Antonia is VP of Marketing at Resolute. She has a master’s degree in international relations from Sofia University and an MBA from EADA (Barcelona). Her professional experience spans over 20 years. Beginning her career in a small fintech company, she quickly found her way to Progress, where she developed her passion for product marketing. Then she worked as Director of Product Marketing and Product-led Growth Advisor for international companies.
When and How Did You Start Working at Resolute?
I have known Hristo and Veli (co-founders of Resolute) from our work at Progress. When they decided to implement the idea for Resolute, they contacted me. They needed a marketing plan and strategy for the company’s website. We worked on the site and finalized it half a year before Resolute was founded.
What are Your Responsibilities?
In a marketing organization, the tasks are the same regardless of your position - to bring more and better-quality leads at the best possible prices. Different parts of the team reflect these responsibilities differently. As VP of Marketing, I provide the team with knowledge and lessons from my experience. My job is to think of several moves ahead. So, I can predict where we need to be in 6 – 12 – 18 months and what can help us get there. I am constantly looking for opportunities to improve my team and business work processes.
What Projects are You Working on, and Which Colleagues do You Communicate with?
My projects and work are related to the annual business cycle of the company. These include creating a marketing strategy, linking it to the company’s goals, and approving budgets, marketing plans, and quarterly programs. I work daily with C-level people, the sales department, the design team, and often with the delivery team and individual engineers.
What Skills and Qualities are Essential for This Profession?
“The most important business quality is empathy.”
In the marketing function, where there is a lot of work with other teams, it is necessary to be able to put ourselves in the shoes of opposite people. You must understand their reactions and our goal is the same. Only duties are different.
What Do You Do to Develop Your Knowledge and Qualifications?
The moment you enter the digital marketing frenzy, FOMO hits you. Industry spews out news, new platforms, and tools daily. It is overwhelming to keep up with it all. I can sift through what is essential by talking to others in the tech industry, such as marketers, product managers, startup founders, engineers, and designers.
What are the Development Opportunities in Marketing?
The development opportunities are many. It depends on the marketer’s starting point, desires, and skills. You can choose a specific subspecialty - PR, events, social media, SEO (Search Engine Optimization). You can also gain comprehensive experience in various fields. However, as marketers, we must work closely with many other specialties in business, and from time to time, we fall in love with a different discipline and dive into it. This experience is invaluable and usually makes excellent professionals - marketers, salespeople, product managers, etc.
What are the Biggest Misconceptions about Marketing?
There is a complete misunderstanding of the complexity of marketing skills and the technology time required, especially in a b2b business environment. And here are my favorite fallacies:
- Digital marketing = Social media marketing (when the marketing team is only responsible for social media organic content and paid promotions)
- Only lead generation should be done. There is no point in brand awareness.
- The marketing function is supposed to drive leads and can do so on command from today to tomorrow.
“One of the most common misconceptions is that Digital marketing is equivalent to advertising. Мany people still believe that doing marketing in a company is more of an expense than an investment.”
