Tasmin

Tasmin is the Managing Director of Fika Digital with a penchant for social media and content marketing.

Location: Lancashire
Business Owner Since: 2019
Go-to Coffee Shop Order: A mocha and all the cake please

  • Business

    Six ways to avoid digital marketing burnout

    Back-to-back meetings, never-ending to-do lists and missed lunch breaks – these are just some of the things that can add up to cause burnout. 

    Throw in the need to be constantly in the loop on the latest digital marketing algorithm updates and trends, to be up-to-date on the current memes and social media news, to wear 101 different business hats, and to be the go-to-person for creative brainstorming and online optimisation, and you’ve got yourself the ingredients for digital marketing burnout.

    Burnout is a real issue that needs to be tackled within the workplace. That need to tackle burnout is amplified for the marketing industry where 83.3% of marketing and communication professionals report feelings of burnout. 

    I should know – I’ve been there before. When working in-house at a start-up company, I experienced severe career burnout. I was well and truly exhausted. 

    My pylon light was totally extinguished. 

    Fika Digital - Ways to avoid digital marketing burnout

    After going through burnout, I vowed that I would never let myself experience burnout again. I’m much more aware of the factors that can lead to burnout for me personally and what to do when it’s time for me to take proactive action against burnout creep.

    At Fika Digital, we want to put a stop to digital marketing burnout for good. We want to make sure that you never have to endure the soul-destroying, self-doubting-instilling feeling of burnout.

    So, what can you do to avoid digital marketing burnout?

    Digital marketing burnout: explained

    There’s no one single cause of burnout. And the factors that add up to cause burnout for one person may differ for the next. But that doesn’t make your experience of burnout any less real.

    In fact, burnout has been classified as an official medical diagnosis according to ICD-11. So, if you need something to let you know your feelings are valid, let it be that.

    Burnout can be characterised by the following symptoms, as per ICD-11:

    • feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
    • increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job
    • reduced professional efficacy

    The culture of marketing is one that can contribute towards a culture of burnout. It’s a culture that we need to change if we really want to prevent digital marketing burnout from happening.

    With it’s ever-changing landscape, rapid growth, high demands and expectations, quick project turn-arounds, and dog-eat-dog competitiveness, digital marketing is a multi-faceted and fast-paced industry that inevitably can cause burnout if not addressed early on. 

    Getting to the heart of digital marketing burnout lies with the industry and company leaders. Our duty as marketers is to make sure our employees and partners are not being set up to frazzle and burn out. 

    However, I appreciate that addressing the issue at that scale is a whole other conversation.

    Right now, I want to focus on the ways that you can protect your own energy and well-being by taking steps to avoid digital marketing burnout.

    6 ways to avoid digital marketing burnout

    If you feel like you are on the cusp of digital marketing burnout, let this article guide you through some of the ways you can put a stop to your digital marketing burnout.

    Summary:

    1. Focus your attention on one task at a time
    2. Outsource work to other marketing professionals
    3. Set distraction-free “Power Hours”
    4. Learn to say No
    5. Keep work-life and personal-life separate
    6. Find ways to improve your workflow

    Focus your attention on one task at a time

    Marketing professionals typically wear several business hats. You may find yourself having to flit between being an SEO specialist to a Social Media Strategist, Graphic Designer, and PPC expert in a matter of minutes. 

    It’s like a game of Buckaroo – you keep piling the tasks on until eventually you buckle under the pressure.

    We recommend getting organised with your to-do list so you can focus your attention on one task at a time. This will help you tackle the weight of a heavy and diverse workload.

    Traditionally, your to-do list will contain a list of everything that’s on your agenda for today. One great big list without any rhyme or reason. As a result, chances are high that you will flit between the tasks on your to-do list as you do your best to get through everything you can.

    Doing this will only lead to more internalised pressure and stress. 

    Instead, you should timeblock your to-do list and group similar tasks together. By using a time- and task- blocked approach, you will be able to sink into more focused work and you’ll find that you tick your tasks off a lot quicker than when you try to complete everything at once. 

    Stop trying to juggle everything at once and just focus on one task at a time.

