414 – A New Look at User Generated Content with Lauren Schwartz

Gift Biz Unwrapped Guest episode 414.

Customers like to see the founder.

They like to see the face behind the brand.

Attention, gifters,

bakers, crafters and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.

Whether you have an established business or looking to start one

now you are in the right place.

This is Gift Biz Unwrapped,

helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.

Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,

resources and the support you need to grow your gift biz.

Here is your host Gift Biz Gal Sue Moon Height.

Hi there,

it's Sue.

And as always,

I'm thrilled and honored that you've chosen to spend time with

me here today.

We've covered so many facets of a handmade product business over

the course of the years and today is no exception.

We've talked about how to start and grow your business stories

from many of you who have done just that.

How to choose and use social media sites,

build your website.

Oh my gosh,

there is just so much information here for you,

but not necessarily at your fingertips.

So I've made a tool for you that categorizes by topic

the episodes of this podcast,

but only the ones that stay relevant over time because yes,

let's face it,

there are past shows that just don't work anymore for us

today. The world is changing so fast,

right? You can use this tool to zero in on whatever

topic you need at the moment.

Do you wanna hear from others in your specific industry?

How about details on Pinterest or setting up an email strategy?

You can now easily find the right episodes and create your

priority listening roster.

Consider this your Gift Biz resource center at a glance.

It's a Google Sheet best viewable on your computer versus your

phone. Make sure to look on the bottom where there are

five separate sections for easy topic reference,

kind of like chapters of a book.

It makes finding the shows to help you with what you're

working on right now.

So much easier.

To access this free resource,

go to gift biz unwrapped.com/topics.

Today I'm bringing back a past guest to address a topic

that deserves more attention.

Because understanding and utilizing this strategy can help you more easily

create customer communications and add depth and variety to the messages

you send out.

This applies to all touchpoints from social posts,

email content,

and what you include on your website.

What I'm talking about is user generated content and Lauren has

niched down her business to focus solely on this.

To be honest,

I entered into this conversation with the idea that what we

were talking about was one thing and Lauren expanded on it

by defining user-generated content in a much broader way.

So you're going to hear both what I expected to cover

and more.

We'll start by sharing this new updated definition of user generated

content and then dive into the specifics and applications you can

use and apply to your handmade business.

Today I'm really excited to bring back Lauren Schwartz of the

Loft 3 25.

She is a thought leader in producing profitable creative strategies for

e-commerce brands and a design professional.

With over 15 years of experience within the digital space,

Lauren's passion lies in generating top performing ad creatives.

She's personally led the creative strategy for top brands such as

Love Wellness,

needed Kate Farms,

an auto brush when not working with clients.

Lauren teaches others her profitable creative methodology focusing on direct to

consumer advertising,

Facebook, Instagram,

and TikTok.

She also spreads her knowledge as an ad world conference speaker,

which she's been doing for the last three years.

Lauren, welcome to the Gift Biz Unrepped podcast.

Again, Thank you for having me again,

Sue, I'm really excited to have you here and I'd love

to kick it off with an update of what's been going

on since January of 21 for you.

Yeah, a lot.

It's just been busy.

I kind of restructured my business a little bit,

really focusing on user generated content,

content creation,

working a lot with brands for TikTok and really just helping

them figure out a better strategy on how they could actually

utilize content creators for their paid advertising.

So we still work with brands doing ads,

utilizing their existing creatives,

but we really did a focus on user-generated content really heavily

just because again,

TikTok has been such a huge uprising,

I guess,

within the paid space.

So really started to focus heavily on that.

Got it.

And that's perfect.

That's why you're the best guest I can have for this

topic because I feel like we've talked about user-generated content over

the course of time,

but it's always been added to a list,

like different types of content you can use for social media

posts, you know,

so it gets talked about a little bit,

but not really diving in like I want to today.

Right? So this whole show,

all I wanna talk about really is user-generated content because I

feel like it's really been under-utilized and it's a huge opportunity

for everybody.

Yeah. So with that,

let's kick it off so that everyone's on the same page

here. What is user-generated content and its value?

There's different forms of user-generated content.

I mean essentially the term user-generated content is someone an individual,

either someone who's purchasing your product will give a review or

testimonial and talk about the product that they have that they've

either purchased from you.

There's also influencer content,

which I think gets a little confused with user generated content.

And then there's content creation.

So there's so many different definitions of it,

but essentially what it is is someone just really shooting content

on their phone,

talking about a product,

sharing it with their audience,

and really making it look as native to the platform as

possible. So that's what content creation,

user generated content is.

Again, it's changed in so many different formats with how it's

being talked about and utilized.

