And How I Used Furlough to Become a Better Marketer
When I joined Ecrubox Digital late last year, I found myself part of a dedicated team, working in a fast paced environment. I was surrounded by inspirational colleagues who were using marketing jaron that I had never heard of before... It was exciting (and still is today!) so I threw myself into the SEO role eager to learn more.
There is no doubt that working at an agency is a completely different kettle of fish than an in-house marketing team. Find out why in-house teams need agencies.
If you’re curious what it would be like to join an agency or you just fancy reading into what goes on in our lively workplace, keep on reading…
To be a good marketer you have to have your hand in all pots
Metaphorical pots of course... What I really mean is - it’s good to know something about everything in the digital landscape. The more you learn, the more all the dots connect. So although I’m part of the SEM team, I’m also part of the content team and I also help out the social team.
Basically we’re all one big team and everyone is willing to help out where they can. Meet the team here. We all have a different skill set but we all pull together. In fact, I can't think of a skill that I haven’t had to use in this job so far.
I have weaknesses but I’m willing to turn them into strengths
Every marketer has their strengths and weaknesses. I’m naturally more creative than analytical, but that doesn’t mean I can’t analyze.
Last quarter I set a goal to challenge myself to improve my data manipulating skills in Google Sheets. Why? There are so many creative tasks that are derived from data. Being able to extract that data, analyse it and then use it to drive your content writing (for example) is such a valuable skill. And whilst my data handling stills are still work in progress - I’m getting better.
There is always something to be better at; but having the drive to proactively and consciously work on the skills that you know are lacking; will enable you to have a more balanced skillset and become a more flexible marketer.
Communicating with clients and building trusted relationships is vital
You know when you have a concept in your head and you try to explain it but it comes out like mumbo-jumbo? Well, I do.
In an agency, you’re working with a range of clients and you might have multiple contacts for a single client. See our clients.
Different clients have different aspects of marketing knowledge depending on their in-house role or specialisation. Our job is to work with them effectively. Therefore, it’s key to be able to explain yourself in a way that everyone can understand.
I believe communicating effectively with clients is a valuable skill that grows in line with your own abilities, knowledge, time and practice. I always look to my managers as inspiration for this.
You have to learn to be a multi skilled taskmaster
A what? What I mean by this, is priorities change in line with client wishes so having the ability to switch tasks quickly will work in your favour.
When it comes to a task like content creation or keyword research, I often find it takes me a while to get into the headspace of the particular client. Once I’m - I’m in and engrossed in the task - so I find it can take me a moment to get back out of it and switch over to another client.
I find getting up from my desk for a minute helps me make that transition, or a quick jokey chinwag with a colleague helps me break away from the screen for a moment so I come back focused on something else. I’m not sure if I'm a taskmaster yet, but here’s to trying!
I was furloughed, and I turned it into a learning opportunity
Like many other agency employees, I was put on furlough for a short period of time. Fortunately, having an optimistic outlook on life has led me to find the opportunity in everything. And although initially a sinking feeling ran through me, I knew I could use this time effectively to better my skills and become a more knowledgeable marketer whatever the future.
What did I do? I got up every morning as usual and checked in with my team voluntarily. I made a list of courses I wanted to do and got to it.
What did I achieve? Google Analytics Academy Certifications for Advanced GA, Data Studio and a better understanding of these tools.
I also completed several SEO courses on SEMrush Academy to improve my understanding of this extensive program. I then delved into Facebook Blueprint and Shopify Partner’s Academy to become more knowledgeable on these business tools too.
I was seriously surprised at the amount of free online learning resources for digital marketers and I made the most of it. It made me feel useful on days when I didn’t particularly feel like I was. So if you ever find yourself in the same position I was; remember it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom; it’s what you make of it.
And on that note, I’ll finish with this...
Agency life is not for quitters
It’s for the inquisitive minds who love digging into a new piece of software.
It’s for the creatives who are fascinated by data and are driven by it.
It’s not for everyone but it’s definitely for me.
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