Hello everyone, welcome back to the Bilna Sandeep show. So today’s episode is quite special because today it’s not about the journey of a founder, but today it’s about marketing. We are going to take you on the behind the scenes of what happens in Growwie, what are the clients we deal with, and what sort of marketing we do for them, and what problems we solve for them, and how do we basically help them generate more revenue in their business.
So today I’m joined by Sania who is also the head of our digital marketing in Growwie, and welcome Saniya on board. Thank you so much, thank you. This is the second time you’re coming back on our podcast.
Saniya:
Welcome back to our podcast. Thank you so much.
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Introduction and Influencer Marketing Success
Saniya:
How are you today? All good.
Bilna:
So I think today we should look into the kind of clients that we get. We have performance marketing clients, we have social media, we have e-commerce, we also do video production and events. So let’s dive deep into it so that our audience get more insight on the marketing which we do and how much of things that they can implement back in their business.
Saniya:
Definitely.
Bilna:
So let’s start with the performance marketing part. So do you want to tell our audience like what performance marketing is and what are we doing in Grovy to help our clients?
Saniya:
Performance marketing or paid media or there’s so many different names because in terms of client if we say they are not really aware about performance marketing as a whole and most of the clients that come to us they are basically you know scared to invest their money in marketing because they have been cheated so many times or maybe they’ve burned their fingers already or maybe they didn’t have that patience to stay with one person to see the results because they see it like has an instant result whereas performance marketing in comparison to organic marketing it yields you results in a quicker way but still it needs time for you to have that optimized results. That is what performance marketing is.
You know you want to run ads on all the social media channels to reach to the correct clients.
Bilna:
Right.
Saniya:
And let me say it very clearly performance marketing is not just boosting the post.
Bilna:
Very true. A lot of them come and ask why do you charge so much for performance marketing? It’s just hitting that button.
Saniya:
So it is not boosting the post and that’s it you know the ads are run. So I get so many clients who tells me that you know it’s just boosting like I can just boost my post and you know it will happen and maybe they go also they try it and then we show them the back end that it doesn’t really happen that way. It’s a great way.
It’s actually a convenient way that Beta has given us you know.
Bilna:
For the boosting part.
Saniya:
Yeah for boosting for somebody who doesn’t have a knowledge about it and who has very limited budget that you know who wants to test it. But otherwise performance marketing is a whole lot of a platform. It really opens the scope and really helps you to reach out the exact kind of customer exact kind of audience that you really want to reach out to.
Bilna:
I think and what I love the most about it is like everything is measurable in performance marketing right. We know like which audience performed, which lead came from, which creative from, which caption, what worked. But when I take discovery calls for our clients they are like we have tried ads before it has never worked for us so we want some other solution.
So I’m like what did you try in ads? I boosted the post. It’s not and even if they didn’t boost properly they went on the back end and did something.
But it’s not organized way of doing things. We have a complete structure in our team right. Like when Irfan works on our ads like he comes up with the strategy for us.
Then we set up the whole touch points and something sometimes what happens is some clients say okay we just want to run ads. Everything else we take care or you know we don’t want to do anything else. Then I tell them it’s like the piecemeal.
You’re not getting the whole of it. Like the whole funnel gets complete when performance marketing, when the paid ads is backed up by the email marketing, the social media content. Every touch point you know.
So we also have had experiences of some.
Saniya:
Yeah recently we had a client who came us only for e-commerce websites performance marketing and we took up that challenge also. We said okay fine let’s let’s just do e-commerce only ad section and just to realize that the back end was so messed up you know. The website was not set properly.
The customer journey on the whole website was disrupted. The whole banner was taking like a lot of space on the mobile version.
Bilna:
The desktop was looking nice but when I opened it from the from the mobile version, three-fourth of it takes the header and the product is not even highlighted. I think the reason we came to know about it is we were looking at the back end. Like we were looking at the heat map of the website and we found that leads they were actually putting the in basket.
So we could see the data again right. Like there are at least 20 ad to cart and then two conversion only and we were like what are they going after that. Right that’s when we saw the user experience part.
Saniya:
So everything is very important. The whole journey of a customer, where is he coming from, if he’s coming from the social media. Okay you’re creating great amazing posts and videos on social media but it is not ending up to a proper channel from where they can purchase.
Imagine we do not have enough time you know to purchase anything and our customers focus on the mobile.
Bilna:
It’s only seven seconds.
