Foundations
Technical foundations - Systems, support & team leadership
My early career in systems support, customer service and team leadership taught me how to solve problems, work with different people and keep things moving under pressure.
Marco Govender × Social Project
I build marketing systems that turn attention into action.
I'm Marco Govender, a hands-on Marketing Manager with experience across paid acquisition, campaign strategy, ecommerce, content, CRM, automation and commercial growth.
Over the years, I've worked across education, technology, software, ecommerce and events, often in lean teams where strategy, execution and performance all sat close together. This page is a brief look at where I've come from, a campaign I'm genuinely proud of, and why Social Project feels like the right next step.
- 10+
- Years across marketing, digital delivery and customer acquisition
- ~$2.4M
- ANNUAL MARKETING-ATTRIBUTED REVENUE FOR FEATURED CAMPAIGN
- All-in-house
- Paid media, copy, landing pages, content, email, CRM, creative direction, reporting, and optimisation
Who I am
A marketer who works across the whole journey.
My career started in technical support, systems and team leadership before moving into marketing, ecommerce and digital growth.
That earlier experience shaped the way I work today. I don't see marketing as a collection of separate channels. I see it as a connected system: the message, the creative, the website, the campaign, the CRM, the sales follow-up and the reporting all need to work together.
I've managed marketing teams, coordinated agencies and contractors, built paid campaigns, worked across international markets, written content, supported product launches, run ecommerce activity and helped businesses improve how leads move from interest to revenue.
Most of my work has been in small or lean teams. That has meant being close to both the strategy and the hands-on work: writing the copy, building the campaign, briefing the creative, setting up the automation, reviewing the data and making the next call.
That mix suits me.
Disciplines
- Campaign strategy
- Paid acquisition
- Ecommerce
- CRM & automation
- Content & web
- Product marketing
- Sales enablement
- Reporting
My career journey
The path so far.
From technical foundations into ecommerce, global software, martech and acquisition, each stage adding another layer to how I think about the customer journey.
- Ecommerce
Ecommerce and digital growth - Active Safety
Managed ecommerce, Google Ads, Google Shopping, SEO, email, content, and product campaigns. Led the ecommerce NetSuite integration to improve customer ordering and reduce manual admin. The website and SEO programme contributed to a threefold increase in organic traffic.
- Global
Global campaigns and events - Maximum Availability
Marketing for a global software company covering demand generation, international trade shows, partner marketing, CRM, paid media, content, product messaging, and sales support. Taught me to run campaigns across markets with multiple teams, suppliers and stakeholders aligned.
- Martech
Martech and customer journeys - Straker
Worked across HubSpot, campaign delivery, global reporting, website activity, and customer journey improvement. Supported a Salesforce-to-HubSpot migration and built the workflows, campaign logic, templates, and reporting used by regional teams across the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
- Acquisition
Acquisition and revenue growth - Institute of Data
Led multi-channel marketing across Google, Meta, SEO, content, email, CRM automation, and university partnerships. Supported approximately $2.4M in annual marketing-attributed revenue.
- Consulting
Consulting and AI-enabled operations - Independent
Worked with small businesses and lean teams on marketing delivery, websites, campaign planning, CRM, automation, and practical AI adoption. Focused on making the work clearer, faster and easier to run.
What I bring
Five habits, honestly earned.
- 01
Commercial thinking
I start with the business outcome: enrolments, memberships, consultations, product sales, event attendance, retention, or lead quality. The channel only matters if it moves that outcome.
- 02
Hands-on campaign delivery
I'm comfortable moving from strategy into execution: paid media, copy, landing pages, content, email, CRM, creative direction, reporting, and optimisation.
- 03
Customer journey design
I think beyond the click. What happens after somebody sees the ad matters just as much: where they land, what they receive, how they are followed up and what gives them confidence to act.
- 04
Systems and automation
I've built and managed marketing workflows across HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Salesforce, Zapier, and others. Good systems make campaigns easier to track, improve, and hand to sales or operations.
- 05
Clear communication
I'm used to translating marketing activity into practical plans for coordinators, sales teams, developers, contractors, leadership teams and external partners.
Featured campaign
Building a complete acquisition journey for a university partnership.
Institute of Data × University of Technology Sydney.
