The CIM qualification results have just been published, and nesma students and tutors achieved an outstanding 98%, making it the ideal time to catch up with new graduate Stanislav Maslikhin, a former Ukrainian marketing director who has completed the L6 CIM Diploma in Professional Digital Marketing.
He works as a digital marketing expert for EGGER, a family company founded in 1961 that employs more than 11,000 people and 22 plants worldwide. Already an extraordinary digital marketer with a keen insight into digital marketing, Veronica Swindale, nesma MD, asked him a few questions about why he decided to embark on his CIM learning journey with nesma.
What inspired you to pursue this qualification?
Self-development is vital for every marketer. If you rely on the education that you received 5 or 10 years ago, you will always be behind others. That’s why I have my rule of completing 3-5 small courses focused on a particular tool or area of marketing every year and one fundamental 12-month course every 2-3 years.
I’ve wanted to obtain a CIM qualification since I received my master’s degree in marketing management. Unfortunately, only one program was available in Ukraine, so I temporarily put it on hold.
However, suddenly, my life was turned upside down. As a result of the war in Ukraine, my city was in ruins; I lost my job, and just like that, the hostile army erased all my plans. I had to take my family and move to a safer place.
“The CIM qualification with nesma became the first step in building my career in the UK and a way to feel that my life hadn’t stopped but was still moving forward”.
What role did curiosity play in the process of learning and personal development?
Curiosity is the main driver of changes in marketing, and you need to be curious to be a marketer!
Curiosity encourages you to do foolish and ingenious things, test different concepts, try new tools and channels, or launch new products. For example, ‘What if I violate the standards of our corporate style guide and use these assets for Pinterest ads?’ or ‘What if I change the structure of the marketing department?’ or ‘What if I use TikTok to target a B2B audience?’ All of this aims to gain positive and negative experiences that you can convert into successful case studies in the future.
You learn when you try something new or delve deeply into a specific topic. Even a SWOT analysis can surprise you; you can learn a thousand and one ways to use it.
Curiosity boosts our knowledge and helps us stay current, increasing our market value as specialists.
At the same time, curiosity goes hand in hand with your readiness to deal with consequences and your ability to justify your ideas. In this case, I can compare marketing to climbing a mountain. At any moment, you can fall, but when you get to the top, you’ll want to find another one.
How has this qualification contributed to your personal growth and development?
I’m now ‘armed and dangerous’ when using digital marketing frameworks to solve ad-hoc tasks.
This qualification has helped me set new goals for my personal development plan in the UK for the next ten years. Achieving Level 7, Chartered Marketer status, and new awards –are all small steps in building my career here.
Additionally, it was the first time I completed assignments in English. People whose first language is not English often have to double or sometimes triple their efforts to achieve good results. It was stressful and challenging, but I proved I could do this and was ready for new challenges.
How do you now envision applying your knowledge and skills?
Step by step. You can’t apply everything taught in one week or month. Each company has its own way of working and vision. To feel the effect of your new knowledge, you must change your daily tasks as a digital marketing specialist and implement new ideas and frameworks strategically. This takes time. You must go through dozens of meetings and debates, change your colleagues’ mindsets, and take small steps towards bringing your ideas to life.
How do you plan to stay updated on emerging trends and best practices in digital marketing?
I’ve always found it challenging to balance between five children, work, self-development, and time just for yourself. Books are not an efficient way to stay updated on digital marketing trends. They become out of date before they are even published.
Personally, I use four methods to keep myself updated on digital marketing trends:
- Sharing experiences: I teach digital marketing to 300 Ukrainian students every year, using fresh data to ensure I nurture a new generation of professional marketers.
- Network: I like to participate in discussions with marketers from other industries. This helps me consider someone’s experience and see a bigger picture than I can at work.
- Knowledge: I like to stay in touch with the leading training providers in my area, as they usually react more quickly to new trends and changes than others.
- Tools: The development speed of digital tools is exceptionally high, especially now in the AI era. I always test and set up each digital tool myself, allowing me to notice new features before they appear on social media or other platforms.