Saniya:
Exactly like if something happens in between okay I will not buy it you know. A phone comes in between or something. So grabbing that whole journey, grabbing that whole attention is very important.
I would say that having a whole strategy with one agency is very important for them to analyze that everything is set properly and they fall in place together. Otherwise it’s always a blame game I would say.
Bilna:
Exactly he did that, I did this, they did that.
Saniya:
That agency did this or this did that or something like that. So I think it’s very important that everything is set in one place.
Bilna:
So that there’s proper communication between everyone involved in the process. Something which I also noticed with this client was like you know we say people will add to cart but they might just forget to check out at the same point. Something might have come up in their life.
We all do this. We have this. We as moms we have a lot of issues that happen right.
We are gonna purchase something then maybe our kids they just start screaming we just stop and we go. But that is where our retargeting comes into play again. Like we have like three funnels.
Top of the funnel, middle funnel and the end of the bottom of the funnel. Where we keep retargeting I mean what I tell our customers is the moment somebody comes into your system at any point then they’re not escaping from you. We are going to retarget you everywhere.
Like it’s not just meta ads. We also run the google ads. So even when they’re checking their gmails your ad is popping up there as well.
So that’s a kind of retargeting which we do as well.
Saniya:
I love email marketing because I don’t know. I really don’t know about others but I really go and check my emails constantly to check like and I think I love Zomato in that matter.
Bilna:
They do quite well right.
Saniya:
I love their emails. They pop you very personally. Did you had your lunch?
Bilna:
Yes. The timing of the email also right.
Saniya:
Exactly they know when to do and literally there was a mail I think on the first of a month saying that your salary has been credited. Yes. And then when you open that then if it has credited then order your meal from Zomato.
Something like that. It’s very creative. It’s very creative.
So I think email marketing is not dead. It’s still there. It only depends upon how you’re using.
Bilna:
How creative you are.
Saniya:
Exactly. How creative you are from that thousand of emails that going there. How will you make your email pop up there.
Standing it out. I think all the backbenchers that were there in the school maybe it’s the right job for them to go there and put your thoughts there. The creative thoughts that comes from them.
Exactly.
Bilna:
I think so to sum it up performance marketing should be should not be just the ads. It’s a mix of everything together. When you put it together the whole funnel the creatives that goes into it.
The emails that goes into it. The paid ads and not only on one platform. It’s always a mix of two three platforms together.
It’s all about funneling the whole audience into your funnel. Getting it into the whole funnel. Creating all the touch points and end of the day increasing your revenue and it should all be every step and everything that we do is measurable.
I think that’s what the performance marketing is about. So now Sanya coming to the e-commerce marketing right. You are one person who are very creative with all the content.
So do you want to share how important is the creatives for the e-commerce and which one works better video versus the still images. What is your experience with our clients.
Saniya:
See these days static images those graphics and everything maybe it works but I would prefer the user generated content or videos that in which you can see the product being used. One case study that I would like to highlight here is Revlon’s hair dryer. So what they did was they picked up a group of influencers on TikTok actually and they created some UGC content over it.
So basically they’re reviewing the dryer and they’re all using it and showing that you know how the dryer is making curls and just like two minutes or something like that and it saves you a lot of cost going to the salon and you know saving all of those things and then they use those videos and promoted them on TikTok itself and that got them so much of sales like really like such an amazing thing and I have never seen any other ads of that otherwise but because it was like me as a person I am not into much of a you know makeup or something like that but I got so motivated to buy that because that FOMO is coming right when you
Choosing the Right Influencers and Analyzing Results
Bilna:
see everybody using and especially when the influencers we follow when they are using it.
Saniya:
Yes yeah and you can see the result. Another great example that I would like to mention here is Huda Beauty’s fox filter foundation. Corrected I think.
I’m sorry I’m not a makeup person but the day I have seen so many influencer using it and she makes use of marketing in such an amazing way so she marketed this thing with the same strategy giving it to all the influencers all the people who are following her and those people actually showed the difference so if you see her creatives before after yeah those before after effects and then you go to Sephora they make you try then and there itself you see the results and trust me still she just launched it last year I have already used like four five products. I do not use makeup but that’s the only product that I use. So I think it’s very important that your product also has that power because marketing will help you help your customer to buy it but again the how good it is the user experience again exactly yeah so it should be a mix of your quality plus hiring the right marketing team for it.
