How playing percussion helped me form my digital strategy

I started teaching myself how to play percussion in 2007 when I was a member of my school’s Angklung ensemble. I then took drum lessons for two years in 2010 before I started playing at open mics and with bands, which were formed with college friends.

These days, I still play the cajon or the kit every now and then. Percussion is a part of who I am.

My band, OTOT.

Now, let’s talk about digital strategy, be it marketing, building your personal brand, or digital selling. Being clear about your objectives is one thing, but adopting a digital strategy to deliver results is a whole different multibillion-dollar ball game.

My current goal is to better engage with my clients digitally by harnessing all the knowledge and tools available to me. I want to help them identify their pain points faster and more accurately so that they can make the most out of Bluemix, our cloud platform at IBM.

As I continue to learn and grow, I want to share how my personal experience playing percussion guides my digital strategy.

Being authentic and bringing the energy

When I play drums, it’s very important that I put my attention and energy toward the music and maintain my energy level, especially during rehearsals and performances where it could get really tiring. But at the end of the day, we perform because we love doing it. No matter how tired how we get, if one band member starts grooving, others would easily follow along. During casual jam sessions, nobody wants to jam with a mannequin. Jam sessions are the best when everyone feels it.

Your clients can feel it too. Every email, every phone call, and every text message is your time to shine.

I like to make sure I communicate my enthusiasm and commitment to working with a client at every touch point. This may sound silly, but no matter how long the day’s been or how tired I am, before I take a call or write an email, I take a breath and quickly psych myself up—just like I do before a show.

Body language is important in face-to-face client meetings. Similarly, you need to digitally communicate your eagerness through your tone and language. If you’re tired, sleep deprived, or restless from the day, there’s a chance your client would pick it up. Don’t send that email right away; go get yourself a cup of coffee first or take a short walk. Come back refreshed and send your client some good vibes.

Balancing creativity with methodology

Drumming is both an art and a science. When we try to work on a mash-up and figure out a new arrangement, we sometimes get the musician’s equivalent of writer’s block. We just can’t figure out the beat. Fortunately, there are basic grooves that we can play with that gets everyone’s heads bobbing to the beat.

When we do digital outreach, we sometimes want to try and be as creative and unconventional as possible to catch our client’s attention. However, we end up overdoing it and it’s better to just go back to the basics. Playing around with A/B testing to see what works is probably going to be more reliable than a shot in the dark.

If you’re struggling to come up with a strategy to better engage your clients, it’s important to fall back to crafting clear objectives. Are you looking to acquire, convert, or engage your clients? Setting the right objective will lead you to the right strategy.

Watching the tempo

I’d love to hear from you