Hello Johnson, please tell us about your journey of being the Chief Innovation Officer at Canopy Management?
For the past six years, my area of subject matter expertise is in advertising products and brands on the Amazon sales channel. Since I introduce many new strategies and technologies to the Amazon seller community, it was a natural role within my advertising agency, Canopy Management, to head up research and development, hence the title of Chief Technology & Innovation Officer (CTIO)
- There are two front-runners in Amazon advertising types – primarily due to limited competition – Sponsored Display product-targeting ads and Sponsored Brand video ads.
- Display ads are a great way to defend your products’ ad space and acquire new customers from competitor listings.
- Brand video ads are visually attractive to a shopper, and currently, any video is working well to increase product conversion rates. As brands increasingly use this ad type, it will be important for brands to upgrade their video ads’ quality by focusing on the most compelling benefits to the consumer within the first 15 seconds.
The most innovative product I’ve helped build would the PPC SCOPE ad management software. This software was first to market back in 2015 when no other dedicated solution was available to sellers. It was rough yet in very high demand. The following year, the software upgrade broke new ground in innovative ad management tools and analysis. The ability to make connections between data and compare results over time was not available in any other SaaS solution on the market.
1. Now, that said, within six months of the version 2 update, a flood of new solutions came in when developers saw the opportunity. This only got worse the year after as machine learning gained popularity.
2. PPC SCOPE was passed by as the original, innovative solution by dozens of similar and even more advanced ad management solutions. The lesson learned innovators MUST continue to innovate every six months or get left behind.
I always had my own out-of-home office I could go to. Since our team of 50+ staff was already a virtual team worldwide, there was no adjustment to team dynamic and communication. Our daily team huddles, collaboration, and culture have continued to be a powerful aspect of Canopy Management.
I was never naturally outgoing or communicator. One of my business partners, Brian Burt, regularly pushed me to grow as a person, as a presenter, and as a business leader. Often, I didn’t like it – but I can’t argue with the results of consistent practice and improvement over the past few years.
Business & entrepreneurship have always been my “hobby.” Years after committing full time to operate multiple businesses, I finally decided to make identifying my hobby a higher priority. I enjoy traveling with my family, including our travel trailer. I also have a full home gym that we regularly use for fitness. Finally, I am a science geek. A side most of my associates have never heard of before – I will study physics and gravitational forces, hoping that someday I’ll apply my ‘free time’ and knowledge to small experiments that will revolutionize propulsion and energy production. (it’s a long shot, but something to look forward to)
Oh, where to start…
1. Focus on your strengths, handoff your weaknesses – quickly. Here’s a trick I teach my staff, identify which tasks each day drains your energy or give you energy. It’s your mind and body signaling what it should be working on.
2. Time well spent on your business is building (or having built) operating procedures (SOPs) that can break down tasks into basic, simple steps – this allows you to delegate quickly.
3. Have a bookkeeping & tax process in place within your first three months of business.
Uzma Abdulla is a Editorial coordinator for The Media Bulletin. Experienced Coordinator with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing industry. Skilled in strong program and project management. Master of Arts (M.A.) in Archaeology and Pursuing Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling. She likes to be on her toes when it comes to facilitating events and collaboration of people.