Influencer content is more of a brand sending a product to

an influencer where they are essentially sharing it with their own

audience. They're shooting it in their aesthetic,

the way that they wanna talk about the product,

not necessarily brand focus.

And then content creation again is still user-generated content,

but you're essentially paying actors,

content creators to shoot the product aesthetically so that it's pleasing

to the audience so that it can be run in an

ad run in organic.

So again,

there's different definitions of it,

but essentially that's what it is.

Okay. I'm glad we started there because when we have brought

this up on the show before,

user-generated content has always meant content coming from somebody who is

using your product,

Right? And what I'm understanding from you is that's a subset

of it.

So it could be coming from a customer,

Right? It could be coming from an influencer,

either micro or macro,

you know,

cuz there's both that we talk about these days or it

could be content that you're creating yourself,

it's still user-generated content,

right? So it's all three of them together Basically.

Yeah, Basically.

Yeah. Okay.

So that's really good because now we're all grounded.

I needed to be re-grounded what this was Still Or what

we were gonna be talking about.

So how do we approach all three of these are,

should we be using all of them,

a portion of them?

Like get us started if we're not really understanding what this

could all mean in application to us as product-based businesses?

Yeah, so again,

I would say obviously influencer content that's gonna be a lot

more expensive.

I would say influencer content is more focused around brands who

have larger budgets.

So I would say in terms of a handmade business or

product-based business,

I probably wouldn't go the influencer content route.

I'd probably stick more to the content creation,

user-generated content.

I think with the user-generated content,

if you're getting started again,

it's always great to reach out to your customers,

ask them if they would send you a video testimonial,

how they like the product,

how they're using the product,

where they've put it in their home or how they've used

it and reaching out to your audience is definitely great to

do because again,

like it's giving that welcoming sense of okay,

well I wanna hear from you,

I wanna know how you like the product.

The only thing with that though is that a lot of

times customers don't know how to shoot content.

Unfortunately that's engaging.

And so with that you get content back,

but a lot of times it's either a 30 minute video

or people are rambling or they don't really know how to

shoot the product.

And so it makes it really hard to kind of pull

those snippets out for a brand to actually use.

Whereas if you are paying a content creator to shoot content

for you,

that is specifically their job.

Like they will receive the product,

know how to shoot it so that again,

it's very engaging.

They know what kind of lighting to use,

they know what kind of scripts they need to say in

order to make your product sound very enticing and exciting.

But then they also make it look very native to the

platform. So again,

yes you paid that person to do it,

but they've made the video in a way that looks like

they just natively posted it to the platform.

So as an audience member,

if you see that,

you look at it and you think,

oh okay great,

like this is someone who has purchased the product and they

know like this is what the product's about basically.

So you're using actors in your photos or videos really?

Yeah, basically.

I mean these content creators that have really come up within

the last year,

that is essentially their job.

They are paid actors to basically shoot products and testimonials for

these brands to make it look native to their platform so

that they can share it organically or through paid media.

Okay. That sounds awful expensive,

Lauren. I'm just telling you what I know all of the

listeners are thinking.

Yeah, like what do you think for a small business of

any level?

Cuz we have people who are just starting and people who

are well established with decades under their belt.

But I don't think we often think of the value of

paying. Yes,

we pay for product shots that we're gonna put on our

website, but we don't always think about paying for advertising and

actors. Yeah.

And content creation if you will.

Is this a new thing that's coming and is it kind

of going down to smaller brands or what are you seeing

with that?

Yeah, I think for smaller brands in particular,

like it's scary to think about.

It's just like,

oh man,

like another thing I have to do to get my business

out there,

I don't necessarily have the budget.

I think the best thing a smaller brand can do is

as an owner or a founder get in front of the

camera and start talking about the product yourself.

A lot of times customers like to see the founder,

they like to see the face behind the brand.

And so I always tell people,

you know,

like if you're just starting out,

you as the owner should start.

Because again,

like they wanna see the raw content of how the product's

made or what exactly what items you use to make it

kind of like behind the scenes things.

And a lot of people resonate with founder videos,

so it's a cheap to get your product out there.

You're a founder,

you already know everything about the product,

so you don't necessarily have to pay anyone to talk about

it. And then I would say for using these content creators,

there is a lot of content creators that you can use

that don't necessarily charge you a lot.

Sometimes they just wanna swap for free product.

And so,

and again you can kind of do a trade,

I'll give you product if you send a video for me.

So there's different ways that you can do this.

I would say that I would invest in it if it's

something that,

you know,

if you're already investing in product photography,

product video,

I would definitely set aside budget for content creation because the

way that social media is going,

Instagram videos are huge,

it's video everywhere,

TikTok video,

it's shorts,

YouTube shorts.

So it's definitely a value that you will see if you

put the time into it and invest the money in it.