    Outsource work to other marketing professionals

    Telling you to outsource your work to someone is often easier said than done. But it will help. 

    If you are struggling with your workload, please speak up about it. If you are an employee working for someone else, please tell your senior leaders that your workload is too large and they need to help you reduce it or outsource it to somebody else (either someone in your team, someone new, or someone external). 

    If you are a senior leader or the owner of your company, remember that you do not have to do everything. Owning and running a business is hard work but you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to a trusted marketing professional to outsource your marketing work and reduce your workload.

    It’s okay to admit that you have more than you can possibly manage. By outsourcing work to other marketing professionals, you will be able to free up some of your time to be more attentive to the other tasks on your to-do list.

    Set distraction-free “Power Hours”

    Power hours sounds very hustle culture-esque but stick with me.

    Setting distraction-free “Power Hours” can be a great way to knuckle down and whizz through your tasks. Let your team know when you plan to take a Power Hour and that you can’t be disturbed during this time. Turn your phone on silent and close down your emails to avoid temptation to check your social media notifications, answer phone calls or reply to emails. 

    The purpose of having a distraction-free Power Hour is to give yourself the chance to get stuck into some deep work. So use this time to focus on a large task that requires your full attention. 

    It is believed that one hour of focused time equals four hours of distracted time. By working Power Hours into your weekly work schedule you might be surprised to find how much quicker you manage to get through some of those deeper tasks that take up time.

    Power Hours are also a great way to set boundaries with people and let them (and yourself) know that you aren’t available 24/7. 

    Learn to say No

    Saying “No”, especially in the workplace, can be terrifying.

    But it can also be liberating. 

    By saying “No” to new opportunities, tasks or requests, you will be able to set healthier boundaries and reduce the risk of taking on more than you can manage. 

    Before you straight up start shouting “No!” at someone the next time they ask you to do something, start saying no by:

    • Reminding people know what your work expectations are 
    • Letting people know what your boundaries are
    • Explaining your reasons why you’re saying no
    • Proposing an alternative

    By exercising your right to say no, you’re also protecting your energy and well-being. Saying no can be one of the hardest things to do. But it can also be one of the most powerful ways to reduce your likelihood of getting burnt out.

    Want to take on more and don’t want to say “No” to potential opportunities? Then hire additional resources to help with the additional workload.

    Keep work-life and personal-life separate

    Sometimes, our work-life can blend into our personal-life. In the marketing industry that crossover between work- and personal- life is even easier. 

    If you work in social media marketing, you may find yourself feeling the need to be active on social media all hours of the day. Outside of work, you may listen to marketing podcasts, read marketing articles, follow all the greatest Marketing folk on Twitter… it can be easy for our work responsibilities to creep into our personal lives. Especially when it’s something that we are passionate about.

    When working from home, you may also find yourself slipping into the unhealthy pattern of checking your emails at the weekend or perhaps you start work early and finish later than intended. 

    Stop whatever is happening in your life that is causing your work and personal life to get mixed up. Be strict with yourself and think about what steps you can take to keep work and personal life separate. 

    It is important that you take time away from work. You need to give yourself time to mentally decompress and unwind from the working day. You need to leave work when the working day is finished and not work into your personal time.

    As for weekends and holiday days – take them. Please! Your mind, body and soul will thank you for it – trust me. By taking time off, you will be able to return to work feeling more mentally prepared to tackle your workload and more creatively refreshed for upcoming marketing campaigns and ideas.

    Find ways to improve your workflow

    There’s a great choice of tools and software that can help you improve your workflow and reduce bottlenecks.

    By investing in tools that improve your workflow, you can help reduce some of the work pressure that builds up when burnout is approaching.

    Some marketing tools that can help ease your process include:

    • Social media schedulers
    • Project management tools (we love Asana and Basecamp!)
    • Analytical tools
    • SEO and Keyword research tools
    • …and more!

    There are thousands, if not millions, of tools out there. Whatever you are looking for, there’s likely a tool for it! We also love using automation tools like Zapier and IFTT to automate processes that we frequently do manually. 

    Make note of all the processes that you frequently do or that take up a lot of your time, then research what tools you can use to effectively automate those tasks and improve your workflow.

