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In this episode we sit down with Taeler Roberts, founder of Kai Strategic Media, to talk about the role of good organic social media. All shoutouts to DuoLingo’s social team and Don Draper. In today’s tip we find out when it’s appropriate to buy your own brand name in your paid search marketing.
Transcript:
Jeff Randolph:
Welcome to the Small Business Miracles Podcast. I’m Jeff Randolph. This small business podcast is brought to you by EAG Advertising & Marketing. We’re going to talk about marketing. We’re also here to celebrate entrepreneurs. We have marketing news and advice that business owners can use to keep moving forward. This week we sit down with Taeler Roberts. She’s the owner and founder of Kai Strategic Media, but first, got another small business marketing tip to talk about. For our tip today, should you buy your own company name in your pay-per-click search advertising? Here’s the easy answer for no. Look, if they’re searching for you by name, you are going to show up. They’re looking for you. They’re not looking for a competitor. They’re going to click on your link. They intend to go to your website. Don’t spend money helping them get there. Give them some credit. They’ll be just fine on their own.
Your money is better spent getting people who don’t already know you to your website. Okay, now having said that, there are sometimes we’ve run into where buying your own name and search marketing is exactly what needs to be done. Here are a few of those times. Is your brand name a common name that appears in a lot of other industries? Let’s say my brand name is Acme, so, of course, I’m selling supplies to Coyotes who’s trying to capture a roadrunner. In that case, I may go ahead and bid on Acme as a brand name to make sure I come up in the search results, and not the ACME Elevator Company or ACME Electronics. Or are you in a very competitive landscape and you want to make sure competitors aren’t the first search result because those competitors are also bidding on your name, so they come up first.
Either way, your brand name may not cost much to bid on, so you could decide to go either way. But if your marketing budget is more limited, every dollar counts. Is bidding on your own name right for you? Your results may vary, but we could sure talk about it. And that’s our marketing tip. Welcome back to the show. I am here with Taeler Roberts. She’s the owner and founder of Kai Strategic Media. Taeler, welcome to the show.
Taeler Roberts:
Hi, how are you?
Jeff Randolph:
I’m doing great. We just had a great conversation about breakfast foods and avocado toast and all kinds of fun things. The secret apparently is sriracha honey.
Taeler Roberts:
Yes, delicious.
Jeff Randolph:
Big fan. Let’s get into it. Let’s talk about what you do at Kai Strategic Media. Tell us all about the company.
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah. So I’ve been doing it for about three years-ish now. Social media, content creation specifically. I focus on funny, engaging content, entertaining, I do education too, but I would say that jokes are probably my biggest thing.
Jeff Randolph:
You’ve got the jokes.
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah, I’ve got the jokes. So going viral, I think most of my clients now that I have currently, maybe not back when I first started social media, but now most of them have gone viral, have had viral moments. So just creating good content is really what I’m about.
Jeff Randolph:
Social media content.
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah.
Jeff Randolph:
I’m going to ask a bunch of questions here.
Taeler Roberts:
Go for it.
Jeff Randolph:
Let’s say on every platform and social media or just certain platforms, do you focus based on client? How do you choose?
Taeler Roberts:
Definitely focus based on client and audience base because obviously not every audience is going to be on every platform. I would say majority now, especially with TikTok kind of on the edge, really not knowing what’s going on with that, we haven’t really focused on that right now because I don’t want to spend marketing dollars on something that might be a dead end.
Jeff Randolph:
Right. Wise.
Taeler Roberts:
So right now Instagram Reels is probably one of the biggest ones I think everyone should be on. Facebook is a hit or miss depending on what age group your demographic is in or where you’re trying to hit. And then Pinterest, those are very specific kind of businesses. So like I said, it is just going to be very dependent on what client I have and what audience they’re looking to target. LinkedIn obviously is great. I think, no matter what, every company should be on there, even just a little bit doing anything they can on there. Maybe not funny content, but I know right now funny content on there actually is gaining traction right now.
Jeff Randolph:
On LinkedIn?
Taeler Roberts:
On LinkedIn, yeah. So I think they’re trying to change their platform. They’ve changed the sizing, so now you can post typically what you would use sizing for a reel on Instagram you can now post on LinkedIn.
Jeff Randolph:
We could go back and forth for days probably, I’m like, “Why would you do it this way? Why do you only allow this? Why can’t you post a video and a picture at the same time?”
Taeler Roberts:
For real.
Jeff Randolph:
Little things.
Taeler Roberts:
They’re catching up, so they’re just like, “Okay, maybe we should actually let people take control of content more on there.” So I think it’s definitely opening a box there.
Jeff Randolph:
Tell me about the kinds of clients that you have, are they all in one industry or do you source from everywhere?
