Oliviere Media Agency

With over 8-yrs of experience in the media industry I have come to see businesses putting their last hope in traditional media. Hoping that paying for an advert will bring in the revenue they invested in. Small businesses thinking that a one-time feature in the local paper will help with attention to their businesses. At times that one time advert might help, but most of the time it does not. Your audience and potential clients are on social media.

You have the opportunity to tell your story in a unique way, in a way that attracts customers and converts to sales. Take that opportunity and don’t sleep on it. If you thought of being more active on social media, you should have done that before you went public with your business. Inaction is also taking action. Not telling your story is telling your story. It won’t be you telling it. But someone will definitely do it. That goes for your personal brand as well. Not developing it, is choosing to let someone decide what you are about and whether you have any credibility.. Being out of the public eye is surely amazing. But as a business owner, can you honestly run a business without being in the public eye? Probably not…

THE AI BAND-AID

In the age of AI, having a narrative and the audience connecting with you is important. Waiting for the perfect moment, is waiting for AI to take your job and run your business. That is not a business strategy, it’s a business failure. Authenticity is leading. Therefore, you can have AI run your business and marketing but it will be lacking human experience. You cannot outsource thought leadership and marketing to AI. Humans have a keen eye in identifying what is real and what is not. Take your audience seriously and use real people to create your deliverables. Your brand will become generic if you are the one to apply an AI brush to everything. 

EDUCATED USE OF AI

I’m definitely not discounting the use of AI, but you cannot outsource thought leadership from a robotic intelligence. As a collective internet mind, AI won’t give soul to your branding. It will look like everything, and everyone else, worst of all; sound like everything and everyone else. The premium pricing and premium reward will go to those who value human intelligence and add soul to your branding and design. We will reach a point in time where the use of AI for branding and marketing, writing as well, will be used and outsourced by AI-experts. Hire someone who has learned how to prompt, who has learned how to create agents for your business to have it running smoothly and efficiently, an AI-agent that has absorbed your branding and tone of voice. Lastly on this subject. Do not outsource your brain and thinking to AI. This will lead to a collective decline in intelligence. Everything in moderation, AI-use as well.

CALL TO BUSINESSES

Small to medium businesses have the opportunity to now more than ever bring attention to their businesses inexpensively, through Social Media. But it is not as straightforward as it seems to most. Social media is more than posting a cute photo, or a cute video. It is definitely more than posting a cute carousal. Research is required. Learning what will go viral is just as important. A few hours a day for a week learning social media can mean more than an advert in the paper or a shout out on radio once a week. Traditional media has its place in the world and when used right can work for your business, maybe in the future but not when every penny needs to be a return on investment. 

Many don’t get the time and frankly are not interested in learning. That’s where hiring someone can come in handy! You absolutely do need an inhouse social media manager if you care enough about scaling and growing your brand. For the older businesses, remaining relevant now more than ever is very important and whether you like it or not social media is the way to do just that. There are different ways to kill the cat, you just have to explore it.

This is what I set out to do as a journalist now turned social media manager. Curating your authentic voice on social media. Creating a community, not an audience. A community who trusts you enough to buy from you or use your services. Etching your story in the sand, your brand will outlast social media but do not let social media outpace you.

Yours in story telling

Oliviere Media Agency

Silvy Beukes