What I Learned In My 2 Years Of Working As A Digital Marketing Strategist
Do you know what the best part about working with a startup is? You grow with it. I started my career working with a digital marketing agency and a team of 8 professionals. Not only did I have the opportunity to work with small businesses but I also worked across different industries. When a business trusts you with its digital strategy during its initial phases of growth, you realize the level of responsibility you are shouldered with. I worked with businesses from the time they designed their logos to when they built their website and when they finally started selling their product.
I spent a lot of time researching the target market of these businesses and devised digital strategies for each of them. SEO was in place and so were paid ads. Extensive social media calendars were laid out, but- not everything worked according to plan. As I began my journey, I came across multiple problems. I couldn’t solve all of them but I definitely learned a whole lot about how digital marketing works.
- We started our promotions using creative designs. Initially, these designs impressed the audience into following the business on social platforms. When it came to paid ads, our posts would work really well. On Facebook, Instagram & Twitter, however, the followers eventually lost interest and we lost engagements and likes per post.
Never rely on one type of content for your social platforms. - There was a solution to the above-stated problem- organic content. Through organic content, some of the businesses (mainly food and apparels) attracted likes and follows on social media, and eventually buyers. Whereas in some cases our clients were so far away, it was difficult to hold meetings once in a month, much less visit them regularly for organic content. Expecting that the client would give us helpful data on their own didn’t make sense. They knew how to run their businesses, but they were no experts in digital marketing.
Client visits are not only important for regular reporting, but they also ensure that you are updated with important information that might not otherwise be communicated via phone calls or texts. - Digital marketing is a gradual process and it is definitely not magic. After a few months of working with us, there were a few clients who decided to discontinue our services. They would tell me that they didn’t see a lot of difference in sales. I knew that I was giving it all I had, but there came a point when more than the successful businesses, the ones that left made me question if I’m doing anything wrong. It took me time, but I realized that developing strong trust with people online and building a digital customer base took time and effort. It is not something that would happen overnight.
The first 6 months of digital marketing are crucial to the growth of a brand. It is only after this duration that you will see some real results. - When you are hired to market a brand, it can be difficult not to. What I mean is, there is a fine balance between promotional content & content that is actually helpful to your audience and there is a defined 3:7 ratio for the two. It is easy to deter from this ratio especially when clients don’t feel the need for the latter. As a digital marketeer and being an expert, it is then up to you to decide what kind of content your audience consumes.
Treat your audience as you would the people in your life. You wouldn’t start asking people to buy your product/ service without building any rapport. Trust the 3:7 ratio. - Your customers are your friends. And therefore, two important things they need from you are consistency and interactions. The buyers are a small percentage of your audience and trust me, that’s enough. If they DM, comment or email you, ALWAYS interact. These people are your cheerleaders and they will be your long-term customers.
Be friends with your audience and they’ll be your customers.
There was a point where I would handle accounts and promotions for 12 businesses along a couple of professionals working in the content, tech & designing teams. The clients ranged from clothing brands to universities. I was stunned by the level of complexity & research that this required and it pushed me to be more efficient for the better. Digital strategies can be complex and even more difficult with tough competition.
I eventually got a chance to work with established businesses that had their own challenges. Working with smaller brands gave me a fair advantage where I could now crack surface-level problems with ease and come up with effective solutions.
This was a glimpse into my career of 2 years working as a Digital Marketing Strategist. If not all, I hope that some part of this article is helpful to you and I wish you good luck.
