Marketing Secrets From Elfried 🤫
ONE THING ABOUT ME
I began my journey working with creators as the Social Media Executive at Gymshark. As employee #24, Ben Francis challenged me with growing the community. After seven successful years, I decided to start my own agency called Butterfly 3ffect, where we can help more brands on the same journey.
From the off, I will share some thoughts & strategies we use to cut through the noise for our clients in the hopes that you’re able to achieve the same or better results.
MARKETING PHILOSOPHY
Particularly in the marketing industry, there should be a distinction between how the world is and how we desire it to be. When working with brands, we often assume that everyone gives a damn about our brand, but in reality, they don't. People prioritise their families and the connections they make. Therefore, to thrive in the same space, we must grasp why people are on the platform in the first place and adapt accordingly.
THE FOUR LEVELS OF MARKETING
In social media marketing, there are four levels of comprehension that I look for. The first is creativity, the second psychology, the third social dynamics and your brand's place in these interactions, and the final level pertains to platform mechanics, which continually evolve.
To gain attention, it's crucial to understand how to stand out when others follow the crowd; zig when others zag.
If everyone is chasing the same styles and trends, it's often best to take a different route to ensure your brand is noticed. Rather than making decisions in isolation and imposing messages on the audience, we opt for a "start small and resonate with the audience" approach. Our focus is on an audience-first strategy, meeting them where they naturally spend their time, ensuring the conversation happens where they are naturally.
FAIL FAST MARKETING
We are dedicated to embracing failure. Success in the modern social era comes from iteration since the world changes daily. My first month at Gymshark, I believed I had the perfect plan and understood precisely what the brand should be, but I failed miserably. We discovered that people trusted and loved the brand because it felt like a friend interested in fitness. We ensured that, no matter how our production quality improved, we maintained that sense of authenticity.
For us, content must appear as if it was shot on a phone and is achievable in real life.
The root behind that condition is that you must know where your audience engages, understand the authentic stories, and use your brand platform to tell these stories.
STOP TREATING INFLUENCER MARKETING LIKE PAID SOCIAL
We often treat Influencer Marketing as paid social, especially in the current global economic climate where budgets are tight. While driving sales is a component, we shouldn't forget that the true ROI of influencer marketing lies in humanising your brand, building connections and community. Successful integration of your brand into an influencer's life requires long-term collaboration, shared values, and the seamless alignment of the influencer's persona with your brand. They should also produce compelling content that you can share on your platform, and then they can introduce your product. Using influencer marketing only at a superficial level can lead to missed ROI opportunities.
ENGAGING THE ALGORITHM
The conversation around algorithms is often a bit misleading. To understand them, consider why platforms have algorithms in the first place. It's to keep people engaged and ensure a positive user experience. The methods change over time, so if your goal is to retain and engage users positively, focus on that. If your strategy is sound, it can withstand the ever-evolving social media landscape. Ask yourself what you must do today, observe what others are doing, test and learn, adopt what works, and discard what doesn't. If you have questions about how and where to start, drop us a line.
CALL CREATORS
Creatives consistently produce better content than brands do on social platforms because creatives live and breathe these platforms daily; it's part of their lives and livelihoods. So, incorporating creatives as advisors can be a wise move for a brand to embrace a social-first approach. They stay updated on current algorithms. Consider having a group of tastemakers assist in evaluating and elevating your content.
ONE FINAL THOUGHT…
At the end of the day, it’s all about finding a unique blend of EQ and IQ that strategically expresses your brand’s human nature. Gen Z audiences buy with like minded values in mind in a way previous other generations haven’t, so ensuring a strong authentic connection to your community through an iterative approach driven by social listening will help you navigate our rapidly changing social first landscape.
Respectfully,
E