Owning my mistakes

This week, Sophie Radcliffe, shares her approach to learning. Sophie’s known as being an adventure who inspires people by taking on remarkable challenges. But she’s also a brand ambassador, blogger and writer, and marketer. This week she’s focusing on the content creation side of her work, bringing her approach to learning alive through that.

As a content creator I often partner with brands to create content campaigns. Each campaign starts off as an idea to collaborate and create something unique together. The purpose is to tell stories around a particular theme that inspire people to share their own stories, and engage with myself and the brand I’m working with.

I produce a mixture of video, written and social media content that I share on my blog, youtube and social media channels. There is always a call to action, or aim for the campaign, for example, ‘Live Without Limits’ with Adidas, ‘Brew Your Power’ with Pukka Herbs and ‘Live Your Adventure’ with a travel insurance company.

After each campaign I go through a review process. It follows a simple 3 step rhythm.

1) Let the numbers talk

I generate social media results and analyse the reach and engagements for the posts associated with this campaign. At the end of the day I can’t argue with the numbers and it’s very clear to see whether a campaign has been successful or not based on the numbers, so this is always my first port of call. I know what numbers are important – they need to be a meaningful marker or indication. And I know what is a ‘good’ result on these. So I’ve got a clear benchmark that I’m aiming for and reviewing against.

2) Quality Rules

Next I look at the quality of the content I produced and what the response was from my audience. Did they like it, did they engage with it, did it elicit any emotional responses? In my ‘Brew Your Power’ campaign I ran with Pukka, it was incredible to see the impact that winning had on people, turning them into valued supporters of Pukka’s brand and creating something positive in their lives.

The quality of the content and the interactions are more important than reaching tens of thousands of people who think about it one second and forget about it the next. So it’s not just about the numbers. Results are more than numbers. It’s about the impact my work has had on people – what they think and what they do.

3) Relationship building

Finally, I speak with the brand and ask them how they thought the campaign worked and discuss what could have been done better. I ask them if they would like to work with me again and would recommend me to someone else. All feedback here is valued. I am a business owner learning everyday and I know there’s a million things I could do differently, and will learn to do so as I continue building my business.

Review it, own it, change it

I love this reviewing process because it’s an opportunity for me to grow and develop my skills as a photographer, videographer, writer, social media influencer and brand ambassador. I use this process to analyse my work with numbers, quality measures and feedback from key relationships. My aim is to find holes in my work and figure out how to fill them to provide a smoother service next time round.

I’ve learnt not to be afraid of negative feedback and actually, to offer up things that I think I could have done better before my clients share them with me. Being proactive about learning from my mistakes and finding a way to make sure they don’t happen again has been a game changer for me. We don’t always get it right so I try to own my mistakes and go the extra mile next time.