I recently had the privilege to interview Luke Bukoski, the Director of Digital Marketing for UNC Asheville (UNCA). Bukoski provided valuable insight into the field of marketing, which was drawn from his present position with UNCA, past and present experience as an entrepreneur, as well as his studies in the MBA program at Western Carolina University.
In hindsight, Bukoski feels that his arrival at a career in marketing was almost predetermined, although he detailed an indirect path, which led him to this focus. Bukoski hails from an outgoing and personable family with a history in sales. Such characteristics manifested themselves in Luke’s career direction.
Upon completing high school, Bukoski spent the next several years dividing his time between the pursuit of his Bachelor’s degree from UNCA, while serving multiple active tours of duty as a reservist with the United States Army. Towards the end of his work on his undergraduate degree, Bukoski traded his occupation as a reservist for the launch of his business, Blend Studios, LLC, which he launched with a partner.
Bukoski built his business while concurrently pursuing his MBA, until selling out to his partner in 2011, when he accepted a position with UNCA. Bukoski began with UNCA at a relative entry-level position. However, Bukoski cited the strong leadership and management environment of UNCA’s Communications and Marketing department, which allowed him to expand the boundaries of his initial position and ultimately win promotion to the Director of Digital Marketing. In addition to his current position, Bukoski also does independent marketing consulting.
Early in his adult life, Bukoski was compelled by the power of brand and imaging, both of which are objectives of successful marketing. This attraction, coupled with a self-described genetic predisposition for sales, set Bukoski on his marketing career trajectory. As he grew, a preoccupation with brand and imaging, and an instinct for sales was augmented by an education in the data-driven and quantitative analysis behind marketing.
Simply stated, Bukoski loves marketing because he loves to connect a client with a specific need. He described the conviction and drive that accompanies a job when a person believes in the product or service they are selling. He explained as a marketer, the objective then becomes to build awareness of this product, introduce to and educate the target market, and ultimately serve as the catalyst for an action, which is the connection of the target market with the product.
Bukoski further described his affinity for the marketing field through the illustration of how marketing creates the spirit of a product; “Believing is being,” he explained. These ideas are rooted in a coherent vision for a company or project. If efforts are coherently subjugated to a central vision, a company can realize its goal. Marketing provides this vision, and marketing provides the “how” by interaction with the clients in order to clearly define their needs and desires.
As the Director of Digital marketing at UNCA, Bukoski’s audience is generally prospective students and their parents, while his clients are various entities and departments internal to UNCA. Bukoski’s efforts in this role communicate the university’s vision and galvanize its continuity of purpose. Ultimately, Bukoski is selling the merits of the classic liberal education, regardless of major, a concept in which he is a strong believer.
Drawing upon his experience as and entrepreneur and at the university, Bukoski broadly defined the objective of marketing to connect people with their desires, be they known or unknown. He emphasized his belief that a marketer cannot force a product on a client if it is not a proper fit. This belief underscores the importance of properly identifying one’s target market.
The digital world in which we operate, and the integration of social media provide marketers with amazing opportunities. Rather than the traditional mass-marketing approach of inundating everyone with your product’s campaign, effective use of digital and social media allows the clients of a business to perform part of the marketing themselves, as prospective clients seek information on a product online.
Bukoski generally described the objective of digital marketing to create a united group of fans or product disciples, and let them advocate the merits and value of your product through an ever-growing network. Satisfied customers make a compelling sales pitch, as they ostensibly stand nothing to gain from advocating a product. Bukoski emphasized in order to create this desired group of satisfied client-advocates, the business must continually interact with the customers in order to define and meet their needs. He explained that this critical interaction and product-tailoring is where many businesses fail. Too many companies are blinded by loyalty to their product or service and do not modify their offerings based on customer feedback. Processing and applying this feedback is a critical marketing function.
He described that the real power of digital marketing is being able to connect fans to one another, then dial in and monitor their dialogue as they discuss your product. Bukoski emphasized simply, “Listen to your clients.”
Bukoski explained that people want information immediately. A business must carefully design their online presence to meet this demand, a large component of which is being accessible online to answer questions. Answering questions and gathering this critical customer feedback will enable a company to effectively identify the demands of the market.
Digital marketing also enables a company to monitor customer interaction from introduction to point-of-sale. Bukoski conveyed the value of this ability by being able to quantify the effectiveness of marketing and advertising initiatives. A monetary value can then be assigned to an initiative or campaign by calculating the revenues that result.
When asked to reflect on his career in marketing and translate the experience into advice for entrepreneurs, Bukoski offered three key points.
First, Bukoski reemphasized the need for a business to simply listen to its clients. He wished he would have done this more effectively with his first business. He explained that entrepreneurs need to listen more, rather than trying to convince customers they need the existing product; it may not be the correct fit. Identify the needs of the customer through listening.
Secondly, Buksoki advised businesses to stay engaged with past clients. Too often past clients can be neglected in the pursuit of new clients. This neglect can come at the expense of repeat business and additional referrals. Cultivate a loyal customer following that will generate buzz about your company.
Finally, Bukoski encouraged entrepreneurs to simply be professional in every aspect of representing their business; everything matters. He has personally witnessed this cardinal rule violated many times over. He cited examples of lower bids that did not win contracts over higher bids because the business owner failed to properly complete an itemized bid, as well as incidents of informal and unprofessional correspondence. Entrepreneurs tend to be very focused on the product or service they are selling, but they need to remember that their business is being measured and assessed by every interaction with a client, large or small. Entrepreneurs must treat every interaction like it matters, because it does, right down to how they answer the phone and reply to e-mail correspondence.
These three points of advice, offered from experience, integrate seamlessly into a coherent and focused marketing strategy for a business owner, large or small.
