Minodora Rucan – What I’ve Learned in 17 Years in Marketing: Tips for Beginners!

Minodora Rucan is a programmer, marketer, and head of the software development app Fastboss, which was the first to create a virtual assistant (AI) capable of handling all company documentation. Today, Fastboss is actively expanding its presence in the international market, targeting customers in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Before launching the startup, Minodora Rucan managed the marketing department of Ecosem Grup, a construction company founded more than 17 years ago, which successfully built 800 prefabricated apartments in residential complexes across the country.

Minodora, thank you for sharing your experience with our readers. In your opinion, what skills should a marketer have to succeed in this profession?

I’ve asked myself this question many times and discussed it with acquaintances: “What kind of people are marketers?” But opinions vary. Some believe it’s a creative profession, while others are convinced that “market” and marketing are purely about numbers. More recently, it’s become clear that a marketer also needs to be an IT professional.

For me, a marketer today must—or rather has no excuse not to—know about targeting, SEO, email marketing, marketing automation, and the integration of Artificial Intelligence in marketing, which is created for targeting on a larger scale.

As for personal qualities, the ability to learn continuously is the most important. Equally crucial is what I call “psychological sensitivity”—understanding consumer behavior.

A marketer must know how to manage a strong and “heterogeneous team.” They need to understand mass psychology, how the mechanisms mentioned above work, and have both spontaneous and adaptive creativity. An analytical mindset, people management skills, and the ability to inspire and motivate everyone—from customers to team members—are all keys to success and higher earnings.

And what is “psychological sensitivity”?

Marketing starts with sales. We sell ideas, projects, and opportunities. If someone has never worked in sales, psychological sensitivity is unlikely to develop. Without it, they won’t be able to discern which creative ideas are worth pursuing and which aren’t. A marketer must be able to recognize and implement the kind of creativity that will deliver the results an entrepreneur wants.

Are the qualities you mentioned innate or learned?

They are definitely learned! No one is born with skills. All we have is our DNA and the education we receive. Education shapes character, broadens perspectives, and imparts knowledge. Marketing is a profession, which means it can be learned.

But is it possible to become an expert on your own? For instance, through online courses and training?

Yes, but would you trust such a marketer with your money? The person who manages your advertising budget is the one deciding how much and where to spend it to ensure returns several times over.

A professional should always be able to answer this question: “How much profit should the advertising spend generate on average?” Without this data, business planning is impossible. Knowing the formula is one thing; knowing the result is another. A good marketer always has an idea of the expected outcome.

Training and lessons are useful, especially if they’re taught by professionals who have practiced what they preach and have worked in marketing for years. Often, sales or financial management courses can give you excellent marketing insights. So yes, education is important for intellectual growth and acquiring new knowledge, but it’s not everything.

Уроки и тренинги – это всегда хорошо, если их организуют люди, которые практиковали свои теории и работали в сфере маркетинга несколько лет. Часто курсы по продажам или по финансовому управлению могут подсказать тебе гениальные маркетинговые идеи. Поэтому да, обучение важно в этой профессии для интеллектуального развития и новых знаний, но это еще не все.

So a marketer is always learning?

Absolutely. As I mentioned earlier, a thirst for knowledge is essential. There are concepts that weren’t even discussed when I was in school that are now actively practiced and essential for launching advertising campaigns. My point is that things are constantly evolving.

It’s also important to have a basic understanding of business and economics, as well as higher education. Otherwise, marketers and business owners will speak different languages, and they need to understand each other.

What type of marketing do you find most effective: event marketing, mobile marketing, network marketing, or digital marketing?

It depends on the business sector—B2B, B2P, or B2C. Each of these models has its own approach. Before investing in any of them, I recommend running small A/B experiments with a limited budget to see the results.

Of course, if you have a large budget, you can afford to invest more. If not, prioritize your company’s goals. Most often, people use strategies that fit their budget and then adapt them across all possible promotion channels and creative elements.

Or you can take a different approach: define financial goals, determine the budget based on those goals, and then choose marketing techniques and communication channels accordingly. This requires formulas and analytical data to confidently predict financial outcomes.

It’s important to understand the different types of marketing. For instance, mobile marketing is a part of digital marketing. They are interconnected. Digital marketing has moved to screens. There’s also display marketing, which is actively used by streaming services like Netflix or IVI. These companies may not afford TV ads, but they advertise on platforms like Google, and we see these ads on big screens, just like TV commercials.

Mobile marketing and web marketing are essentially the same thing. The key is in cookies. If you see an ad on Google Chrome, it will also appear on your mobile and desktop versions.

