Digital Marketing Is Like Running The London Marathon

The London Marathon has been on this weekend. Firstly, I would like to say congratulations to everyone running the London Marathon today., it’s an amazing accomplishment to get to the starting line, let alone the finishing line.

Watching it and hearing about it on the radio over the last couple of days got me thinking about how digital marketing is like running a marathon, so here are my thoughts and comparisons.

🏃‍♂️Marathon runners need to be trainers. They need to train regularly to build their fitness up

💻 You need to spend time learning about digital marketing to get the most out of it.

🏃‍♂️Marathon runners need to be prepared. They have to eat the right foods, make sure they are suitably hydrated, etc.

💻In digital marketing you need to prepare your content. Plan how and when you are going to create it and where you are going to share it. You can wing it for a while but you will fail if you aren’t prepared.

🏃‍♂️Marathon runners need the right equipment. Good quality running shoes, training clothes, food and drink, etc.

💻In digital marketing you need good equipment too. From a laptop / PC to a good smart phone, microphone, camera and then the right apps and software to allow you to produce and publish your content.

🏃‍♂️Most marathon runners are obsessed by their performance. How mong has it taken them? Have they beaten their previous record on this courses? Have they set a new record for their marathon running?

💻In digital marketing you should be obsessed with your analytics. No matter which digital platform, you get shown analytics about your content, how many people have seen it, have they interacted with it, where they are, etc. Everyone doing digital marketing should be looking to get better.

🏃‍♂️Marathon runners get rewarded. Whether it is a fun run or a major event, if you take part you are normally given a medal to show you have taken part.

💻In digital marketing the reward should be a growth in visibility, credibility and hopefully profitability as a result of your digital marketing.

The different types of runner-

🏃‍♂️Elite runners are aiming to break records and are at the front of the pack. They are able to dedicate their whole life to marathon running, it is their business.

💻In digital marketing these are influencers. They spend their whole life online, creating content and making their living from appearances and product placement.

🏃‍♂️Club runners run a number of marathons each year and dedicate a significant portion of their non-work life in training.

💻In Digital Marketing, these are businesses who have outsourced their digital marketing, are big enough to have someone focused on their digital marketing, or have put digital marketing at the heart of their marketing activities.

🏃‍♂️General runners make up the main bulk of the marathon. They are people of all abilities out there running, either for themselves or to raise money for charity. There are people of all abilities and their finishing times will vary tremendously.

💻In digital marketing this is any entrepreneur using digital marketing to promote their business. Some will post content more frequently than others, some are more prepared than others, but they are all able to create content regularly.

🏃‍♂️Fun runners are those runners who run in costume of one sort or another, to get noticed and often to raise money for charity.

💻 In digital marketing, this is when a post that goes viral

If you’re struggling with getting going with your digital marketing, contact us.