Could I grasp everything? Had I entered this field too late? Could I catch up with those who had experience? There were times when I found myself struggling.
However, there was one thing that never made me give up—curiosity.
I did not choose to try to learn everything at once but rather adopted another strategy.
I chose to learn gradually – bit by bit. Idea by idea.
And the most important decision – to do it practically.
That decision turned out to be crucial for me.
Opening my own digital marketing account, named Theriza_reach, turned out to be much more than a step to fulfill one's academic assignments.
It became the moment when theory faced reality.
Creating posts showed me how difficult it can be to create high-quality content. Brainstorming, coming up with ideas, creating visuals, thinking about time and hashtags – everything became crucial for successful post creation.
And, most importantly, for the first time ever, I found myself in the position of a content creator.
The process, however, was far from easy.
Sometimes I could have ideas but failed to implement them into reality. Sometimes I could spend hours creating a post only to see low results. Little engagement and low reach could sometimes discourage me from doing anything at all.
Questions started popping up.
Was my content too bad?
Or did I do something wrong?
Is it even worth continuing such practice?
Instead of stopping, I chose to analyze my content.
I tried finding some patterns, looking at what performed better and what was less effective. I finally understood that performance depended on many aspects including time, user behavior, and the relevancy of the content.
It was at that point I learned how to analyze content effectively.
Not from success but from failure.
Among the many things I learned from this period is the significance of consistency over perfection.
At first, I found myself overthinking things. I had always hoped for a flawless product before making any post. However, I soon discovered that perfectionism leads to stagnation.
Success lies in taking action.
Through continuous engagement.
Through experimentation.
Through experiential learning.
Finally, another crucial mindset shift was the need to understand the value of the audience.
Initially, my focus was on liking content. However, after spending some time in the field, I understood that digital marketing is all about the audience. Digital marketing requires knowing what interests your audience, what issues they are facing, and what their likes are, and then creating content for them accordingly.
With that being said, my approach towards creating content also evolved.
I found myself thinking strategically. Instead of creating content, I started considering whether:
The post would bring any value.
Why would a person interact with the content?
What impact will this post have on my audience?
As far as interaction with content is concerned, people do not react based on content itself; rather, it's an emotional reaction.
It was here that the idea of telling stories started resonating with me.
I came to understand that behind every successful post, there lies a good story. Not necessarily a complicated one but definitely one that matters to the reader.
That is something I wanted to achieve.
Moreover, I also started comprehending trends better.
Previously, I would just blindly follow any trend that happened to become the most popular at the time. But today, I try to understand them by figuring out why a certain trend works, what it has that is entertaining, and how it can be applied creatively.
Thus, following trends allowed me to switch from just blindly copying other people’s ideas to learning through their work.
That being said, the process was far from effortless.
At times, I struggled with doubts, comparisons, and frustrations that came from not being able to see any progress within a shorter period of time than expected.
However, in retrospect, it became clear that these struggles were absolutely necessary for me to gain patience, resilience, and persistence.
As they say, digital marketing requires a lot of hard work and consistency.
Growth is not a matter of days but years!
The perspective on social media has changed over the years.
From mere fun, it is now an avenue for creation, expression, and influence. It is where great ideas meet minds, and where stories ignite passion. This has made it one of the greatest pleasure for me.
From being intrigued, social media has come to mean something more significant to me than ever before.
It represents growth through constant learning.
There is always something fresh to learn every day, from tactics to techniques, and even approaches. This is why I find digital marketing interesting.
No aspect is static.
Nor am I.
I am constantly learning.
I am experimenting.
I am growing.
But there is one thing for sure—I am far away from being a mere consumer of content.
Today, I know it.
I produce it.
But above all, I learn from it.
And this journey?
It is only the beginning.
