Optimization of work in marketing

How to manage yourself while working in such a demanding industry as marketing? The work of freelancers will certainly look different than that of employees of large agencies who are responsible for one element of the puzzle (e.g. copywriting or graphics), and the workday of a newly developing marketing agency looks different still.

However, how we can manage our time looks similar across all possible options. Sticking to a few rules will certainly help eliminate activities that distract us, make our workday longer, and in the end we feel like we haven't done anything today.

Take care of the length and quality of your sleep

Well, yes, we will start with such basics. Because in order to work more efficiently, we need to be rested.

Sleep is important. If you pull all-nighters – don’t do it, it’s not worth it. The more tired you are because of the lack of sleep, the longer it takes to work on a given task. I know this from myself when I didn’t sleep through almost any nights for 2 months. That’s when I made the most mistakes, which had to be quickly corrected. That’s when I worked even harder because I was “behind” and “I have to catch up on all of this.”

It turned out that all I had to do was get enough sleep and the problems with carelessness, mistakes and long working hours disappeared.

Turn off notifications

While working, I turn off notifications that can throw me off track. I even turned off loud notifications in the Messenger app recently and it turns out, drumroll, drumroll, that you can survive a weekend without even looking at the app and only read all your messages on Monday. And the world doesn't collapse! We come to the conclusion that, damn, maybe the world isn't just based on our shoulders?! (Greetings to all those who have Fixing first in Gallup XD)

Our phones have a wonderful option of "work mode", "work time", "well-being" - depending on the device, you will find it under different names. You turn on this option, previously choosing which applications should be active and which ones should be put to sleep.

I only have enabled the ones that I might find useful for working on my phone:

• Instagram
• Trello
• Slack
• Business Suite
• Facebook Ads
• Tik Tok

When I'm doing work during which I don't even want my team or clients to text me, I turn on "Do Not Disturb" mode on my phone.

On computers we also have the option to disable applications and specific websites.

Daily routine

I wrote “routine” and not “rituals” because ritual to me is more like walking through a sacred waterfall that will enlighten me. And routine is something that helps me get out of bed every morning and get going. Without thinking about what I have to do next.

So establish your morning routine. For me it's:

• Wim Hof breathing (short, 2-3 minute series)
• meditation with the "Waking up" application
• a large glass of almost hot water with lemon
• morning toilet
• breakfast

When I finish eating, all I have to do is turn on the computer, check my planner to remind myself what my priorities are today, and off I go with a coke.

Just as important as the morning routine is the evening routine. And I can honestly tell you that I'm still working on it, but Rome wasn't built in a day!

• I try to turn off the computer and TV earlier and not look at the phone screen.
• I learned to leave my phone in the living room at night, not in the bedroom. At first, I wanted to cry, because how can you be without a phone (like without a hand, and I want a hand!).
• I eat dinner no later than 8:30pm.
• I do chest and shoulder mobilization exercises to open up and stretch those areas after sitting at the computer all day.
• I read right before going to bed – always, at least for 10 minutes.

I also have a bit of a routine during the day – I get up from the computer every 15-30 minutes and do some mobilising exercises, I always drink something warm and I eat a second breakfast around 12-1 p.m.

These are my little elements that push me forward during the day and energize me positively.

Movement is health

Yes, yes, before I move on to elements related specifically to work, it's time for MOVEMENT. Movement is health, everyone knows that, but some of us, although we know the theory, are a bit worse at practice.

Our work at the moment consists mostly of online meetings, of working on the computer all the time. I remember at the beginning of the pandemic I had a period where I didn't leave the house for a solid 12 days. SERIOUSLY.

I'm crazy, I know. But I woke up, my doctor friend yelled at me, my physical therapist yelled at me, and that's how I got back on the sacred path of regular exercise.

Every day I go for walks or exercise (at home or with a trainer). And I will tell you that after an hour of movement I feel like my head is clearing. Because then I focus either on what surrounds me (during the walk) or on the exercise.

During the day, many people call me and write emails. Despite the fact that I work in thematic blocks, something unexpected always comes up. That's why this hour of movement is beneficial for my brain, which rests during this time.

