We're always excited to share stories and lessons from exceptional African marketers working in marketing for some of the world's biggest brands. Tamilore Oladipo is one such marketer with work experience across several industries, including B2B Saas, Social Media, Health Technology, Productivity, and UX Design.

She currently works as a Content Writer for Buffer, a leading marketing software company. She also ghostwrites educational email courses for experts and founders working to enable the creator economy.

Keep reading as we dive into Tamilore's marketing career and uncover her journey so far, key highlights, challenges, and lessons learned. 

Tell us about yourself. How did you get into content writing? What was your first job? 

My parents have always been big on helping me get work experience. I started interning with companies at 14 when I got my first job at a magazine through a family friend on the organization's board. 

After that, I interned at a different family friend's business for around three to six weeks every summer. I wasn't doing anything at all, but it gave me a very practical idea of what to expect when I finished university and helped me streamline my interests.

Initially, I didn't really care what company I ended up at, but after some time, I started getting more involved and picking where I wanted to work based on what I thought was the best fit for me. That's how I got into marketing. 

I studied Mass Communication at university, not by choice, but because it best fit my interests. I considered studying writing or journalism, but I changed my mind when my dad told me journalists don't make great money in Nigeria. I have always been very pragmatic and tactical, so while choosing a career, I wanted something that would give me the best quality of life and be relatively interesting. 

I got lucky in terms of access, which many people don't have at that age, as I worked at a marketing agency twice during my school summers. Throughout my time there, I observed the different marketing departments and got a clear idea of what areas of marketing I was most interested in, what I did not want to do, and how I wanted my career to shape up. Working at these different companies was the best decision my parents ever made for my career.

What was your first full-time job after university? What was the title of your role? 

Let’s start with my first main job, which I got in my final year at the university. We had career fairs where several company representatives would come to hire fresh talents. When I told them about my several internships, most were very impressed, giving me an edge.

I like to think that they were scammed because I didn’t know a lot then, but I embraced the attention and got cards and contact details from about four companies. One of these companies was the Coca-cola Hellenic Bottling Company, where I got my first job. It was a horrible decision because I had to go to a physical location for three hours twice a week, and it was in a role that wasn’t even related to marketing.  

About a year later, one of the other companies excited about my internship track record reached out to me. Although, at this time, I already had a permanent offer from Coca-Cola, the other company was offering me a Creative Strategy Intern role, which was a much better fit for me, so I accepted the offer.

At what point did you discover Content Marketing? 

Let's just say I did not know Content Marketing existed up until 2020. I worked at Pulse Nigeria from December 2018 to April 2020, and then, the Covid-19 pandemic happened, and I was laid off. I had also been interviewing with companies offering up to double my salary at the time, but then everything froze. To top it off, I was supposed to study abroad that year but had to defer my admission. It was a very challenging year, and everything felt like a huge mental load. 

I decided to move back in with my parents and take a step back from doing anything for about a month. I spent a lot of time figuring out what I could do, where my skills were best utilized, and what I could learn. 

After the first month, because I wasn't used to staying idle for too long, I told myself I had to find something to do even if no one was hiring. I began freelancing on Fiverr and discovered Content Marketing while researching freelance work. I was super excited because I could write and strategize for a living. I started applying for jobs, but that did not work because I had no experience or portfolio; I was like a fish out of water. 

I was a good writer, but I didn't have any experience with writing. It took me another three months to realize this, and I decided to step back to the drawing board and ask myself what I was missing. I reviewed and updated my resume and started building a writing portfolio which eventually got me my job at Animalz.

What were some lessons learned during your initial job search? 

Joining a community is essential. I joined Superpath, which helped me figure out how to apply for remote jobs, specifically for companies receiving applications from people worldwide. I had to position myself online and change my preconceived notion about getting remote work. I started to think of myself as a person applying for a remote job, not a Nigerian applying; that mindset change was pivotal

I also made changes to my resume. I used to use Canva CVs but had to switch to a basic Word doc CV, which provided the simplest explanation of my skills, career, and history, as it is more widely accessible.

Back then, I also used to apply for content strategy roles that required three years of experience when I didn't have any. Eventually, I had to review my career strategy framework and apply to positions that were a better fit. 

Finally, it's important to note that when a job says US remote, it means they're only taking people who live in the US. 

Learning these things helped me see the rejections as an avenue to improve my skills, giving me better insights into what I needed to fix and the kinds of people who could hire me. 

How did you land your role at Buffer? What were the systems you put in place?

I don't know if this made a direct impact, but I knew two people on the marketing team at Buffer. I had previously connected with them on LinkedIn and Twitter while following people from different remote companies. I had built that connection with several people with no immediate expectations, so they knew me and recognized my name. That might have helped in the decision-making process. While interviewing at Buffer, I was also interviewed by several other companies because I had built a massive portfolio. I did about eight articles a month at Animalz and worked with clients like Notion and GoDaddy. 

One of the most popular questions I get asked is how to build a portfolio when you don't have any experience, and my answer is always to write your own stuff! On Twitter, direct people to your Linkedin to see your articles and posts, make sure to post as regularly as possible, and build a community around your work. Even if you feel like it's crazy, there's someone out there watching.