So I would definitely say it's something that branch should be

doing Well and maybe you invest in a higher quality video

that again looks very authentic and in line with your brand,

but only placing them in certain places and something that you

can use for years.

Right. It's not every single time you make a new product

necessarily. So if you create the content of that video to

be something that's more evergreen,

then that investment goes further for You.

Exactly, yes.

And so where would you advise someone to put those types

of videos,

the evergreen ones that you have paid a professional to do?

Where would we place these videos?

I would probably put them on my website.

I mean there's definitely sections of the website that you can

put it on.

I would definitely add it to my Instagram,

a social media platform that you essentially can have someone talking

about it.

Even your product pages really,

if you have your product page and you're scrolling through and

you have someone giving a really great testimonial or video,

adding that element of video into your product page,

people will watch it.

They wanna see someone using it and talking about it.

So that's definitely a place that you could add all these

videos to,

especially the evergreen ones.

I'm also thinking like introduction emails,

you know,

someone who's just bought your product and you're starting that automated

flow. Yeah.

Into getting to know them.

And maybe also another thing I think is it doesn't have

to be the full video,

it might be just a couple of clips from a video

too. So you can take that and repurpose it however you

want. I'm thinking it probably depends on the contract you have

with the videographer for sure.

Right? Definitely.

Yeah. Okay.

All right.

Can you give us an idea of pricing of some of

that? If you were just doing like maybe two or three

videos a minute a piece maybe Like what are we looking

at by ranges?

Again, it depends.

I think if you're working with a content creator who will

edit the video themself,

they have packages where they start from 200 and they go

all the way up to a thousand Per video.

Per video.

Yes. Okay.

Some of them will come with packages too,

so they'll kind of separate it out where they'll give you

two videos for one price.

But the only thing that will change within those videos is

maybe the first three seconds.

So then you're getting at least two kind of hook variations

where it's still technically the same video but they're maybe changing

the first three seconds and then you can kind of use

that in different places as well.

So again,

it kind of depends on the range,

but I would say like the lower end would definitely be

from 300 to a thousand dollars.

Okay. I like that idea of having some of the,

either the intro portion or the outro,

like something adjusted where you can use the same inner content.

Yeah, yeah.

And you know honestly if someone adds one video a year

to their business updates and then still uses the past one,

this doesn't have to be a one and done $10,000

investment necessarily.

Right. Unless you want it to,

unless you're big enough.

Right. For those who are can definitely do it that way.

So you made me start thinking,

cuz I've never really thought about actors on video before,

so what if somebody wanted to use a friend and like

have them act?

Yes, you can definitely do that.

The only thing with that is that if I were the

brand and I am utilizing a friend,

the main things I would look for when kind of outreaching

for that sort of content,

I would look at their socials,

I would see how comfortable are they actually talking on camera.

Because a lot of times people will get on camera and

they freeze feel silly,

they don't know how to act,

they feel like they are quote unquote acting.

And so it is just awkward.

There's so many people right now that are posting reels and

stories and I always look at,

if you are very natural in front of the camera already,

then you can be coached.

And so if someone's giving you a script on I want

you to talk about this product,

this is how do you use it?

How do we talk about it?

Or if they wanna do an unboxing,

they can essentially shoot themselves,

you know,

talking and also shoot themselves doing an unboxing.

So it's definitely something that they can do.

But in terms of looking for people who are actors that,

you know,

I would always make sure to look at their social and

just see how comfortable they are talking in front of a

camera. Cuz that's gonna be probably the biggest thing for them

when doing that sort of content.

Yeah, and I'm thinking more like if you have an acquaintance

or someone,

to your point,

you've kind of filtered out that they're natural,

Right? So I'm thinking about whether if you have a friend

who you feel could be a really good fit and And

you're actually willing to pay them for it.

Yeah. So like to your point,

you send them a product.

My now daughter-in-law used to do this with one of her

old businesses and she's actually got another job doing something similar,

but she in the past has worked with photographers all over

the world and they sent product and then she also had

a sheet.

So it had guidelines of what to do when they're taking

photos. Now this was never video,

it was all photos at the time.

Right, right.

But if you're paying somebody,

I don't think it's a problem to do something like that

where you have the guidelines like here's the way you make

the lighting,

right, here are some points that I'd like you to capture.

I want this to be a lifestyle photo where it's not

just of itself or unboxing to your point.

Yeah. So I think if you're paying somebody,

you could send along that guide sheet that you create once

and then send it out whenever you find yourself in a

situation like that.

Yeah, definitely.

So when we work with our content creators,

we have an entire sheet of guidelines items that they can,

you know,

bullet points that they can talk about in terms of the

brand, what we want them to point out.

And then we also have a lot of dos and don'ts.

