The last time I wrote a blog about myself on the Moreish website was just under 3 years ago, as an Account Executive.
Today, I beam with pride when I say I’m writing this as a Senior Account Manager, and the FSF Young Marketer of the Year 2021. Still gives me the tingles when I say that!
Now that we’re approaching awards season again (and I’m panicking about getting my dress ready), Moreish kindly let me have the spotlight to talk about my experience this last year before I have to relinquish my title to someone equally deserving in 2022 – I will still be keeping the fake crown from the photobooth though.
Please bear in mind, I’m by no means an expert – these are just learnings and lessons I’ve picked up along the way.
Firstly, I got to hire my own team!
Which was challenging and exciting at the same time…!
Doing the work, myself is one thing but reviewing and providing guidance to others who don’t have as much experience whilst also managing my own projects, taught me how to prioritise my time differently.
Most importantly, it taught me how to trust that we could tackle projects together, without having to micro-manage (no one likes a micro-manager!!).
Which helped me move onto bigger projects…
And they required more responsibility and more planning!
The most stimulating project I got my hands into was DTCC’s Report Hub campaign. From pitching the idea to the client to bringing it to life across various channels, I had the opportunity to lead it – and this included a very fun photoshoot and film shoot that focused on engaging their audience with peer-to-peer videos.
I also had the pleasure of supporting the organisation of a second photoshoot for more2life to refresh their campaign of helping advisers on their mission to get their clients the retirement they deserve!
The best part of it all was being involved heavily in new business and creative pitches. I had the chance to learn so much about financial services companies…
…that helped make a difference in the financial services industry
One of the projects that had the biggest influence on me was Female Folio – an initiative by leading investment firm Brooks Macdonald to support women in writing their own investment story and close the gap between male and female investors.
We’ve been shortlisted for 3 FSF awards with them this year (proud moment). It opened my own eyes to the gender disparities in the investment world, and gave me confidence to dip my toe in investing too!
Another project that impacted me was Do It For Them, an online Life Insurance brand that helps make buying Life Insurance easy, accessible and affordable to everyone.
Plus, the IPTF initiative, Ziggy’s Money Moves, we worked on last year pro bono is still going strong with a growing following on Instagram @ziggysmoneymoves!
I learned the REAL power of social media…
Both Female Folio and Do It For Them were launched through social media – and the results were through the roof, if I say so myself.
Within 3 months of the Do It For Them launch, 6 weeks of paid activity and a paid media budget of under £2,000, our adverts reached over 300,000 unique accounts through Facebook, with a cost per click of £0.37 (the industry benchmark is £1).
And for Female Folio, we’ve had a consistent engagement rate of close to 6% on Instagram (industry benchmark is 0.45%) and close to 5% on Twitter and Facebook (industry benchmark is 0.05%).
We also did a lot of LinkedIn activity for other clients that showed high success both organic and sponsored content. Goes to show that social media really is a low-budget, high-return marketing channel – if done right.
…and audience and industry insight are key to any brand’s success
While working on new business pitches, the main thing I took away was how powerful audience insights can be in informing a brand’s approach and creative – like DTCC, more2life, Female Folio and Do It For Them.
The financial services industry is also constantly changing, and as a financial services marketing agency, it’s important to adapt and evolve with it. The mini-budget announcement, the stamp duty holiday and changes, and the FCA Consumer Duty Act all changed how and what many of our clients were communicating to their audience.
My key learning from the pitches – ask the right questions and do your research, and you will get relevant answers and insight.
To wrap things up…
As glamorous as my LinkedIn looked last year (and annoyed my friends with constant notifications), it’s not all been rainbows and butterflies.
As every job has it’s obstacles, so has mine, with stressful and long days (nothing a little rant with your colleagues can’t fix though!). The important thing is to celebrate the highs and get through the lows in the right way – nothing is higher priority than your mental and physical health.
So what’s next you may ask? Well, the FSF Marketer of the Year award, of course.
And if you see us on the dance floor on November 22nd this year (we’ve been shortlisted for 9 FSF awards this year!!), come say hello!