Your Content Strategy Starts With One Question

Most businesses are creating content for everyone — and reaching no one. In this episode, we break down why knowing your ideal customer isn't just a marketing buzzword, it's the thing that determines whether your content actually converts. From UGC brand partnerships to real estate listings to online fitness platforms, the through line is always the same: who are you talking to?

A podcast about what really goes on behind the scenes of building brands, businesses, and personal platforms. 

We talk marketing, content, branding, community, and the uncomfortable middle between idea and execution.
Built for founders, creators, and business owners who want honest conversations, not recycled advice.


Hosted by Matt and Olivia. Audio-only for now. New episodes regularly.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Episode 17.

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome back.

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Here we are.

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Yeah. Before we get into it, let's just catch people up on what has been happening. Your event's coming up really soon.

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Yeah, in just over a week.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Is this actually is this episode being posted before or after your event?

SPEAKER_01 0:19

It'll be before. Before. Yeah. So when this comes out, it'll be like four days before.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Four days. Are you? What's what are the feelings going into it? You have a lot of brand sponsors.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Yeah. I'm like excited. I'm nervous. I'm a perfectionist, so I think it's easy for me to get caught up in how everything's gonna look and feel, and I just want people to have a good time. But I have so many brands who have supported this, and it's really cool. And I have a DJ coming, I have food, and there's I think now there's over 50 people that are there's people trying to sneak in, and I'm like, capacity's 50, we can't do that. So I have a lot of wellness brands that have been very gracious and supporting me in this, so I'm really looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

And which actually talk about how you got so many brands and businesses supporting you and sending you product.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

I've been I in the past I've worked with many different wellness brands that may have just been like one-off projects, but I've also done consistent work for some of them as well. And I think the best thing and the best advice I can give is just ask. Just put yourself out there to like.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

You also like you don't burn bridges.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

No, and I think it's important that you just you as a UGC creator, I think you should always respect the people that are giving you product, they're giving you free product and sometimes in exchange for free work. But I think no matter what, it's important to respect the people and the brands that you work with. And that's it comes down to being very aligned with the brand as well. If you don't connect with what they're selling, then that's ultimately the reason to say no. But with all these brands that I've worked that I'm working with for my event, I have worked with at least once, and I connected with their marketing teams just to see if I was able to have them a part of my day. And with the exchange of content for them as well, and making sure that we're highlighting them is obviously very important because you don't want to leave them hanging. And so, yeah, that's been pretty big.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

It goes into the actual topic of this episode, yeah. Which is why it is so important as a business, small business, brand, personal brand, creative, why it is so important to talk to that ideal customer or client.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Because as a UGC creator, these brands want to be aligned with the creators that are aligned with the same values, they're doing the same things, yeah, in the same space, and all of the brands that are partnering with you are all aligned with the health and wellness space.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Yeah, in some capacity.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

It's mostly a food and beverage, which I'm like But it's kombucha, it's protein bars, it's electrolyte, everything you were bringing in is a aligned with the Pilates strength wellness space.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

And it's I think it's just a really cool way to highlight those brands too. Yeah. And I think that's one thing too, is when you're creating content, those types of brands and businesses are attracted to what you create based on your niche.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Absolutely. That's why I think small and like micro like influencers like UGC creators are doing are like doing so right now. Yeah. Because the brands are recognizing that they have a bigger impact with those local communities than someone who has a bigger following.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

And that and we've talked about that before in the past too. And I would say that I have I'm still on the lower end as far as my online community reach, but I think sometimes that can be a little bit more impactful too because you have such a close-knit people following you. So people are like, Oh, she drinks this or she uses this, and it's like people are influenced by that in a smaller capacity.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

Yeah. For example, greenhouse, who just sent you product for the event. You drink greenhouse on a regular so it makes sense. Yeah. Compared to if a brand reached out to you asking for you to promote like socks. Socks or something wild. Yeah. It'd be like your audience would catch on to that and be like, this doesn't feel like live.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

No.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

At that point, it's either for a paycheck or you want some credibility out of it.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

But I feel like that can be a little distasteful too. It's what are you doing? Yeah. And I feel like you don't want to confuse people either. And you can tell when you create something that doesn't align with who you are or what you like, it feels weird. Yeah. And it's like you don't know how to create something around that. So it's don't waste your time doing stuff like that. Do something that you actually love to create with things that you love.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

It goes back to just how to monetize your brand. Do the things you want to be doing, do the things that you want to be paid for.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

And sometimes it's free to fee. Do something for free. And if it's good enough and they want to reach out and do it again with you, then that's when you charge.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

