Scott Sadeghian-Tehrani is media strategy director at 26PMX, a performance marketing agency based in Leeds.
Scott has over 15 years of experience in delivering performance for a range of clients, from start-ups to FTSE 100 companies, and has developed integrated strategies for clients including ASDA Money, Wilko and Fortnum & Mason.
From the biggest job challenges to a ‘sliding doors moment’ for his first industry job, Scott Sadeghian-Tehrani shares his career journey and words of advice…
How did you first get into your industry?
In a bit of a sliding doors moment, I got my first job through a friend at a Web Marketing Group (now IDHL) as a temp. I had just finished my master’s degree and moved back up to Leeds from Nottingham having worked for a website design agency. At the time I had no real idea what SEO or digital marketing was, but having had a bit of experience building websites I knew sitting behind a desk for eight hours a day wasn’t for me, lucky SEO came along!
What do you love about your job?
A bit cliché, but it has to be the variety. The ability to switch between different clients, solve different problems and work across different channels means that even after 18 years in the industry, things still feel fresh.
The nature of digital is ever evolving so you’re only as good as your last project or campaign, which keeps you on your toes, to produce even bigger and better work.
Finally, it would be the wide range of clients we have at 26PMX. Seeing them progress, how their relationship deepens and evolves over time and then, most importantly, the fantastic results you can secure for them makes for a satisfying journey.
Who – or what – has inspired you in your career?
There is no one individual or celeb that I look up to. I’m constantly inspired by the people around me that I work with. We’re lucky at 26PMX to have a team full of people who are really passionate about what they do, and their energy is infectious.
Whether those who have just started or have been at the company for a long period of time, I’m inspired by colleagues at every level. You can learn just as much from the channel exec as you can from the directors as they have that curiosity and willingness to learn. They also deal with the day-to-day platform changes, so are constantly learning the latest optimisation techniques which we can apply to clients’ strategies, helping them innovate.
What are the biggest challenges about your job?
Working across verticals and channels does provide variety, conversely that means you feel like you’re chopping and changing what you’re doing quite a lot. One minute you can be scoping a tech SEO project for a fashion client, the next pulling together a multi-channel strategy for a B2B client.
In an agency environment where there is pressure to deliver and be agile, sometimes you need to take a step back and have a minute to think. Taking inputs from different customers, channels and data points and trying to turn that into a succinct media strategy doesn’t always lend itself to hundreds of Teams calls, so finding that space to not rush into things is crucial.
What skills have been the most crucial to you succeeding in your career so far?
I’ve been extremely lucky that digital is my hobby – I’ve been interested in computers and building websites since my early teens, so I always had a natural curiosity and thirst for knowledge.
As my career has progressed people say that I’m quite calm under pressure. I don’t think I am, maybe there’s a bit of a ‘swan’ effect’ – stoic up front, chaos underneath. But being able to join-up and distill things down into key moments really helps me in my role as media strategy director.
What was your first salary and what could someone getting into the industry expect to earn nowadays?
My first job in 2004 was £14,000 as a web marketing exec and to be completely honest, it wasn’t paying for lot: it covered my rent and a quite a few beers at the weekend.
Since then, wages have evolved. There are so many more digital agencies nowadays that the competition for execs is super fierce. I’d argue that finding the right agency that will help you build out your career in the long-term is potentially more important than some extra cash in the short term. I’ve been lucky to work at two great agencies.
What education or training would be most useful for someone looking to follow your career path?
I followed the traditional university route but knowing what I do now, I think the vocational side of things is probably just as, if not more important. I learned as much building sites with friends as I did at university. Looking back those all-nighters we pulled playing with HMTL, Flash etc were invaluable – good times!
If I was starting out now, I’d probably go down the paid route. There are so many online courses and certifications like Google AdWords Certificates or paid social which are cheap and accessible. I’d also consider finding an apprenticeship. With digital changing so often, learning on the job is in some ways more important than the theory.