So you can't say this or you can't say that don't

film with this lighting or like there's different guidelines that we

do set forth to the creators,

but it's basically just a bullet pointed sheet that they can

look at so that when they're actually going through and they're

looking at the content that they need to shoot,

obviously we want them to be as natural as possible.

So we just give them these highlighted bullet points of we

want you to talk about these things but use it in

your own way that you would talk about it so that

it does sound natural.

You know,

you don't want it to sound scripted,

you want it to sound natural.

So definitely,

I mean if you're paying someone to do these things,

you can give them as many guidelines as possible.

It's your product and your brand.

So you obviously want it talked about in a certain way,

but then you also don't wanna make it so overly,

I guess you don't wanna have so many guidelines that then

it just doesn't sound natural because they're trying to figure out

what I should say where it doesn't come off in a

sense of,

oh well this just doesn't sound Good.

Right. Like you're trying to fit them in some very rigid

box or something.

Exactly, yes.

Yeah, so definitely not sending scripts that they're supposed to read

from or something like That.

Exactly, Yeah.

Alright, so let's focus on user generated content from the way

I remember the term being used where you try to organically

get people to send you photos or tag you on Instagram

shots or do an unboxing or that type of thing.

What do you see as the value and do you see

receptivity to that kind of a strategy today?

I mean it's still good to have that because you still

want people organically posting about your products.

I mean that's still always great to have within your asset

library in terms of how effective it is,

I don't know necessarily the effectivity,

like how effective it is because right now so many people,

so many brands are understanding that high quality video in terms

of how it's shot,

how I'm gonna grab your attention.

So the landscape has changed so much that I just don't

know if those are as effective as what is currently happening

with content creators.

So are you saying that more refined professional videos are now

outshining the organic,

picking up the phone and talking into the phone?

No, so it's more,

I guess more just of the paying a content creator to

shoot the content as a with their phone as opposed to

organically having like customers come in again,

like it's still good to have,

but with that sort of content,

like I said,

you're not necessarily always getting the best content.

So it doesn't always generate as much leads or clicks or

buys with that sort of content,

but it's still good to have.

Okay. What about an organic program that kind of auto generates

itself? Like if someone purchases a product from you and you

send, let's say an online receipt or you put something in

the box with the product and you say something like,

take a picture with you in your gorgeous new earrings and

post it on Instagram,

make sure to tag so-and-so or something like that that you

do for every single customer reviews.

Another perfect one.

Yeah, love to have you review online and then people will

take sometimes those reviews and throw them up on social.

What do you think of those that are kind of baked

into your communication strategy with customers?

Yes, definitely.

I don't think that's,

again, it's still great to have that sort of organic people

taking photos,

people giving you authentic reviews.

I necessarily don't think that it's a bad thing to do.

I would always have that in your strategy because again,

you're still getting content organically that you can use within your

socials. So yeah,

I definitely would say still keep that.

I mean it's not a bad thing.

It's not gonna hurt not having it.

I would just say,

like I said previously,

if I'm shooting more content to sell my product,

I would say user-generated content,

content creation would probably be the better way to go.

In terms of adding that in.

I would have more of that actually.

I probably have 50 50 where it's a lot of people

sending you photos,

video testimonials along with people actually shooting the product and giving

more of a actor related approach.

I would almost to my way of thinking,

put influencer marketing in with the paid content creators that you

could kind of think of them as a group together.

Exactly. So 50% where they're more structured,

more thought out content and photos that you're probably paying for

or you're trading product for,

as you'd mentioned earlier.

And then 50% some that I just use the word organically

cuz it's easier,

you know,

like you have it in your processes and someone leaves a

review so you can take the wording of that review or

you're at a craft show and someone buys your product and

puts it on you say,

Hey, can I take a picture of you in those new

earrings? Whatever.

I'm using the same idea.

So 50 50 for something like that.

Exactly, yes.

Okay. So that brings us to content strategy overall.

I guess because we've thought before about,

you know,

I'm gonna do this many posts on Facebook,

or I'm not using Facebook anymore,

I'm doing Instagram and on Instagram,

whichever portion of that platform you're using Pinterest,

you know,

whatever it is,

but not so much necessarily formalizing out what the content would

look like.

Obviously we have promotion cycles,

right? Depending on our product,

there are holidays that come up that we tie into.

But what would be your direction from someone who's starting with

a blank slate product creator Now for content strategy,

I wanted to pause this discussion for a second to let

you know that I recognize you may be feeling overwhelmed right

now. I mean,

I bring on great guests who are specialists in their fields

and we get into fabulous conversations that you know can help

grow your business.

So after the show you have the full intention of grabbing

a download,

making an adjustment on your website or any number of other

ideas that arise as a result of this podcast.

