1645 – Getting Your Product Out There With Social Media with Oh Snap Social Karlyn Ankrom

Josh (00:00:05) - Hey there, thoughtful listener. Would you like consistent and predictable sales activity with no spam and no ads? I'll teach you step by step how to do this, particularly if you're an agency owner, consultant, coach or B2B service provider. What I teach has worked for me for more than 15 years and has helped me create more than $10 million in revenue. Just head to up my influence and watch my free class on how to create endless high ticket sales appointments. You can even chat with me live and I'll see and reply to your messages. Also, don't forget the thoughtful entrepreneur is always looking for guests. Go to up my influence and click on podcast. We'd love to have you. With us right now, Karlyn and Ankrom Karlyn. You are the CEO of oh, Snap Social. You found on the Web at Oh, snap Social. Karlyn, thank you so much for joining us.

Karlyn (00:01:11) - Thanks for having me, Josh I'm excited to be here. Yeah.

Josh (00:01:14) - So give us an overview of what oh, snap does, who you work with and kind of what you do.

Karlyn (00:01:20) - Absolutely. So Social is a boutique social media marketing agency based in the Northern Virginia area. But we have clients all over the country and hopefully eventually the world. We do work with associations, nonprofits that have funding, of course, as well as businesses, small, medium who are purpose driven. They are very clear in their mission. They have an impact to make on the world. And they just want the expertise of me and my team to amplify that outward, utilizing all of the different social media marketing platforms that are at our fingertips to do that. So that's really where our focus is getting driven. This particular year we have made a shift at the end of 2022 to be more intentional with who we are serving, and that's led us to those purpose driven, mission driven organizations and business owners.

Josh (00:02:20) - Yeah. What would be some examples of what that means? Mission driven, purpose driven.

Karlyn (00:02:25) - There's the ones that make an impact on people's daily lives, whether it's health, whether it's just making their homes better, safer.

Karlyn (00:02:35) - And if you think about it, a lot of businesses, you know, at the crux of it, are aiming to help make people's lives better. So I'm really thinking about those more small business owners that are like the Hvac companies, the trades that help make people's lives better, as well as the health care side of things organization, wellness, science driven biotech. Those are the folks that we really enjoy helping getting there, either their new product or innovation out there into the world, as well as MDs and PhDs who are writing their books that need to get amplified out into the media, or they're appearing on podcasts and media and they are not repurposing that on social.

Josh (00:03:15) - On.

Karlyn (00:03:15) - Them. No, they're not repurposing it to get their message out to the world, you know, in the big capacity that we can these days on social, which is incredible. So yeah, I'd like to do that for them or help them see the light and then go do that for themselves.

Josh (00:03:32) - What are you most excited about right now in the kind of the world of social media, particularly for business owners or folks that are just trying to connect, maybe using social media to connect with clients? What trends are you seeing that you're like, Oh, this is going to be this going to be fun to participate and watch?

Karlyn (00:03:51) - Yeah, it's funny because every day when Missouri goes live on Instagram or, you know, there's a new update from Zuckerberg and you're like, I kind of start to sweat a little bit because I'm like, okay, what now? Like, what's the what's the plan? And it moves so fast.

Karlyn (00:04:07) - The trend that I'm still loving, it's not a new trend, but I still think it's new for a lot of business owners to really harness is the power of video and a power of like not necessarily like the dancing pointing, you know, lip syncing, you know, content. But the ones that they're leaning in on their expertise, where they're repurposing a podcast that they've been on or a media interview that they've done on local television, leaning into their own expertise and truly showing up as who they are, not who the competition says that they need to be, and or that guru down the street thinks that they should be. That's the biggest thing that I'm seeing from business owners who come to me for discovery calls and things like that is one, they're not entirely sure where they're starting from. So measuring the analytics that matter to them and their overarching goals and to having a sound strategy to get them to that next point that they want to be in their business and then advancing that through to that implementation and developing of content organic or paid depending to get them to that next level.

Karlyn (00:05:11) - Because ultimately social media is just a sliver of what our overall marketing objectives and tactics should be.