    Free yourself from digital marketing burnout: Conclusion

    Digital marketing burnout is about more than just having an impossible to-do list. It’s also to do with the unrealistic expectations to work long hours, feeling underappreciated in your role, and feeling the need to keep up-to-date with the latest marketing news. 

    But, it’s also more than that. The causes of digital marketing burnout are unique to each individual. 

    By taking note of the above actions, you can start taking steps towards protecting your energy and boundaries in order to avoid digital marketing burnout.

    Remember, you are not alone. We are here to help you find joy in your social media and content marketing. Together, we can help you reduce your risk of digital marketing burnout as you harness the power of purposeful marketing. Get in touch to learn more about the ways we can work together.

  • Business

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  • Blogging

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  • Business

    Knowing when it’s time to outsource work

    As a business owner, you are responsible for the success of your business. In the early days of starting your business this responsibility may look like wearing 21 different hats as you resemble each of the different functions required to succeed. In any one day you may find yourself switching from CEO to accounts, marketing, sales, business development, and back again.

    Solopreneuring and being a one-person band can be great in the early days of business ownership. You can keep costs low while also testing your business model, implementing standard procedures and finding your feet in this new venture.

    However, when going solo, you may begin to find your growth stagnating. In order to grow and scale your business you will also want to grow and scale your team. This is where outsourcing comes into play. 

    How to spot the signs that you need to outsource work

    The decision to start outsourcing work doesn’t come easy. If you’re anything like me, you’ll struggle letting go of the reins as you hand over the metaphorical keys to let someone else take the driving seat. Letting other people help you with your business can be scary but, when done right, it can be incredibly rewarding. 

    If you want to find success as a business owner, you cannot do it alone. But how do you know when it’s time to outsource work?

    Here are some of the surefire signs that you need to start outsourcing work:

    • You never get through your daily to-do list
    • You are getting seriously stressed out with work
    • You are doing too many different job roles at once
    • You are spending a lot of time on tasks that you hate
    • There are areas of your business that need specialised skills
    • You can’t provide the quality of work you want to
    • You don’t have time to work on new business development ideas
    • An area of your business is suffering
    • Work-life balance is a thing of the past and you’ve forgotten what you do outside of work
    • You fall behind on deadlines
    • Sales are plateauing or falling

    If any of the above statements ring true for you, it could be a sign that you need to outsource work. Outsourcing can positively contribute to the health and future success of your business. It can be the difference between business stagnation and business growth.

    While outsourcing may seem like an additional business cost at first, the return-on-investment will soon speak for itself when you find business operations thrive as a result of strategic outsourcing.

    Types of tasks you can outsource

    When it comes to outsourcing, the sky really is the limit. As you begin to grow your business, there are many tasks that you will likely want, or need, to outsource. 

    The best place to start when choosing which tasks to outsource is to first consider your answers to the following questions:

    • Which tasks take up the most of your time?
    • Which tasks do you not enjoy doing?
    • Which tasks or areas of business do you lack experience or confidence in?

    Your answers to these questions should give you a good indication of the types of tasks you might want to outsource. From here, you can begin to make plans to outsource work effectively.

    That being said, below are some tasks that you may find yourself outsourcing as your business grows:

    • Customer service
    • Administrative duties
    • Lead generation
    • Marketing and social media management
    • Bookkeeping and accounting
    • Graphic design
    • Sales and business development
    • Product design
    • Event management
    • Human resources
    • Data entry
    • Research and development
    • Calendar Management

    The above list is simply just a small selection of some of the tasks you can outsource as a business owner. In reality, the list is limitless. The luxury of owning your own business is that you have the freedom to build your ideal working day and to build the perfect team to support you in achieving your business goals.

    If you find that you really dread answering customer service enquiries, outsource it to someone who is a customer services specialist. Similarly, if you are constantly forgetting to schedule meetings, then hire an Executive Assistant to help you keep your diary in shape.

    Making sure you are ready to outsource work

    Outsourcing work can be a wonderful thing for your business. But it can also be damaging if not done correctly. Because of this, it is important that you do your research and prep work before outsourcing work.

