Nowadays, the internet has opened up a sea of opportunities for everyone to express themselves. It has opened the doors to consumer content on a global level and has allowed entrepreneurs to expand and grow exponentially in this digital age. With all manner of services at your fingertips, it is crucial for the marketer to evolve and adapt as quickly as the news and trends that affect the evergreen marketing industry are propagated.
This is why we have made a small list of the essential items you must carry with you at all times as a marketer in order to stay ahead of the game:
1. Your Smart Device: Your On-The-Fly Social Networking. (Don’t Forget Your Charger!)
Your phone, or tablet, is easily one of the most vital tools you have at your disposal as a marketer. Whether it’s staying up-to-date on current affairs and news, managing social media, recording ideas or getting your message out there, nothing gives you more convenient access to communication and information twenty-four hours a day. Staying in the loop and present on social media – in and out of office hours – is crucial for any brand.
Happen to come across a picture perfect moment? Maybe an ad that inspires you? Take a picture and always have that reminder with you. Maybe you could even shoot a short video and upload it to a social media site. There you have it: a casual marketing campaign on-the-go!
Marketers will often invest in social media to increase brand exposure, web traffic and gain marketing insight. Remember: you have the ability to do this and so much more right at your fingertips, use it!
2. Your Business Card: Your Professional Signature In Their Pocket.
In this era, we understand that it may sound relatively strange to carry business cards. However, they remain an important branding aspect in one’s professional career. Business cards showcase one’s personality and grab the attention of potential prospects. Furthermore, they’re more memorable than a simple email, call or brochure as they often require a face-to-face meeting. Your business card comes along with a first impression, a genuine conversation, and a hand shake to seal the new network opportunity. It’s a personal guarantee that your services are professional and creative; your personality and brand can shine through your business card, a subtle but effective reminder to others about who you are.
A couple of quick tips to bear in mind:
- Always try to make them count, a well placed business card can add tremendous value to your business.
- Always remember to keep your cards up to date, an out of date card can seem unprofessional and devalue your brand!
- Try to be as creative as possible when designing your cards, but keep that in line with your brand, stay true to yourself.
3. A Little Black Book: Your Portable Mind Map.
Have you ever been stuck on a train, your cellphone dead, when suddenly you have a breakthrough idea for your marketing strategy? You struggle to find something to write on, and with, but waste precious time searching. By the time you find what you need, the concept has faded from your mind.
Having a notebook with you is like having an analog tablet: it never dies, it’s always accessible, and gives you more leeway to jot down not only ideas, but also designs, graphics, and shorthand reminders whenever inspiration strikes. Think of it as a personal idea bank, a safe house for your creativity.
Quick tips for the little black book:
- There are no bad ideas, write all of them down; what may not seem useful to you now may end up being just what you need on your next advertisement campaign.
- Always remember to carry a pen or pencil with you!
4. Your Personal Brand: Your Lasting Impression On The World
To be memorable, it is important to establish an identity that is easily recognizable. Your personal brand allows you to showcase yourself, your personality and your work on a continuous basis. It’s a soft signature and is expressed in many ways. Whether it is an action you are recognized for, a specific saying or even a piece of clothing, your personal brand is the direct result of how you appear to the world.
A strong social branding strategy can make you stand out from the pack and create a lasting impression with potential networking prospects. Being recognizable, whether it’s for a visual or aural cue (always carrying your camera with you, an expression or “catch phrase” you use often), will help you grow within the industry. Think of it as building a name for yourself; your social branding strategy is really how you market yourself in the industry.
- Be yourself throughout your social branding. You can showcase your social branding through your social networks and your day-to-day interactions.
5. An Open Mind: Your Portal To Inspiration.
The world around us constantly bombards us with stimuli. There’s more going on at any point in time than we can possibly know. It’s easy to become inured to the daily grind; the same commute every day, the same ads and billboards, the same computer screen, the same nine-to-five. It’s easy to let it all pass by in a blur, forgetting that we can often draw inspiration from the least likely sources.
By keeping your mind active, your eyes open and your ears tuned, you may find that the world you pass by every day is chock full of ideas. It could be the young couple walking hand-in-hand down the street, the colours used on the billboard across the way, or maybe even hearing a snippet of a song you haven’t heard in a long time; the triggers that create ideas in our minds, that cause us to have those wonderful “A-ha!” moments that we’re always looking for are almost endless.
The point is, it’s easy to ignore what we think of as being background noise as we make our way through the world, forgetting that sometimes those precious nuggets of inspiration are just hiding under a dusty coating of the mundane.
If you are a marketer and believe there is another item you absolutely need with you at all times, shoot us a message we would love to hear your thoughts!
