This time in the Champ Life series, we have Veronica Gentili, the founder of Veronica Gentili Academy. She is a digital marketer, an entrepreneur, a trainer specializing in Facebook Marketing and Facebook ads.
She is regarded as one of the leading Facebook marketing experts with more than nine years of experience working with Facebook ads and related marketing tactics.
Veronica has honed her Facebook marketing skills and has been a marketing expert for AdEspresso and Hootsuite. She is also the author of four books on Facebook marketing.
Social Champ is glad to have Veronica Gentili for this interview. Let’s see what she has to say.
Thank you, Veronica, for giving us your valuable time. We hope our readers will find the interview helpful and love hearing from you.
Muneeb: It’s been great to have you on our Champs series. Please share some highlights of your career with our readers.
Veronica: Hi, and thanks for this opportunity! I’ve over ten years of experience in Facebook Marketing, with thousands of hours of training and millions of euros (in Facebook and Instagram ads) managed directly or supervised for my clients.
In 2016, I was certified by Facebook as a Facebook Certified Planning Professional, and in 2020 as Facebook Certified Buying Professional.
I’ve been working for years as a Facebook Marketing Expert for international brands at AdEspresso and Hootsuite, two of the most well-known companies in SMM worldwide.
I wrote four books about these topics in the past six years, and I’m running Veronica Gentili Academy since 2017, training more than 7,500 professionals.
Muneeb: When did you discover the world of social media? And what made you choose it as your career?
Veronica: I fell in love with Social Media when I was a teenager, about 20 years ago. At that time, social media was pretty different. There was no Facebook, but social media platforms like Friendfeed and MySpace, where you could be whatever you wanted to, hidden by a nickname. I was fascinated by how these media could create genuine and robust relationships between anyone, everywhere. I spent hours and hours talking about myself, hobbies and dreams, and building friendships, some of which have lasted until today. So when Facebook came up, I thought, “why not start a business related to social media, something I’d love to work with?”
Muneeb: What’s the inspiration behind your academy for the Facebook Marketing training?
Veronica: I saw many marketers and SMB struggling to achieve tangible results (leads, sales) with Facebook and Instagram, so I thought I could help them. I started sharing my skills and experience, giving them practical tips to make social media a tangible business asset.
Muneeb: Being an experienced Facebook Marketing Expert, what would be your advice for businesses?
Veronica: I would suggest stopping focusing on vanity metrics like fan, followers, and likes and looking at how to integrate them into their marketing strategy: how can Facebook and Instagram help them in terms of lead generation? How can they help in terms of retention, customer care, and getting sales?
I would also suggest that social media are a kind of a “pay-to-play game” nowadays. To get accurate results, SMBs have to invest continuously and strategically.
Muneeb: Can you share some critical points for newbies who want to become Facebook Marketers? Can you recommend some resources to them?
Veronica: I suggest that they never stop studying and remain up to date. The key to success in this job is always to stay updated daily. I recommend following great content sources like AdEspresso and Hootsuite blog, Agorapulse blog, Social Media Examiner, and Social Media Today.
Muneeb: You have been a speaker at several events. Can you share that experience with our readers?
Veronica: I love attending events, sharing my experience, and meeting new people! And you know what? No matter how many times you got on stage (I think I did it about one hundred times!), I always feel so anxious before I start talking and asking myself, “Am I going to meet their expectations? These people came here to listen to me, I cannot disappoint them!” cause I always want to “leave the mark” and make the best of their time.
Events are an excellent opportunity to learn and create worthwhile relationships, don’t miss them!
Muneeb: Can you please share your workplace picture?
Veronica: Sure, when I’m not traveling, it’s my dining room 🙂
Muneeb: How necessary are marketing automation tools for every business owner? What would you like to say about Social Champ?
Veronica: I love marketing automation, and I’m sure it will be a standard in the coming days because it helps businesses save a ton of time and instills a “do the right thing at the right time” attitude. I couldn’t live without my marketing automation 🙂
Social Champ is a handy social media management tool, and it helps to automating publishing workflows, managing interactions efficiently among different channels, and create reports. I do like all the features dedicated to teams and the Suggestion tab, so cool!
Muneeb: Who has inspired you in your personal and professional lives?
Veronica: My greatest inspiration in both my personal and professional life is my dad.
He’s been a marketing and communication consultant for more than 40 years (just retired), and since I was a little girl, looking at him traveling all the time, meeting so many people (and being such an inspiration for many!) I wanted to be like him.
Not only is he my business partner (we founded our company together, Glisco Marketing, almost 12 years ago), but he taught me almost everything I know (exception made for technical skills). It is essential to have an ethical approach to the business, how important it is to listen before speaking, analyze before acting, and measure the economic margin, not just the revenue.
They say dad is always the hero of little girls, but even If I’ve grown up, he’s still mine 🙂
Muneeb: What are your hobbies? Do you like playing games, watching movies or anything else?
Veronica: I love traveling (I can’t wait to travel again after this long stop due to the pandemic!). I love creative recycling (did you know? I paint plastic and glass bottles, transforming them into flower jars). I like reading (especially historical romances and thrillers) and spending time with my family. I used to play games and watch movies, but then I asked myself, “are you sure you want to spend your work and spare time in front of a screen? Is it healthy?” and there’s where I start building new hobbies 😉
Rapid Fire Round
| Muneeb | Veronica |
|---|---|
| Facebook or Twitter? | |
| Tea or Coffee? | Coffee |
| Speaker or Trainer? | Trainer |
| Traveling or Games? | Traveling |
| Social Media or Social Networking? | Social Networking |
Muneeb: Lastly, who do you think we should interview next? You can nominate your friends or your idols who have notable contributions to the Community!
Veronica: I would suggest Massimo Chieruzzi, a big friend of mine but also a great digital entrepreneur. You’d love to hear about his experiences!
Social Champ is thankful to Veronica Gentili for taking the time and sharing her secrets with the champ community. We are sure that our followers loved hearing from you!
