Crafting Enduring Brand Stories | Ana Figueroa from Neuma Branding

Ernesto Quezada: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98% of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition online. Pathmonk qualifies and converts leads on your website by figuring out where they are in the buying journey and influencing them in key decision moments. With relevant micro experiences like case studies, intro videos, and much more, stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get access to 50% more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. Check us on pathmonk.com. Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Ana from Neuma, co-founder and marketing director with them. How are you doing today, Ana?

Ana Figueroa: Great. Thank you for having me. I’m very excited for this space. Webinar. Thank you.

Ernesto: It’s great to have you on. I mean, you being the co-founder and having a lot of experience in the marketing world, love to have you on here. Let’s kick it off right, so that way, our listeners can know a little bit more about Neuma. Tell us a little bit about it in your own words.

Ana: Yes, of course. Before I dive into more details, I would love to talk a little bit more about our essence. Neuma means spirit in Greek, and we have this meaning because it’s attached to our philosophy and our motto for everything we create. We have a strategy behind it and an intelligent aesthetic behind it. We’ve seen that necessity, especially for our region in Latin America. But I’m happy to say that we’ve been helping clients throughout the world now, especially with branding from, for example, Asia in Singapore, in the US, and Europe as well. So as I was saying, it’s very important for us to always have that strategy behind every brand we develop.

Ernesto: Definitely important. All right, thank you so much for sharing that. On that note, so that way our listeners could get a good understanding of your company, what would you say is that key problem that you guys like to solve for your clients?

Ana: Well, clients who like to work with us are clients that care about giving their customers an experience. That’s why we’ve been focusing on branding, but customer experience as well. When we create a brand, I like to make the analogy with an iceberg. The point of the iceberg you see would be a logo of a company, but we create all that. The wire there you will find its values, its personality, how it should communicate, and so on. So we’ve been developing a methodology throughout the seven years that Neuma has existed, where we create a brand’s DNA and storytelling. So you use that as the core of your brand for everything the brand is going to create and communicate.

Ernesto: Definitely. All right, awesome to hear that from you. So, is there a certain vertical segment? Is there an ideal ICP for Neuma?

Ana: Well, the methodology I was talking about lets us work with any type of client regardless of industry. But I would say that we’ve been focusing lately a lot on the tech industry, hospitality, and retail, we can say as well. Also, there have been a lot of food products. We might say, for example, we have a hot sauce called Pocon Lava. It has won many awards, but it is exported outside Guatemala. So products like that are great to create this storytelling line and experience I’ve been talking about. And we have been working a lot with them.

Ernesto: Definitely important. All right, awesome to hear that. So then, how would somebody usually find out about Neuma? Is there a top client acquisition channel for you there, Ana?

Ana: I would divide that into two main parts. One would be networking. Networking has been really important for Neuma. For example, I have a weekly session where I participate here in Guatemala with many other networkers and entrepreneurs. But when I talk about networking, we also like to participate in webinars or spaces like this one that I’m having with you today, Ernesto. The other one, I would say, would be the digital channels, being our website an important one, especially for international clients, because an international client likes to find out more about us before getting in touch. The other one would be our Instagram. We love to give content with a lot of value to our community. If you go to our Instagram, you will find different tips. And of course, we showcase the projects we’ve been working on behind the scenes. So all that is really loved by our community. And we have a lot of clients that come from there, too.

Ernesto: Okay, perfect. Awesome to hear that. So that way, our listeners who are tuned in could go ahead and visit you. They could always check you out at neumabranding.com. What role does the website play for client acquisition then, Ana?

Ana: Well, as I was saying, when we started to talk about my company, storytelling is a key part of our website. I would say it really has helped us convert a little bit more. You can find a little bit more of the essence I was talking about, and then getting to know some of our projects has been, definitely, a way that new clients have got in touch with us. And of course, as I was saying, the international client will be an important one that gets in touch with us through our website.

Ernesto: Definitely. Okay, awesome to hear that. So on that note, Ana, is there any tools or tips or methods that you would recommend to our listeners as far as some website lead generation?

Ana: Well, of course, the UX and the UI, meaning a technical part, is very, very important. But I would add storytelling because you can mix up in a very good way storytelling with the UX and UI, getting to know the customer journey as well. Since I have been learning a lot about customer experience lately, I’ve seen that. And when you mix that up, you know how your customer or your ideal client will navigate throughout the website. You will be guiding him or her. Then you can add certain buttons or the content form or the ways where it is going to become a lead. So yes, sometimes storytelling can be left behind when you are focusing only on the technical parts. I would say the storytelling of your brand throughout the whole website is very, very important to achieve that.

