According to LinkedIn (and my annual appraisal), this month I’m celebrating one year of #AgencyLife! Go me!
I started my role as an Account Manager at my digital marketing agency on 23rd September 2019 in the Corporate and Lifestyle section, which meant that unlike some of my colleagues, I would have a wide range of clients, from bars and restaurants to security firms. Very VERY broad. I’ve counted my lucky stars that I am part of this section, work is always varied and it has kept me on my toes.
Over the past year my clients have changed, to be less ‘lifestyle’ and more ‘corporate’, I still look after a couple of fitness accounts, but I now run the social media and ad campaigns for clients in the legal and technology sectors. I work with people who are more interested in the click-through and conversion rate of an ad and less concerned with engagement and likes, which is great; because likes don’t really matter.
So over the last year, I feel like I’ve gotten to know my role quite well, so I wanted to share some of the things I’ve learnt along the way.
- For the love of God, be organised.
Like with any job, a small percentage of my work is admin-based and I live and die by my Daily Planner and highlighters. My Head of Section could ask me what I did on 1st May 2020 and I would be able to tell her. I like to cross things off so I find this works best for me, as well as utilising my Outlook calendar (which is especially good for client meetings).
2. You will get shouted at by randoms on the internet.
Unfortunately, this is just part of the job, and even when you know the situation is nothing to do with you, you are the person that is often vented to, tweeted and DMed. I have grown a thick(ish) skin from this though and have been able to develop my communication skills to learn how to deal with some interesting characters online.
3. Having difficult conversations.
Whether that’s with clients or internally, there are some conversations you just don’t want to have. Like REALLY don’t want to have, especially if things have gone wrong. But that’s okay, you just need to own, learn from it and move on. Sometimes it’s as simple as that.
4. LinkedIn is where it’s at.
LinkedIn is such a great hub for content ideas, industry news, trends and general networking. Even if a client doesn’t have a company page on there, make sure you follow hashtags or similar companies because you’ll definitely find some inspiration.
5. Likes really don’t matter.
Obviously, if you’re launching an engagement campaign, you’re going to care about likes, but if your client wants to actually sell something, ROI can be measured using clicks, conversions, leads or purchases through the Facebook Pixel. Sadly you’ll always get those clients who want 1K likes on a post or 10K followers, but I’ve learnt that you just have to manage expectations and really hammer home how much more valuable it is to have people visiting their website not liking a funny meme.
6. Important documents aren’t always read.
I’ve come to learn that no matter how much ‘love’ I’ve put into a strategy or monthly report, there is a high chance that it won’t even be opened. The number of times I’ve had to reply to a question with ‘this is in the launch strategy/report/service agreement’ is actually a joke.
7. Stress is temporary.
Need I say more? If stress isn’t temporary, maybe it’s time to reevaluate your process.
8. Assertive-ness.
I need to remember that I am the expert and they have come to us because we have skills that they do not, so if I think their ideas won’t work or aren’t right for the account I MUST say something. This is something I’m definitely still learning and putting into practice.
A lot has happened in one year and I can’t wait to see what the next one has in store for me. I do have a couple of career goals I’d like to hit (watch this space) and I know there’s still a lot to learn. Fingers crossed there’s a little more balance between remote working and office life as well.
Until next time,
Hannah xo
Hannah Lymn: Social Media Specialist 