Esther Turón is a marketing consultant, expert in online marketing, social media, copywriting and SEO.
In 2013 she created her online marketing agency in Zaragoza, from which she advises small and large companies in Spain to digitize their businesses and create their online strategy.
In 2015 it managed to position itself as one of the leading Spanish-speaking international marketing leaders.
She has been a teacher in business schools, institutes, and companies giving training in online marketing, social networks, copywriting, branding, and SEO.
As a speaker, she has participated in Spanish-speaking national and international events and has been a co-author in several books on marketing, entrepreneurship and social media.
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How did you start out as a marketer?
I started working in marketing and sales when I was 25 years old, my work was mainly focused on customer acquisition and direct sales.
At those times, carry out the first mailing, telemarketing, and traditional advertising campaigns (posters, flyers, point of sale marketing and fairs, mass media).
With the rise of online marketing, I decided to train with courses and self-taught by first practicing with my personal brand accounts until I made the leap in 2013 and created my marketing agency.
I was there for 8 months but it was not profitable for me to combine it with my studies, so in 2014 I closed my agency and I was working part-time in a marketing agency for a year to learn more about the sector.
In 2015 I decided to make the leap as an entrepreneur again and since then I have run my agency in Zaragoza.
Looking back what is your hardest struggle when it came to delivering results?
The hardest part when you start is getting customers and building loyalty.
Currently online marketing is booming, but when I started SMEs were used to traditional marketing and it was difficult for them to jump online.
For clients to see this value, they must be educated so that they can understand both the work that is done and the benefits they can obtain.
Once you have clients and experience, it is easier to get other clients.
How did you get your first client back then, and what kind of service did you do for them?
My first client was KFC Zaragoza, I got it thanks to the recommendation of a teacher and friend of mine Carlo Baratto.
I worked as an external marketing consultant, planning offline and online marketing strategies and campaigns with the company’s management, and managed the brand’s social networks and online reputation.
What do you find most rewarding about what you do?
The most rewarding part is the relationship of trust that is built with clients and students, seeing how your work helps them improve their results, position their brand or learn new skills that boost their professional career.
We have a lot of readers who are bent on becoming freelancers, aside from freelancing how else can someone earn online, and what is your advise?
In addition to working as a freelancer, there are other options such as:
- Earn money by posting on social networks. There are influencer platforms that pay you to post on networks advertising brands. Although it is necessary to have a well-worked profile, a relevant number of followers and engagement to generate good income.
- Blog advertising. If you have a blog, you can get extra income by putting advertising like Google Adsense or selling spaces for advertising on your blog. Keep in mind that for it to work, it is necessary to be constant with the blog, and have enough visits, and the ads have to be relevant to the reader so that they are interested in clicking on them.
- Affiliate Marketing. Another way if you have a website or blog is to write product reviews and recommendations. In these analyzes you will put links to other web pages where the product is sold. If a user ends up buying it, the seller will give you a commission for having referred a customer.
- Advertisements on YouTube. You can generate income by showing advertising on your YouTube videos, but for this you need to have a minimum of 1000 subscribers and more than 4000 public watch hours valid in the last 12 months.
My advice is to check the regulations of your country to see how you can declare this income legally and if it is possible to do it without being a freelancer.
For example, in Spain you can declare them as work income but if it is a regular activity or exceeds the minimum wage, it is mandatory to register as a self-employed person.
If you were given the chance to build your career all over again what would you do differently so that you will achieve your dreams faster?
If I were to start over, instead of setting up the agency in 2013 when I was fully studying, I would have waited for 2015, when I resumed the activity with the agency, because I was not prepared to carry everything at once and needed to gain more experience.
How is your typical work day structured?
The first thing I do when I start the working day is to check the emails and DMs.
fter that I look at the agenda (that I prepare days in advance) to organize myself or reorganize the tasks if something urgent or important comes in.
Then I start with the tasks scheduled according to priority or agreed schedules (meetings, classes …) and I try to do the most complicated in the morning.
I leave the least urgent and least important for the afternoon.
Can you tell us about a time where you had to put in significant effort up front and then wait a long time for success?
The biggest effort was trying to establish myself on my own, my first attempt was in 2013 and I failed, after continuing to study, working for another agency and strengthening my personal brand in 2015 I managed to establish myself on my own and live from my job.
You’ve been tasked with redesigning the company’s brand strategy from the ground up. Walk us through your process.
First, an analysis of the internal and external brand is carried out, mission, vision, SWOT, differential values, products and services, pricing policies, buyer persona, analysis of the environment, target market, sector, analysis of the competitors, communication and sales channels, among others.
Once the analysis has been carried out to know the situation of the brand, the brand plan is created with objectives and goals to be achieved, the strategies to follow and how we want the brand to be perceived.
The brand identity is designed or redesigned, the value proposition is defined, with the values or lifestyle that will be related to it, and the voice of the brand.
Then the communication channels are defined and the evaluation mechanisms and KPIs are established.
Within the strategy, actions are established to position the brand, increase visibility, improve reputation, and reach the buyer persona.
Can you tell us about a past situation where you had to juggle multiple projects with competing deadlines?
I remember that the last time was to prepare a course for a training that was requested on short notice.
I had to put in extra hours to be able to combine it with the services of the agency and have the course ready and well done.
What do you do to stay up to date with new marketing techniques?
Read news and blogs about my sector, attend events and take training to update myself and expand my knowledge.
Can you tell us about a project you’re most proud of from your past work history?
The project I am most proud of is the first one, as a marketing consultant for KFC.
Thanks to the marketing campaigns, it was possible to double sales and increase considerably the number of regular customers at the restaurant.
Getting good results is easier when you already have experience and KFC allowed me to gain that experience to develop as a professional.
Which one blog post would you recommend every Marketer should read?
For those who need to develop a social media strategy, I would recommend my Twitter Strategic Plan + Free Template.
It is a complete guide in which I show how to make a complete plan that can be adapted to any social network.
What advice would you share with other Marketer’s who want to become more productive?
My advice is simple, organization. Make lists of tasks, objective of each task, when they are going to perform it and mark a deadline, always leaving enough time in case there are unforeseen events.
If the tasks are too complex, they can be divided into smaller ones to avoid procrastination.
At the end or beginning of the day, update the list to readjust it.
Sort tasks by priority: Important and Urgent, Not Important / Urgent, Important / Not Urgent, Not Important / Not Urgent. Plan each day in advance to force yourself to meet your goals, and try to do your most important and complex tasks in the morning when your mind is clearer.
If there’s one Marketing Guru you’d recommend who and why.
My favorite is Neil Patel, because he communicates in a simple and clear way his knowledge, he is a great entrepreneur and expert recognized among the best internationally.