In 2021, I realised I'd spent 9 years doing work without actually learning anything from it.
I was Head of Marketing at an education company. My boss (a close friend now, for the record) pushed me to test something I'd normally have eye-rolled. He asked me to do what is now a classic technique. Promoting a lead magnet through organic social, asking people to reply a keyword if they wanted it. He'd got the idea from a course from what I assumed was a typical Dubai-style course-slinger, which didn't help his case.
I'd been managing corporate social accounts for years. Hundreds of posts across Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn. I'd pretty much written it off - good for keeping the lights on, not much else. So I briefed design, got the copy written, posted it, and moved on.
Then a lot of people replied. New sales came in.
My first reaction wasn't satisfaction. It was this uncomfortable realisation that I hadn't even been curious enough to find out if I was wrong. For 9 years I'd been hitting publish without actually testing anything. I didn't know, and hadn't tried to find out:
- How people grow followers without just posting more
- Which post types build audiences versus nurture them
- What copy or image formats actually drive engagement
- How to use a CTA to point people toward an offer
Most of that would've taken 20 minutes to look into. I had live accounts the whole time.
I think there's probably a version of this in most areas of life, not just social media.
Benjamin Boman
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