About Me

The 30-second “Elevator Pitch”

I have 15 years' experience in digital marketing, focused on web analytics, conversion optimization, SEO, online market research, and content marketing
For 10 years I was an employee of the Government of Canada, working as a web strategist and online marketer for various departments. My GoC career spanned the Government Online Initiative, the One-Tonne Challenge social marketing campaign, and various other programs
As well as online marketing, I was also heavily involved in market research (aka “public opinion research”) for various departments, designing and executing online market research projects
I’m also an online entrepreneur, operating (and experimenting on) my own websites

Some of my fancy badges:

Graduate

The Longer Story:

My enduring interest has been in human behaviour – understanding why we behave the way we do in different situations, and how behaviour can be influenced.

This interest in behaviour led me to work in marketing, because the ultimate objective of marketing is to influence behaviour – whether that behaviour is purchasing a product, using a government service, doing an environmental “good deed”, etc.

Some People Were Born To Be Artists; I Was Born To Be An Analyst

Before joining the Canadian government in 2001, I graduated from Dalhousie University with a Master’s Degree in Development Economics (with an emphasis on Behavioural Economics).

Conducting village interviews in Madhya Pradesh, India (back when I had hair...)

The thing I loved most about the program was the fieldwork I did for my thesis. It involved designing and implementing a survey in several villages in Raisen District, Madhya Pradesh, India.

My thesis was entitled “Norms and the Decline of Common Property Resource Regimes: Evidence from Madhya Pradesh, India“, and looked at communal management of forest “products”.

I can still remember coming back every day from the field, and furiously coding the day’s data, before my memory of the interviews faded. Raw data is what I love!

After graduating from Dalhousie in 2001 I began work for the Canadian federal government, and a common thread has woven its way through my fifteen-year career: a passion for marketing and market research.

Starting with my job at Treasury Board Secretariat – where I worked in online marketing, web analytics, public opinion research, and performance measurement – I’ve been involved in projects that have attempted to either influence behaviour (online marketing) or measure behaviour (web analytics, public opinion research, and performance measurement).

Here’s a sample of the digital marketing and market research projects I’ve worked on over the past fifteen years:

want_to_change_the_world_thats_marketing

Digital Marketing Experience

While working for the Government Online Initiative (GOL) at Treasury Board Secretariat, I wrote marketing plans for GOL web portals; served as the coordinator of the GOL Marketing Working Group; and contributed to the development of web analytics standards
At the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, I managed the “Canada International” web portal, and executed email marketing campaigns, content placements (NewsCanada), and paid search campaigns
While with Environment Canada, I managed the web presence of a national social marketing campaign called the One-Tonne Challenge. The purpose of the campaign was to encourage Canadians to change their lifestyles to reduce their impact on the environment. The campaign had a database of 50,000 email subscribers, and the website had significant daily traffic.

At Environment Canada I also:

Drove traffic through email marketing, social media, and pay-per-click advertising (Google Adwords, Bing Ads, and Canoe Klix)
Launched and managed the department’s first Twitter account and Facebook page
Took strategic oversight of the ”Take Action for the Environment” website, building it to one of the highest-traffic sites in the department
Implemented a monthly web metrics ”dashboard” for management of websites

Market Research Experience

Conceived, planned, and implemented the largest online survey ever undertaken by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. The survey was administered in eight languages across thirty-six websites
Conceived and planned qualitative research (individual interviews) with staff at Canadian missions overseas
Managed studies on environmental behaviour and environmental website usability for the department
Advisor to consumer behaviour research study related to sustainable consumption
Designed survey for World Vision Canada to collect baseline data on women’s access to water, bathing areas, and toilet facilities, and women’s participation in local decision-making bodies
Designed and implemented dozens of online surveys using SurveyMonkey.com and SurveyGizmo.com. Many of these surveys included an online advertising component, in which respondents were recruited through pay-per-click advertising