Indigenous Employment Australia Yarns with…

Tell us about you and your mob.
My name is Tamra Hiscocks, family name Cora and I’m a proud Aboriginal and South Sea Islander from the Gold Coast Queensland. Our family is from Bundjulung nation, and are Midjunbul people who grew up in the Kirra/Coolangatta/Tweed/Kingscliff/Murwillumbah areas.
I grew up in Palm Beach doing my senior years there and haven’t really moved too far from there to Mermaid Waters.

Tell us about your career.
My career has changed a bit since my university days, where I did Sports Science and Marketing and a Diploma in Teaching. I started out as a Senior PE teacher for 4 years on the Coast before going for 2 years to London on a 2-year visa to visit the world – one of the best things I’ve ever done and highly recommend it to any young person that can do it.
When I came back to Australia I wanted to use my marketing degree and started mentoring and doing event marketing for a business education company before venturing out to start my own online business which I did for several years before starting a marketing consulting company and then went on to join my now husband in buying a Creative agency and converting that into a Full service digital advertising agency.

What pathway did you take to get to where you are?
Like I said my career has been a bit of a wander – I always knew I wanted to do marketing, having business mentors was the best teacher and then also having my own business teaches you quickly the lessons you need to master things like, Facebook ads, Google ads, how to write copy or create a strategic plan for a business.

What skills do you need to succeed in your role?
You need the willingness to learn, be challenged, and want to be involved in the creative process of marketing and advertising. But the other side is that if you want to be more of a media buyer like me, if you like being more analytical, you get to analyse the numbers and messaging, or creative.

What is the deadliest thing about your career?
I love the businesses I get to work with and when we put strategy in place and their business increases because of the actions we took, that to me makes me happy when you can really nail it for a client.

What career advice would you give your mob?
Digital marketing and advertising doesn’t need a degree, there’s plenty of places you can jump online and do a free course or even watch Youtube series about different components of digital marketing. Or better yet, approach an agency and do an internship and you’ll get some skills real quick. It’s a fun, interesting and challenging career. You can be creative, technical and analytical in this career, just depends which way you want to go.

Want to know more?

Tasks

• 1. Digital Strategy Development: Creating a comprehensive digital marketing strategy aligned with the client’s business goals and target audience.
• 2. Social Media Marketing: Managing social media accounts, creating content, and running paid campaigns to reach and engage the audience on various social platforms.
• 3. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising: Setting up and managing paid advertising campaigns on platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and other ad networks to drive targeted traffic and conversions.
• 4. Email Marketing: Crafting effective email campaigns to nurture leads, retain customers, and drive sales.
• 5. Website Development and Design: Creating user-friendly and visually appealing websites that optimise conversions.
• 6. Analytics and Data Analysis: Utilising tools like Google Analytics to measure marketing campaign performance, track key metrics, and make data-driven decisions.
• 7. Video Marketing: Creating and promoting video content on various platforms to engage the audience and convey messages effectively.

These are just some of the tasks that you can do at a digital agency.

What type of education, training and skills are required?
Nothing is required really, but getting some basics done online like Google or Facebook ad courses or a Social Media Content course can help you get ahead at a marketing agency.

Occupation Snapshot