    Take time to research the type of person, or partner organisation, that you want to bring on board and how you perceive that relationship working.

    Just as you would with onboarding new employees, it is also a good idea to have an onboarding or outsourcing process for bringing subcontractors or partners on board. You can then use this to help make the outsourcing process as streamlined and successful as possible.

    The other thing you want to consider when deciding to outsource work is whether you can afford to do so. Be realistic with yourself and make sure that outsourcing various components of your business will not be a financial strain to your business. When calculating whether you can afford to outsource, be sure to also calculate how much money you are currently losing by not outsourcing work (either through lost income or lost time) and how much money you could gain if you do outsource those particular tasks.

    Why we believe in upsourcing, not outsourcing

    Here at Fika Digital, we believe in upsourcing. By upsourcing, you are reducing the risk-factors associated with outsourcing work. 

    One quote that I always love to remind myself of as a business owner is “if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room”.

    And that quote rings true for outsourcing. When it comes to your business, it is important that you are not always the smartest person in the room. Otherwise, how will you grow? If you find that you are the smartest person in your business, then it might be time for you to begin inviting smarter people to join you. 

    This is essentially where upsourcing differs from outsourcing. Outsourcing refers to the process of handing specific work tasks and processes over to a third part. Upsourcing, on the other hand, means you are handing specific work tasks and processes over to someone who is highly experienced in those particular areas of work.

    When you begin to look at outsourcing as upsourcing, you begin to see it as a way to invest in your business and reach your next business milestones or objectives.

    Starting your outsourcing journey

    Deciding that it’s time to outsource elements of your business is a milestone moment in business ownership. 

    Before outsourcing (or upsourcing!) work, first make sure you perform an analysis of your current business performance. Consider which tasks you would benefit most from outsourcing and start with the area of your business that you can easily outsource and that is expected to have the highest performance impact in return.

    From here, begin researching the best partner for your outsourcing needs – being sure to choose a person, or company, that is a good fit for your needs, budget, deliverables, and culture. 

    The relationship between your business and the person(s) you outsource work to is central to your success so make sure you choose a partner that is the right match for you and your business.

    Once you’ve found the ideal partner, it’s time to get handing some tasks over. We always recommend having standard operating procedures (SOPs) – or playbooks as we like to call them – so that you can easily transfer all of your existing processes and expectations for how tasks should be performed.

    When upsourcing, you may want to go easy on the SOPs and trust that the person coming on board will be the one to lead on how to implement winning processes for your company.

    If you are ready to upsource your social media and content marketing activities to an experience agency, we would love to hear from you. Get in touch to discuss the various ways that we can partner with you to create purposeful social media and content marketing for your business.

  • Social Media Marketing

    How to develop a winning Instagram hashtag strategy

    Social media is powerful. It’s where we share photos of our favourite memories, connect with loved ones, and share memes with friends. It is also the place where you can grow your business, tell your story, and reach your ideal audience. With over 500 million daily active users, it can be hard to stand out on Instagram.

    But there are steps you can take to ensure your content shines on Instagram. By developing a winning Instagram hashtag strategy you can truly make sure that your business takes pride of place on the world-leading photo-based social media platform.

    While hashtags may no longer be the only thing Instagram uses to determine the relevancy of your content, they still hold a powerful place in your Instagram content strategy.

    Instagram hashtag strategy - photo of someone scrolling plant photos on Instagram

    So, let’s dive into the power of hashtags and how you can develop a winning Instagram hashtag strategy for your business…

    What are hashtags?

    A hashtag is a combination of letters, numbers, and/or emoji preceded by the # symbol. For example #marketing or #SmallBusinessOwner.

    On Instagram, hashtags are clickable.

    When you click on a hashtag (or when you use the Instagram search bar to search a hashtag) you will be taken to a page containing all the posts tagged with that hashtag.

    How to use hashtags on Instagram

    You can add up to 30 hashtags to an Instagram post. These can either be added to the end of your caption or in the comments of your post!

    Adding hashtags to your post will increase your reach by allowing your post to appear on the search page for each hashtag you have used.

