Uncategorized – Grace Appleby

My question today is – do you feel ‘qualified‘ to do what you do?

Whether you serve in retail, teach, or work in marketing – can you honestly say that you feel 100% equipped in your field?

This isn’t a test or a trick question, you definitely can feel like you are qualified. Maybe you have years of experience or have a degree in your target area. However, a lot of people may have a secret feeling that they ‘don’t really know what they’re doing’ or that they’re ‘making it up as they go along’ – perhaps a lot more people than you think! But, this is by no means a bad thing.

Personally, I don’t feel ‘qualified‘ to work in the marketing industry – however, regardless of this, I do so with confidence and zero apologies.

I have just graduated from the University of East Anglia with a First class degree in French studies. Evidently, this is not a marketing qualification.

Since I first thought that I might want to pursue a career in marketing (back in 2018) I have put a lot of effort into learning as much as possible about the industry. I worked freelance for a bit, before I even realised that the work I was doing fell under the umbrella of marketing. I applied for and completed a few digital marketing internships. I’ve done some free online courses and read some significant literature. But the biggest investment that I have made towards my career is a CIM qualification.

Looking back, I may have been a bit naive. I knew that I wanted to go into marketing and I felt like I needed a qualification to do that. Therefore, I found a ‘beginners’ course in my chosen field and went for it. I passed and the rest is history really. Yet, as it is a lower level ‘foundation’ course, I doubt it will ever get brought up with any great significance.

Regardless of the perceived value of certificate, the most important thing that the course gave me was confidence. No longer did I have to feel inadequate when applying for marketing jobs. I could share my passion for the industry and prove my dedication with a qualification that I self-funded and worked for during my final year of university. I may not have spent 3 years studying the theory of consumer psychology, but I made an active effort to better myself on my own accord.

Now, having nearly finished by 2nd full-term marketing internship, which is becoming a full-time position upon completion, I am starting to feel like I have earned my place here.

Qualified? Perhaps not. Yet I feel like I deserve to be where I am and that I am good at what I do. Maybe that’s better than having countless diplomas hung on my walls? I suppose it boils down to personal preference.

The key thing to take away from this ramble is: you deserve everything that you work hard for, regardless of whether you feel qualified or not.

This week, I have moved back to Norwich following a 3-month stint living with my parents in Hertfordshire. Being back in Norwich means being back in the office and I have truly loved it. Working from home has been a good experience, but nothing beats bouncing ideas off your colleagues in real-time.

One thing that I have been thinking about a lot this week is the impact that social media marketing can have on a company – an impact that often goes unnoticed.

We all know that good marketing will lead to conversions (or whatever your end goal may be) – however, social media marketing does so much more than simply generating leads.

In general, marketing gives businesses an opportunity to be sociable with their target audience. I like to think of marketing as a conversation between a company and the client; it provides an opportunity for people to get to know you and understand what you’re all about.

If I am researching a business or thinking of buying from someone, I will look them up online – as most people will. Personally, if I search a company and find a fully-formed website and social media pages with a decent following, that company is legitimised to me. Perhaps it’s wrong that the size of a social media following and the activity of an account influence the way that I perceive a business, but they do. Inactivity isn’t attractive to me as a customer.

Connecting with your community via social media channels presents your business in a new and (often) more personal light. By engaging with potential clients in groups or online forums, companies can demonstrate their knowledge and willingness to help clients without trying to directly sell.

The same applies to online customer care. Often people will rant on social media without any expectation of being contacted by the company in question; therefore, replying to enquiries and complaints on social media helps to make the customer feel seen and attended to. Generally, this has been proven to improve customer advocacy levels [1]. Additionally, if these exchanges are public, other people will see your responses and, if nothing else, will be impressed that you engage with client feedback (the good, the bad, and the ugly!).

Consequently, even if your social media accounts don’t bring in a huge amount of leads, they will definitely have an ‘unseen’ impact on the way that clients perceive your business. If you aren’t already investing some time (and maybe even some money) into your social strategy, I’d recommend starting now.

[1] https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-customer-care/