- Brand
- Institute of Data × UTS
- Role
- Marketing lead, strategy and delivery
- Team
- One coordinator, one partner manager
- Live
- 1 December 2024 - ongoing
01 · The brief
One month. Three programmes. One university partner.
When I joined the Institute of Data in October 2024, the business had recently signed a new partnership with the University of Technology Sydney. The campaign needed to launch by 1 December 2024 - ongoing: little over a month to build the strategy, write the content, create the advertising, establish the customer journey, produce the co-branded assets, set up the CRM processes and gain university approval.
The partnership promoted 12-week technology bootcamps in:
- Data Science and AI
- Cyber Security
- Software Engineering
Each programme was priced at $16,500. Generate qualified interest, support prospective students through a long consideration process, and convert that interest into applications and enrolments while every public-facing asset complied with UTS brand and co-branding requirements.
02 · My role
Lead marketer, close to every step.
I led the marketing strategy and day-to-day delivery. The internal team was lean: myself, a marketing coordinator, and a partner manager handling university liaison, webinars and partner-facing events.
Direct responsibilities
- Campaign strategy and planning
- Google and Meta advertising
- Ad copy and campaign messaging
- Design and production of campaign assets
- Website and landing-page content
- University approval coordination
- Customer journey planning
- HubSpot workflows and lead scoring
- ActiveCampaign nurture sequences
- Zapier integrations
- Reporting dashboards
- Campaign optimisation
- Contractor management for website development
- Team coordination and delivery tracking
03 · Web properties
A single partnership hub, then a deep programme page.
Web / Microsite
Web / Programme landing
04 · Meta ads · Student stories
Real graduates carried the message.
Meta / Gregory
Meta / Matt
05 · Meta ads · Programme acquisition
Direct offer for high-intent audiences.
Meta / Feed
Meta / Story
06 · Brand craft
Creativity inside clear boundaries
Every asset had to satisfy both the Institute of Data and UTS. That meant working within strict rules around colour, logo treatment, messaging, layout and approvals.
The creative could not simply follow whatever visual trend was popular. It needed to feel credible, professional and consistent with the university brand. The challenge was to make the campaign clear and conversion-focused without weakening either organisation's identity.
That process required patience, strong communication and a clear approval workflow. It also taught me that creativity is not always about doing more. Often, it is about making better decisions inside the boundaries you have.
The customer journey
Paid click to enrolment - treated as one connected loop.
- 01Paid media
Google Search and Meta campaigns reached people considering a career change or building skills in technology. Programme-led ads, student stories and downloadable course information.
- 02Co-branded microsite
Prospective students arrived on a dedicated UTS and Institute of Data microsite explaining the bootcamps, course structure, career outcomes, pricing and available pathways.
- 03Landing pages and lead capture
Each programme had dedicated landing pages with a clear next step: download the course outline. The outline acted as a detailed prospectus before speaking with an adviser.
- 04CRM and lead routing
Form submissions were sent into HubSpot through Zapier. Leads were assigned to the appropriate sales representative, tagged by programme and scored using profile and behaviour signals.
- 05Nurture and follow-up
Course-specific email sequences ran in ActiveCampaign across roughly three - month programmes: information, student outcomes, career content, webinar invitations and prompts to speak with the team.
- 06Behaviour tracking
HubSpot tracked return visits and further site activity. When a lead came back or showed fresh interest, their score could increase and the relevant sales rep was notified.
- 07Webinars
The partner manager ran programme webinars for prospective students, a chance to hear more, ask questions and speak directly with the team before applying. Around 25 attendees per session.
- 08Application and enrolment
Sales followed up with qualified and engaged leads, using the campaign activity and CRM signals to guide the conversation.
Campaign performance
A six-month view of the partnership.
- Metric 01
- Metric 02
- Metric 03
$150K
Approximate Google and Meta media investment
1,800
Approximate leads generated
$83
Average cost per lead
- Metric 04
- Metric 05
- Metric 06
- Metric 07
- Metric 08
- Metric 09
72
Estimated enrolments across the six-month term
$16,500
Revenue per enrolment
$1.188M
Indicative programme revenue
7.92×
Indicative return on ad spend
$2,083
Average media cost per enrolment
6 months
Partnership term reflected in these figures
Figures are rounded and based on representative campaign averages. The ROAS calculation compares attributed course revenue with paid media spend. It does not represent net profit and excludes programme delivery, staff, partnership costs and business overheads.
