Marketing an International Travel Magazine
For the last year, I have been in charge of marketing for the University of Washington’s student run travel magazine, Voyage UW. Working with a multinational team of writers, photographers, illustrators, editors, and publishers, we’ve produced several issues of the magazine, focusing on topics such as Home and Sustainability. My role has been to articulate the magazine’s ethos and cultivate a consumer base of fellow students and alumni, as well as selling the issues once they are ready for print. Working with Voyage UW has shown me how important diverse backgrounds and disparate talents are in creating something beautiful and astounding.
Personal Importance
Working with a diverse team of (largely underrepresented) creatives has given me insight into how important diversity is to a successful team setting, especially when working in an international relations context. Our magazine is driven by authors, illustrators, and photographers of varied backgrounds, and this is what makes our work successful. Learning how to operate within this patchwork of backgrounds has taught me to embrace many forms of leadership, and has reinforced my love of international collaboration.
Tasks Accomplished
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I created and executed multiple marketing campaigns across various social media platforms, aimed at increasing our audience and conversions. These campaigns have resulted in a significant increase in social media followers and customers.
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I created and ran two of our issue-release Kickstarter campaigns, which is how we raise about half of our funding. During both campaigns, I raised over 200% of our goal in a two-week period, which is a significant increase over previous funding rates.
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I ran a monthly blog series called “Travelers of the PNW” which interviewed UW Alumni who are currently involved in international travel or careers, and used this series to increase our audience locally and abroad.
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I organized and executed several events, such as our Voyage release party and a “Behind the Scenes” print journalism event to gain a greater local audience.
Leadership Competencies Gained
Analysis A large part of marketing is post campaign analysis, in which one determines whether the campaign achieved its intended goals. I executed this analysis by setting up the proper channels, such as Google Analytics and Facebook Ad Manager, and monitoring the results in real time, as well as reporting those results to the rest of the management team after the campaign ended. Although I was the only person who would actually be acting on those results, I felt it was important for the rest of the management team to understand what we had done well and what could be improved upon.
Other's Perspectives This experience gave me multiple opportunities to learn to incorporate other’s perspectives, both because of the international nature of the team and because of my position as the only person with marketing experience. In terms of experience, I made a conscious effort to be open to other ideas, despite having the most marketing experience, because I was working with a team of brilliant creatives who had excellent ideas. Had I been closed off and unresponsive to other’s ideas, I would have lost both respect and valuable input from my teammates. In terms of international perspectives, I was constantly amazed at the unique viewpoints my teammates brought up, and felt incredibly grateful to be a part of a team that continually broadened my horizons. This type of international integration is one of the major reasons I value multicultural experiences so highly.
Receiving Feedback When I first joined the Voyage team, I faced a dilemma that many in marketing face; as a marketer, you are supposed to be the authoritative subject on whatever it is you’re selling, but as a novice team member, odds are you actually know the least about your organization. Recognizing this contradiction allowed me to be especially receptive in the first several months of my time with Voyage. I would ask clarifying questions as often as possible, and ran my first few campaigns past the rest of management before publishing them, to ensure I was on-brand. There were several times when my understanding of the magazine’s ethos was inaccurate, such as when I mistakenly compared our sustainability issue to a purely “nature” themed issue, but I quickly corrected my mistakes based on feedback from the rest of the team.
Writing As the head of marketing, I had to constantly articulate Voyage’s mission and ethos clearly and concisely. Every interaction Voyage had with the outside world had to reflect our brand, whether it was a 140-character social media post or a four page Kickstarter description. Articulating our creative mindset and authentic international feel was always first and foremost, and although I struggled occasionally to find that voice, I became adept at representing Voyage through my written communication. Writing was also paramount in internal communication, as we only met for an hour every week, and the rest of our dialogue happened over Facebook Messenger and Slack. It was important to be clear in our messaging in order to operate as efficiently as possible.
Initiative Being the only person on the team with marketing experience, I almost always took the lead on our public facing actions, from daily social posts to meticulously planned events. I valued the autonomy and responsibility this level of initiative gave me, as I knew that I was playing a vital role that made a significant impact on the magazine. Ownership and autonomy are some of the most important factors in my personal leadership philosophy, and being given such freedom and responsibility ensured that I did my best work.
Future Orientation
Working with an international team and exercising my marketing skills has reinforced my desire to work in international business, and the autonomy I was allowed as head of the marketing team has solidified my interest in entrepreneurship and the startup world. I look forward to working with diverse teams, while developing both my internal and external communication skills.
