7 things I will tell my 2012 self

When I said stay tuned, I’m serious. Now let’s get started.

2012 shall always be a pivotal year for me because that’s when I started working with CRM. 

CRM wasn’t such a buzzword then. I haven’t heard about loyalty strategy, but email marketing yes. A lot of lead generation and social media marketing then, which is still very much alive until today.

Little did I know, in 2024 and in Stockholm, halfway around the world from my hometown Davao in the Philippines, I would be advocating for email marketing still. We’ll save that for the rest of the posts. 

So the world has changed so much. Now there’s AI and many of us might be wary of the future of marketing and the security of our jobs. Be that as it may, there are several things that remain constant and those I would tell to myself back in 2012 when she was still starting out… because you see, she had her times of self-doubt. And if you’re someone like me who is and has been in the trenches, read on…

1. You’ll thank yourself for taking Statistics in uni.
   Statistics has taught you to look at data and understand what to do with outliers. It also has taught you to appreciate the statistical significance of a sample group, and understand relationships between variables. These always come in handy whether you’re running ads, investigate why sales has been down, or figuring out what would be a high converting email automation to build next.
   
   Yes, it might had been a real pain in the butt when you had to solve manually for the standard deviation back then, but now you have MS Excel, PowerBI, Tableau, Python, etc, to help you. 
   

2. Brand Awareness and Sales can and should go together.
   Non-negotiable. In your professional journey, you will meet Founders and CEOs and clients who will solely focus on. Yes, you will see an uptick on sales, the numbers will look good to satisfy the quarterly budget. But you could be losing off-paper.
   
   Be careful with this and trust your experience.
   

3. Segmentation is key!
   It’s easy to go for volume and broad because of course, it’s still a numbers game. But you have to take the time to segment your customers (in whatever measures that are relevant to the business) because then you will know who actually buys and comes back, and who doesn’t. And trust me, you’re also doing your customers a favor because then what you are communicating to them is more relevant.
   

4. Yes, it’s just a tool. But if it’s creating friction, it stops being one.
   You will encounter different tools, especially CRM and Email Marketing platforms. Tools that the CTO or the CEO picked or maybe the consultant before you has recommended. You will learn how to wield it like a samurai would with his katana.
   
   But if you are spending more time fixing things with it and figuring out workarounds, then it becomes a problem. Tell your client or your boss.
   

5. Done is better than perfect.
   You can get stuck at all the little things and that will cost you time. Time equals money. So keep it simple, keep it moving.
   

6. Test, test, test.
   The best part about learning Statistics is that you know how to select a sample group and do a Hypothesis Testing. Apply them and learn along the way with every hypothesis you debunk. 

7. You will be measured. And that’s all right.
   The clients, the bosses, and the colleagues you will meet will measure you like there is a KPI that they will refer to to decide whether or not they’ll keep working with you. And that’s totally fine. It’s business. Clients come and go, and there will be the ones who will stay.
   
   Listen to feedback, both the pleasant and the ones that are hard to swallow. This is how you learn and get better.

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