So that’s what I prefer that the videos should talk more yes because video is a very easy way to convey the whole process of how you will feel the product it is rather than if you go to each customer I think previously we used to have people in stores where you know people used to go give as a taste sessions even now we have it in Kaffur or somewhere around but in terms of TikTok in GCC and that Instagram reels if we focus more on videos you and you have a product and you actually reach out mix of influencer marketing plus video plus paid ads oh god it’s gonna be that’s a rocket fuel yes if your product has it it can really bang on in here so yeah I think this
Bilna:
is the experience which we have had with our clients also now when we shifted because some of them they wanted to start the ads quickly so we started with the image creatives and the moment we shifted to the video content and where we are showing how to use that product in a nice setting the kind of click-through rate improved everything has improved even now it’s coming to the conversions as well so I think it’s more about I love her product I know who you’re talking about yes it’s an amazing product but it’s people need to know about it right yes and they like when you put just an image they’re like okay they’re skipping through but when you actually see somebody using it and imagine if it is somebody who you’re following on social media using it the influencer content then it’s like amazing I have had people tell me I hired an influencer for my my this so-and-so product and I didn’t get any sales it’s again like you said how you make use of that because again if you’re just doing influencer marketing you are only doing a piecemeal of the whole funnel when you hire it as a marketing agency and you get them to complete the whole funnel for you influencer marketing like you said combined with the paid ads combined with the email marketing combined with your active social media and the whole strategy when it works that is when it does the magic now coming to the budgets of it right I was just about to talk about it so like when I always tell people if you think you don’t have the budget don’t even think about ads right then go in the organic way of you know you’ll have to work harder but don’t think of ads until if like we recommend like even for the smallest products right we tell them if you don’t have a budget of at least spending 200 per day don’t run that I mean there are smaller businesses who do well we know that but at least as an agency we don’t take them because it’s not worth it for them to go into ads and then it’s like hit or hit or miss otherwise right so in this market I think we need to be quite on like clear on the budgets because when we tell this people tell me but Bill and I don’t have the budget to do it then we tell if you don’t then you go for the organic strategies where the founder becomes the face of the brand so that’s another strategy which we can discuss again after this which is a personal branding part actually marketing people think it
Saniya:
so you have always have budgets for raw material you always have budgets for packaging yes but for marketing that comes at the end which I think it should come in the starting because it’s like marketing is like a salesperson of yours yes so it’s the only thing that’s gonna promote your
Bilna:
and it’s gonna work even while you’re sleeping exactly exactly right your sales person will work probably eight hours a day your marketing works 24 hours a day and I have a recent one of
Saniya:
our clients who is a opened a restaurant in Abu Dhabi they worked with influencers their first month was amazing and they have said that their most of their sales came from the influencer
Bilna:
marketing everybody but it’s about how we chose the right influencers for them right because there was a whole list of influencers they had come up with and we had to do the back-end research completely their analytics what is the audience they have what is their capacity to bring people on the so that is what you know when people say influencer marketing didn’t work it’s because they didn’t choose the right influencer the whole strategy was not there right and even he like I
Saniya:
was having a call with him yesterday and he told me that people outside of Abu Dhabi also came and they were asking that you know that we came from that influencers video and we were really at the food looks appetizing so really we want to try it does work but depending upon who you’re choosing if their audience is actually real or it’s paid or whatever it is so you need to analyze which are the influencer you are looking for are they even right for your target or not maybe the influencer is amazing but if she or he is talking about let’s say makeup and you are selling food but you are paying her because you know her followers she has 1 million followers exactly probably only on makeup makeup people are following so they are not interested in food so it doesn’t make sense so do your research and definitely every aspect of marketing will work.