Reporting and optimisation
Numbers reviewed monthly. Campaigns adjusted continuously.
Performance was monitored across Google Ads, Meta, HubSpot and website activity. Monthly reporting was reviewed internally and shared with the university partner.
Campaigns were adjusted based on performance, lead quality and sales feedback, audience targeting, budget allocation, messaging, creative and landing-page content.
Monthly reporting included
- Media spend
- Lead volume
- Cost per lead
- Landing-page performance
- Campaign performance
- Lead status
- Sales progression
- Enrolment outcomes
- Attributed revenue
Why I am proud of this campaign
Every part of marketing in one campaign.
I'm proud of the UTS campaign because it brought every part of marketing together. It was not simply an advertising campaign.
It involved strategy, paid media, copy, design, web, CRM, automation, sales alignment, stakeholder approvals, reporting and optimisation. It also had to be launched quickly, with limited internal resources and a firm external deadline.
The campaign launched on 1 December, a little over a month after I joined the business, and the microsite and campaign structure remain publicly active. While I no longer have access to current performance data, its continued use shows that the work created something durable rather than a short-term promotion.
Supporting experience
Beyond the case study.
- Active Safety
Managed ecommerce, product campaigns, SEO, Google Shopping, email, website content and paid media. Led the ecommerce NetSuite integration to improve ordering and reduce manual work. The website and SEO programme contributed to a threefold increase in organic traffic.
- Maximum Availability
Led international marketing activity for a global software company, including trade shows, partner campaigns, PR, paid media, marketing automation, lead capture, sales collateral and post-event follow-up across sales teams, suppliers, resellers, agencies and stakeholders.
- Straker
Supported a global Salesforce-to-HubSpot migration and helped build the workflows, templates, reporting and campaign structures used by regional teams. Landing pages, website updates, sales support and campaign activity tied to a large international paid media programme.
In closing
Marketing is the craft. Making it matter is the job.
I would value the opportunity to bring my experience, curiosity and hands-on approach to Social Project.
The role brings together the parts of marketing I most enjoy: strong ideas, commercial thinking, customer journeys, campaign delivery and the chance to help build something that people genuinely want to be part of.
Phone
021 023 99717Based in Auckland, New Zealand · Marketing Manager, Social Project
The role feels professionally right and personally relevant.
Why the role fits
Professionally, the role suits the way I work. It calls for someone who can move between strategy, creative, paid media, customer journeys, launches, reporting and team coordination. That breadth is familiar to me.
I'm also drawn to the fact that Social Project is more than a conventional fitness business. The combination of training, wellness, recovery, coaching, community, merchandise and venue experiences creates a richer brand story and a wider set of customer journeys.
There is room to build campaigns that do more than promote facilities. The brand can speak to confidence, routine, belonging, transformation, energy and long-term wellbeing. That interests me.
A personal connection
Health and wellness are a major focus in my own life at the moment. I'm actively working towards improving my fitness, nutrition, weight-loss goals, and overall health.
That has led me to spend a lot of time learning about behaviour, motivation, food, recovery and what helps people make lasting changes rather than short-lived ones.
What I have learnt is that people often need more than access to a gym. They need confidence to begin. They need structure. They need accountability. They need an environment where progress feels possible.
I would not be marketing an idea that feels distant from my life. I would be helping grow a business connected to changes I am trying to make myself.
Why the business appeals
I'm drawn to the variety. One week could involve a Zolar campaign, another could involve a new venue opening, a merchandise release, a paid media review or a wider brand project. That mix suits me far more than a narrow, single-channel role.
I also like the stage the business appears to be at. There is already a strong brand and a clear point of difference, but there is still room to build the marketing structure around it: the campaigns, systems, calendars, reporting, and customer journeys that make growth more consistent. That is the kind of work I enjoy.
What I would bring
A joined-up view of marketing
Brand, paid media, content, CRM, sales and customer experience should support one another.
Senior thinking without distance from the work
I'm comfortable setting direction, but I also like being close to the campaign, the copy, the landing page and the data.
Experience inside lean teams
I know how to prioritise, move quickly and get good work live without relying on a large department.
Commercial accountability
I care about whether marketing creates interest, leads, customers, and revenue, not just impressions.
Genuine interest in the customer
My own health journey gives me empathy for people who are trying to start, restart or stay consistent.