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah. I accept every kind of client in any industries, but my main focus is home building, any blue collar work, construction, those are going to be my bread and butter. That’s just what I love to work with. I love home building project base. That’s who I want to work with specifically. But I have restaurants, a butcher shop.
Jeff Randolph:
Oh, fun.
Taeler Roberts:
So different things like that, yeah.
Jeff Randolph:
Well, and have you had clients where you’ve walked away and said, “Hey, social media isn’t for you.”? Or is there some kind of play in social media for literally everyone out there?
Taeler Roberts:
There definitely is. I think everyone can get on social media. It’s just what is their goals, what are they looking for because if you’re really looking for high ROI, you need money, you need cash injection right now. And I wouldn’t say spend your money on social media, I would say you probably need to go towards paid or getting a funnel built out or having the basics that you need, because if you’re getting on social media and then you have a traffic coming, where is it going if you have no systems set up?
Jeff Randolph:
Right.
Taeler Roberts:
Or maybe you haven’t yet done that outreach to where you have a stream of clients that you know want to base your content off. If you don’t know your audience and you’re just saying, “Well, everyone’s my audience,” you’re not ready for social media.
Jeff Randolph:
Right. Or were not focused enough to really understand what we should be getting out of social and understanding that.
Taeler Roberts:
Exactly, because I need them to them to know at least a basis of their business versus coming to me and then having me know pretty much dive into everything and then make that for them. I can’t tell them what their business is and what it’s doing and what goals it needs to do. So I need them to have that down before they come.
Jeff Randolph:
And helping them understand… I don’t know even the difference between paid social and organic social, but you do, right?
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah.
Jeff Randolph:
So there is a time and a place for paid, there is a time and a place for organic. You can definitely have both of them working together. You work primarily in the organic space though, not the paid space?
Taeler Roberts:
Yes. Not the paid, yeah.
Jeff Randolph:
When you’re talking to a client and you’re saying, “Hey, I know you wanted to do this,” when do you recommend, “Hey, this needs to be a paid strategy,” it’s this immediate sales or what?
Taeler Roberts:
It typically is in the first call I can definitely tell maybe they thought that’s what they think social media is the sales process or they think like ads, which, yes, it is, you can do ads on social media, that’s probably what you’re going to do, or Google, or things like that. But in the first call, I get that out of the way. I don’t want them to pay me and then not get what they need out of it. I’d rather them go pay someone else $1,000, get the ROI, and then now they have the cash injection that they can do to do social media, and that is just gasoline to the flame that they already have going. So definitely in the first sales call I will tell them, “Hey, this is exactly what you need to do. You need either a sales manager or you need a lead strategist,” whatever they’re looking for, do these things first and then come back to me in six months.
Jeff Randolph:
I love that you’re realistic with clients about here’s what organic social will do for you. We did a video at some point that’s on our website ad YouTube and everywhere else where I always look at it because I will play this in presentations that I’m doing every once in a while and I’m like, “Man, at least I’m not wearing the same shirt that I am in this video,” because that happens and it’s frightening, but a chart in the background of just like, “Hey, here’s the reach that you’re getting with paid. And then when it goes to organic, that reach just drops like crazy.” And I don’t know that every business owner gets that, to know that the reach isn’t there.
Taeler Roberts:
It’s a slow burn.
Jeff Randolph:
Yeah.
Taeler Roberts:
And it’s like they see these stories I guess that are being highlighted where these people were grinding, they were doing content every day and then now they’re like millionaires, they’re doing all these things, but how many years were they doing organic content? How many months were they broke or they couldn’t do anything? They were just barely making it. And it’s like, “Do you want to go through that or do you want to just use the money that you maybe are cash flowing a little bit to do paid?” And I think organic has the opportunity to outperform paid if it’s done well and if it’s done over a long period of time.
Jeff Randolph:
By growing that audience or by…
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah, but it’s the time commitment, you know what I’m saying?
Jeff Randolph:
Mm-hmm.
Taeler Roberts:
So if you’re like, “I have the cash and I have the time,” well, then do it because you could probably 10X your numbers, but it’s because you have those business systems set up, it’s because you have those things already in place where that can just add on top of it.
Jeff Randolph:
I want to ask a question about the businesses that you work with because you’ve got professional services like the building community and construction and stuff, home services, but then you also have restaurants. There’s that interesting mix of why do I want to follow the construction company on any social media versus the restaurant? Well, tell me everything that’s going on. Do you have specials? Is there a new menu item? Do you have new drinks out? Is there a dirty soda I can get? Any of those things it’s easy for me to follow, but talk just a little bit about that, the B2B side of things, why would I follow my HVAC company?