Average Order Values in E-commerce
Bilna:
but the research part should be there yes and it has to be accompanied by the proper back end research and proper strategy and end of the day data yes right so when we work with our influencer we always go on their back end and see their data what are their followers from I see some of the influencers now coming to this this might get a lot of controversy when not everybody’s gonna like it but when we see some influencers they say like 100,000 or 200,000 or even 1 million followers and when we go into their posts we see that now it’s a good thing that even without going asking them for the screenshot we can see the number of shares of the post that is a great metric for us to see it’s and the comments sometimes it’s all from other influencers nobody else no no general public is commenting so we when we work with the our when we work with influencers for our clients we always go and ask the influencers for their screenshots or we do our own research and see this is really working or not right so I think that is why it’s important if you are investing into influencer marketing either you do your own research but you should have the time or you hire an agency that is an expert at that it’s always time versus money right if you have the time you can learn and do it otherwise you just get somebody to do it and you are better at something else do that it’s more of that before we go into the next topic let’s also discuss about the average order values of e-commerce right so when we onboard the e-commerce clients sometimes we see that their average order value is probably like 100 right and we it’s not just about uh you know bringing new customers it’s also about the existing customers how we can make them buy more so maybe you want to share the things that we are doing and helping them with
Saniya:
that as well so uh we are currently working with one of the client and her average value is around 300 dirhams or something yes and we can see that a lot of new customers are coming to the shop and buying it she’s she her she’s hosting on a Shopify website and I love Shopify for the insights that it gives it gives you exactly where your customer is coming from how are they looking how many visitors and everything so to increase so we can see that because the new customers are flowing in the new customers uh you know they do not usually buy the expensive products at the first because they want to check the quality and everything and they still don’t trust the
Bilna:
vendor yet exactly are they genuine will they actually deliver exactly right so thanks that
Saniya:
thanks to the new technology and the revolution that people are now more comfortable buying online but still they’re not that you know trusting about it so to increase the average value we usually suggest our customers to always one is while they’re shopping give them something so that they add it to their because right
Saniya:
So if you can add to that decision, it’s a win-win situation for you. Because once they are gone, it’s very difficult to bring them back and do the shopping again. That’s a whole funnel that you have to follow.
So while they are shopping, just give them an offer. Maybe, you know, add to people who like this, also like this. So add something of a smaller value to them or give them a freebie.
Bilna:
Like someone is buying a diaper, add a formula to it.
Saniya:
Or maybe wipes to it or something, you can do it. That’s something that you talk with the agency or your marketing person and decide upon it. And second is email marketing.
So if they are dropping or if they are just checking out, maybe on that spot you give them some offer or you give them some offer for the next time or something. It’s just, you know, how you make your current customer buy more. Because they already trust you.
They already know your product.
Bilna:
They are already about to swipe their card.
Saniya:
Yes, about to swipe their card. And, you know, sometimes people also think it this way that if I’m going to spend, let’s say, 50 dirhams for delivery or 30 dirhams for delivery. So, okay, let me add something extra for a 100 or extra for a 50 that will come in that delivery also.
And we also do suggest that above 300 or something, there’s a free delivery. So that is, these are some marketing techniques that you can follow to increase their average order. And do your sales on the spot because that customer whom you spent $100 to, It’s like strike the iron when it’s hot.
Exactly, strike the iron when it’s hot. So when it’s there, just get it done. Otherwise, once gone, it’s gone.
Discussion on Different Marketing Platforms: Google Ads and Meta Ads
Bilna:
Yeah, so it’s again, it’s a lot of effort for us to bring them back onto the platform. But once they are there, ready to swipe, get them to swipe it all together. Amazing, amazing.
So again, now, Sanya, coming back to the different platforms, right? So we have Google Ads, we have Meta Ads. And a lot of customers, when they come to us, they say, you know what, mine is an interior fit-out company.
I think only Google Ads will work for us. But we have proved it otherwise, right? So do you want to share that experience of how it happened with us?
Saniya:
Google Ads and Meta Ads, they both work in an amazing way. But we need to understand how a customer thinks.
Bilna:
Yes.
Saniya:
How much time does a customer spend on social media or Google?
Bilna:
Yes.
Saniya:
You go on Google when you’re looking for something.
Bilna:
Yes.
Saniya:
You usually do not go on Google for otherwise. Of course, Google has a lot of options because, you know, it hosts a lot of apps and games. So your ads will be shown on different platforms of Google itself.
But Meta Ads, I think it’s an amazing way. And I think one of our clients who was an interior fit-out, they said that, no, no, no, Meta Ads does not work for us.
Bilna:
And we have created like 400 plus ROI.
Saniya:
Exactly. So for them, they got more leads from their real estate is doing amazing on Meta Ads, actually.
Bilna:
Yes.
Saniya:
Because people are there. They’re looking at the content. The amazing real estate influences these days.
Bilna:
And again, like we said, we use the video content a lot.
Saniya:
Right.
Bilna:
It’s not the Google. We don’t have a lot of opportunity for creatives to put those videos and things. Yes.
Saniya:
Google plays. So Meta is amazing, I would say, because you’re there and you’re looking at something. You’re creating a demand and then people are getting your details and you’re putting in sales.