Cookies. You mean the “smart radar” on social media and websites that tracks our preferences and needs, right?

Yes. Facebook is even smarter. It has an advertising app that can analyze what you like, what you react to, and what you ignore. As a result, it offers you exactly what you need. If you were searching for a dress on Facebook, AI would suggest lipstick, a handbag, and shoes to match. Facebook knows everything—what we react to, where we browse, who our best friends are, when we sleep, and who we work with.

Yes, that’s true. I know that in the U.S., almost all shopping is done online, through specialized websites and delivery services. It seems we’re heading toward living entirely in virtual reality.

That’s debatable. The pandemic has made us all more digital, and now we want our children to learn through virtual lessons. However, no one can live without food, nature, and personal communication. In the future, there will be more involvement in virtual reality. More people will learn computer-related professions, which may lead to a shortage of traditional jobs—welders, plumbers, doctors, cooks, artists. These professions might be more valuable than ever.

Speaking of the pandemic, they say it has affected everyone, and advertising budgets have been cut. Is that true?

I can’t speak for all industries; it depends on the sector. I can say that all marketing has shifted online, and spontaneous purchases have disappeared. The customer journey is now longer, with multiple stages, and each stage requires investment.

Should we sell aggressively or more subtly?

You should sell according to the customer’s nature. The seller must understand the person they are dealing with. That’s not really marketing—it’s about making the connection between the seller and the customer. In online shopping, that connection is the result of a marketer’s work.

Selling has become more difficult due to market saturation and information overload. However, AI helps personalize information, which improves the buying process. Aggressive selling is no longer effective. Consumers are more rational and less emotional now. I believe that post-pandemic, people will reevaluate their priorities and spending habits.

So aggressive marketing doesn’t work anymore?

No. Digital marketing can destroy a brand. Aggression signals desperation or incompetence. If people feel you’re trying too hard to sell them something, they’ll push you away. There’s already too much aggression in the world and online. People have built defenses against it. Simply put, if you want people to avoid you, be aggressive. Intrusiveness doesn’t work either.

We’re in an era of marketing with elements of art. You don’t just sell to people—you delight them. Make them feel joy when they buy. The true art of selling is making customers leave the store feeling like they’ve met old friends and are completely satisfied. When we spend money, we should feel positive energy in return.

Is marketing more about psychology or algorithms?

Есть формула, а потом уже реакция. Должна быть химия. Если у потребителя не было никакой реакции на ваш креатив, то этот алгоритм не работает. Алгоритм – это то, что работает и используется несколько раз.

There’s a formula, and then there’s the reaction. There needs to be chemistry. If your creativity doesn’t resonate with the consumer, the algorithm won’t work. An algorithm is something that can be used repeatedly.

Marketing, in a sense, is the first sale—the first contact with the customer (soft sale). We sell an image, text, video, or music, and in return, we take the consumer’s time, email, or other data. Good marketers use that to create the first level of the sales funnel. After that, it’s all about technique.

If you didn’t engage your potential consumers initially, your money was wasted. To engage them, you need to be able to sell at least some of what you’re offering. Therefore, the first step for a good marketer is, of course, selling.

There are different forms of marketing, depending on the business’s nature and model. So I would say marketing is more about psychology and analytics than algorithms. After analyzing consumer behavior, certain algorithms are created for different situations and then automated for marketing and sales funnels.

Besides increased sales, what other criteria indicate a successful marketing campaign?

For example, if we launch a campaign with specific sales projections and achieve at least 80% of that plan, then the campaign was successful.

Product manufacturers often plan for “in-season” and “off-season” sales. If they meet or exceed their goals, it means the marketing campaign was successful.

There are key performance indicators (KPIs) used in marketing, but these are typically formulas created by analysts and financial experts. Most of them include sales volume as a key metric.

On a surface level, you can assess the goals of a marketing campaign—were they achieved? If so, what does the data show? If the goal was to drive traffic to a website, did that happen?

If the goal was brand recognition, how many times was the brand mentioned online after the campaign? There are tools to track that.

For offline marketing campaigns, success is often a long-term investment. Data should be monitored for several months after the campaign ends.

So, after 17 years in marketing, what have you learned?

That it’s a continuous learning process and involves working with interesting, creative people. Marketing is essentially a game between finance and creativity. To meet a company’s financial needs, we must get the most out of creativity.

The article was prepared by employees of Vlasova&co.

Any use or copying of the materials, as well as collections of website content, design elements, and layout, are permitted only with the permission of the copyright holder and must include a reference to the source

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