Lucy Beaumont, currently Head of Digital Marketing at if Agency, started her career in social media as the company's first apprentice. She knew she wanted to join the world even before she started sixth form, but she wasn't sure whether university or college was for her. So she enrolled in Juice Her Academy, took a digital marketing course, and got the chance to step into the industry. She found her own place in her if her agency through Juice.
Lucy remembers that when she was young, she would take pictures whenever she could get her hands on a camera. “My uncle was a photographer,” she says. “I wanted to be a photographer myself, so I loved going places with him for work. Especially when his Instagram was first released, I wanted to be a photographer myself, so I loved going to places with him. Especially when his Instagram was first released, I wanted to share my latest visuals with photos on his social app. The upload was successful.”
Lockdown caught her by surprise just as she was graduating from sixth grade and working remotely in customer service. Circumstances forced her to continue it for nearly two years of her life, after which she applied to Juice, and then she applied to IF.
“I joined Juice Academy’s 15-month course as an apprentice in an industry I had never worked in before but had a huge passion for,” says Lucy. “From day one, I knew this is what I wanted to do and how I wanted to start my career.” Back then, every mistake was a lesson and every next day was a challenge. . “You can't learn without making mistakes,” she adds.
Lucy's first project at if was to leverage Surcare's social media. This was also her first glimpse into a full-time career in social media marketing, and she immediately fell in love with the project. “I have to collect all the information about Surcare, laundry, and cleaning in general in order to answer messages sent on social platforms. Consider me an expert.”
Over the course of 15 months, Lucy took part in many other projects, all with the aim of exploring as many corners of the industry as possible. She said, “I especially loved participating in influencer activities and managing clients' entire social media accounts. I feel this really helped me develop my confidence.”
After a while, her newfound confidence would pay off. In fact, Lucy was promoted to digital her marketing executive on the day of her exam results. This day was the beginning of something new. I was filled with excitement and given new responsibilities that I wanted. ”
Lucy still feels worthy of untying knots in her role today. One of her daily challenges is the process of terrible ideas. “Most of the time, ideas flow left, right and center, but sometimes they hit a wall. This is to be expected within the industry. You can change things quickly by making small changes to your environment. I discovered that working in a different location has a huge impact.”
However, despite the competitive nature of social media marketing, some clients are falling behind. “I love getting creative with content that meets the needs of each giant and seeing how it performs on social. But especially with the 2023 algorithm, I’m wondering whether to implement Reels or TikTok into my company’s social strategy. It's frustrating to see some brands still in discussion. TikTok and Reels can be very helpful in bringing your brand to life by performing at its best, increasing visibility, and giving it a personality. Masu.”
That being said, Lucy is also very excited for those who decide to dive directly into the deep ocean. “He particularly liked introducing Reels to his client's social accounts when previously it was only static posts. Bookings increased by 71% in the first 30 days after switching content, and It turns out we beat the algorithm.”
“But no one really knows how to beat the algorithms,” she added. This is why Lucy is passionate about increasing algorithm transparency on the developer side. “What may work for one brand or platform may not work for another. The more we understand the algorithms, the more users will sign up to the platform, and the more brands/content creators/small businesses I believe it's a win-win for both the brand and the platform because you can get in there and know how to reach the audience you want.”
Now, Lucy herself loves both TikTok and Instagram and would recommend them to anyone. “These are the most visually appealing platforms that bring fun. I think TikTok is a huge platform, not just for personal use, but for any brand,” she explains. “Depending on your content, you can have a small or large number of followers and still go viral. That’s where my love for content creation was born. The videos I posted have been viewed 2.2 million times. Since then, my videos have been getting a lot of traction.'' Some days the algorithm's mysterious ways fail and Lucy gets 100 views, but the brand She knows there are tricks to getting it across the line and into the user's consciousness.
When it comes to people Lucy admires, she names Sophie Miller, founder of Pretty Little Marketer. She says he is absolutely disrupting content creation. “She is in her 20s and during lockdown she fell in love with university and swayed to the point where she created a social media account to post her learning and teachings at university. The account now has 250,000 followers across all platforms. PLM has become the first page to hear about new social updates, brand initiatives, content creation tips, and more. Her stories and content inspire me every day. In her words, “You can't compare day one to their 100th day.”
Alongside her work at if, Lucy is also part of the MPA Next Gen team, an inclusive and accessible community for people in the early stages of their careers in the industry. Next Gen holds social networking events throughout the year to ensure members' sense of belonging and voice. “It’s a great community, and even though it started very recently, it definitely made me feel comfortable during my apprenticeship and still does,” she says.
In her free time, Lucy loves to travel to clear her head. Since her full-time job is social media, that's her secret to staying fresh.
And even when she's not on the go, she's not only motivated by her passion for her job, but also by the idea of personal growth. “It’s amazing to see how far I have already come in terms of knowledge, confidence and responsibility, especially since doing my apprenticeship. I can’t wait to see what happens.”
She left us with these words: Especially in the digital industry, everything is competition. We want our clients' stats to be higher than their competitors, we want to make sure our research is thorough, and most importantly, we want to stay up-to-date with the latest information. We know how much people like Meta and TikTok love the new update. ”
