Attend Seminars
Being a small agency in a small town, we constantly look to improve and compete with big-time agencies. Whether online or in-person, we recognize the importance of joining learning communities with those who share our interests and career goals.
At DDRC Marketing, we attend seminars and webinars to continue our education and improve for our clients. Including "5 Ways to Maximize Campaign ROI Through Social and Media Insights: What Top Brands Are Doing.” This webinar focused on finding meaningful, data-driven consumer and market insights. We also attended a webinar entitled "Getting Your Agency in Check for Growth or Acquisition" to learn more about transforming our business opportunities and developing a growth strategy. These webinars have continued our education in the marketing and business development world in numerous ways. We continue to seek out those opportunities to better our work for our clients.
Reading
Books and supplemental readings also continue our education in ways that allow us to grow by expanding our knowledge and conversing with each other within the agency about their takeaway. Books are beautiful ways to continue teaching ourselves how to approach different situations and learn from others' experiences.
Some of our favorite books that we have read include This is Marketing by Seth Godin. This book encapsulates that connecting with your target involves more than just marketing something you think they would like, but training yourself to create a marketing strategy that will connect with them deeper than just flashy logos and colorful designs. We genuinely believe that this is a go-to read for anyone in the marketing field.
Another book we at DDRC enjoy is Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy. Divulging into different aspects of marketing and advertising, Ogilvy explains how you can utilize each element differently and how the current and traditional marketing trends may not be beneficial. The book describes how you can change each part of the process and helpful tips to succeed in advertising.
We read these books to gain more insight into ourselves as marketers and our surroundings and how to use both effectively.
Continuing the Conversation
At DDRC, we have a weekly routine of viewing advertisements to critique and analyze them. It is a group environment where one of our team members chooses a commercial, print ad, website, or social post. Then, as a whole, we discuss what we liked about it, disliked, and how could we improve it. This critique allows us to see the other types of marketing happening around us, what we would want to do, and what we do not think we should do.
We like to challenge ourselves and ask ourselves "How can we be better?" We are constantly giving feedback to each other about how an ad looks or how a piece of copy reads. We learn from each other and welcome conversations about our strengths and weaknesses. This is important for the growth of all at DDRC, clients included. These ad critiques allow for us to continue the conversation into how we can serve our clients and if they could benefit from what we've observed.
Conclusion
At DDRC Marketing, we continuously find ways to improve and educate ourselves on becoming more vital in our field. We strongly suggest you do the same!
How do you plan to continue your education and be a better version of yourself?