Mary’s journey at Gumtree is a powerful example of how digital marketing careers can evolve in fast-moving tech environments. Starting in social media, she’s expanded into a broader strategic remit helping shape the brand’s voice and impact. In this interview, she shares how she’s navigated change, embraced innovation, and helped connect millions of users with what they need, every day.

You've been with Gumtree for quite some time, can you tell us about your journey here and how your role has evolved over the years?

I officially joined Gumtree five years ago, and it’s been a whirlwind ever since. I started out focusing exclusively on social media campaign management, but being a part of a small, ambitious team there were plenty of opportunities to branch out. Over time, my role expanded into a broader strategic remit, supporting across brand, PR, and partnership projects.

When you’re at a company that moves at the pace we do, it means getting comfortable wearing many hats and helping shape how we approach digital marketing as the business evolves.

One of the things I’m most proud of is how we sustained, and even grew, our digital marketing and social media presence through what was a disruptive period for the business, which saw three ownership changes in only five years. Navigating that while keeping our marketing stable and effective is something I consider a real achievement.

A personal highlight was definitely our Gumfree Freebies Pop Up in 2022. It’s rare working in tech, to get the opportunity to engage with your users face-to-face. Seeing firsthand how people connect with our brand was both enlightening and incredibly rewarding.

What initially drew you to digital marketing, and what keeps you passionate about it today?

My strengths have always sat at the intersection of creativity, data, and technology, and digital marketing lets me tap into all three every single day. It’s constantly evolving; there’s always a new platform, tool, or consumer trend to learn about.

What keeps me passionate is the ability to measure impact. I love being able to see the tangible results of a campaign, whether that’s engagement, conversions, or brand sentiment - it's the best way to learn and keep improving.

And ultimately, marketing is about listening to people. I’m driven by the challenge of understanding our audiences and figuring out how we can genuinely be useful to them, solve problems, or simply bring them a moment of “job done”.

What does a typical day look like for you as a Digital Marketing Manager in a tech scale-up environment like Gumtree?

I know it’s a cliché, but truly, no two days are ever the same. In a scale-up, priorities can shift quickly, so being agile is essential.

Most days, I’m keeping a close eye on our advertising campaigns, checking dashboards and metrics to see how things are tracking and making optimisations when needed. I’m also regularly connecting with our marketing team and other departments on live projects, from brand and PR to data and customer service.

I spend a good chunk of time reviewing creative, planning future initiatives, and checking in with our Meta and TikTok partners. I’m always researching new tools and ideas to figure out how we can better reach and serve our users.

And keeping it real, a lot of my time is also spent on reports and prepping for meetings. Making sure the wider business and leadership team are across what we’re doing and the impact it’s having is important.

What systems, tools, or technologies do you rely on daily to manage and optimize your digital marketing efforts?

Our toolkit is quite broad. I lean heavily on Google Analytics, Looker, Adjust and various ad managers, Meta, TikTok, Google Ads to name a few, to get a full picture of performance. For campaign execution and day-to-day management, those ad platforms are essential.

Slack is our main hub for communication and staying aligned as a team. I also use Trello to keep my workload and priorities in check.

For social media, we use Brandwatch’s Falcon, which streamlines scheduling, community engagement, and social listening. On the creative side, I’ve spent a lot of time upskilling in Adobe Creative Cloud over my career, but I’m also a big fan of Canva which is brilliant for quick social creative ideation and production.

I’d say our martech stack allows us to balance creativity and data well, but there’s definitely room to bring in more advanced tools, especially around AI and automating the basics. I already use AI quite a bit for ideation, copywriting and personalisation but human quality control is essential!

What are some of the most exciting projects you're currently working on at Gumtree? Any recent campaigns or initiatives you're particularly proud of?

The standout has to be running Brand Lift Studies on two major social platforms. It was a big vote of confidence from the business in my strategy, and I also got to collaborate with a fantastic new agency partner, Splendid, who helped me turn-around an influencer campaign in record time.

The results spoke for themselves: the influencer content generated 100% positive sentiment, and the paid campaign drove strong uplifts in brand recall and consideration. This was intended as a test-and-learn initiative, so it’s especially rewarding to see it succeed on all fronts.

What can Gumtree users expect in the near future in terms of digital experiences or marketing initiatives?

We’re focused on creating more effortless experiences, so users can achieve what they came to us for more quickly and easily. The business is investing in platform modernisation that will deliver improvements across buying, selling, and finding whatever people come to Gumtree to do.

Personally, I’m excited about championing campaigns that celebrate real stories. Our users are the heart of the platform, and we want to make Gumtree not just functional, but people’s first choice marketplace.

How do you and your team stay connected to customer needs and feedback when shaping your marketing strategies?

Staying close to our users is absolutely critical, our platform depends on them having a good experience.

We look at both the qualitative and the quantitative: category and ad performance, survey data, social comments, app reviews. We’re constantly digging into this feedback to ensure we’re building campaigns and experiences that genuinely address user needs, not just what we think they want.

I also make a point of working closely with our Trust & Safety and Customer Service teams. They have invaluable, real-time insights into what our customers are experiencing day to day.

Huge thanks to Mary for sharing her journey! Her story shows how embracing change and staying user-focused can lead to real impact in digital marketing. As Gumtree evolves, she continues to drive campaigns that not only perform, but connect. It’s a reminder that in tech, growth comes from staying curious, creative, and close to your audience.