Be the best Digital Marketer 2020 will see

or Digital Marketing student…

What are you using your off season for?

Before coming back home from university for our Summer holiday, mid-November up until the beginning of February, I decided to do some research of ways to keep myself busy. I wanted to use my holiday as productively as possible. I started by watching a YouTube video entitled, “5 Digital Marketing Skills to Master for 2020 & Beyond.” I figured this would be a good way to navigate skills I could research and learn during my break, since I want to be productive and all.

Earlier this year I had a module entitled Experiential Marketing and I LOVED it. So when I saw that there was going to be a talk happening near me that had to do with Brand Experience, let’s just say that it took very little for me to be persuaded into buying a ticket.

Some notes that I took included the shift to 5G and what that would mean regarding the pace at which we’d be able to share information and how that would affect the type of information we would be sharing. Touching on how 5G allows us to tap into more than sharing content as it would allow for the access of hardware, wild, which would encourage innovation. We spoke about bio tracking fashion, which is something I would like to dive deeper into and write more on.

One of the most interesting talking points was based on AI and the myth that creative jobs have a certain level of security because that requires human intuition. If you haven’t already watched it check out the Netflix documentary Alphago that pretty much busts this mentality. There were other tools discussed that serve as proof of AI tapping into the creative field roles. Examples include:

• Thispersondoesnotexist.com
• AIVA: composes musical soundtracks
• AARON: AI that continuously paints and creates original artworks.

Biggest takeaway overall: I need to see AI as my partner rather than my competition, lol because it would always win. See it as a tool that can help maximize my productivity and ability to create the best work I can. Essentially AI can be used to make me so much better than I can currently imagine if I navigate my way smartly, using it in innovative ways that others are to afraid to divulge into.

I heard a really powerful statement at the talk I attended that essentially went along the lines of “what are you using your off season for in order to ensure peak performance during game time?”

CHALLENGE ME WHY DON’T YOU.

Like I mentioned earlier I was already trying to be intentional about the way I used my time this holiday but NOW, now I felt like I needed to search for more.

My family, without consideration of all the things I intend on doing with my holiday, have basically forced me into getting a summer job. Let’s just say that I am still pretty reluctant but I have been trying to spin this into a good thing. Then it hit me! I am going to be working as a hostess at a pretty exclusive restaurant and that grants me the opportunity to interact with people I would never speak to during my typical day. These are people that can afford to splurge thousands on alcohol and privacy, and now I have to talk to them. This marks as an opportunity to do some research regarding the upper class in South Africa. Additional exposure to a prospective demographic in my marketing future.

Over the past two years I have been trying to learn Spanish and this year I went from teaching myself to actually attending Spanish classes. I realized how much I needed to do this during my trip to Paraguay in March when I was surprised to learn that I could understand a lot more than I thought I would be able to. However, I refused to respond because I knew it was inevitable that I would make many mistakes and I was to nervous to try regardless. I honestly wish I learnt this language when I was young enough not to care in the slightest. I live in a cosmopolitan city in South Africa but as you can imagine we don’t really have a Spanish speaking community. Mind you I live in a city full of foreigners however for the most part they tend to be French, German, Chinese or Dutch… No Spanish. And in as much as I had tried to create this little immersive bubble for myself full of Spanish movies, series and a whole lot of Latin music I noticed that none of this required an actual response on my part. Consequently, I searched for a Spanish school near me and found one 3 minutes away, walking distance, from my house. It was a whole new world surrounded by people just like me, learners. Just like that I became more comfortable and before you know it, I was somewhat an overachiever in my class. This was a result of all the Spanish I had picked up through my little immersive bubble that I never let leave my mouth, and now I could. The point I am trying to make is that my Spanish is another thing that I am working on this holiday.

Not only do I want to ensure that I become a proficient Spanish speaker I also want to be more articulate regarding the expression of all the crazy visuals I have in my head. This has led to a heavy investment in Adobe’s Creative Cloud, particularly Illustrator and Photoshop. I have been learning some graphic design tricks on LinkedIn Learning, as well as on YouTube, and I have also been teaching myself how to doodle better. I have always been the type to draw little doodles in class and if you check my study notes you might notice random images drawn to help me remember things through association. I also journal regularly and there’s a lot of imagery included and so I wanted to get better, and now I am.

In my first year of varsity, or college, I had a course that focused on coding and I was truly surprised to find that it was actually something that I really enjoyed. However, after it wasn’t something compulsory, I dropped like a hot potato to pick up on all my other priorities and obligatory tasks. I have come to learn that coding is super important and it such a plus to know that it is something I like so I am hoping to pick up on the skill I left behind and become more fluent in the language of AI. Thus, allowing my new “friend”, explained earlier, and I to communicate better.

Finally, the last thing I had actually written down as something I wanted to do more of this break: READ! So, I have given myself quite a bit of reading homework, especially now that I will be working and later on during this holiday I will be a Youth Camp Counsellor.

The extensive list includes:

- Quiet by Susan Cain

- Start with Why by Simon Sinek

- Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

- David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell.

On top of this I have been really invested in a couple podcast channels on Spotify that I am trying to take notes from, I will eventually write a blog dedicated to what I am listening to right now. I’ve also been watching a bunch of talks and lessons delivered by some of the best in the business. Let’s just say that it looks like I am going to be a busy woman and not only do I not mind, I am so ready to thrive.