Taeler Roberts:
Exactly. I always say there’s definitely two types of content that you can produce and this will attract a different type of audience. So depending on your goals, if you want to attract employment, maybe you’re posting jobs and you want better employees to work at your company, then you’re going to have to post content that’s maybe more educational about your company, your business, what are you doing. I think we had a video that we ordered Jimmy John’s to the site and then fed everybody. And we tagged Jimmy John’s, and then they commented on it and reposted it. And so that shows that you care about your people and that’s going to gain attraction from when you are posting those jobs. And then they go to your social media, they’re like, “Oh wow, this is a fun place to work.” And quality people want to work for places that are doing those things.
Jeff Randolph:
100%, yeah.
Taeler Roberts:
Not when they go on there and then you have nothing posted. And it’s a post from 20 years ago that says nothing about you. It’s just a building that you built. That doesn’t show that you’re building into your team, especially if you want to continue that. But then restaurants, you said, that’s easy because people love food, they love the ranch dipping videos. You know what I’m saying? That’s just intriguing because in itself that’s entertaining, that’s something you would want to do after you get off work. So that’s what I always say with social media is like, “Would you want to watch this after you get off working all day long and looking at this kind of content, is that something that you would enjoy to watch?” You don’t want to just be posting something that nobody’s going to be caring about.
Jeff Randolph:
Yeah, you’ve got good quality content on one side, but you’ve touched on targeting an audience, meaning not necessarily with a paid ad. I don’t mean that kind of targeting, but my goal on these posts is to make sure that as future people are looking to get hired here, I want to make sure that they can take a look at my feed and go, “Oh, look, they did a chili cook-off, or they took everybody to the Chiefs game,” whatever thing that is, you’re telling future employees, “Hey, this is a great place to work. We care about our people.” And that’s an audience, that’s a purpose for a lot of even channels where an employee, if they’re a good employee, they’re going to go scope things out before they put in that application, and it’s before they put in that application that they’re doing it, they’re scoping you out and saying, “Yeah, I don’t want to apply there. It doesn’t look like they have any fun, or I can’t tell anything from here, or it looks like the last time they did something fun was in 2016.” Right?
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah.
Jeff Randolph:
That’s terrible stuff.
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah, exactly. So it definitely depends on your goal. And some people are like, “I want sales, I want ROI.” That’s when I will lead them towards the paid versus on this is more long-term.
Jeff Randolph:
Good, consistent, long-term, educational, and engaging content.
Taeler Roberts:
Oh, engaging too. And like I said, we’re funny, I try to be funny with a lot of my clients, because what social media is about, it’s about creating a community and you want people to… I love one of my clients, because they just lean all in on it. And those are the ones that really go viral because they’re just like, “I’ll do whatever trend. Let’s go all in.” And those are fun because they have an actual community where they’re like, “We can’t wait for your next one to drop. We want to see your next video. What are you going to do next?” That’s fun.
And I think as a company, even, like you said, their employees, they love that, because they’re like, “I work for a company that has funny viral videos,” and even their families are sharing videos with them like, “Oh my god, I see you in this video go viral, that’s so cool.” They love that. And this one guy on the site, he was like, “I sent it to my mom and she thought it was so cool that I got one million views.” I was like, “That’s awesome.” I love that.
Jeff Randolph:
Let’s talk about going viral, because you have had a lot of success with getting posts to go viral, getting posts to really get a lot of traction and a lot of visibility. But I’m curious about the conversation you have with owners and business owners and your clients when, “Hey, I need to go viral.” And you’re like, “Ooh, there’s lightning in a bottle that you need to capture there,” and it takes more than just saying, “Okay, we’re going to come up with one post one time and it’s going to be amazing.” How do you have that conversation about expectations?
Taeler Roberts:
It is very hard, especially when a lot of your clients have done that. I’m not saying every single one has, because, like I said, goals are different for everybody, but I just say, “If you want to go viral, if you want to do that, then you need to do certain things that pretty much you need to make good content and quality content.” And you don’t want to just be focused solely on trends. You also want to have a mix of original audio is usually what I call it. So interviewing your team, going around doing, I don’t know, what was your first car, deep dive stuff, things like that. It was still personable. And I always say, if you want to stick in the personal entertainment category, you’re more likely to go viral than if you stick in the education because that’s going to be more of the long game.
Jeff Randolph:
Educational content is great.
Taeler Roberts:
It’s great.
Jeff Randolph:
But it’s not likely to go viral in that same way.
Taeler Roberts:
Right. The entertaining stuff is more likely because that’s what people are going to look at. They want to relax, they want to chill at the end of the day when they get on social media, they’re not looking to be told something.
Jeff Randolph:
Oh, man, I have to learn after I’ve been at work all day.