Josh (00:05:20) - Yeah. And I want to ask your take your opinion. There's a few topics in social media your opinion on, um, for someone that's maybe just seen kind of the bombastic headlines around Twitter, what's just a very kind of objective, unbiased view of, yeah, here's kind of what we're experiencing with clients that maybe were dependent on Twitter and kind of how that's changed or evolved over the past six months. And I don't know, kind of looking at the tea leaves, you know, how one might think about that platform.

Karlyn (00:05:58) - I love this question because Twitter right now at the time of this recording, right, is the wild, wild West in a lot of ways. I think if it's been working for you to amplify what you're already doing, continue to do so. But measure the metrics because you want to put because Twitter, just like any platform, it moves extremely quickly. And you have to be out there multiple times a day to get that traction.

Karlyn (00:06:21) - I think the worry for a lot of people right now or the unknown is, okay, so we now have to pay for our content to get seen more to newer people that aren't necessarily following us yet. Like what does that mean? And I think time will tell. But my biggest tip for people who are utilizing Twitter on the regular is to continue to keep up with it, watch the news, lean into blogs like what I post out there every single week, and to get kind of that unbiased opinion from someone who's in the trenches every single day. But Twitter, I've seen a lot of people pause their Twitter efforts. I don't know if that's the right thing to do because it's going to take you that much more time to get back up that momentum. Um, so, you know, maybe it's pull back, maybe it's double down on a different platform until it figure out it's figuring out what they do. I've even had some clients switch their strategy just for Twitter to be a place that they're engaging with their current clients and the media.

Karlyn (00:07:23) - That's it.

Josh (00:07:24) - Mm hmm. Yeah. And a short form video, I think, is I want to talk about this just a little bit because that's recently we've kind of recommitted to that. Is there a way to do short what would be some examples of ways to not do short form video that you're like, Yeah, I don't think that's um, or again thinking of reels, stories, shorts, you know that all those things. What would, what would be an example of doing that poorly and what would be a kind of a way of like yeah clients or folks that are doing this seem to be getting some decent engagement.

Karlyn (00:08:05) - So I would say if you can always create the reel with a talking head or actual original content, meaning the your own video that you shot, the, you know, photos of that company picnic that you're going to post quickly up on Instagram or on LinkedIn as a fun short video to show the company culture. My thing is void stock images and videos when possible. We don't always have a choice, myself included at my agency because we are relying a lot of times of us going collecting the content or our clients sending us the content.

Karlyn (00:08:40) - Right. Which is always why I say we're in partnership with each other client and our agency, because we can't be you on video, at least not yet. I hasn't quite gotten there yet. Right. Where can be someone else on video? Um, but at the same time if all you have is one stock feed, try it. If that's what's holding you back from trying it. Do it and see what happens. And then you're like, okay, this isn't so hard to get the mechanics of everything correct then, Oh, now I can go and film something quick. And I would say stop overthinking it. That's something that all my clients do, All of them. I'm like, Stop overthinking. It's literally a ten second seven second short or real. It's there and gone. Seven seconds of panning your office. Seven seconds of, you know, taking a quick video of yourself, sharing a quick opinion. The more opinionated you can be, the better the polarizing topics within your industry tends to attract people towards you and repel people who aren't for you, away from you, which is exactly what you want to do because you are not for everybody.

Karlyn (00:09:48) - Yeah.

Josh (00:09:49) - So another obviously, another huge, you know, headline maker and you know, and it's been very exciting is the use of AI tools and ChatGPT in particular. What have you been or how have you been seeing this used effectively?

Karlyn (00:10:08) - Yes. So I think first caveat is it will never replace humans. That being said, I love it for really thinking about like the speed of the work in which I do as well as ideating. Those are the two things that I use ChatGPT for regularly, and I also use it as a leader of my business to help. What's the word? Cushion Some more direct conversations I need to have with team members or clients. I'm a very direct human. I communicate very directly and think sometimes that like is like a little weird for people. And so I've been putting in some of those words inside ChatGPT what I want to say, and then it kind of comes up with a more, uh, well received version of that, you know, message that I'm trying to do.

