This monthly series gives you a behind-the-scenes look at A Day in the Life of a Comms Professional.
Meet Dave Lumor, a Communications and Marketing professional whose work blends strategy, creativity, and community impact. Dave walks us through his daily routines, the tools that keep him productive, and the passions that drive him beyond the office.
He is the Digital Marketing Officer at Letshego, President of Make-A-Child-Smile Foundation, an NGO improving the lives of underprivileged children through mentorship, menstrual hygiene initiatives, and educational programmes, and Communications and Public Relations Officer for Forward Finesse, an international nonprofit, managing communications across traditional and digital channels.
What does a typical workday look like for you?
I’m usually up by 5:45 am and get ready for work. I usually arrive at the office by 7:30AM, which gives me time to set up my desk and have breakfast. By 8AM, I go through emails to see if anything came in after we closed the previous day. If not, I create a fresh to-do list or continue with tasks from the day before.
The day starts with checking our social media to make sure there aren’t any negative comments. If it’s a posting day, I post across all platforms and then track how each post performed, whether it did well or didn’t get much engagement. After that, I move on to internal communication, drafting press releases and memos, and reviewing work.
One thing I have noticed as a professional is that the numbers will humble you! Sometimes you think you’ve done enough, but when you look at the analytics, you realise there’s always more to do. Every day, I check the data to see what is working and what isn’t. I also spend time researching trends, key touchpoints for communications, and updates from the regulator, the Bank of Ghana. Most of the day is spent planning, reviewing, and improving processes, communications plans, and strategy until five o’clock.
Do you have any habits or routines that help you get ready for work?
Usually, depending on my mood, it’s gospel music. In the morning, it gets my mind right and ready to face every task. There are days I just know that I need God to come into my day because it feels like a weapon has been formed against me. Then I plug in, eyes on the laptop, focusing.
Once I get into the zone, I relax a bit and push, and the inspiration comes. My breakfast is very important to me. After I finish eating, I feel sharper, and it helps me think more clearly. Sometimes, without food we’re just angry people.
What tools or apps do you use most for your job, and why?
My Notes app is always on my laptop, so if I don’t have a physical notebook, I can quickly type my ideas. I also use ChatGPT and Copilot to help me think through concepts and work more efficiently.
For platform management, I turn to Hootsuite and SEMrush. They are easy to navigate and provide clear insights, making it simple to track performance. Meta Business Suite remains my primary platform, but these third-party tools help ensure accuracy. LinkedIn Analytics gives me a deeper understanding of activity on that platform. Recently, I began exploring Favikon, though I haven’t fully integrated it yet.
There are many tools out there, but these have worked well for me. Ultimately, using platform analytics to understand performance and constantly thinking about improvements reveals what is working and what isn’t.
If you weren’t in Communications, what career path would you explore?
I would probably have become a football coach. Football is something I truly love, and I’ve always been intrigued by how a coach can stand on the touchline for 90 minutes, guiding the team to play a certain way and achieve results.
It’s all about strategy and getting your tactics right, which I find fascinating, despite the occasional stress. Even though I am in Communications and Marketing now, I could still see myself in football one day.
What’s your favourite way to relax after work?
It would be a movie. I’m more of a serious person, so after work I try to watch at least two episodes of a series.
Right now, I’m watching Madam Secretary. It’s about the US Secretary of State and gives insight into how foreign affairs conversations happen and what goes into them. Some parts are fictional, but it shows what some countries go through.
I usually watch for about two hours and then sleep. I don’t interact with people much after work because, after meetings all day, I’ve already seen too many. For me, a movie and sleep. That’s it.
