Princewill Ejirika: My Marketing Journey Started From a Facebook Fan Page

Princewill's 10-year marketing career includes work with VConnect, Jumia, and global Fintech/FMCG brands. He's also a meme creator who enjoys cycling and gaming.

This is the African Growth Marketers Spotlight series for the Marketing In Action Newsletter where we interview diverse marketing practitioners who are putting marketing into action. Share it with your network! ~James

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Can you tell us a bit about your background, education, and how you got into marketing?

I studied computer science in university and started by spending my free time on early social media networks, chatting and networking. I then built a Facebook fan page that grew quickly, thanks to a mix of organic growth and sheer luck. Afterward, I had the opportunity to work for a small, fast-growing gaming e-commerce company, managing their social media. Later, I joined Jumia, one of the largest e-commerce companies. Although I wasn’t in marketing initially, I left after less than two years to fully focus on a marketing career.

I then joined Ringier Digital Marketing, where I led the paid marketing team, and went on to work with companies like VConnect, Heineken, Tolaram, Omnibiz, and others.

I earned a diploma in digital marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and completed most of the Google AdWords, Analytics, and Facebook certifications, along with several marketing courses on Coursera. I also earned a Product Marketing Alliance certification. Microlearning, like reading articles and watching YouTube videos, has played a big role in my personal development. Being part of communities like ADMARP and DMM has also been instrumental in my growth.

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How do you define growth marketing?

Growth marketing is a process & mindset. A process of looking at marketing through the AAARRR funnel, and a mindset of testing, iterating & optimizing the various growth levers across your funnel. 

What are your key areas of expertise within marketing?

Growth marketing - paid marketing, analytics, product-led growth, A/B testing.

Product marketing - customer persona, market research, positioning.

Brand marketing - influencer marketing, copywriting, advertising, social media marketing.

Which marketing channels do you prioritize, and have you found to be effective?

Given my background in paid media, I have a strong bias for paid channels so I’ll say a good paid campaign on search, social, or display channels can be a very good way to drive predictable growth for most businesses. 

I find influencer marketing done right can be a good way to create awareness for your brand with lower production cost than an ad, finding a creator who is a right brand fit & supporting the content with a decent paid budget gets good results 

SEO: Using the right content marketing strategy to drive organic traffic for your business can give you great results in the long term. 

Which companies have you worked with?

I have contributed to the growth of some of Nigeria’s fastest-growing tech companies like VConnect, and Jumia Marketplace, and also executed digital marketing campaigns for global brands like Heineken, Samsung, Siemens, Kelloggs, Colgate, Jack Daniels & Nestle.

Can you share a fun or interesting fact about yourself that most people don’t know?

I make the best memes.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I love gaming & staying physically active so you will find me cycling, swimming, running & lifting weights. 

Can you share a resource or template that has been particularly valuable in your work?

Lately, I figured out that getting a foreplay account helps to find creative inspiration by checking out ads other marketers are using across different channels & formats. 

What advice would you give to someone starting their career in growth marketing?

1. Take a good growth marketing course. I recommend CXL courses, there’s a plethora of growth marketing courses & Growth marketing specialty courses to choose from.  

2. Read growth marketing books. My picks: 

   1. The Cold Start Problem: How to Start and Scale Network Effects. Book by Andrew Chen.

   2. Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising by Ryan Holiday. 

   3. Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel.

3. Find a solid mentor - Someone with 5yrs+ experience you can talk to when you get stuck, need in-person advice, or someone to look up to.

4. Follow top growth marketers - DYOR.

5. Prioritise working in a tech / product-led company & preferably a growth stage company—this is where growth happens.

6. Read top growth blogs & newsletters.

7. Put what you’ve learned into practice. Don’t be scared to test theories & come up with your own theories.

8. Be active in a marketing community like ADMARP, and Digital Marketing Meetup Nigeria.

Where can we connect with you?

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/princewill/ 

Give us two marketers that you would like us to interview in this newsletter.

• Innocent Uchenna 

• Fridel Makun  

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If you have a recommendation for who we should be speaking to, or who you would like to see in this interview series, reply with their names, marketing specialty, and how we can reach them (LinkedIn, Email, Phone, Home address 🙂).

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