Ernesto: Thank you so much for sharing those methods, Ana. Well, let’s switch gears a little bit, Ana, and let’s talk about you as the leader, you being the co-founder and marketing director there for Neuma. What are some key tasks you like to focus on in your day-to-day work?

Ana: Well, I would like to tell you that I just recently became a mom. I have a five-month-old baby, so right now I’m focusing a lot on managing which routine works best for me to have this work and life balance. But when we talk only about Neuma, I am a fan of the Getting Things Done method. So I divide my week into different types of tasks. For example, Monday for me is a lot about planning. We also have planning with all of our team. Then, for example, Wednesday is more about specific team follow-up and checking out all the projects we’ve been working on, the strategies we’re working on. And Tuesdays, I usually use to follow up on all the messaging part emails. In my case, WhatsApp is very strong here. So that would divide all my tasks throughout the week. And I would like to mention that I like to save a weekly space as well for the networking that I mentioned before. Of course, another one should always keep an eye on the ball, as they say, for this strategy, not only Neuma’s strategy but also how we should be innovating for our clients’ strategies as well.

Ernesto: Definitely important. Love that. So in your between time, when you do have some time, congratulations on the newborn and being a mom.

Ana: Thank you.

Ernesto: How do you stay up to date with the marketing news? Everything that’s going on in the news about marketing. Is there a preferred channel that you like to go with?

Ana: Yes, I’m very selective on that point because of the Getting Things Done method I mentioned. For example, I’m only subscribed to two different blogs. One is about digital marketing, and the other one is about customer experience. So that would be a strong channel I use to stay up to date in those areas. But then I also love Simon Sinek’s podcast. That is called “A Bit of Optimism.” I love the kind of guests he invites. You can even say that they are from very different industries. For example, one time he had a guest from NASA, or another time it was a voice actor from Disney, and they talk about their challenges. So I love to hear that because it always pops creative ideas in my head when I listen.

Ernesto: Definitely. Okay, awesome. Well, let’s jump into our next section here, Ana, which is our rapid-fire question round. Are you ready for them?

Ana: Great. Yes, let’s go.

Ernesto: Perfect. First off then, Ana, what is the last book that you read?

Ana: I just read Atomic Habits because it has helped me a lot in becoming a mom. Yes. And maintaining that balance I talked about.

Ernesto: Okay, great read there for our listeners. Next up then, is if there would be no boundaries in technology, what would be that one thing that you want to have fixed for your role as a marketer today?

Ana: Oh, it is a hard question, but I would choose to be able to create a really holistic customer journey. By that, I mean, I imagine a technology that provides a 360-degree view, combining everything from a customer’s journey, not only online touchpoints but all the offline ones as well. And so deeply getting to analyze that part. Yes. I think that technology would be great.

Ernesto: Definitely. Okay, great. Next thing is, if there’s one repetitive task that you could automate, what would that be?

Ana: Oh, it would be our data recording for our clients. I know there already are certain software solutions for that. We even use some of them, but I haven’t found one that not only presents the data but would classify it according to a client’s specific strategy and even the way to present it as well. If this artificial intelligence, for example, could even create the presentation in the way that we at Neuma created to present that data and those results, that would be awesome because it would save me a lot of time.

Ernesto: I think it would save a lot of people time. I definitely agree with you. Lastly, Ana, you have a lot of experience already in the marketing world, but what is that one piece of advice that you would give yourself if you were to restart your journey as a marketer today?

Ana: Oh, yeah. What I would advise to my younger self would be to also learn from other areas besides marketing. For example, finance, business management, and one that I have learned throughout these seven years, that is very, very important and that I wish I knew even more about it when I started, would be human resources and company culture. Because right now we love the company culture we have at Neuma. But I would say that even though we’re going to be working in the marketing industry as a marketer, if you’re going to be an entrepreneur as well, definitely learning about those other areas helps a lot and will prevent many challenges that I have learned from guests.

Ernesto: Definitely love that. You can always learn a little bit more. Great to hear that from you, Ana. Some great advice. Well, Ana, we are coming to the end of the show here, but before we do end, I do want to give you the last word. So say someone forgets everything about the interview today. What is that one thing they should remember about Neuma?

Ana: They should remember that we like to create concepts that endure over time and that we always bring a soul into every brand we work with.

Ernesto: Something great there. Thank you so much for that. And to our listeners, check them out at neumabranding.com. Ana, thank you so much for being on with us today. To our listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. I’m looking forward to our next episode at Pathmonk Presents. Thanks a lot, Ana.

Ana: Thanks to you, too. And thank you to Pathmonk as well. Thank you for having me.

Ernesto: It’s great. It’s a pleasure.