Assertiveness

Something I am still working on in myself. Thanks to increased assertiveness I have more time for myself, I have stopped doing everything for everyone.

I started to refuse.

At first I felt terrible about it (because how could that be?! They would stop liking me), but over time I became immune to it.

I remember, in my previous job, when at a weekly meeting the director would throw out a topic and ask who would take on the project. If no one volunteered for 5 seconds, I couldn't take the pressure and volunteered, even though I knew I already had too much work and was barely getting by. It wasn't until a few years later that I learned to BE SILENT at such moments.

I built my assertiveness in therapy and with fantastic Ola Budzyńska's book "Assertiveness and self-confidence".

Workplace

Organizing your workspace is key for me. Especially in the home office era. And even if we can't afford a separate room for an office, let's try to have the essentials we need for work nearby. For me, these are always:

• planner,
• blank sheets of paper on which I can write down, for example, a sketch of an advertising campaign for a client,
• various types of pens,
• books – if I know I will use them, e.g. when creating copy for posts or articles,
• healthy snacks and water at your fingertips,
• cables :) – to be able to quickly download something from your phone to your computer and vice versa.

Schemes, checklists, processes

Without checklists and processes we would have long ago lost track of what we were doing.
At KomuKoncept we work on Trello, so we have separate boards created there:

• with ordersthat we obtain,
• with active customers, where we have collected all the information for a given order, e.g. advertising goals, strategy, personas, quarterly summaries, etc.
• important resources – this is how we named the board, where we have links to purchased trainings, notes from trainings and the most important thing – a column with PROCESSES. It contains tasks with checklists, which are easy to duplicate and work on a given order. This is very useful for repetitive activities, e.g. when we start working on FB ads with a new client, we perform steps from the checklist related to accesses, company manager and ads settings, pixels, etc. Such checklists make work easier and make sure we don't forget anything.

Communication with customers

At the beginning of the cooperation, we always establish the method of communication with the client. We explain how often we will communicate and in what way. Usually, we send them a link to the tab "HOW WE WORK"

Defining communication issues is important so that the client understands all aspects related to cooperation. Here is an example:

When a client chooses the option of communicating in one or two social media, we immediately determine such details as whether:

• has its own photos (or the ability to create new photos),
• wants us to moderate comments and respond to private messages,
• is anyone willing to record themselves/their band mates?
  whether he wants to rely only on photos or is he open to suggestions, e.g. illustrations, etc.

Without specifying the above (and many other) details we wouldn't be able to even start a quote :) Let alone start cooperation.

Besides, I can't imagine a situation where, for example, the advertising result has deteriorated and I don't let the client know about it. I always describe what went down and up. I focus on the description of the optimization and let them know if the result has changed.

I focus on honesty. If a new client comes in who wants to sell an expensive service of a little-known brand in a month, I honestly say why I don't see it and explain what the process of warming up recipients through ads and organic activities looks like.

Sprints with the team and clients

As I write this, we are internally operating on two-week sprints. In between, we also have a lot of other meetings related to current issues that need to be discussed immediately. In a Sprint, we discuss what has been (not) done and set new tasks.

We work with clients in weekly Sprints, where we show what was done last week, what the results were, what the conclusions are and the actions we propose. In addition, we have standard summaries: month, quarter and year of cooperation.

Planning activities

When planning activities, we cannot afford to leave a task without an assigned person and a deadline. This may seem obvious, but believe me – it is not.

Not everyone you work with will be familiar with project work etiquette. Of course, if you work at an agency that has great onboarding and a new person learns the ropes very quickly, that's half the trouble.

There is more hassle in places that, for example, do not set a time frame for the project, do not brief the client (yes, there are such agencies!), throw out generalities at meetings and think that if they say "someone has to do it" it means that Someone is already doing it. And Someone is Nobody :) Remember that.

There is even more work involved with clients who are required to provide us with, for example, visual materials on time. Clients have their own businesses to worry about, a lot of other tasks, and unfortunately, it is our responsibility not to forget what they are supposed to do for us.

It is up to us to enter in our calendar the deadline for the client to deliver what we agreed on, and we are responsible for reminding them of this in good time.

Summary

How do you work every day? What are the constants of your day? Share it in the comments :)