Google is amazing also. Because if somebody is coming to Google, they already have an intention.
Bilna:
Strong purchase intent. Right.
Saniya:
Yeah. So when you’re coming to Google, you already have an intention to buy something.
Bilna:
Yes.
Saniya:
So half the way, the customer…
Bilna:
Making up the mind is done.
Saniya:
Exactly.
Bilna:
The budget is there.
Saniya:
Right. So the customer is already there with the mind that I want to buy this thing.
Bilna:
Yes.
Saniya:
And now you need to convince out of all the competitors that you have. Yes. So there, Google plays an amazing thing.
So again, you need to understand how much is your budget. If you can spend on both the platforms on Google and Meta. Depending upon your budget and depending upon how your audience will be, how much time they will be spending, will they be more comfortable coming on Google or they will be comfortable, you know, sitting on a social media and seeing something.
Depending upon that, you need to run your ads. But again, I would say, try, test.
Bilna:
Test it.
Saniya:
Do the A-B testing and see what are the results that you’re going. Don’t just assume that my clients won’t be there on Meta or my clients won’t be there. Of course, if you’re an interior fit-out company, maybe you will not go out of the way to Twitter or somewhere just extremely out of the way.
Or if you’re a food company, you will not go to somewhere else. So that is something that you…
Bilna:
Depends on the kind of business you are in. Plus also, again, like we say, always trust the data, not the intuitions. And now, like this jewelry brand which we were just talking about, for them, we are doing a combination of both.
So it’s basically how it works. It’s like somebody wants to buy that particular kind of jewelry. Their purchase intent is high.
They’ll search and they find them. Now what happens is, but they might not always make the purchase. So we retarget them.
The moment they come into the funnel, we then keep retargeting them on other platforms. And this retargeting happens not just on Meta, on other Google Play, you know, all the apps that they are using. Even when you’re speaking to somebody on Votem, you’ll see the ads down, right?
Even also those ads are getting shown up on your Gmail, right? It’s all everywhere. It’s always there.
Saniya:
I would like to add here just to this brand itself. I think, so before they came to us, they were actually running ads on Google. Yes, only Google.
And they were getting amazing reviews and everything. Their sales were high also. But I analyzed their ad was there in my inbox, in my Gmail.
So I clicked on them. Now understand the customer’s journey. So when you see something, or if I am searching for a customized jewelry, I see so many things.
Even the customer actually told me that when you search for customized jewelry, so many Chinese companies are there who is giving the same product at a lower cost. But now when you go on my profile and you click and you see this is a local company, then the customer goes on the social media to understand what is the customer review, what is the, you know, is this company even genuine, not genuine, because she’s dealing with jewelry, which means silver, gold, she’s dealing with. So why is it so expensive and all those things?
So now she has proved the clients that why the Chinese, I don’t want to say the Chinese are bad or something, but she’s a local company here, stay situated here.
Bilna:
Others are mostly like the dropshipping companies, which, you know, I mean, like probably they don’t have a physical office here or a representative here. If anything goes wrong, where do you go and ask them? Like I have had a lot of bad experiences ordering from seeing those ads.
I have ordered all the small, small items, not the huge amounts like 20 dirhams, 30 dirhams items I have ordered. Sometimes they come, but the item is not working.
Saniya:
And then I don’t know how to return it.
Bilna:
So those kind of things happen.
Saniya:
Now you understand like when we started running the meta ads for them also, now the customer is seeing Google advertisements and everything, but the retargeting when it happens on the social media ads, where she’s actually showing the customer speaking about, you know, Oh my God, her jewelry was amazing, blah, blah, blah. This is my story. This is what this trust factor comes more.
So next time she will always remember that if she wants something like that, she might go to this person who is based here. And if anything goes wrong, she can just go call her up and tell her that, Okay, this is what I require.
Bilna:
I think that’s a huge journey. And we also saw a huge increase in their sales as well, right? Because now it’s a combination of Google and meta ads.
And we are still in that analyzing process. But I think it’s more of like always have a combination of both the platforms because both are strong platforms. It’s just about how you use them to get the best revenue out.
And there may be seasons when you want to pump up money on Google and there may be seasons when you want to pump up more on the meta. Again, it’s all data driven. It’s all about the data on the backend that speaks for you.
