Kalon Nelson, BA (Hons) Marketing with Advertising and Digital Communications

Kalon Nelson explains how his BA (Hons) Marketing with Advertising and Digital Communications course has helped him land work experience as a Campaign Manager with B2B company, Your Allies, and gain confidence as a marketeer.

Can you explain how you came about obtaining the position of Campaign Manager with the B2B company Your Allies?

It’s quite a funny story. I was working at my part time job in Marks and Spencer's and during my time there I got to know the regular customers, one being Linsay Duncan. One day she asked me what I had been studying at university and, after mentioning Marketing with Advertising and Digital Communications, Linsay mentioned she is the founder of Your Allies, the Award-winning B2B marketing firm formerly known as Marke2ing. I was amazed and Linsay told me that if I have any questions about marketing to ask away, so I gave Linsay my LinkedIn.

We arranged a meeting and Linsay informed me of an upcoming project that she thought I might be interested in. She gave me an informal interview and was happy to have me on board as a Campaign Manager at Your Allies.

About the Role

As a campaign manager, I was assigned to first do keyword research and find the most suitable keywords for an upcoming release. I was also assigned to find the most suitable locations; I was given a brief defining the target audience and what was required from this project. After the campaign had gone live, I had looked at results and narrowed down the window to retarget the audience that showed the most interest.

How does the role fit around your studies?

At first, I thought the role would be challenging for me to keep up with as I had quite a few other commitments; university deadlines to reach, my job at Marks and Spencer's as a Customer Assistant, and my work as the founder of Go Cars Rental Service, a small business I started a few years ago. However, it all came down to time management and scheduling. I have always found that working in a fast-paced environment and having a drive to succeed provides me with the experience and pressure I needed to encounter to blossom and show my true potential in any given situation. I feel as if lockdown had its pros and cons - one pro being that we had to work from home and have remote contact, which allowed me to navigate my time wisely.

How does your work experience connect to your course and future goals?

As I am in my first year at university, I still have a long way to go, but the lessons I have learned from the university played a huge role in me being able to provide effective results in work. Using the skills learned from tutor Nicola Hayes’ Marketing in a Digital World module I was familiar with tools I’d be coming in to contact with such as Google AdWords and put theory in to practice, like building a buyer persona to know how to engage the target audience. Eventually, I would love to open a Marketing firm and add value to upcoming businesses that struggle with recognition and maintaining effective relationships, so I feel this experience has had a particularly great impact on me getting one step closer to my future goals.

What have you learned from the role?

I’ve learned that in marketing, consistency is key and keeping engagement high causes effective conversions. I am also more time efficient as this role. I gained the understanding of working in B2B marketing from a real-life perspective, rather than in-class activity; where in class a mistake is not costly in class, a mistake in the real world can be damaging.

How has working in industry benefitted you?

Having gained experience in B2B marketing and being able to add value to Your Allies I feel a lot more comfortable in my marketing abilities, and I can now show future employers I have experience in this field.

Find out about Careers and Employability at LSBU Business School.