Meet Raed Hariz, Performance Executive at Mindshare Dubai
Coming from an economics background, Raed dove into the intriguing sector of digital marketing more than three years ago. He started his career in Lebanon as a performance digital marketer.
Moving to Mindshare Dubai has been truly rewarding to Raed, who has worked on Mind- share’s biggest accounts and industry frontiers that would keep digital marketers on their toes, pushing them to be high-yielding and innovative. His scope of work not only includes hitting KPIs and mastering digital platforms, but also building strategies to improve his clients’ daily, monthly, and yearly performance.
Raed has always been keen on getting reco- gnition from the platforms he works on; he is certified as a Google Partners Digital Guru and a Facebook Blueprint Planner.
Why did you join this industry?
After my internship at Impact BBDO, a creative agency, I learned about its media agency partner and got really intrigued by the scope of work and the world of digital marketing. After extensive research, I discovered that this is where the future is headed and decided to dwell upon it.
How did you land your first job?
After I graduated from university, I got an intern- ship in a creative agency, which helped me connect and apply for a vacant role in a media agency as part of the digital marketing team. After successfully going through the interview process, I landed my first job.
Who do you look up to?
A while back, it would have been a celebrity/ entrepreneur. Now that I know him well and acknowledge all that he went through, I would say my elder brother. He is successful, perse- verant, and courageous. Despite the extremely challenging nature of his work, he has always been a constant support for me and has always pushed me to be the best version of myself.
What’s the best advice you have received so far?
“Love yourself.” It’s an advice that I got from a close friend pushing me to avoid self-blame and have constructive self-talks, with compassion and understanding (the same way I would treat my best friends). This advice helped me boost my confidence and believe in my capabilities.
What’s the best advice you have given so far?
“Give more credit to yourself.” Often, we tend to forget all that we’ve achieved in our lives and focus on what is hindering us at the moment. Giving more credit to what we have achieved in life gives us a confidence boost and makes us understand what we are capable of.
How do you feel about the stigma sometimes associated with Millennials and Gen Z?
Stigmas of any kind are unfair, for sure – especially when it comes to the stereotype that we are disconnected from the real world and not able to handle face-to-face interactions. However, the digital world has given us many benefits, including the confidence to be ourselves and awareness around mental health issues.
What do you think you specifically bring to the organization you work for?
I believe my strategic thinking, ability to optimize my campaigns, and attention to detail are my strongest qualities. They allow me to strategize with co-workers, execute correctly, and optimize campaigns.
What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned at work?
I learned how to work effectively within a team and have a good sense of teamwork. This helped me grow tremendously, learning from other people’s way of thinking; meanwhile, being able to share my experience and knowledge is a great advantage that benefits both the team and my personal growth.
What’s the most rewarding thing about your job?
Being able to control my campaigns’ performance and optimize them to overachieve KPIs. Being able to see results in real time is a huge perk in the world of digital marketing.
What’s the most frustrating thing about your job?
The smallest mistakes can have big consequences. A digital marketer should be keen on tiny details, because adding one digit to a campaign’s budget can make a huge difference.
If not this, what would you be doing?
I would discover the music industry; it has always been a great passion of mine and I would love to learn instruments and enter the musical world.
Would you start your own venture in the future?
Being able to find or discover a service or a product that is unique and can add value is quite rare. However, if I discover a unique idea that can stand out, I will take the risk of creating my own venture.