Karlyn (00:10:54) - So that's number one, use it for leadership all the time. If don't have the words how I exactly want it to sound, ChatGPT helps me with that. And then ideation. I've used it to source national days very quickly. It's been awesome. Is it always right? No. Um, half the time I would say it's right. The other half, not so much. Um, I've also used it to repurpose content, so if I know that tweet performed really well, I will say write three versions of this tweet for me and it will write three different versions.

Josh (00:11:29) - Oh, yeah, yeah.

Karlyn (00:11:30) - So that's been really great. Yeah. Just repurposing and speed and ideation.

Josh (00:11:35) - Um, aside from and again, I think there's been some rumblings of maybe some quote unquote Twitter competitors, but outside of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and TikTok, obviously YouTube. Are there any others that maybe are lesser known platforms that you might say, keep your eye on this or this kind of platform? These may become a thing, Anything that you can think of?

Karlyn (00:12:13) - I mean, I think there's always something going to be in the horizon.

Karlyn (00:12:19) - There's so many social platforms and would even call some of them like more community platforms like in 2020, Clubhouse was like exploded because we were all dying for that connection, you know, just human to human interaction. So I think there's going to be more audio experiences that start to come out, which is why like podcast though an older format of media is just continually to progress and explode, which has been amazing, but something that also would keep your your eye on, which is a lesser known platform. It's been around for a while is Pinterest and I know that sounds like what are you talking about Pinterest like I can't remember the last time I pinned anything. Okay, but have you looked at your referral traffic on your website? If you have a Pinterest account? I just did this for a client when I did an audit. She's like, I don't think Pinterest is like a really main driver. We looked at her Google Analytics. Top referral traffic. Pinterest. Wow. She's like, We haven't pinned anything in two years.

Karlyn (00:13:17) - I'm like, Oh my goodness. The three pins that you had there are kind of having a viral component and they're creating traffic to your blogs consistently, so you might want to double check and look at that. So I would say do that audit, see where your resources are and where you're getting traffic that are hitting your goals and go from there. But in terms of new ones, there's a new one every week. And yeah, right, Yeah, definitely think and Instagram then seems to mimic whatever that trend of, you know app is coming. But I think TikTok is going to be here unless the government decides not to have it be a thing or, you know, a US based company doesn't buy it, which I'm hoping is the best case scenario. But yeah, you know.

Josh (00:13:57) - You and me both. What does when you are visiting with a potential client, how do you figure out if it's going to be a good fit together? You know, and I'm thinking kind of the discovery process and the value that you could potentially bring in in combining forces with them.

Karlyn (00:14:17) - Absolutely. The first question well, maybe not the first. Maybe like the second or third question that I always ask clients is what does success look like on social media for you? And quickly, if they say, oh, I want 10,000 followers or I want to go viral or I want 100,000 views on every single reel from here on out, I'm going to be like, okay, not a fit. Because social media, for better or for worse, is a long term game. You have to be willing to step up to the plate and strike out a few times to learn in order to shift and move those strategies, because that's all social media is like no in sales. People say like ABC always be curated or ABC always be closing in social. We say always be curious, like put on like that lab coat, roll up the sleeves like and get creative. And the better content that you put out there that addresses the pain points of your, you know, audience, the more engagement you're going to get, the more inquiries you're going to get.

Karlyn (00:15:17) - But if you try to be everyone else, it's very evident to your audience that you're trying to be someone or another company that you're not. Because we get served all these ads every single day and content consistently. We're very good at reading between the lines. So Chauvin has as much as have a love hate relationship with the word authenticity, um, show up as who you are and who you're meant to be and your authentic self and people will gravitate towards you. But if you try to show up with someone else, they're going to be like, Who is this person? And they're going to leave. Yeah.

Josh (00:15:51) - Oh yeah. We all know when it's insincere. And it does. It feels icky. You know, one other thing that I thought was kind of interesting this year is in the past, being able to get the blue checkmark used to be so coveted, and now it's really kind of weird who has it? And it's almost like, why? You know, it's what, a 180? I think that's done.

Josh (00:16:19) - But what's your opinion on kind of quote unquote verification and, you know, the kind of the blue checkmark?