But what happens,

you get back to your other activities and the momentum you

once had gets lost.

What you've planned to do is forgotten,

then you feel bad because your business is going on as

usual without implementing anything that you know would help grow your

business. We're just too busy doing all the things like a

robot moving from one thing to another without thinking because we

have to.

I get it,

I've been there.

But guess what?

There is another way.

Since I recognized this exact behavior in my own business,

I set out to do something about it and now what

works for me,

I'm sharing with you.

I formalized the process and it's called the inspired daily planner,

made specifically for gifters,

bakers, crafters and makers,

but it's not your ordinary planner.

First off,

it comes with a video explaining my productivity strategy.

Plus it's not dated.

So you can start using your planner the second it arrives

at your doorstep.

And that's not all included for each day is a motivational

message or business building tip and plenty of space to capture

and book in time for to-dos,

schedule appointments and all those other ideas that are now getting

lost. Think of it as a book and a planner all

in one yet compact enough to carry with you and resource

as necessary.

It's the perfect solution to truly act and move your business

forward. Go to gift biz unwrapped.com/inspired

to get your hard copy planner along with my power of

purpose video that will set you on the path for true

business growth.

This makes a great gift too.

So if you have a biz bestie,

pick up a planner for them too.

That link again is gift biz unwrap.com/inspired.

Okay, let's get back to the show.

Yeah, I mean I would definitely,

you know,

again, if you're starting any sort of business,

any sort of e-commerce business,

you have to have a strategy definitely adding in that you

do. Can You repeat that one more Time for everybody?

Yeah, definitely have a strategy.

Okay. Because again,

like you have to make sure,

like you said,

you're hitting key moments in the year with holidays,

sales, all of that.

And so especially if you're using a content strategy,

if you want to put more budget behind those particular things

or launches too,

if you wanna have those particular things be more prevalent in

your marketing,

then you definitely need to set aside that time.

I would at least give,

in terms of content marketing at least two months ahead of

time. One,

so you can send out all the product,

make sure that you receive the content back on time and

it's everything that you want edited wise.

Because again,

you're working with content creators,

yes, this is their job,

but content creators are very challenging to work with sometimes because

they don't necessarily understand the urgency of how quickly you need

something back.

And so if you are waiting till the last minute to

get this stuff done,

most likely you're probably gonna miss that launch with the video

using for them.

So I would definitely make sure that you're planning ahead in

terms of,

okay, this is the year that I have,

these are all the key moments in my year.

I need to basically work backwards from that.

And I would always give yourself buffer room because you're gonna

run into those moments when maybe you don't like the content,

maybe they need to reshoot it.

Like there's different things that happen within the content creator flow

that you always need to make sure you're having enough time

to adjust if needed.

So I would definitely make sure that you're laying everything out

for the year and then working backwards.

Well, and if I were doing this I would put deadlines,

you know,

especially if you're paying somebody,

Right? I need to have the images back along these guidelines

by X date and then put a buffer in there to

your point of,

oh my gosh,

can you shoot this from another angle or whatever,

whatever the issue is.

You know,

if you need a little editing,

Right? And that's something that when you're vetting out these content

creators too,

make sure that you do have revisions and always make sure

that you're asking what are the revision deadlines?

How many revisions do I get?

Do I get reshoots?

Those are all things that you should be asking because yes,

even though as a brand you do have a deadline,

like I said,

content creators will shoot a lot of content and majority of

them will do a good job and get what you need

back on time,

the more professional ones.

But I have worked with content creators that it's like they

just don't care that you need to hit a deadline.

And so unfortunately you miss deadlines as a brand and then

you're kind of stuck because you need to get this content.

So that's why I would just make sure,

like as you're vetting people out,

read the contract,

make sure that you're getting everything that you need and that

you have specific deadlines.

Then also make sure you're giving yourself a buffer And a

plan B,

especially if they're brand new.

Yes, exactly.

And then I'm guessing at some point then you build your

list of people that you feel comfortable with,

right? You wanna know that when you're getting back the pictures,

you are gonna love them,

right? Because they're representing your product.

And once you get a couple of people in your lineup

who you are liking,

I guess,

then you just go back to them all the time.

Exactly, yeah.

If you start building your list of content creators who one,

you know are super reliable and they just get it,

they get your product,

they get your aesthetic,

then definitely keep reaching out to those people.

And a lot of times,

like creators,

obviously they like to work with existing clients,

like they like to continue to work with the same clients.

One because it's,

for them,

it's just a revenue stream that is constant.

And two,

like they're just always gonna do a good job because they

wanna make you happy.

And if you have a good relationship,

it just makes it so much easier.

True. So where do we find these golden content creators?

If you don't have anyone in mind,

what do you do?

