Ingrid Deon, Founder of word-craft, talks about her love for social media and life experiences as a strong mum in this inspirational interview with Industry Leaders.
STRONG MUM ON THE RUN!
Industry Leaders: What are some of the strengths that you feel you could see in yourself after you became an independent mum?
Ingrid Deon: I’ve always been a pretty headstrong and independent person, but I’ve never worked as hard as I did when I became a single Mum. Having a three-year-old son who was completely dependent on me to survive gave me a new-found boost of determination that I didn’t have before. It was as though I couldn’t work hard enough and I had to take on as many jobs as possible. I had no down time and I didn’t even mind because I was so determined to work hard. I still carry that work ethic today, now that my son is 11 years old and I have an amazing partner who lives with us.
Industry Leaders: How do you think word-craft has given ways for women to seek interest in a better use of social media?
Ingrid Deon: I’m proud to say that I have only hired women to work at word-craft. I’m not saying that I’d never hire a man — I would certainly hire a qualified, progressive man! But it’s important for me to give opportunities to women who may not have the chance to work on social media accounts for really cool brands. I’m also trying to seek out opportunities to provide social media training for women. I’ve spoken at a women in business event and I’ll be giving a workshop to our local Centre for Women in Business next year.
LESSONS FROM THE PAST
Industry Leaders: From a basic writing job to your own marketing agency, what possible life lessons have you learnt and used to maintain the significance of work?
Ingrid Deon: It’s really amazing what you can do when you work hard. I was never someone who wanted to run her own business. In fact, I remember saying, “I never want to run my own business.” But running my own business has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. It’s what I was meant to do. I truly believe that you can do anything if you put in the work. I’m not sure who said, “Work smarter not harder” but I subscribe to that as well. It’s important to channel your hard work in the right direction. I get most of my clients through referrals and word-of-mouth, so I’ve decided to meet with anyone who wants to chat. That way, I increase the number of referrals that I’m getting, which in turn increases the number of clients I work with.
I’d encourage anyone who wants to start their own business to start. It doesn’t matter whether you think you’re ready yet. You’re never going to be ready. No one is ever ready. Just start. Take that first step.
Industry Leaders: Do you think social media is bringing a major influence on people? What factors from social media add a key role in changing the perspectives of people?
Ingrid Deon: I’m obviously a huge proponent of social media. People are on social media for several hours every day, so it’s a guaranteed way of reaching and influencing people. Plus, it’s a cheap way of advertising. You can literally advertise for free on social media or, of course, you can spend as much as you want to.
My biggest tip for reaching and influencing the right people is to always keep your ideal customer in mind when creating content for social media. Research where your ideal customer spends most of their time online. If they’re more likely to spend their time on Instagram, there’s no point putting all your resources into your Twitter presence. Channel your social media efforts into the platform that’s most likely to reach your ideal customer. Also, think about your ideal customer’s needs and wants — what kind of content do they need from you? What do they want to see from you? Put yourself in their shoes and craft posts that you think they’ll find interesting, educational, valuable, fascinating, useful and entertaining.
Industry Leaders: What major changes do you think social media can bring in the later years for word-craft?
Ingrid Deon: We’re pivoting to create more video content for our clients. All of the social media platforms are prioritizing video over still images, so we’ve started visiting our clients and taking behind the scenes videos and filming tutorials and how-to videos. We’re finding that these videos are outperforming still photography by a huge margin, and that’s all thanks to the social media algorithms that are more likely to show videos to our clients’ audiences. I’d strongly encourage everyone to start experimenting with video on social media!
This interview appeared in the December 2021 issue of Industry Leaders.