Like, okay, this is how I have to do it. Or, you know, this is how it has to be going to the next level. And now, Sania, when it comes to, we discussed all about the product side of it, the lead generation side of it.
We also have our customers whose personal brands and PR which we deal with, right? So how important is for a founder to show up on social media or to show up on different platforms? And how have we helped our clients on that part?
Saniya:
I think one great example is you.
Bilna:
A lot of clients come to us seeing our podcasts as well, right?
Importance of Personal Branding
Saniya:
Like I remember we went to one of the workshop where the client has not, one of the friend came after 10, 15 years. And they met and they’re like, you know, greeting and saying that I met my friend after 15 years and that friend comes to you and says, Hey, Bilna, I know you. I have seen you.
So that’s how important personal branding is. And thankfully, companies are growing and they are, you know, evolving. And they’re also telling their employees to increase their personal branding and how important it is for everybody.
No matter you’re a founder, no matter you’re an employee, your personal branding should be the best. Because what you show is what people believe in. And humanizing, when we come to personal branding, I think personal branding for a brand is also very important.
As in, when you humanize a brand, when you put a face to a brand, then a customer is more attached to a brand. So now everybody knows Bilna. Everybody knows the Homepreneurs Club also, but they know that who is the person behind.
They know your story. They connect more personally to the brand. And, you know, it’s easier for them to remember.
So, yes, personal branding is extremely important. It is more important than your resume, I would say. Because when you contacted me for a job, I was very finicky about, I will not go to a job location, but when you called me, I was like, Bilna is calling.
Oh, my God. So I said, if Bilna is calling, I will go anywhere.
Bilna:
Oh, my God. I didn’t know that part.
Saniya:
And I think you remember when I entered the office, I was like, hey, Bilna, I know you.
Bilna:
Yeah, I was like, oh, my God.
Content as the Core of Social Media Marketing
Saniya:
And even I called my husband, I said, Bilna has called me for an interview. He was like, oh, Bilna Sandeep. I think that’s important.
It is very important for people to know you. It’s no more a time where only celebrities and influencers are important. It’s very important for you to speak up.
If you need your brand to speak up for you. Gone are the days where, you know, just L’Oreal and who is L’Oreal? Who is behind that brand?
It does not speak up. So, yeah, it is very important.
Bilna:
If you look at Facebook, Meta, you know, we all know who the founder is, right? So it’s more like it should run in parallel to your brand, no matter how big or small your brand is. I believe the founders’ personal branding should run in parallel.
And just like you said, even the employees. Now, we have a few clients, right, who we are already doing their staff personal branding also. Because this is especially important in those service-based business categories, even in real estate, you know, because it’s a business consultant or it is the sales consultant who is making that calls and who is the one converting those deals for them.
And when, if your sales representative walks into a room to sell your service, and if they know this guy already, the half decision is done, then it’s about how good the product or what you’re selling is. But if you can make that mark before you walk into a room, for me, this, like you said, this has happened to me a lot of times. When I get calls, when I’m getting on a discovery call with a client, they know me already probably because of a podcast or different platforms.
Now, even a lot of them know you as well. You know, when I say Sanya, they say, yeah, I’ve seen her in your podcast, I’ve seen her with the photos with you. So I think that is important because now, like in our clients also, right, after we close a deal and when they start working with you, they are working more with you.
And they have already the trust process. Even before I introduce you, they know, okay, yes, Sanya is part of your team, I know that. So the trust is easily there.
And I think that’s important for every businesses to brand their employers as well as the founders. And that’s something that, again, we do at Groovy as a service also for our clients, the personal branding for the staff and the founders.
Saniya:
And I think the employees’ loyalty also increases because you’re adding value to their career.
Bilna:
And they feel seen and heard.
Saniya:
Exactly. And for them also, it’s very important that they grow themselves for the company to be seen. Previously, it was a different affair.
People used to think in a very wrong way. But now people are understanding that how important personal branding is. So, yeah.
Bilna:
I mean, when you said that I’ve had people who come and tell me before, no, no, no, I don’t want to talk about my staff. I don’t want to create personal brands or profiles for my staff on LinkedIn.
Saniya:
They might just think, do it and go.
Bilna:
Because they’re like, you know what, more of it is like competitors will see and they will grab them. And I’m like, it’s okay. I mean, if the people want to leave, they will leave even otherwise.
If you don’t give them a good working culture or environment, they’re going to leave, right? So there’s no point trying to hide your best people under it. There’s nothing in that.