Honestly, I mean it's a lot of trial and error.

I'll be honest,

it's not easy with last year so many content creators popped

up. I,

I feel like everyone's a content creator now.

So really it's a lot of backend work on your side

to get the people that you wanna work with.

A lot of times I'll make sure to get their portfolios,

you can even ask them to reach out to past clients,

see how they work with the client,

are they reliable?

And I mean really it's a lot of,

obviously Instagram,

you could literally search user-generated content U G C on these

platforms to find creators.

TikTok is a great one to use.

Again, it's a lot of outreach at the beginning.

When you're saying content creators,

are you looking for the same person to do the words

as the images or are they two separate people?

The words in terms of The but content,

like if you're doing this for social,

what the words are,

that's separate.

We're just right now talking about the images,

Right? Yes,

yes. Okay.

All right.

So I'm also thinking just as I'm trying to brainstorm,

if we're part of different women business organizations,

you could potentially find people there.

Definitely Every local chamber and like small business group probably has

a photographer,

right, but not necessarily a product photographer.

Oh, totally,

yes. Although if you gave them direction,

maybe they could help you.

But I'm also thinking of some of the larger online groups,

like some of the women's groups that I'm part of definitely

have photographers and I'd love to give them the business.

And you have that connection cuz you're part of a same

group. Yeah,

definitely. That Could be another place to look.

Yeah. And I would even say like I have honestly reached

out to people in my industry of who I,

you know,

not necessarily worked with like not really competing against each other,

but we are in the same realm of business and I've

reached out to them and said,

hey, like is there anyone that you can suggest?

I'd love to work with them,

give them some more work basically.

Yeah, if you reach out to people who are in your

industry, most of the time people are gonna be fine giving

you connects because one,

it's helping their business,

it's a good referral,

maybe they have some sort of referral fee or something.

So definitely reach out to people who,

you know,

within your network it can't hurt to ask.

What do you think about using something like Upwork?

One of those?

Yeah, I mean you can definitely use those.

I mean I don't have anything against Upwork.

I mean I think it's a great platform.

It's definitely inexpensive.

Again, I would just say as you're looking through it,

just make sure you're checking their content,

checking their references,

and that they're just good to work with.

Right. Okay.

Back to our strategy.

So we plan out for the calendar year,

the specific points in time.

Maybe we have a product launch,

you know,

everybody based on their product has different times of the year

that are important to them.

If you sell woolen sweaters,

you're probably,

you know,

the spring is or time,

right? Yeah.

Where is for weddings?

Wedding cakes,

you know,

so everyone has their different calendar so you can't take someone

else's calendar and state it as yours.

You have to really think through your year.

And then you were saying like two months before,

something like that,

start thinking of what the photos should be outreach then.

So you would've wanted to identify people earlier.

Yes. Outreach them to get the photos in and then you're

able to go from there.

Exactly, yes.

Okay. And then we've talked about,

you know,

if it's a customer circle back type thing,

like a referral or something like that,

that's an ongoing Thing,

right? Yes.

And you've shared with us a really good strategy about 50

50. What about a mix in terms of video versus carousels

or just single posts or reels?

Like what do you think about that mixture?

I mean,

I would definitely focus more on video and reels video.

Again, it's such a huge,

people are more interested in your stories and video than they

are scrolling through your feed.

I always tell people,

you know,

don't neglect your feed with photos because you still want that

great looking carousel images or photography on your feed.

Because if people go to your page,

obviously they're gonna scroll through and look at all that stuff.

But in terms of video,

I mean video is definitely very important.

Right now video is taking over social media and so,

and it's not going anywhere.

It's getting more competitive with what people post.

So I would definitely make sure that you're focusing heavily on

video as well.

And this always changes and it changes by platform.

So once you have something set,

just be aware,

I guess,

of different platforms,

what's hot on one platform versus another.

I like to say that there's always,

especially if you're doing a lot of content for social media

specifically, is have your experts on different platforms,

you've got everything covered.

Cuz if something's super important,

everybody at some point is gonna talk about it,

right? Yeah.

You know,

so you don't have to follow a million people who are

Instagram specialists versus having one who's Instagram and maybe one who's

Pinterest or something like that.

Yeah. You know,

just have people you tap into.

So you know,

cuz I have heard recently that on Instagram,

stagnant posts are getting bigger results right now than reels are.

But that could be for like a neon second,

right? Like you know,

it could be there for half a second and next week

it'll be totally different.

Exactly. And at some point you have to say,

I'm gonna do the best that I can.

I'm gonna get things up and not just have to do

the right thing.

Cuz then you'll never do anything.

Yeah. And it's focus on the platform.

