What Digital Marketers Can Learn From Shanti Pereira’s Win
It was a shining moment for 27-year-old Shanti Pereira as she raised Singapore’s flag in front of officials and spectators at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Pereira had just sprinted to victory in the women’s 200m, clinching Singapore’s historic gold medal, its first after 49 years.
But it was not always an easy road for Pereira. From 2015 to 2022, her 100m timings remained stagnant and she was close to giving up running. That was until she began working with coach Luis Cunha. Steadily, her numbers started improving.
Portuguese Cunha was a former sprinter who competed in the Olympic Games in 1988, 1992, and 1996. His data-driven approach helped Pereira make incremental improvements in her posture, stride, and technique, elevating her overall performance.
A multimedia piece in The Straits Times breaks down the art and science of Shanti’s sprint and how Cunha’s obsessive attention to detail led to her astonishing transformation.
How a coach can change your game
To be sure, Pereira already demonstrated the elements of a winning athlete—skill, talent, and discipline. But in a sport measured in milliseconds, even the slightest advantage in speed and form spell the difference between winning and losing.
Whether in sports or in business, it’s those seemingly minute yet continuous improvements that will ultimately drive success. Same goes for a digital marketing agency. You can learn on the fly, read dozens of articles on creating stellar campaigns, and study through trial and error, but nothing beats having a coach who can bring out the best in you. Think of yourself as a piece of marble on which a masterpiece has yet to emerge.
We know that all too well here at Hackalogy. That’s why we designed our Agency Accelerator to be more of a coaching platform for aspiring digital marketing agency owners and professionals. Learn more about our coaching programme.
If you’re still second-guessing the value of partnering with a great coach, here are a few lessons to keep in mind.
A coach will cheer you on but won’t be afraid to point out your weaknesses.
Cunha had no qualms in telling Pereira that her left foot was weaker than the right. He saw the data and acted on it. He made sure not to bombard Pereira with statistics and analysis—that was his department. Instead, they got straight to work on strengthening her left quadriceps to make her go faster.
A coach won’t give you special treatment.
Your coach is not there to pamper you. If anything, it will be more of a tough love kind of situation. You won’t improve if you’re not pushed out of your comfort zone. And a good coach knows it. In an interview with tnp Cunha stressed that he tries “to treat all my athletes the same.”
If you’re a business owner or digital marketing professional, there are plenty of obstacles. A good coach prepares you to face challenges head on and without fear.
A coach will give advice but will let you do the work.
Digital marketing is all about doing. You can’t bury your head in textbooks and expect to be good at running campaigns. Otherwise, the algorithm changes will happen faster than you can say SEO.
A coach has your best interests at heart.
Needless to say that despite the seemingly harsh #realtalk your coach provides, at the end of the day they only want to see you succeed. That’s the beauty of a coach, having someone who has your back no matter what.
If you’re interested in finding a coach that will elevate your digital marketing game, check out Agency Accelerator now.