Finding the balance in the digital world of business
Sammi Hardwick of Double Tap Agency wants you to harness the power of digital marketing, while also maintaining a healthy work life balance.
Words: Nat Woods
Can you tell us about your journey to stepping out on your own and starting Double Tap Agency?
I struggled to get a job out of university which is something I now hear all too often — so many companies require you to have experience before they will hire you, but gaining that experience is often hard when completing a degree. I was desperate so I posted on my Facebook “Can someone hire me, I'll work for free” and it worked! I picked up a job working as an intern for a local entrepreneur working mainly on SEO for his digital agency and then across marketing for his ecigarette company. I was there for 12 months and this is where my real interest in marketing kicked off. I then moved into the corporate world working for Woolworths Liquor Group (now called Endeavour Group) across a number of their liquor companies. This was an incredible experience. My boss was a legend and he really encouraged me to work more closely with the marketing team and take on tasks and campaigns that were beyond my skill set, allowing me to grow and ultimately find what I was most passionate about. From there I headed up the marketing team at One Teaspoon which was an incredible experience. Working directly with Jamie across almost every channel of digital marketing ultimately gave me the drive to go out on my own. I love analysing data and how that shapes what you decide to do next so I wanted to help more than one business. I figured I could give starting an agency a crack, so I left OT and the next day DTA was born and we are still kicking on six years later.
The world of digital marketing is constantly changing, from Twitter to TikTok, email marketing to SEO. What platforms or marketing channels should we be focussing our time and attention on from a marketing perspective?
It sure is, even as an agency it can be difficult to stay across the ever changing landscape of digital marketing. I believe that before engaging in any digital activations you firstly need to know what platforms your audience are on. At DTA, we like to implement a holistic marketing strategy which never puts all your eggs in one basket, instead making sure you hit all the marketing channels relevant to your consumers (because you’ve sussed your data and know your audience). For example, it might be — socials for community and brand awareness, advertising for reach and conversions, website optimisation for user experience, email marketing for conversions and community. Within each of those you’d choose the platforms best suited to your business and audience. Then spreading your time so that the channels bringing in the most revenue ultimately get the greatest share of your time while continually reviewing and rejigging each month.
Your focus is on aligning with clients who are doing good in the world. Do you have any favourite businesses who are really leading the way in their industry and creating positive change in the world?
There are so many businesses working to Do Good these days which is awesome, whether it's from day one of business or shifting their established business so that they leave a positive impact on the world. For me the brand that has been really leading the way for a long time is Patagonia. They are really setting an example of how businesses, no matter the size, should be operating. I'm also loving the B Corp initiative that is encouraging businesses to think about people, communities and the planet when operating a business. We are currently working our way through the process and it's been a real eye opener as well as rewarding to see that we can continue to make improvements. When it comes to our clients, Pony Rider is one that I'm so proud of. They have just been certified by B Corp. Kelly and the team are so passionate about leaving as little impact on the planet, whilst also focusing on the communities in which their product comes from and giving back to Australia's National Parks. With everything they do they are Doing Good!
What are some common mistakes you see small businesses and brands making with their digital marketing?
There are a few things that come up
Not understanding that digital marketing needs to be looked at holistically — you cannot rely on one platform to drive your success and not any one channel will work at its best without the others.
Not seeing the value in investing in content.
Not having a solid digital marketing strategy, if any at all.
Ads are a long game, they can't just be turned on and boom review flies in the door.
Double Tap has implemented a four day work week. What changes have you noticed in your team and your work since choosing to step away from the Monday to Friday grind? Do you have any tips for other businesses wanting to make this change?
The idea to switch to the 4 day work week was a no brainer for me. After working years in corporate, then slaving ridiculous hours when starting DTA (which I'm sure every small business owner can relate to) I was completely burnt out. I also realised I don't operate at my best 9-5, 5 days a week, so surely I'm not the only one struggling to find some kind of work/life balance. Last year I finally implemented the flexible 4 day week and honestly I should have done it earlier. We now work 4 days a week but receive the same pay. The team is allocated hours a week that they are required to fulfil, but how they execute that time is up to them as long as the hours and workload are met. On Fridays (preferred, but always flexible) we switch off, we take the day to do the things that light us up. Since implementing our way of working my business has thrived, my team is happy, productive, motivated, inspired and creative, our clients respect and encourage our philosophy, and most of all I love my job more now than I ever have before. It took me a minute to get to this place, and now that I’m here I want to harness that work-life balance we all deserve.
When chatting to other businesses about implementing the 4 day week I encourage them to get a better understanding of how their staff work best, what lights them up and how they structure their days. It helps with making the decision on what the 4 day week would look like for your business, plus you can then implement other structures within the working days so that your team are operating at their best.
We live in such a connected world and it can feel like business owners really need to always be tuned into what's happening on their digital channels. What advice do you have for creating that separation from work time and leisure time? How can business owners and their teams set themselves up to have digital downtime?
This is something I have always struggled with and it hasn’t been until the last 18 months that I have really made a conscious effort to disconnect. It takes discipline, it's so easy to just pick up your phone and check all your channels at any time or day. We started by setting boundaries with our clients, for example, we are contactable Monday to Thursday within reasonable working hours, to allow up to 2 business days for a reply for non-urgent matters and to only contact us via email. This makes it easier to manage all the lines of communication, but also means we don't have to be on socials or any of the other communication apps replying to clients at all hours. It also relieves the anxiety of communication, or the feeling that we need to reply to everyone immediately.
I also have time limits turned on for my socials and once I hit the limit that's it for the day (I used to ignore the notifications and keep scrolling, now most days I don't hit the time limit). I log out of DTA Instagram from Friday to Sunday and I don’t have email or social notifications turned on on my phone. We have a separate work phone that is left at the office so none of the team is contacted on their personal phones. And finally, we have “switch off days” when we put our out of office on and simply get work done without replying to the many emails we get every day.
Above all else, prioritising your mental health should always come before work. A way to honour that is to have your time and to step away from work so you can be the best version of yourself at work. Switching off should be seen as a part of your business practice, leaving the stress of missing messages or emails behind.
What are your top three tips for someone looking to launch a new business? Where should they be focussing their time, energy and money to really ensure they launch with a bang?
Oh gosh picking just 3 is tough, but if i had to choose, it would be:
Invest in your website
Invest in content
Start building your audience prior to launch
I would always recommend investing in your website, branding, content and strategy. I would divide my time so that you focus on what you do best, which is usually your product development and delegate your time for the tasks you aren't proficient in whether that's marketing strategy, bookkeeping, content creation and so on. I’d also recommend having enough budget set aside so that you can engage paid advertising in the early days of your business to drive momentum. Finally I'd make sure you are across your numbers from day one, that being your financial numbers (like your profit and loss), but also your digital numbers. Having an intimate knowledge of where your consumers are coming from and how they are interacting makes aligning a strategy a hell of a lot easier.