For Olga Traskova, her entire career has been about looking behind the marketing strategy to understand the nuts and bolts of business. Not content to simply create glossy campaigns or winning websites, Olga has been driven in her various positions to craft thoughtful backend processes.
Before emigrating from Russia in 2011, Olga worked in traditional marketing and merchandising with companies such as L’Oreal and Yota, a Russian mobile broadband services provider. A next step to Veeam Software was a place Olga says “that my career really started.” At Veeam, Olga began project managing email marketing, including marketing automation. Additional marketing skills followed, including lead management and lead generation, data management and multiple platforms’ integrations. From online advertising to marketing automation to webinars, Olga and her team created bigger and better programs.
After a while at Veeam, Olga tapped into a growing desire she had to understand the backend of the systems and processes of inbound marketing. “I knew I needed to step back and see the big picture so we could reach our goals,” Olga says.
From Veeam, Olga emigrated to the U.S. and worked at Guidance Software, and then another security software company, Trustwave, both in California. Her focus became marketing automation; marketing and sales alignment; how data is used; who the company targets; and how to deliver qualified leads to sales; among other angles.
It was then that Olga brought her experience to Connectivity. As Senior Manager of Marketing and Sales Operations, she says that she happily “wears a lot of hats.” A typical day involves publishing the Connectivity blog; consulting with Sales; preparing for a conference; tweaking a website page; and creating email blasts.
One large task currently on Olga’s plate is creating processes for lead management and sales operations. “When leads come in from the website or calls, there needs to be a process in place,” Olga says. “We need to understand how we weight the leads and then deliver those leads to Sales.” Additionally, data must be kept “clean” with no duplications using various systems and platforms such as Hubspot, Marketo, SalesForce and Google Analytics.
After working for large, multi-national companies, what does Olga think of being a part of a startup? “It’s cool because we can build marketing processes the right way from the beginning,” she says. Olga also says the startup vibe at Connectivity has a “family feeling” with lunches, parties and keeping in touch with other teams. “Everyone, no matter what job, wants to make a great product,” Olga says.
Olga’s family includes husband Lenny and daughter Barbara, 7. They enjoy spending time together, including the simple things (taking Barbara to piano lessons and playgrounds) and the big things (traveling to Europe).
Alex is Connectivity’s VP of Marketing.