I think it’s more about the world is more open now. I think it’s more about bringing and how you can leverage that for your business. It’s like live and let live, right?
Like let your employees grow, your business will automatically grow. I think that’s what I believe in at least. Before we wind up today’s session, let’s also talk about the general social media marketing where we’re not doing all the ads or anything, but still the content is the queen.
I mean, the king. I would say queen is the paid ad. But the paid ads will only do well if the king is the right part of it.
So like what sort of content is the best in today’s age? What do you think is the best one that’s performing the best?
Saniya:
For social media, if you have just started, the first word is patience.
Bilna:
Yes.
Saniya:
If you have good budgets and you can mix social media organically with paid ads, then no patience is required. Still patience is required, but still you can do in a faster way. But if you do not have budgets for paid media, then focus on your content, just have a very high quality content going on it and have more videos, have more talking videos.
Talk about it, be very consistent with your thing. Consistency doesn’t mean you have to post three times a day or every day or something like that. Consistency means whatever plan you have created, two times a week or one time a month also, which is very less.
Even if you just do that consistently and be patient with your result. When somebody comes to us and they tell us that, you know, I want to, let’s say, do a personal branding of myself.
Bilna:
Yes.
Saniya:
So I only tell them one thing. Build that, you know, we have that 30 days of health career, health routine, 30 days planner. Build that 30 days planner for yourself and do that content continuously, maybe four times a week, but be consistent and do that.
Wait for that 30 days and start for something. If you start and be consistent, you will build an amazing brand. And after 30 days, you’ll get into a habit.
I understand when you start, you feel like, I don’t know about it. A lot of clients come to us saying that, oh, no, no, this is not my thing.
Bilna:
I don’t talk, but we have transformed a lot of clients. I mean, because of the personal branding packages, right? Like they start speaking like, and they’re like, no, I cannot speak.
We’re like, just come, we’ll deal with it.
Saniya:
Just talk to us, talk as if now that we are having a conversation. And once you start talking, you will feel that, oh, my God, this is getting me more sales. And more than sales, it is getting me more respect, more people are connecting.
Bilna:
And even their own staff connect more with them.
Saniya:
Exactly. Exactly. That, you know, my boss is now approachable.
I can talk to them. So it is very important that you’re organically what you are putting on social media. It’s not a must to put on social media.
But when you are putting on social media, quantity doesn’t matter that much than quality. So your quality of work should be very important because that’s so much of competition right now. So much of competition.
Like just now, while this time that we are sitting might be like millions of posts going up. So how is your content different from the other person’s content?
Bilna:
How can you catch somebody’s thought?
Saniya:
Yeah, exactly. Somebody’s thought, somebody’s attention is what you should focus on. Be consistent and definitely it will work for you.
Final Advice for Hiring a Marketing Agency
Bilna:
I think now it’s the age of reels and TikToks, right? Especially in Dubai, I think we have seen TikTok is working quite amazingly well for all our brands. So, you know, not just the personal brand itself, even as the F&B brands which we deal with.
So their TikTok and their reels is quite amazing. Right now, before we close it off, what is the final advice? Maybe probably we’ll tell more like the people who want to hire a marketing agency.
What should be their mindset before they go to a marketing agency?
Saniya:
So when you are going for a marketing agency, first thing is you should trust the person or the agency that you are going to hire. I am sure that trust will come when you go for that one on one session, understanding that if they are really working upon numbers, if they are working on a process, look into it. And once you have decided that, yes, now I’m going to work with this agency, be open to them.
The more you share, the more they will be able to help you. If you’re not going to share your numbers with them, if you’re not going to be in constant communication with them to tell them that, you know, maybe I think this will work or maybe I think this is not working and all of those things, it’s not going to yield you, you know, a lot of income or sales or attraction in that matter. So you need to be open with them and you need to trust the fact, the process with them, communicate with them more and more.
And tell them and remind them that you’re trusting them, you know, for the whole process. So it’s a teamwork. It’s not like you have given the work and they will do and come back to you.
It’s a teamwork. You know your brand the best and they know marketing the best. Combining them both will yield you the best result.
But that relationship needs to nurture in a beautiful way.
Bilna:
Very true. Thank you so much, Saniya. Thank you.
Thanks a lot. And for our listeners, if you would like to get in touch with us for any of your marketing requirements, please feel free to do so. We have all the links in the comments box and stay tuned for our next episode.
Thank you.
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