Just about everyone has heard the story of the tortoise and the hare. As one of the most popular children’s tales around, the story teaches kids valuable lessons about persistence and competition. But did you know it also has valuable lessons for marketers?
When we look at the characteristics of both the tortoise and the hare, we see some qualities that all marketers must have to be successful. Let’s look at four lessons marketers should take away this story.
1. Stay Focused
The hare would have easily won the race if he had stayed focused on his end goal. Because he thought winning the race would be easy, he allowed himself to slack off and snooze.
On the other hand, the tortoise stayed focused on his goal of finishing the race before the hare. Rather than allowing himself to get distracted, he kept his eyes on the finish line and kept working until he crossed it.
If you’re not focused as a marketer, you’re going to struggle to accomplish your goals and see real business results. Define your goals, create a plan to achieve them, and remain focused on your finish line. Writing down your goals can actually keep you more focused and make you more productive.
2. Make the most of your time
The tortoise can also teach you how to make the most of your time as a marketer . In the story, the tortoise used all the time provided to him to keep moving forward. While it took him quite a bit of time to reach his end goal, he didn’t waste a second of it.
While you may not think you can accomplish much in the time it takes to brew a pot of coffee or drive home from the office, these little chunks of time can actually add up to make you more productive. The daily commute can actually be one of the biggest time wastes for marketers.
Look for ways that you can make the most out of the time you’re walking, driving, or riding the train to work. Listen to your favorite marketing podcast, meditate to prepare for the day, or get a head-start on checking your email (as long as you’re not driving!). Using your commute time productively can help you feel less stressed during the work day.
3. Be Quick and Agile
The hare’s best quality was that he was fast. While his arrogance may have hurt him in the end, he knew the benefit of living in the fast lane.
The fast-paced lifestyle of the hare is something that all marketers can identify with. Because digital marketing changes so quickly, marketers need to be on top of their game each and every day. This frequently means working quickly and multitasking to be more productive.
Like the hare, marketers need to be quick and agile. This means they must be ready to create content or campaigns to send out when they’re timely, or to adjust their plans to fit a better schedule. While marketers can try to plan their campaigns and posts, they may need to speed the process along or switch up the calendar entirely to meet demands or make the most of a better opportunity.
4. Learn From Your Mistakes
The final lesson we can learn from the hare is to always acknowledge your mistakes. It’s unlikely that you’ll never make a mistake during your career as a marketer. It happens to everyone. But like the hare, you should be able to see where the mistake was made and learn from it.
In the hare’s situation, he didn’t plan properly and he lost the race. He didn’t take his competitor seriously, and he turned out to be very wrong about the outcome. But as he looked back on that series of events, he knew that he messed up when he decided to stop for a rest.
When you make a mistake as a marketer, look at the mishap with a clear mind. Understand what may have gone wrong and know what you’ll need to do differently next time. Attacking the problem head-on and finding a solution will make you more productive the next time you’re faced with a similar situation.
Determination, Persistence, Confidence, and Quickness
While we may think of the story of the tortoise and the hare as just another children’s tale, there’s actually a lot to learn from the message. Both the tortoise and the hare have qualities that marketers should envy. From the tortoise’s determination and persistence to the hare’s confidence and quickness, marketers can learn a lot from acting like both the tortoise and the hare. Look for ways you can implement these lessons into your marketing career to be more productive.
Main image modified from the original with permission from matea2506.