We sat down with Ellen Binio, Contentsquare’s Talent Acquisition Manager, to find out how we ended up so lucky to have her and how she helps us build a first-rate team.
How did you come to work at Contentsquare?
I was recruited to work at Contentsquare by a very good friend, who isn’t actually a recruiter but kept encouraging me to look into the company. I wasn’t necessarily looking to switch companies at the time, but eventually decided it was time to transition into a new role, and I reached out. I interviewed, loved the product, loved the people, and haven’t looked back since.
What were you doing before you joined Contentsquare?
My background is in university sales recruiting — recruiting folks for masters programs etc. I eventually found myself wanting to move to New York City where I could work for an amazing company, and continue building my career.
I was referred to a staffing agency where I became a recruiter for startups. I loved helping people upgrade their careers, and saw this role as an ideal entrance into the big city. I helped build teams for early to late stage startups and nonprofits, focused mainly on finding prospective hires for finance teams.
What made you make the change to recruiting for just one company?
After working for up to 10 startups at a time for three years, I was ready to transition into internal recruiting. It was a whole new world. Going from recruiting for many companies to focusing on just one is exhilarating — you get to help build a company from the ground up.
The most tangible difference is the ability to work across all departments, building several teams out at the same time – rather than one or two roles. And with so many positions to fill, we are recruiting candidates with very different profiles, which makes each day different and fast-paced.
What are the challenges of recruiting during a period of fast growth?
The most challenging part, honestly, is scheduling so many interviews amongst busy schedules! Despite its challenges, it’s fun for me because I’m confident in the product, and I know we have something special going on. It’s really important to know the product — I may not be certified yet but I would like to eventually. Just watching a product demo during my first week gave me a good sense of why our solution is different, and why people should come and work for us.
In today’s tight job market, candidates usually have other prospects. Potential hires want to know about the product, our culture and people — and, of course, what makes us different.
What sets Contentsquare apart from other NYC companies?
We were founded in France, but our CEO moved here to open the New York office. It’s enticing for candidates to know that senior employees from our Paris office have moved here to help scale the US. Prospective candidates love to hear that we also have offices in Paris, Munich, and London. Competition in NYC is tough, but there aren’t that many startups that can boast a truly global operation. We can.
What are the benefits of having an international team?
For one, we have an impressive 25 nationalities in our company. Plus, having a global operation encourages internal mobility between offices, and several employees have taken advantage of this.
Besides permanent moves, we also travel to other offices to collaborate. During our annual Hackathon, we fly our teams across offices to innovate together. We just recently had the entire global Marketing team meet in the NY office. Also, we host an annual World Wide Kick Off where the entire company joins together in a surprise location. Even though we’re a six year old company, we are still getting together as a whole. It’s also a great chance for me to spend time with my team in France, and meet coworkers who I’ve been Slacking with for the past few months.
You mentioned the tight job market earlier. How do you attract the right candidates in the current climate?
We want to be a competitive employer in New York City, and our HR team has made it a priority to diversify our benefit package, including adding a 401k plan. In addition to benefits, we’re making a group effort to build our company culture together #team spirit. At the end of the day, people stay at companies because of who they work with. As we continue to build culture with bake-offs, monthly office breakfasts, “Let’s Talk” town hall meetings, sports leagues, and other social occasions, I think it will all bring us even closer together.
What is a good fit for a company like Contentsquare?
We recruit candidates who enjoy collaborating with others to #create an amazing culture. We’re also looking for people who exude #ambition and #enthusiasm in all they do. If you like to celebrate #uniqueness and help the company become a market leader and thought leader in the world of UX, we want to talk to you!
So you’ve recruited the perfect candidate – what happens next?
Once the offer is “sign, sealed, and delivered,” the real fun begins! Not only do I want to help get you in the door with a good package and an understanding of what you’ll be doing, I want you to meet the right people. My job is to help set up who your buddy is and ensure a smooth transition and start to your career at Contentsquare!
Any last thoughts?
We’re hiring across all teams and offices! Check out our careers page here and we’ll see you soon!
Helping Brands Measure the Value of their Digital Experience InvestmentsContentSquare CEO Jonathan Cherki answers burning questions about digital experience and customer journey optimization. Follow this series.
