Roger Graham is the Head of Asia for Hootsuite Media Singapore and has over 20 years of senior leadership experience in business development, digital, field and product marketing. Responsible for the company’s growth in Asia, Graham focuses on expanding the business portfolio in existing and new markets, growing the team, as well as developing and deepening strategic partnerships that will contribute to the Hootsuite ecosystem.
Prior to his recent appointment as Head of Asia, Graham was Senior Director of Growth & Marketing for APAC, where he doubled revenue for the company’s digital business. During this period, he contributed significantly to Hootsuite’s expansion into new markets, including Hong Kong and the Philippines, and was also responsible for growing Hootsuite’s brand, online revenue, and demand generation for the company’s enterprise solutions in the region.
Roger is passionate about digital innovation, entrepreneurship, and often mentors startups and speaks at conferences on digital and full stack marketing. During his downtime, he can be found playing ice hockey or traveling to amazing beaches and vibrant cities.
What are the top three traits that a Futurist Digital Marketer must have?
A Futurist Digi-marketer should be a balance of a creative and analytical thinker. They should also understand communication design and focus on customer needs and feedback for true insights on how to drive performance.
What according to you is one trend that is defining the digital landscape in the APAC region?
The “storification” of social. Brands adapt as stories offer new formats for sharing.
Stories represent the consummation of social media’s pivot from text-based platforms originally designed for desktop use (e.g. early Facebook) to truly mobile-only networks. They are overwhelmingly visual and meant to be created and consumed on the fly—with nothing more than a smartphone and a creative eye.
Because they’re ephemeral, often disappearing after a day, there’s more room for fun and experimentation. Stories also feel real, immediate, and intensely personal.
For brands, this requires a major shift in focus in 2019. While high-production value posts are still important, I believe, it’s key to have a balanced diet of different content weights.
With access to too much data what do you think is the biggest challenge that digital marketers are facing today?
Using any data optimally is a challenge for all business leaders and marketers. While many modern marketing tools do a great job of producing single-channel reports, understanding the contributions and opportunities across channels requires integrating data. The real problem faced by marketers in the pursuit of data-driven marketing strategies has nothing to do with the availability of data. In fact, many suffer from the problem of data deluge. Marketers need to have the ability to bring together multiple sources of data, connect the dots to turn the data points into actionable insights and then quickly execute before those insights become irrelevant.
As a jury for Digi 100 APAC, what is your advice to people applying to be on Digi 100 APAC: the list for top 100 digital marketers in the APAC?
As a jury member, I think a few key points to remember for those who are applying would be:
- Be concise and clear in your articulation, but still keep it personable by injecting some of your own story into the application.
- Tell a story that has a clear impact at the end.
- Be creative! Take the time to stand out from the crowd in a unique way.