The other thing too is that because there's so many platforms,

I feel like people look at all of them and they're

like, I need to post on every single one and I

need to make sure that I'm on every single platform.

And I don't necessarily think that's true because you need to

focus on the platform that is driving results.

So let's say you're on Instagram and you're on TikTok,

you're not really seeing a lot of growth,

you're not really seeing a lot of engagement on TikTok.

Maybe that's not the platform for you.

Just focus on Instagram and Facebook.

Same with Pinterest.

Like if you're seeing more engagement results on Pinterest,

maybe focus your efforts on Pinterest.

I would say to brands,

focus on a platform that's gonna get you the results first

and then you can go into another platform and start learning

that one.

Because every platform is different.

The way you post on the platforms is different.

TikTok is very different from Instagram.

There's a way to focus on that.

There's a way to shoot content for that.

So you just can't be a pro at all of them.

And so just really make sure you're focusing in on the

ones that are working for you and then don't stress about

the other ones.

That's truthfully my advice.

Right. Well and I'm also thinking don't also just focus on

the one that you like the best.

You need to focus on where your customers Are.

Yes, exactly.

For personal you can focus wherever you want,

but Right.

And I like that when I first heard that,

it just made me feel so much better.

You know?

Yeah. Like it's one platform,

get your strategy down,

get consistent,

know what you're doing there,

and then layer another one on from there.

Right. And go that way so much easier.

Yes. And I mean really when you think about it,

it's like they're not going anywhere.

The platforms are only getting bigger.

So it's like again,

like just focus on the one that you're doing the best

on and then you can start working on another strategy.

Yeah. And if you have someone who's part of your business

team, like let's say you have someone younger who is like

an Instagram wiz doesn't mind even being on video cuz it

doesn't need to be you.

Right. Use them for that,

you know,

for exactly a portion of your social media strategy.

It doesn't only have to be You.

Yeah, exactly.

Definitely. Yeah.

Okay. What do you think,

when we're talking about content,

what do you think about the actual images themselves?

Should they only be product specific images?

Should they be lifestyle images?

What about if I'm out at a craft show,

should I have someone come and professionally video that show for

me? Or what do you think about all those different types

of content imagery?

Yeah, I mean,

if you can afford that,

I would definitely say do it.

I mean,

again, it can't hurt you.

I would again,

always have a mixture of organic looking content where it's people

taking photos with it.

You taking photos,

professional photos.

Again, I think it depends on the brand,

it depends on the product,

it depends on how you want your feed to look.

But I would say,

you know,

obviously the more images you have or the more the variety

you have,

it just shows,

again, people using the product,

people a nice photo of the product.

I would just say making sure that you have a variety

of photos because really at the end of the day,

it's only gonna help you.

It's not gonna hurt you.

And then you can really see like what's resonating with people

as you're posting these.

Truthfully, that's how I would go.

I would just diversify all of it.

Okay. And you still wanna stay on brand,

like you don't want one picture to be really bright light

in the next one,

in a dim dark place or,

or a really blurry picture or something like that.

So quality and consistency of the images,

like not a different filter on every Photo.

Exactly. Like none of that.

So it all still looks like your own brand.

Right? Right.

Exactly. All right.

So consistency with the images,

the way things are looking,

the way you word things should be similar too.

Like you can't show up as one type of a voice

and then be another voice.

But all of this is things that we know too with

regard to social media and content creation.

Right? Exactly.

So you're talking about how you know whether what you're doing

is performing for you.

How do you analyze a post to determine that?

A post or a video or whatever you're putting up?

Yeah, so if you have a business account on Instagram,

you can go in and measure your analytics.

And so one of the biggest things to view is what's

the engagement on it,

how many impressions are we getting?

Are we reaching new audiences?

The Instagram platform,

in terms of analytics,

they have a lot of great resources if you're running on

a platform too.

Some of the other platforms like plan or later,

those ones also have a lot of engagement metrics too.

But I mean,

you can see are people commenting?

Are people re-sharing exact,

like exa again,

what are,

what's the engagement metrics that people are having?

And then you can see,

okay, this post maybe only got,

I don't know,

like a hundred sessions or engagement,

whereas like another video or photo maybe got 300.

So it's like that sort of content you can start to

look at and see how people are responding.

And then you can kind of restructure your strategy of,

okay, well this is starting to work.

Maybe I start posting similar things to this.

I wouldn't go all in on that.

I would just start trickling those in.

And then seeing again like how is this working?

You know,

it's an iteration of what was performing.

Again, the algorithm changes so much on Instagram.

Sometimes it's really hard to under like to make it effective.

But I think as long as you're getting those shares comments

like, like those are all things that are really good metrics

to look at so that you know how my posts are

doing. Okay.

