WORKWEEK

(FYI, Instagram isn’t dead and you best not ignore it). 

Let’s discuss the good, old-fashioned fundamentals of Go-to-Market strategy.

1️⃣. Your brand must come correct 

2️⃣. Cheap is expensive $$$

3️⃣. Don’t reinvent the wheel

4️⃣. NO surprises, NO emergencies!!!!!

5️⃣. Growth Marketing team = your ultimate DIGITAL decision makers 

6️⃣. Meet your customer where they are 

7️⃣. If you’re not top of mind (1st), you’re last (customers don’t fall from the sky). 

8️⃣. A rising channel lifts all channels 

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Phew, glad we got that out of the way. Now, let’s talk about something else a bit OLD-FASHIONED. Instagram. 

Back in my day, Instagram used to be all the rage! 👵 In reality, whether or not Instagram tickles our fancy these days ISN’T THE POINT. It’s not about what we like. It’s not about what Gen Z likes. Or the Millennials.

It’s about meeting YOUR customer WHEREVER they are. And, for the record, Going-to-Market is definitely not convenient.

It’s really, really hard. TAKES A LOT OF WORK. A LOT OF MONEY. A LOT OF DRIVE. A LOT OF EFFORT. A LOT OF TIME. A LOT OF, well, A LOT.

When we Go-to-Market, we do not have the luxury of cherry picking which channels “suit us”.

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Sure, we can decide where to double-down. We can follow the hunch (or ideally, the DATA) that points to where our potential customers spend their time.

If you’re a world-famous YouTuber, then yes, definitely launch your brand by announcing your launch via YouTube.

If you’re a TikTok personality with 10M followers, def give those followers the 1st look at what you’re launching. 

But, don’t you dare IGNORE channels that are PROVEN TO BE LUCRATIVE.

*Organic Instagram = FREE content, that a brand posts In-feed, as stories, as reels, as memes, etc). 

** Paid-advertising (via Instagram) = Deploying ads via Meta Business Manager that COST MONEY TO SHARE. The ads that say “sponsored”. 

The point of this brief (that I made over the summer for a brand I helped to launch!) was to illustrate why the brand should consider Instagram to be a top channel, a channel worth investing in, a channel worth driving to, a channel worth paying VERY close attention to. 

Here’s why, my dear millionaire, organic instagram is still oh so relevant:

🍒: INSTAGRAM IS A SEAMLESS COMMERCE EXPERIENCE. Instagram users are accustomed to immediately clicking links they see in instagram (organic or paid), and then shopping on the spot. THIS IS THE #1 REASON. THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.

🍒: Even though Instagram is a snooze, Instagram is a habit. Your customers will be on Instagram EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

🍒: Instagram = a great place to harvest your brand’s community. Here’s what I mean: in comments, in every DM, in story replies and in reposts, you’ll have a chance as a brand to go face-to-face with a customer.
🍒: TikTok has a lot more “burner account” type of users. Users who watch, but don’t participate.

If you’re a brand on TikTok, you’ll receive a ton of comments from “faceless” accounts – accounts that if you click into the profile, there will be 0 posts and no information to be found that tells you (as the brand) who the person leaving the comment even is.

Instagram isn’t like that – users put a lot of time, energy, and pride into their Instagram feeds – and you’re able to tell a LOT about who is on the other side of the screen.

🍒: Instagram is a bit of a pissing war. We want that blue-check mark. We need to be popular on Instagram (not because we’re vain – which we may very well be – but because popularity shows demand. Popularity = social proof).

🍒: Your Instagram storefront will be a home for merch, for product information, for exclusive products, for “first looks”.

Your community will look to Instagram for new product information before they go to TikTok or Twitter. All channels will have super users, but Instagram will be homebase for brand information, news, updates, and tone. 

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Let’s just please all agree to give all channels the proper level of respect. AGREED? Lovely. I’m glad we had this little talk.

Oh, one more thing! Want to learn how to get Organic Instagram OH SO RIGHT? Easy. 

Watch every move of the following 3 brands (they are ORGANIC INSTAGRAM ROYALTY):

@poosh 🍒

(my alma-mater)! 

Poosh has Organic Instagram down to a science. A full on, predictable, never scrambling to decide what to post, never not consistent, never not on-brand, science. X # of posts a day. Posting times. Feed asthetic formulas. Feed asthetic this, and feed asthetic that. (NO SUPRISES, NO EMERGENCIES).

@madhappy 🍒

(I spend all my money here!)

My obsession. Madhappy’s Organic Instagram → push to SMS strategy is on a different stratosphere. They just are leaps and bounds above the rest. They GET IT. Follow them. Shop them (but please don’t shop my size because they always stock out and I’ll elbow you if I see you beelining for the sweat-set of my dreams). 

@chiaraferragni 🍒

(From Italy with POWER)

Watch Chiara to learn: the way founders should show up on IG. The power of mixing in promotional content with real moments. The best makeup – HOW DOES SHE GET HER EYE SHADOW TO LOOK LIKE THAT????

Look to Chiara to understand the value of a MIX OF CONTENT. Of real life meets ads meets family meets glam meets relatability. 

Chiara is the original influencer. Dior, for example, sponsored her wedding. You know our motto here at Go-to-Millions – good enough for Dior, good enough for Ari! 

P.S. If you’re not thinking of your founder as a brand that can help your brand, then you aren’t thinking big enough. We need to build a 360 Go-to-Market strategy, and use all channels (and all accounts) to lead back to cold, hard, revenue!