Welcome back to our Zone of Genius blog series, where we explore our team’s unique skills and what they help us achieve! Next up to share their Zone of Genius and some top tips on marketing strategy is Rebecca Johns, our Marketing & Content Strategist.
What is your Zone of Excellence?
My Zone of Excellence is probably something around language, writing, editing. I have a natural aptitude for language, I’m a good writer and a better editor, and when I’m working in that zone, it feels safe and easy. It’s quite nice to come and do a gentle bit of copy editing after working on something more challenging, but I would definitely get bored if it was all I got to do!
What would you say is your Zone of Genius?
Where I really come into my own is that first part of a marketing strategy where you work out who you need to talk to in order to achieve your goals, what you need to talk to them about, where you need to be talking to them and what content you need to make all that happen. That specification process is instinctive for me and I often find myself running through those steps naturally if I talk to people about their businesses outside of work. I feel very strongly that if you invest a little time up front to get clarity on these things, the rest of your marketing will work so much better.
How do you feel when you’re working in your Zone of Genius?
When I get to really unpick what the clients are trying to communicate to an audience and then create and specify the right approach for them, I feel inspired, energised and excited – that initial work feels effortless and it’s very common for me to lose track of time. Most people’s favourite part of a project is the delivery, seeing the results and getting great feedback. But for me, my favourite part is always getting that initial clarity – looking under the hood and seeing what’s going on and how it could be made to run better. It’s intrinsically motivating for me and that’s a giveaway that it’s Zone of Genius, this idea that even if you weren’t paid to do it, you would still do it because of how you feel when you’re doing it.
Is this something that you developed over time or always had?
I’ve always worked in marketing and it’s always been hard for me to leave things that aren’t working alone. You don’t always have the opportunity to get involved in marketing strategy when you’re in a large company, not in a senior role or not in HQ though, so it wasn’t always welcomed when I was questioning things! As my career progressed, I often ended up in roles that needed someone to either define these strategic aspects from scratch or unpick what they already had to make it work better.
I read The Big Leap for the first time in 2017 when I was consulting, realised that I’d been playing it too safe with what I was offering and needed to lean into marketing strategy and content strategy more. I definitely hid in my zone of competency and excellence for a while because I’m not a big risk taker but as the saying goes – ‘A ship is safe in harbour, but that’s not what ships are for’ – now every new project is a voyage of discovery!
What are your top tips for getting clarity in your marketing or content strategy
- Creativity can’t be scheduled – although this is strategy, it’s creative, just as any problem solving is. Creativity can’t be forced and the best ideas often arrive at unexpected moments like when you’re walking the dog so allow yourself a little time to gather information, ask questions and let information ‘percolate’ and develop.
- Centre your audience – take the time to define your personas and truly get to know them – you should understand what they care about and what motivates them as people, not just in relation to your product or service. If you know your audience and what makes them tick, you can speak most effectively to them.
- Make your content useful – the best content is in the intersection of your authority as a business and what your audience really cares about. No one has time for content that is purely promotional – it needs to solve a problem that somebody has today or move them on in their understanding of something or to add value to their job. As John F Kennedy might have said if he had been a content marketer – ask not what your content can do for you, but what it can do for your audience!
