Culture
From First Click to First Class: Meet Patricia Wintermuth, VP of E-Commerce and Digital Marketing Strategy
Deeply inspired to create greater access to opportunity for all, Patricia Wintermuth channels her passion into building digital user experiences that empower prospective learners to explore new ways to take control of their future. From first click to first class, she designs personalized, learner-centric pathways to life-changing education, a craft she has honed after 15 years of translating digital strategy into actionable roadmaps.
Patricia brings domain knowledge of digital product development and a grounding in e-commerce from companies large and small. She understands navigating more complex, matrixed organizations like American Express while operating with a tech-first mindset honed from years with digital-first shops like GameChanger. That ability to operate with speed, agility, and efficiency while seeking out innovative ways to improve the learner experience is invaluable.
I can go on and on about Patricia’s brilliant mind, but what makes her a force of nature goes beyond her intellect: It’s the way Patricia lives and breathes the “customer-first” mentality. Sure, that can come off as a buzzword, but to Patricia, putting the learner at the center of everything we do is her guiding philosophy to develop ever-better digital experiences for people across the globe. That laser focus on and, as she would say, “obsession” with the end-user is her superpower.
Still new to the company and a critical member of the team charged with integrating 2U’s and edX’s vast digital education portfolios, I asked Patricia to join me in sharing more about her unique career, the lessons she’s learned, and how maintaining a “customer-first” mindset is a powerful advantage for any company.
Hi, Patricia! Let’s start things off with a trip down memory lane. For more than 15 years, you have established a career in digital marketing. What inspired you to pursue digital marketing? What is it about digital marketing that keeps you fulfilled, professionally and personally?
Digital marketing is an incredibly rich field, combining the rapid pace of change that we’ve come to expect of consumer technology with the humanistic core that underpins successful marketing. It marries the creative and emotional aspects of marketing with the analytical and technical frameworks that measure and deliver digital experiences. As such, it’s very interdisciplinary and constantly evolving, which is a big piece of what keeps me energized professionally. When I began in digital marketing years ago, “digital” was really just a channel for marketing. Today, it’s truly the forefront of where marketing trends emerge and ignite. There’s always something new to learn, which is a large part of what keeps me challenged and growing professionally.
From American Express to WebMD and most recently IAC Applications, you’ve held leadership positions at some phenomenal organizations. What led you to 2U? What was one lesson you learned in those roles that you’re now applying to your job at 2U?
I feel incredibly lucky to have worked for some amazing brand- and service-driven organizations such as American Express, as well as digitally-native consumer-focused companies such as IAC and WebMD. A common thread across these diverse entities is how strongly their successes have been tied to a deep commitment to the customer experience–whether that be through digital or traditional “offline” channels. So a large part of what led me to 2U was the opportunity to join a mission-driven organization with a clear commitment to student and partner outcomes, as well as a digital heritage that is fundamental to the value proposition for these constituents.
Passionate. Committed. Consumer-centric. Those are all words I’d use to describe you. I’m proud to have you here. OK, give us your elevator pitch: What does a vice president of e-commerce and digital marketing strategy do?
I obsess over two important and related outcomes: improving our digital user experiences to empower prospective learners throughout their pre-enrolled 2U journeys and driving business outcomes via digital funnel improvement. Taken together, this means creating online experiences that meet prospect and learner needs, reduce friction, and support self-service while simultaneously improving the overall effectiveness of our digital acquisition efforts.
As tempting as it is to pursue those objectives as distinct from one another, the happy reality is that they move together. The more we can support and guide prospective learners through their consideration phase, the better our conversion and enrollment rates will become. I love a good win-win!
That is definitely a win-win. So, what excites you most about your new role?
I’m passionate about putting the customer at the center of everything we do, which is a great fit for my role at 2U! Our digital experiences are incredibly important, as facilitators of learner journeys, as drivers of marketing effectiveness, and as signifiers of brands. So in a sense, I have many types of customers–learners, university partners, internal stakeholders. And I get to work through the puzzle of finding exactly the right means of supporting all those groups through our digital pathways. Figuring out the best way to progress your digital experiences can be a bit like a mystery sometimes with lots of trial and error, but when you get it right, it shows in the numbers. Few things are more satisfying.
I couldn’t agree more. You mentioned earlier that the company mission is what enticed you to join 2U. How does our mission inspire you?
The 2U mission is deeply concerned with empowerment, betterment, and access. That’s plenty inspiring in its own right! But it’s also personally inspiring for me, as a lifelong advocate for empowering individuals through career development. In addition to my immediate role as a team leader, I’ve also been an informal career coach and mentor many times over to individuals all along the career spectrum. I’ve seen firsthand how impactful education and coaching–whether delivered formally or informally–can be on lives and careers. It’s amazing to get the chance to work with an organization that focuses on delivering that impact, every day, to as many future learners as possible. We actually can and do help change lives!
Let’s talk about what motivates you. What’s one lesson you’ve learned in leadership that you apply to your work daily?
Nothing is more important than investing in the individuals and teams that make the organization run. A leader wears many hats, but if you lead teams I think you have a unique responsibility to actively support and grow your team’s success. For me, that translates to ensuring that coaching and career development conversations are as much a part of my cadences as project status meetings with my teams. And fortunately, the benefit is mutual. We all have diverse aspirations, needs, skills, and perspectives, and the strength of an organization comes from fostering the best of what each individual brings to the collective. The most effective leaders, in my view, are those who are the most adept at unlocking individual and team potential.
For those out there reading this and thinking about all the potential offered by a career in digital marketing, what’s one piece of advice you would give them?
Always be curious. Of course, there are some fabulous 2U offerings that can provide great foundational knowledge of today’s digital marketing practices (like Columbia Engineering Digital Marketing Boot Camp, The University of Maryland and University System of Maryland Digital Marketing Professional Certificate, or MIT Sloan Digital Marketing Analytics online short course), and I’d always recommend seeking ways to get or stay current with technology and trends. That said, digital marketing is continuously changing–channels, technology, UX design trends, even user expectations. So, natural curiosity will help you hone your understanding of what's current and what’s working. It can be as simple as putting yourself in the user’s shoes and asking yourself what you would need, as a user, to engage with a digital experience. What’s fun, engaging, motivating, frustrating? If you can then round out your own perceptions with insights-driven user research, that’s even better. Digital marketing requires always seeking to better understand and serve user needs, so exploring digital experiences with a user-centric perspective is a great way to develop the right mindset and learn.
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Are you interested in a fulfilling career in digital marketing? Patricia and her team are currently hiring for several open positions, including a web producer and UX analyst. Let’s transform lives together.