Last week, ContentSquare was at Adobe Summit in Las Vegas, meeting digital leaders and digital experience teams from all over the world. One of the questions I got asked a lot during the event was, “How do I know which type of content to invest in?”
A change to the User Experience (UX) only becomes an improvement once it evidences a positive impact. That’s why having the ability to measure the performance of digital investments is invaluable to brands wishing to see a healthy ROI for their digital assets. Brands need strong data attribution models so they can react fast and confidently to their customers’ needs and usage patterns.
A change to the User Experience (UX) only becomes an improvement once it evidences a positive impact. That’s why having the ability to measure the performance of digital investments is invaluable to brands wishing to see a healthy ROI for their digital assets. Brands need strong data attribution models so they can react fast and confidently to their customers’ needs and usage patterns.
REVEALING HIDDEN DIGITAL EXPERIENCE OPPORTUNITIES
One of the motivators for starting ContentSquare in 2012 was the realization that many companies developing sites had no idea what was happening online. Their website was like a black box that no one could open, full of information about the digital behavior of customers and prospects.
This challenge is one of the things that got me interested in analytics in the first place—making obvious what was hidden until now to help brands distribute time and resources in the most productive way.
In the luxury industry, for example, brands have vast budgets to develop inspirational content with extremely high production values. But how do they know whether this content or campaign is working for them and driving business?
Being able to attribute revenue to content at an elemental level – seeing not just which page, but which individual pieces of in-page content encourage conversion, and which are obstacles in the navigation – is key to identifying where your UX budget is best spent. Whether that’s a menu item, CTA button, thumbnail image, video, etc. – getting an accurate measure of content value allows teams to focus on prioritizing and validating optimizations, and invest in the areas of highest impact.
DEMOCRATIZING THE REVENUE ATTRIBUTION PROCESS
Furthermore, a clear, shareable attribution model has the power to change brands’ digital marketing culture by empowering even non-analysts to measure their contribution to a company’s digital revenue goals. The ability to pinpoint where and why you lost visitors helps you determine where you should invest efforts and resources to get the highest ROI. It’s also more efficient to A/B test when you can tell not just which test but what element, in a variant, led to better results.
A CLEAR, SHAREABLE ATTRIBUTION MODEL HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE BRANDS’ DIGITAL MARKETING CULTURE.
Analytics have come a long way in recent years, and today, marketers know that understanding the expectations and behavior of digital consumers is the backbone of a good online experience. In the same way, understanding the needs and challenges of brands with online assets is vital to developing a good digital insights platform.
Certainly for us, improving our product would not be possible without listening to the people who use it day-to-day. We want the solution to keep growing with your goals, which is why we put brands at the heart of our research and development strategy. When we develop new features and capabilities for our product, it’s in direct response to the feedback and questions of those who want to leverage big data into a better connection with their customers.
So – keep those questions coming—email us at [email protected]—keep talking to us, and we will listen and work to solve the issues most important to you.
Helping Brands Measure the Value of their Digital Experience Investments – esContentSquare CEO Jonathan Cherki answers burning questions about digital experience and customer journey optimization. Follow this series.
Last week, ContentSquare was at Adobe Summit in Las Vegas, meeting digital leaders and digital experience teams from all over the world. One of the questions I got asked a lot during the event was, “How do I know which type of content to invest in?”
A change to the User Experience (UX) only becomes an improvement once it evidences a positive impact. That’s why having the ability to measure the performance of digital investments is invaluable to brands wishing to see a healthy ROI for their digital assets. Brands need strong data attribution models so they can react fast and confidently to their customers’ needs and usage patterns.
A change to the User Experience (UX) only becomes an improvement once it evidences a positive impact. That’s why having the ability to measure the performance of digital investments is invaluable to brands wishing to see a healthy ROI for their digital assets. Brands need strong data attribution models so they can react fast and confidently to their customers’ needs and usage patterns.
REVEALING HIDDEN DIGITAL EXPERIENCE OPPORTUNITIES
One of the motivators for starting ContentSquare in 2012 was the realization that many companies developing sites had no idea what was happening online. Their website was like a black box that no one could open, full of information about the digital behavior of customers and prospects.
This challenge is one of the things that got me interested in analytics in the first place—making obvious what was hidden until now to help brands distribute time and resources in the most productive way.