And I've been lucky enough with the flourish pancakes. I've been working with them for two almost two years now. And just on small campaigns and things like that, but they've always kept that connection. And they're so good. They're so good. And I love their product. I love what they stand for. And they're just such a good group of people to work with too.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

Side note, if you're showing up to this event on the 31st, you're gonna be walking away with some good stuff. I'm jealous. I hope I get it bagged.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

You didn't book a mat, Matthew.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Okay, so we talked about like influencers, why it's important for them to talk to their ideal customer, but for business, yeah. For a local small company, basically. Yeah. Why is it important for them to talk to their ideal customer? I actually had this conversation on Monday, I think, when I was shooting a real estate listing for my clients in real estate space. We actually talked about it with Owen. We talked about it with pretty much everyone in the real estate space, too, especially if they're a videographer. All you see right now is these hype videos, these transitions, yeah, the big bold text.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:53

Which is fine, but it's just to get eyes on the piece of content. Yeah. You're Owen said this perfectly. You have to create content around the lifestyle and the atmosphere and the environment of that listing. You have to talk to the person who would be buying that host. And all of my listings I go on. Like we try to do that. Yeah, it's the story. Yeah, we don't focus on the flashy edits.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Or I like as much as it is like selling, it doesn't feel like someone's aggressively trying to sell you on something.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

Yeah, and actually, I did see this on video, so I am pulling it from something I saw from another creative. But what did he say? The flashy edits that are cool and flashy and dick and like unreal. Like it looks good to watch and it looks great. If you look at the comments, everyone commenting is just a videographer.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

Being like, oh, how can I sick how can I create this? How can I replicate this is sick? It's not someone buying the house.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

No. So it's what is it really converting?

SPEAKER_00 7:59

I know that this is really real estate heavy for me, but for us right now, but But I think that's also where we're at right now, too. I think for me, my thinking, my approach to if I was to look for a new house, I am obviously looking for the photos first.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Looking at the Instagrams, and I want to watch as much content about a house as possible. That's why it's so important to do long form still, short form, quick walkthrough tours. Yeah. Create UGC content around a listing.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

And I also love what you've done in the past too. And similar with what Owen does is the story of not only the house but the surrounding areas. It's okay, so where am I actually moving? You're not just selling someone on a house, you're selling someone on the location. And I think it's important, and we had this conversation, I'm pretty sure, last night. It's yeah, you can love a house, but if it's in the wrong spot, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

You're like it all comes down to talking to the right person.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

Yeah, and that's who you want to direct it to.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Exactly. So let's move on from real estate. Let's talk about just small business in general. Why is it important for them to create content tailored in speaking to the right people?

SPEAKER_01 9:10

For one, you need to in order to do that, you need to know who your audience is. So look back at your numbers, look at your demographics, and establish what your outreach is. So if it's ages from 18 to 30 or whatever it's okay, so how can I create content specific to that demographic? And so you're talking to those people specifically. For example, and this not necessarily age, but we always talk about pain points. And for me, for an online fitness platform, it's like you don't have 300 plus dollars to spend on a membership every month. So what are your other options? So we give you a solution to the problems or the pain points that you have. You don't have access to a gym or whatever, you need something that's a little bit budget friendly. You're picking at those things and delivering it so that people are like, Oh, okay, yeah, like, and I always like to put into perspective too, like that one post I had, it was like, okay, a dinner out is 20, like four coffees a week is whatever. Yeah. And so it's like establishing those things and creating content around that and talking to those people specifically.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

Yeah. Absolutely. It's going back to you're either creating content with a phone or you're creating content with a high quality camera. Yeah. Both are fine. If let's say we're doing a content session for just a client or a project, we can create the exact same content, we can create these topics. If the iPhone clip is talking to that ideal person, and let's say it's something we're filming with the camera, if the one with the iPhone lands with that person and that person reach out re reaches out and it hits a nerve with them, I feel like that piece of content is better than something that was filmed with a six thousand dollar camera.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Is it it's finding the balance between the two?

SPEAKER_00 11:15

Yeah. So both work.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

Like we shoot iPhone content all the time.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:21

But like quality content is very subjective.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

I um yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_00 11:28

Like we don't know what quality content is, but like I said, like I think I'm just trying to get at There's benefits to both.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

And I think a lot of people love the the iPhone content recently because it feels more real and authentic to the people involved in the business. But I with the high quality content, it adds this like level to the brand, and it's like it elevates the the businesses or the brands like persona.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Yeah, yeah. So I think every project we do starts with that question Who are we talking to? Yeah. That's the first thing I ask on discovery calls, who is this for?

SPEAKER_01 12:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

That helps us figure out what we do.