Jack Bird is marketing communications manager at digital marketing agency Add People.
Headquartered in Altrincham, the agency now has a team of around 265 staff and expanded to the US with the opening of an office in Austin, Texas, last year.
Starting out as a junior SEO executive in 2017, after a number of promotions to senior positions Bird was appointed as marketing comms manager last year. He now manages the branding and creative campaign output for Add People, while also running the internal, external comms and marketing team.
From big job challenges to crucial career skills, Jack Bird shares his career journey and words of advice.
How did you first get into your industry?
While in my final year of uni, I took on a side gig doing content and social media for a fairly new agency in Manchester. It let me dip my toes into the professional scene and get my hands dirty, while still being able to pull late nights in the Manchester Met library for my degree.
What do you love about your job?
I get to work on an exciting brand for a business that’s really taking off (you may have seen that we’re expanding to Texas and were recently named as one of Prolific North’s top 50 digital agencies in 2024), while also managing a team of really passionate marketers who keep me on my toes.
Who – or what – has inspired you in your career?
Creative people inspire me. Watching a David Cronenberg movie will get me plotting little horror stories in a notepad, reading David Ogilvy will make me want to write an ad for a pack of cigarettes, a videographer I don’t even know the name of might pop up on my Instagram and make me want to shoot video in a way I hadn’t thought of before.
I think that’s a healthy way to go about it all, not just looking at marketers because you work in marketing but casting a wide net so you can take inspiration from everywhere. Then, when you need it, you can run through your brain like it’s a Rolodex and pull whatever inspiration you need to solve the problem in front of you.
Oh, and my fiancee inspires me to work far harder than I ever would have if I was doing this all solo.
What are the biggest challenges about your job?
In a company with over 200 employees, getting things over the finish line can sometimes be tricky with so many people wanting to get eyes on a campaign or change before we can go live. However, glass half full and all that, these buffer periods can sometimes be the relief I need to work on something else for a bit.
What skills have been the most crucial to you succeeding in your career so far?
I’m very process-driven which has really helped me. When I started in the SEO department at Add People, there were around eight of us. I was young and eager to please, so I started creating different tools and systems to make work easier for us and more effective for our clients.
I think that stuff can really allow creativity to flourish, so you can point your brain in a direction and let it loose – and helped us prepare for the SEO team blooming to 30+ before I moved over to run the marketing team.
What was your first salary and what could someone getting into the industry expect to earn nowadays?
My first full-time salary was 18k for a content and off page SEO specialist role with Add People, almost eight years ago. Someone could (and should) expect north of 23k now. If you’re not getting that, get clarity over what you need to do to get there – or dip.
What education or training would be most useful for someone looking to follow your career path?
While I think a ‘jack of all trades’ mentality can hurt you in the long run (specialists thrive), it can make for a great foundation at the start of a career. A role with a multi-service marketing agency can be a great way to expose you to new products, new skills and new people. Try whatever you can and don’t settle for just reading about them.
What advice would you have for someone looking to follow your path?
Two big ones for me.
First, have a solution-focused mindset. If you can change something that’s troubling you, try your best. If you can’t, then don’t sweat it anymore. Literally, what is the point? You’ve got better stuff to do with your time and mental bandwidth.
For the second one, find out how to get into Your Zone. Now, you can’t live in Your Zone, but you should always be able to access it. This is where you can be hyper-focused and power through tasks. For me, I pour a cup of molten hot black coffee and put on Endtroducing by DJ Shadow if it’s ‘thinking’ work or Rust In Peace by Megadeth if it’s ‘doing’ work. I’ll emerge out of it totally wired and totally satisfied with a job well done.