In the luxury industry, for example, brands have vast budgets to develop inspirational content with extremely high production values. But how do they know whether this content or campaign is working for them and driving business?
Being able to attribute revenue to content at an elemental level – seeing not just which page, but which individual pieces of in-page content encourage conversion, and which are obstacles in the navigation – is key to identifying where your UX budget is best spent. Whether that’s a menu item, CTA button, thumbnail image, video, etc. – getting an accurate measure of content value allows teams to focus on prioritizing and validating optimizations, and invest in the areas of highest impact.
DEMOCRATIZING THE REVENUE ATTRIBUTION PROCESS
Furthermore, a clear, shareable attribution model has the power to change brands’ digital marketing culture by empowering even non-analysts to measure their contribution to a company’s digital revenue goals. The ability to pinpoint where and why you lost visitors helps you determine where you should invest efforts and resources to get the highest ROI. It’s also more efficient to A/B test when you can tell not just which test but what element, in a variant, led to better results.
A CLEAR, SHAREABLE ATTRIBUTION MODEL HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE BRANDS’ DIGITAL MARKETING CULTURE.
Analytics have come a long way in recent years, and today, marketers know that understanding the expectations and behavior of digital consumers is the backbone of a good online experience. In the same way, understanding the needs and challenges of brands with online assets is vital to developing a good digital insights platform.
Certainly for us, improving our product would not be possible without listening to the people who use it day-to-day. We want the solution to keep growing with your goals, which is why we put brands at the heart of our research and development strategy. When we develop new features and capabilities for our product, it’s in direct response to the feedback and questions of those who want to leverage big data into a better connection with their customers.
So – keep those questions coming—email us at [email protected]—keep talking to us, and we will listen and work to solve the issues most important to you.
Embracing Mindset Segmentation for a Better Digital Experience – gbWith more and more brands embracing the idea that customer journeys are fundamentally emotional, I am often asked how analytics can be leveraged into experiences that address the needs of different consumer mindsets.
It’s a great question. With such a huge market for online retail, how do you create seamless digital journeys that meet the needs and expectations of every consumer? And how do you do this knowing that one consumer does not equal one consumer journey, and that visitors will navigate your site differently depending on their circumstances?
The emotional side of the digital experience
Digital marketing teams today have the tools to understand the nuances of visitor behavior, and have started to embrace the emotional side of data. Where they once segmented their audience according to personas, they are now adding a layer of insight to their workflow by adding consumer mindsets to the equation – i.e. the feelings that go hand in hand with digital behavior.
WHERE THEY ONCE SEGMENTED THEIR AUDIENCE ACCORDING TO PERSONAS, THEY ARE NOW ADDING A LAYER OF INSIGHT TO THEIR WORKFLOW BY ADDING CONSUMER MINDSETS TO THE EQUATION.
Think of it this way – digital journeys are influenced by more than just demographics and content. Factors like device, time of day, and quality of service all impact navigation. So do variables like traffic source, customer intent, etc.
For example, when ContentSquare’s office manager is trying to book six flights to Las Vegas on a desktop, she has a different experience than when she is on the subway platform, looking up last-minute package trips to Tulum on a mobile with a spotty connection. She might be focused in the first instance, and frustrated in the second.
Connecting with profitable mindsets
The challenge for brands today is to develop navigation paths that adapt to the potential mindsets of their most profitable audiences – answering the needs of focused users and those who, for a variety of reasons, are more distracted in their navigation.
And since e-Commerce disruptors like Amazon or Airbnb have accustomed today’s consumers to a near-faultless user experience (UX), and raised the bar for digital convenience even higher, it can seem like a daunting challenge.
The first step to answering all these different needs is to understand them. Really getting to know the ways in which visitors navigate your site will help you refine segments according to behavioral criteria. It is this level of understanding that will help you tailor optimizations to specific mindsets, removing another layer of guesswork and truly putting consumer experience at the heart of your marketing strategy.
Knowing where that productive mindset drops off, or which field is a field too many for the distracted mindset will help teams focus improvements, and create journeys that can withstand the influence of all those factors brands can’t control.
Because while you may be unable to control your users’ mindset, you can anticipate it, and make sure that your UX caters to it.