driving engagement.

Overall, all these marketing roles—growth, product, lifecycle, and content—are interconnected and require collaboration with other teams to achieve common objectives.

How were you able to communicate your transferable skills for your current growth role? 

While I hadn't held an official Growth role before now, I was deeply involved in it during my time at RiseVest. In that position, I had oversight of the growth function and was responsible for managing the entire team. This involved coordinating their efforts in acquisition, such as running campaigns on platforms like Google Search and UAC. We also managed content and social media strategies to complement our acquisition efforts.

Also, I focused on product lifecycle management, ensuring that our marketing initiatives aligned seamlessly with our product strategy. So, when I was interviewing for my current Growth role, I emphasized the transferability of my skills. I highlighted that while my background was primarily in product marketing, I had collaborated extensively with growth teams and gained a comprehensive understanding of the entire marketing process.

And having just come out of my master's program, I had a competitive edge. One great thing about marketing is that because all the teams work cross-functionally, you can easily move from one skill to another in a short amount of time. 

Make sure in your team, you’re not just doing the work you’ve been given but also understanding how each component contributes to the overarching goals. This way moving from one marketing niche to another is very possible.

Reflecting on your career, what aspect or challenge do you find most demanding?

One of the challenges I've encountered is understanding data and using data-driven approaches for my marketing. It's like dealing with multiple moving parts and figuring out which data points are most relevant at any given time. Initially, it was a bit overwhelming, trying to decipher the right data and extract meaningful insights to inform our marketing strategies. Over time, I've learned to embrace a data-driven mindset, diving deeper into reporting and seeking insights from various sources beyond the surface level.

Another challenge has been the absence of mentorship early in my career. When I started, I didn't have a marketing mentor to guide me through the intricacies of the field or address my questions and concerns. I had to navigate mostly on my own until I connected with peers facing similar situations, allowing us to exchange ideas and build a network of support. It is really exciting to see a marketing-focused community like yours exist now and I think marketers should leverage this opportunity.

If you could offer one piece of advice to the marketing professionals in our community, what would it be?

My advice would be for them to embrace diversity in their career journey. Explore different industries and adapt as fast as you can, as marketing skills are transferable across various sectors. Being able to navigate diverse fields not only enriches your experience but also equips you with the versatility to excel in different contexts. Apart from marketing niches, also try your hands in different industries like Fintech, AI tech, Insurtech, Proptech, etc. 

Additionally, prioritize becoming data-driven in your approach. Familiarize yourself with data analytics tools and develop a mindset that values data-driven decision-making. Even basic knowledge of tools like SQL can significantly enhance your ability to interpret and leverage data effectively. Also, honing your skills in data visualization tools like Tableau can elevate your storytelling abilities, enabling you to convey insights more compellingly to stakeholders and leadership.

Looking ahead, what can we anticipate from Efe going forward? Are there any forthcoming projects or initiatives you're particularly excited about?

At the moment, my current role holds significant importance, considering I've only been with the company for less than a year. My immediate goals revolve around advancing within my role and contributing to the growth of the company. Ideally, I aim to attain a managerial position in the next few years. 

As for the future, I don't foresee returning to school anytime soon. Instead, I'm committed to nurturing my career within this new environment and country I find myself. 

Enjoyed Efe’s story? Join her for an AMA session exclusive to the Smarketers Hub community on the topic: Marketing Strategy and Analytics for startups on the 3rd of May, 2024. To be a part of this, join us on Slack today. 

You can also connect with Efe on Linkedin.

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