    While it sounds simple, there is more to creating a winning hashtag strategy than just whacking a bunch of hashtags on the end of your caption.

    If you really want to make sure your Instagram posts are reaching your target audience then you need to develop a hashtag strategy.

    Here’s how you can do just that…

    How to create a hashtag strategy for Instagram

    Hashtags are a powerful way to expand your reach as a business. Through the use of hashtags, you can reach new people who could, in turn, become customers or clients.

    But how do you find the right hashtags to reach your ideal audience?

    At the risk of blowing my own trumpet, I have nailed my hashtag strategy when it comes to helping my clients get in front of their ideal audience on Instagram.

    Here at Fika Digital, our process for creating a winning hashtag strategy for Instagram looks a something like this:

    1. Define your core content themes
    2. Gather a list of hashtags under each of those content themes
    3. Organise those hashtags by low, medium, high, very high, and viral search volumes
    4. Use and review performance
    5. Repeat this process every three – six months (you’ll be surprised how quickly hashtags change!)

    Define your core content themes

    The first thing I recommend you do is define your core content themes. There’s no point doing hashtag research if you don’t first know what it actually is you want to focus on.

    If you frequently post content to Instagram then you hopefully will already have your content themes mapped out. If not, don’t worry! That’s what we’re here for right now.

    Instagram hashtag strategy - table defining content themes and sub-topics

    To define your content themes, first consider what are the main topics that you discuss, or that both interest your audience and are relevant to your brand. These core content themes should be high-level topics that can be broken down into more specific topics.

    For example, the content themes for a company selling eco-friendly cleaning products may be cleaning, home, environment. These topics can then be further broken down into sub-topics or related keywords.

    Once you’ve got a keen understanding of your core content themes and sub-topics, you should then be able to begin your hashtag research.

    Gather a list of hashtags for your content themes

    Now that you’ve plotted out your content themes and related keywords, it is time to start developing hashtag banks for each of them. 

    When it comes to pulling together a list of hashtags, I find that manually doing the work is the best way forward. You could use a Hashtag app or website but by doing so, you run the risk of collecting irrelevant or outdated hashtags, as well as missing potential hidden gems.

    Instead, open up Instagram – you’ll want to choose to open Instagram on a desktop over your phone. Trust me, using the web app on desktop will be far easier… and your thumbs will appreciate the break from the constant tapping and scrolling!

    In the search bar at the top, begin typing your content themes and keywords with a hashtag (e.g. # + keyword). 

    For instance, if you identified one of your keywords to be Indoor Plants then you will want to enter #indoorplants. Before you press enter, a drop-down list of suggested hashtags will begin populating.

    Screenshot of how to search for hashtags using the Instagram search bar

    Click through this list of suggested hashtags to see what posts tend to perform best for each of the specified hashtags. If they look like they are relevant to you and your industry, make note of the hashtag and the number of posts (AKA the search volume). 

    Repeat this process for all of your identified keywords, remembering to also look at related hashtags in the drop-down list of suggested searches.

    Once you have done this, you can conduct further keyword research by looking at what hashtags other Instagram users in your industry use – you can do this by analysing the hashtags used by your competitors and by influencers in your niche, or by looking at posts for your chosen hashtags and seeing what other hashtags people are using. 

    Don’t forget to do your due-diligence everytime you find a hashtag by checking if it is relevant to your industry. 

    By the end of this task, you’ll want to have a long list of hashtags for each of your content themes. These hashtags should contain a mix of low volume hashtags that have only a small number of posts under them, and high volume hashtags featured by millions of posts.

    Organise your hashtags by search volume

    Wondering why I asked you to jot down the number of posts each hashtag has? Well, you’re in luck because this next step is all about those numbers!

    The number of posts each hashtag has is an indication of that hashtags popularity. The higher the number, the most often it is used. This suggests that these hashtags are also most likely to be searched, and seen, by other Instagram users interested in your chosen topics. 

    While going after the hashtag with the most posts next to it might seem desirable, this isn’t always the best course of action to take. Yes, it could get your post in front of 831,395,672 people. But it also reduces the longevity of when your post will be seen in the hashtag search results. 

