by Between mentoring, client calls and conversations with those in my personal life there is one common thread that appears consistently. They want to understand the lessons I’ve learned on my journey to be where I am now. So today I am doing just that but with a twist. Instead of talking about generic lessons that every marketer talks about, I am going to talk about the lessons I don’t hear that often.
Incentives work but when used correctly
Who doesn’t love a good incentive? I haven’t met a single person who doesn’t love a freebie. For marketers offering incentives can be a good way to gather reach, impressions and engagement but once that incentive is over the reality of why they achieved the results becomes clear. Unless people are really behind your brand an incentive to get them to follow, comment, like or share will only work for that post or item and you will find the next time that you post those people won’t engage. For them it was all about the incentive.
However, if you use the incentive to achieve a purpose, for example obtaining research on potential customers it becomes a win-win. They get something out of helping you and you get information that is valuable for your business for a longer period of time. You also have a greater chance of letting audiences know what you are doing and why.
I got the joy of watching this in progress during my master project days. During a market research session, my friend and I realised that by offering doughnuts and/or bananas to the student audience we were aiming to reach we were able to gather greater research than by simply posting a survey online with no incentive. Students were more willing to share their views, talk to us and enquire as to why we were reaching out to them. Which resulted in accurate target audience personas being made for my friends business.
Hobbies can help you
I am a preacher that using what you love outside of your business will help you’re business grow. It sounds weird I know, but your hobbies and passions are what makes you you. You also learn things from and adapt your ways of thought to them.
Through my hobbies I gave my brain a chance to unwind my thoughts while continuing to be creative. I also got to practice my skills and use my knowledge to drive growth. I’ve even had the luxury of being willing to discover and talk to people from different backgrounds than my own. With each allowing me to grow as a person and use that growth to inform my business decisions.
Reading is fundamental
Reading is fundamental for storytelling something I never understood growing up but now as a fully grown marketer I get it. Throughout time storytelling has been a powerful tool for guiding people to lead their lives. Nowadays we can also use it to develop skills that are super valuable for getting ahead in marekting and doing social media your way.
A good read regardless of genre or topic does wonders for our writing ability as we get to explore
- Ways to tell our story
- The world around us
- Different points of view
- How others tell a story
- Ways to get ahead in our industry
I try to read something every day, whether it’s a blog, latest news, how-to-guide, non-fiction or fiction. Right now I am reading pieces from all the mentioned types, I’m reading a book discussing graphic design rules, another focusing on Greek mythology, The Odyssey and social media update blogs. It may seem like a lot but they each help me understand storytelling in unique ways and for different audiences.
The lessons we learn stick with us throughout our lives. We learn new ones every day and it is up to us to share those lessons with the world around us. So I’m curious what lessons have you learned? Let me know.
Emma Smith-Hunter 
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