Tell us about a day in your life as a Content Writer at a globally-distributed company

I currently live in Lagos, Nigeria, but I decided to work EST hours because it allows better collaboration with teammates from all over. I also have a few Australian & Asia-based teammates, and to better collaborate with them, I sometimes work in the mornings, but very rarely. My work hours are usually in the evenings, and that is how I prefer it because I go to the gym in the mornings, and I can sleep in for as long as I want. I'm not a morning person at all. 

My day-to-day work involves working on an article, publishing an article, refreshing previous content, or writing the Buffer newsletter, which has fallen under my purview over time. I also do a lot of analytics work to better understand the platforms I work with. 

Lately, I'm doing more interviews for articles, but that may change in a couple of months. Actual writing makes up maybe 30% of my week. And the rest is made of different little things that shape the content and marketing at Buffer. 

You've had different job titles, including content marketer, content strategist, and content writer. How are these roles similar or different?

While they are not the same roles, there's a Venn diagram connecting the overall marketing work - and companies interchange them all the time. Some teams are well built out, but most of the time, your actual role can be a role of different marketing roles intertwined.  

Content writing involves 50% of my role - but without my knowledge of strategy and overall marketing, my content writing will suffer.

When looking at a marketing job, you'll need to look beyond the title and look at the specifications of a role to know if it fits what you're looking for and matches your skillset. In marketing, it is essential to know about your key role, but learning about other segments of marketing and other departments will improve the quality of your output.  

What’s one part of your career/job that you enjoy and what’s an aspect you struggle with?

That changes depending on the day. Some articles can be a drag; Buffer is a social media management app, so we write social media-focused content, and that includes Facebook. Writing anything about Facebook is the worst part. 

I enjoy planning the high-level strategy part of my work. I still freelance on the side, which requires me to immerse myself in the client company's industry. I start listening to podcasts, reading blogs, following thought leaders, and ensuring that I come across content for the audience in whatever app I open. There are times when the information collected has nowhere to go, but planning and strategy are where I can use the knowledge I've gathered, so I enjoy that.

What life hack have you picked up over the years that people don’t say enough about but has helped your content marketing journey?

Knowing who you're writing for has saved me so much heartache. When I started working in content marketing at Animalz, my first task was content for an e-commerce client. I had no idea about e-commerce; I was not plugged into the space. But you are assigned clients based on need, and I had to learn. My first few articles were not as valuable as they could have been as I didn't have that background. Anyone can Google how to start an e-commerce store, for example. But knowing who to reach out to, to make that article or LinkedIn post you're working on more valuable, and learning the technicalities of how to find what to write about, because anyone can write about any industry. All it takes is a few Google searches, like doing some industry research, and maybe reading a few reports, and you will put together a halfway decent article if you know how to research and write.   

But the real value and what makes you stand out as a writer comes from understanding what the person coming to the blog will most likely looking for and meeting their needs. 

What are the processes you take to make sure every piece of content that you're writing meets your set goals?

The first thing I set is my mental headspace which happens by optimizing my physical space. Optimizing your space directly correlates to your work's value, so I prioritize using good tools. If your environment is hot, try investing in an AC or a high-speed fan. If you find direct light distracting, get blackout curtains. If your location does not allow for progress, plan to move to another state or country. People sometimes forget that remote work goes beyond having a computer. The people who are doing great work have good environments. Think about the software to use, the equipment, and your surrounding. 

For actual writing life hacks, we used these questionnaires for SEO content in Animalz, which was great because it helped me get into the headspace of the people I was writing for. The questionnaire contained questions about what the person searching for this keyword is most likely looking for, what answers they want, what you will put in your article that will most likely make them click, or what to put in the meta description to get them to convert. 

What’s one piece of advice you’ll offer to budding content marketers in our community from your experience?

At the start of your career, take more time to figure out what you want to do that excites you, not what people you admire are doing, and not what everyone says you should do. 

Figure out where the intersection of your happiness and what you can do consistently is. People lately are choosing careers based on how much it pays or the reputation behind them, but not everything is for you. Just like my time working at Coca-Cola, I was grateful for the job, and it was a fantastic opportunity, but it wasn't the best fit for me.

You have so much time, and there are so many paths you can take when you are out of school or during those first couple of years of your career. Don't feel pressured to pick something immediately; nobody's a one-trick wonder. Be open to exploring different things and failing at them; failure is not a bad thing. Your path is dynamic and will find you. And if you find a place that fits, build your skillset in it, and finally, put yourself where the opportunity is most likely to find you and be patient. 

What can we expect from Tamilore going forward? Any upcoming projects? Anything else you want to share?

I have a personal newsletter, and I'm also handling Buffer's newsletter. However, my newsletter is going to take a backseat. I'm exploring things that may be more valuable for the types of people that I'm trying to reach and help. But subscribe to Buffer's newsletter; lots of great content there. 

Connect with Tamilore Oladipo on Linkedin and Twitter. 

Join us for a Twitter Space with Tamilore on Friday, 28th of April 2023 to discuss “Getting hired for your dream marketing role: Steps, lessons, and your first 90 days.” 

Set a reminder here.