Spotlight On: Elli Lloyd

In our new ‘Spotlight On’ series, we shine a light on the people behind Freshwater’s success.

First up is Elli Lloyd, a digital account executive based in our Cardiff office – read more about her below.

What is your specialism?

I specialise in paid media, working with organisations to plan, implement and manage campaigns that raise awareness of their brand and drive traffic to their websites. These campaigns span numerous social media platforms, such as X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and Spotify.

What does a typical day look like for you?

No two days are the same at Freshwater, and for me personally it depends on what campaigns we are working on. We’re currently managing a campaign with Fostering Devon which is probably my favourite campaign to date. So usually, my day consists of monitoring performance of the campaign, optimising to get the best results, reporting and ensuring spend aligns with budget.

I have also recently taken on the role of writing organic social media content for our sister company, Waterfront Conference Company. Waterfront has a busy calendar of conferences throughout the year which requires a large social media presence, and this usually takes up a large part of my day.

However, I would say my typical day involves lots of spreadsheets, no matter what I’m doing.

What do you enjoy most about working at Freshwater?

My favourite thing about working at Freshwater is the people, which is probably a cliché thing to say but is definitely true for me. Everyone is so supportive and they’re constantly making me laugh which makes work even more enjoyable.

We often do things outside of work such as quizzes, meals, and night-outs and are probably the only people still playing Wordle – we have even created a league for this!

My other favourite thing about working at Freshwater is that I’m encouraged to try new things and not be afraid of getting it wrong. I never saw myself as much of a writer, but I was presented with the opportunity to write website blogs and had lots of support to give it a go and learn new skills, even though it was outside my typical work responsibilities.

My most recent blog explores how TikTok can offer exceptional opportunities for advertisers and can be found here.

What made you want to pursue a career in digital marketing?

It came about completely by chance – but I’m so happy about the way it worked out.

Like a lot of young people, I had no clue what I wanted to do, but knew I wanted to go to university. I stumbled upon an event management degree and decided to go for it. I thoroughly enjoyed the three years of my undergrad where I learned how to rig lights, conduct a risk assessment and how to organise an event. I also had the opportunity to plan my own events which included a fundraising event for Kidney Wales. For all of the events I found myself in the same role; responsible for the marketing.

So, when COVID-19 hit and the event industry was unstable, I decided to use the opportunity to further my digital marketing knowledge through a master’s degree and it’s probably one of the best decisions I’ve made. It came so easily to me which I had never experienced before and made me realise it was what I wanted to do as a career. After graduating with a first in digital marketing, I came to Freshwater and never looked back!

How do you like to spend your free time?

In the evenings, I usually spend my time going to the gym, doing a food shop, cooking, and cleaning. I also probably spend way too much time scrolling on TikTok.

But on the weekends, I like to spend as much time with my friends, family and dog, Mabel as possible. We usually go for long walks, brunch, or go shopping.

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself?

I can actually list every country in the world – or at least, I think I can – which comes in very handy for the quizzes I’ve gone to with my colleagues!