Karlyn (00:16:26) - I think it's interesting. I have the blue check on Instagram because I keep getting clients asking me about is it worth it? Is it worth it? Is it worth it? So I'm like, I'm going to test it for six months and see if it's worth it. So far, not worth it. Like right now. Think I'm three months in, so I have another three to go. I just don't think it's worth it. I don't think my content gets shown to more people. That's the reason originally that I was like, Oh, if it gives me more reach, why wouldn't I? Yeah. But at the same time, now that's a thing that they're like, Oh, never mind. We're, we're taking that part of the blue check away on Instagram. Never mind. Like it'll just make you feel authoritative. I'm like, Well, I don't need that. I feel like my audience already comes to me who like, you know, if they like me, they're going to come to me and listen to what I have to say.

Karlyn (00:17:13) - So, Blue, check or not, that doesn't matter to them. So and also and the same time it diminishes.

Josh (00:17:20) - Yeah. The perceived value of it is, is now just kind of like, okay, why? And it's to me it's become a mark of okay, no, you must be someone that is, you know, just kind of seen in the world as, as having valuable content or someone that's got some decent authority and that's been verified, which I had that on Twitter and it got taken away from. Okay, for no reason. I'm not going to pay. Yeah, but, but then it's like, well, you know, I picked up, you know, because I'm a work I've been working journalist for 15 years, so I legitimately have been trying to get it for Facebook. But now it's like, I don't know. I agree with you. I don't see the point. I think it just kind of looks like, okay, you're really wanting to work like social media.

Josh (00:18:08) - That's the only thing that communicates to me now.

Karlyn (00:18:10) - It's it's not think you're right. Yeah. Think there's something to that and think it diminishes those people who had it. Yeah. Like which is too bad quote unquote earned it versus paid for it. And then there was a really interesting conversation happening in Mari Smith's Facebook group about this for the Facebook side of things. And what she was saying is she hasn't gotten the blue check mark for her personal. Profile, which is where they were giving giving out the checks. She's like, because they said that I would lose it on my business page. So she's like, They're making me choose between the two, which doesn't make sense. So she's like, I'm just gonna keep how I was. Because also if you transition over and then try to go back. It won't happen. So it's kind of like weighing your options. And also at the same time navigating all the kooky rules that exist or don't exist, or they change just because they want to and think that's a big thing for a lot of us is be like, we are not in control of what the platforms do or don't do and we just have to.

Karlyn (00:19:23) - Embrace it. The good, bad and ugly. And know that if you know Zuck tomorrow is like, you know what? This has been fun. I'm out. I'm going to go sail off in my yacht. We're good here. One the mass hysteria that that would cause like don't want to see that day. But at the same time, it's just a reality check for a lot of us. To start to build your email list, start to build other platforms, start to build, think, podcast, listen like build an audience in other ways. Because if they were to disappear tomorrow, like would you still be able to kind of still have that that pipeline, that business? And that's why I always say social media is just a sliver of what you do in terms of your overall marketing tactics.

Josh (00:20:10) - Yeah your website. Oh snap social com. Someone that's listening to our conversation right now, what would you recommend they do?

Karlyn (00:20:20) - Definitely go check out the services page if you're interested in kind of an audit or strategy as well as the resources.

Karlyn (00:20:27) - I have too many probably resources for you to download for absolutely free. And there's also two paid ones on there. But things about how to create your first real, how to create capturing calls to action to get people to actually do something with the content that you're putting out there. So loads of resources for you to check out and then once you do hit me up and tell me if you liked it or not.

Josh (00:20:53) - Karlyn Ankrom, again CEO of Oh snap social your website Oh snap social com Karlyn thank you so much for joining us.

Karlyn (00:21:02) - Thank you for having me.

Josh (00:21:10) - Thanks for listening to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Show. If you are a thoughtful business owner or professional who would like to be on this daily program, please visit up My Influence slash guest. If you're a listener, I'd love to shout out your business to our whole audience for free. You can do that by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or join our listener Facebook group. Just search for the thoughtful entrepreneur and Facebook. I'd love even if you just stopped by to say hi, I'd love to meet you.

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