*Excuse Typos – I tend to write show notes during editing*Shane McCarthy is chief marketing officer for military social media platform Sandboxx. He is originally from Kerry but is now based in the US. I first met Shane in 2011/12 when he was running a student board for IT@Cork and knew he was destined for big things.We connected in late 2019 and talked about Shane’s career and journey so far and to dive into some marketing advice, insights and tips that could be useful to you in your own business. I know I’ve taken away some good stuff from it. Hopefully you do to.A summary of key points covered is below:
Setting up a student board for IT@Cork
The value of volunteering
Studying BIS in UCC – a mix between Business & IT
Finding a passion for social media and how to use it for business value from an early stage
The Psychology of Marketing
Setting up Twitter Hour back in 2012 for IT@Cork
Experimenting with Blogging during College to build his own personal branding
Trial and Error leading to better understanding of what works and what doesn’t
How to make a blog post discoverable – back then & now!
The importance of SEO in blogging – creating good content
Creating a SEO strategy and having an SEO checklist before posting
The value of Google Analytics to identify what to post about
Looking to get ways on other blogs – this helps get clarity on the topic
If you can write it or teach it, then you know it! This is key
The power of feedback and taking onboard to help get better
Moving from Engineering to Marketing shortly after leaving University
Getting the opportunity to join a start-up with a focus on marketing
Making the decision to leave a permanent role to join a start-up – how?
Being able to juggle final year in college and working full-time for Sandboxx in 2014/15
Working as Chief Marketing Officer for Sandboxx and what Sandoxx offers to members of the military
Starting off initially with a letters service and then building on this
Growing to 1.5 million customers and going from 0-50+ employees
Reflecting back on the 5+ years with Sandboxx and major lessons learned
Working 18-hour days and going from doing everything to being more strategic
Building out relationships with government and brands
Getting up to speed on military vocabulary and acronyms
App Based Marketing requiring softer skills
A standout mistake that provided a great learning
Giving up on experiments too soon – not staying the course
Learning from mistakes
Using data and trusting your gut more when making decisions
Being Irish brings an advantage when building relationships with customers
The Psychology around marketing & how you can use this to your advantage with user personals
Looking into User Personas and Empathy Maps to identify and understand customer preferences and choices
The Elmer Framework & emotion logic
The WIIFM concept – if you can explain the value and benefits to the customer, you’re onto a big benefit
Paid advertising v Free Advertising – what to pick?
Don’t be afraid to set aside a decent amount of money of your budget!
Spend money and test out ideas yourself instead of paying it to an agency
Be active and ask others for feedback and input to help with the early stages of what a customer wants
Facebook and Google Online Tours and How To guides for analytics and using better tools
Learn how to walk before you can run when marketing and test small first!
Personal Development and Growth – how to find the balance
Self-care as a priority
Professional growth with key mentors and groups sharing in the space of marketing
Personal growth – spending time meditating and taking time out daily basis
Prioritizing sleep, eating, exercise and space time – all are tied in together
Making the goals stick each day? Look at what is the one thing that might stop me from doing this!!
Quote – “You don’t have to go for the run in the morning, you just have to put on your gear and stand on the porch”
What have you changed your mind on or look at differently in the last six month?
What is on the radar for Shane in the coming months?