And the other thing is,

if you have a post,

especially with a video that you've paid for be creating,

right? And it's worked really well,

I know that you can repost that after a certain amount

of time.

So it's doesn't have to be like a one and done

type thing either.

Definitely You can put it in different places.

Like you could put it in Pinterest and on some social

sites, but then you can also,

let's say it was six months ago,

you can bring that up again and post it as a

new post too.

Definitely. And on,

you know,

let's say reels or stories,

I mean you can even add a new thumbnail,

which again,

when you're scrolling through the feet,

it looks different.

Even though it's the same video,

people are still gonna interact with it because it's like,

oh, it's a new post.

And people that maybe didn't come six months ago will think

it's something completely new.

Right. You know,

again, when you're putting forth the money,

it's not a one and done type thing.

You can think of other ways you can use it.

Right. Snippets of a fuller video,

reposting that founder's video we were talking about earlier can go

up on social over and over again because you get brand

new people following and unfollowing all the time.

Right. It's not like everybody who saw it the first time

is like,

oh, well I already saw this,

you know?

Yeah. It's gonna be new people and some people who saw

it before get to see it again and probably pick up

something different.

So all of that is good and makes this worthwhile,

the whole point in investing in content creation.

Right. Exactly.

Okay. What would you say overall to someone who hasn't really

thought about it this way yet?

Because I guarantee you,

Lauren, there are a lot of people who it is like

on the fly like this week,

oh my gosh,

I'm launching my new product out.

Or you know what,

I think I'll show everybody what I'm making this week.

And then they just,

you know,

it's an afterthought.

The content creation is an afterthought.

Right. What's The value of planning,

putting some structure behind it as we've been talking about today?

I mean the more thought and planning and structuring you have,

just the better results you're gonna get.

I do think yes,

you can get good results on the fly,

but if you have an actual strategy set in place,

I just think you're gonna get more for your money,

you know,

more out of the content,

and it's just eventually it's just gonna start performing better because

there's a strategy behind it.

And so that's the biggest thing that I think anyone could

take away,

is that if you're starting with content,

sit down,

take the time,

create a content strategy,

because at really at the end of the day,

it's only gonna help you.

Yeah. Have a plan,

execute the plan.

Yes. Repeat what's working,

add in other things and go from there.

Exactly. Well said,

Lauren, that was fabulous.

Share With us more about what you offer within your business

so everyone who's listening knows more about what you Do.

We mostly work with e-commerce brands.

We do all of their paid social.

So again,

we do the ads for all platforms,

but then we also do shoot content for brands as well.

So we have organic content that we shoot and we also

shoot content for paid social.

So we are essentially just a creative partner for brands to

really help execute any sort of content strategy they're looking for

organic and paid to really help them level up their creative.

Wonderful. And where can people find you?

So the website is the Loft 3 25,

and I'm on Instagram and Twitter at Loft 3 25.

Perfect. Lauren,

thank you so much.

I really appreciate all of your expert advice and guiding us

through this new world of user-generated content.

Really appreciate It.

Yeah, thank you,

Sue. So what do you think if you've never considered user-generated

content before?

I encourage you to take a step in this direction,

even if it's a small one,

invite people to take a photo of how they're using your

product and tag you on Instagram or in an after purchase

email, ask for a product review.

These are easy things to integrate into your normal processes that

can bring in user generated content naturally.

I mentioned in this episode my daughter-in-law Brie,

and her experience working with photographers nationwide to create images for

social media.

You can listen to that episode for more details on how

to set up your process in episode number 164.

If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to show support,

a rating and review is always fabulous because it helps get

the show seen by more makers.

It's a great way to pay it forward.

And there's another way where you can get something tangible in

return for your support too.

Visit my merch shop for a wide variety of inspirational items

like mugs,

journals, water bottles,

and more featuring logos,

images, and quotes to inspire you throughout your day.

Makes a great gift too.

And we've just added some new products for the season to

the shop.

Turnaround is quick and the quality is top notch,

nothing but the best for you.

Take a look at all the options@giftbizunwrapped.com

slash shop.

All proceeds from these purchases helps go to offset the cost

of producing the show.

And now be safe and well and I'll see you again

next time on the Gift Biz Unwrapped podcast.

I wanna make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook group

called Gift Biz Breeze.

It's a place where we all gather and our community to

support each other.

I got a really fun post in there that's my favorite

of the week,

I have to say,

where I invite all of you to share what you're doing

to show pictures of your product,

to show what you're working on for the week,

to get reaction from other people.

And just for fun,

because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody

in the community is making.

My favorite post every single week.

Without doubt.

Wait, what?

Aren't you part of the group already?

If not,

make sure to jump over to Facebook and search for the

group Gift Biz breeze.

Don't delay.