February Talk with Ricky Fenton

It's February and Valentine's Day has come and gone and it now appears we're in a period of extreme weather this week. Historically February is a month of ‘new beginnings’ and it's time for us to meet someone new. Today we're talking to Ricky Fenton who is Business Development Manager at Swindon-based Smarter Media. The company is a digital growth agency that specialises in SEO, PPC, content and social media.

What do you love about your role?

• The people… totally cliche I know! Since joining in August everyone adds their own dynamic to delivering great service, which I find really refreshing and comes across in everything we do.  
• The work ethic… as we are a small team it’s really important everyone contributes and pulls their weight to ensure our continued growth and success with clients. Here at Smarter Media everyone helps everyone and contributes more than their fair share.
• Also we have free parking, finish early on a Friday and get regularly treated to cakes and sweets! 

What do you love about the business which has changed over the last six months?
What I really love about Smarter Media is the rate of positive change we are going through. From joining back in August to present day we’ve developed new processes that have enabled us to deliver more success to our clients, and also expand into new sectors and territories. It’s very exciting times for us as a team and business.

What have been the main challenges you’ve had to overcome in the last year? 
The main challenge for me has been the impact of Covid19. Not only has the “C”word been responsible for more scrutiny over marketing budgets, but also the change of marketing staff, from either being furloughed, being made redundant or moving to other organisations. 

However, based on my experience over the last few months, things are settling down and returning to some form of new 'business as usual'.  

Was Valentine’s Day a ‘thing’ for you in the business? 
Yes as a matter of a fact, as a business we planned on going out for an evening of wine and romance… just to be clear I’m being sarcastic! 

We didn't do anything as it’s all a con in my view!

Did you know that February is now the month where we mark National Apprenticeship Week? What role do you think apprenticeships play in the working world?
I think that apprenticeships are a great way for young adults to learn new skills and businesses to mould young talent within their business. 

At Smarter Media, two of our longest serving employees started with us apprentices - with Robbie Climance being promoted to social media executive at the end of 2021. 

This year we’re taking on a new apprentice in conjunction with New College and the new Swindon Institute of Technology.  The role is for a ‘junior content producer’ which is both a new Level 3 apprenticeship qualification & a new role for us at Smarter Media - can’t wait to see how the apprentice develops.

February 17 is Random Acts of Kindness Day – has anyone shown you, or your business, a random act of kindness over the last year? 
Actually they have, the other day while looking to pull out of business park someone very kindly flashed me to let me out in front of them. It was very thoughtful, but to be honest they could have just used the lights like everyone else!

In the yearly cycle of your business – what do you expect during February? 
January flew by, and February is turning out to be a busy time for us as our clients and prospects are typically looking at ways to optimize their lead generation and digital marketing strategies to meet their shiny new sales and revenue targets for the year. 

For more information visit https://smarter-media.co.uk