    High volume hashtags have hundreds, if not thousands, of posts being published every single second. This reduces the chance of your post being seen, unless you’re lucky enough to land in the Top posts view.

    So, what should you do instead?

    If you’re someone like me, who finds joy in organising things, then you’ll enjoy this next step. 

    Before using your hashtags, you want to split them into five categories based on search volume: 

    • Low – less than 25K posts
    • Medium – 25K-150k posts
    • High – 151K-500K posts
    • Very high – 501K-999K posts
    • Viral- 1M+ posts

    This will help you easily see the popularity of each hashtag so that you know which hashtags to use for your next Instagram post.

    table of Instagram hashtag search volume split by popularity

    At Fika Digital, we have a shiny Hashtag Database that we use for our clients. This database is somewhat of a hashtag holy grail containing all possible keywords for all of our client industries, interests and topics. 

    To organise hashtags by search volume, I like to create a separate Google Sheets tab for each of my content themes. Then within each sheet, I have a table with columns split by search volume. Within each column, you’ll find the related hashtags, organised by search volume, for that content theme.

    Use your hashtags and review performance

    Now it’s time for the fun part! 

    You should now be ready to put all that research and hard work into action by using your hashtags on your next post.

    This is where organising your hashtags by content theme and popularity comes into the play. First, you want to navigate to the hashtag bank that best suits the post you are about to publish. For example, if you’re writing about your journey as a small business owner, you may want to choose hashtags under your “small business” content theme.

    You might find that more than one content theme, or category, relates to your planned post and that’s okay! You can choose a mix of hashtags from all of the content themes that relate to your post. But try not to dilute it too much or else your post may not be as effective. 

    As a general rule, try to stick to no more than two themes at any one time, and always keep in mind what you want the goal of your post to be. This will help you ensure relevancy and quality when publishing content to Instagram.

    When choosing which hashtags to use on your post, make sure you take a selection of hashtags from each volume bracket, ensuring you have a mix of different volume hashtags. When doing this, prioritise the low and medium volume hashtags and try to use more of these in your post. 

    Using a mix of different volume keywords will make sure your post appears on the really popular hashtags where lots of people may see your post but it’s more competitive, and less popular hashtags where fewer people will see your post but you have an increased chance of engagement.

    Instagram lets you use a maximum of 30 hashtags. Do not use more than 30 hashtags in any one post. To keep your posts looking neat and tidy, you can also add the hashtags as a comment on your post immediately after hitting publish, rather than including them in your caption.

    Once you’ve published a few posts using your new hashtag strategy, you will want to analyse your results! 

    If you have a Business or Creator account, you can take a look at your hashtag performance in the Post Insights on Instagram. Use this to determine which posts get the most impressions from hashtags.

    Spend time analysing these insights to find what works well for you, what needs improvement and then test/try again!

    Repeat this process every 3-6 months

    Social media is a fast-moving industry. As a result, new hashtags are constantly popping up and seemingly underground hashtags can rapidly grow in popularity. 

    This means that your hashtag bank could soon become outdated and you may find that hashtags that once worked for you are no longer harnessing the results you expect, or want to see. You will want to refresh your hashtag strategy every three – six months to make sure that you are using the best possible hashtags for your content. 

    When refreshing your hashtag strategy, you should also re-check the search volume for your existing hashtags so you can see whether any hashtags need to move to a different column based on their current popularity.

    Final thoughts on creating a winning Instagram hashtag strategy

    Hashtags aren’t the be all and end all of Instagram. With that said, there is a reason hashtags exist within Instagram’s interface… and it’s all to benefit you, the person posting!

    From extending your reach and helping your posts get in front of your ideal audience to helping Instagram’s algorithm to better categorise your account and improving your social SEO, the power of hashtags are not to be ignored. 

    You should now be ready to pull together a winning Instagram hashtag strategy for your business!

    Our team at Fika Digital are also here to help you further harness the powers of Instagram for your business. Whether you want help developing your hashtag strategy, or you’re looking for a specialist team to manage your social media strategy, we’ve got your back.

    Get in touch to book in a chat and learn about the various ways that we can support you and your business with social media.