Taeler Roberts:
Exactly, after you did all that, yeah. I think a lot of the times as entrepreneurs we want to learn, and so educational content is stuff that we like. We’re like, “Oh, I love learning about this.” Or even the HVAC guys and all that stuff, they’re like, “Ooh, I love watching those videos of where they’re doing the wiring or they’re doing this,” but I’m like, “But does your audience that you’re trying to target like that stuff?” Probably not.
Jeff Randolph:
Thank you, Taeler. Yes, thank you. Good.
Taeler Roberts:
So I think sometimes we get in our head, because even me I’m like, “Oh, I love this super educational content about this and this and that,” but that’s not necessarily what might audience is going to want to see. They’re going to want to see what is it like working with me, what can I do for them, things like that. So I think getting out of that space of maybe what you like versus what your audience, sometimes that gets them in the mindset, oh, okay, now I understand, what is my audience looking at probably not what I’m looking at. So once you disconnect that, then they can look at it objectively, because I think that’s what a lot of social media managers do is they just do what the client wants and then the client’s sending them videos on DMs or sending them like, “Ooh, let’s do this video.” And it’s like, “That doesn’t work with your audience.”
Jeff Randolph:
And bounce it back against the strategy, who is our audience, what are we trying to get them to do, and is this on brand for us or is it not on brand for us? There are some challenges out there we should not participate in.
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah, that is true. So we had this big Netflix star connect with one of my clients and we were like, “Okay, we’re really excited, because we’d love to do a collab,” but just looking at their content and the stuff they produce, I recommended, “Hey, we don’t go forward with this, because I just feel like your type of clients are not going to appreciate that type of content, and that might set us back.” Yes, we do funny content, but we don’t push the boundaries. And so they were like, “Oh, I’m glad you were here being our brand manager at that point, because we would’ve said yes and we probably would’ve done a video, and maybe that would’ve been bad.” And they’re like, “Because it’s just a great opportunity.”
And you’re not in that space, so you’re not understanding how that collaboration could negatively affect you in that world even if having control over contracts, what not to say, me coming up like, “Hey, these are the only things that we would be open to doing,” outlining these specific things for them, nothing outside of those things we would do. And if you’re okay with that or if you’re not okay with that, then cool, that’s where our partnership is. And they were just like, “No, we want to have creative control, which is totally fine, but that leaves you vulnerable.”
Jeff Randolph:
Brand safety, brand safety’s a real concern.
Taeler Roberts:
It’s really big.
Jeff Randolph:
Making sure you’re on strategy, making sure the brand safety pieces are in place is good. I’m curious about those viral trends, let’s talk for a second about the ice bucket challenge, right?
Taeler Roberts:
Oh, yeah.
Jeff Randolph:
Where as a non-profit CEO you may say, “We need the next ice bucket challenge.” But if you really take a look at it, and there was a lot of good that came from that, a lot of brand awareness that came from that, there were positives, but oftentimes some of those trends where we’re seeing, hey, this is viral, and we really became known for it.
Taeler Roberts:
Safety issues.
Jeff Randolph:
Yeah, safety issues for sure. I’m thinking specifically though about those times where if I participate in this and I dump a bucket of water on my head or whatever, did I really do anything? Did I actually give money? Did I…
Taeler Roberts:
Follow through?
Jeff Randolph:
Did I follow through in any way? Or did I click or share or something like that? And I’m like, “Yep, our job’s done. I can wipe my hands of that.,” We did it. I participated because you’re not giving money for that. And so what is my ROI if I go viral on something is not necessarily an equal, you’re not necessarily winning.
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah. What’s your question? Are you saying…
Jeff Randolph:
I don’t know if I have a question there.
Taeler Roberts:
Oh, okay.
Jeff Randolph:
I think it’s really more of just making sure that we…
Taeler Roberts:
Have intention behind that?
Jeff Randolph:
Yeah, there needs to be some intentionality and can we arrange something. If we intend to have something that we think, hey, this could be big if we start doing this program, it really is just bouncing it back against that strategy and saying, “Am I getting donations out of this, or am I not getting donations out of this? Should I expect donations? Should I not expect donations?” And to your point earlier, going back to that strategy and saying, “Hey, does this make sense for us or doesn’t it?”
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah. And I agree because I think too a lot of the things on social media people want to join in on or want to do, but it doesn’t necessarily fuel their overall goal. So there’s so many things out there, even just with meme culture, and I think… What was the last one? Okay, so here’s an example. This isn’t really a trend, but everyone posts like, “Oh, happy 4th of July,” or whatever, those Canva graphics. But to me, I’m like, “What is that doing? You’re just posting because you feel like you have to.”
There’s no intention. This new home builder that I just on boarded, they wanted to do a Father’s Day post, and that’s what they’ve done in the past like, “Hey, we just post probably something graphic or something.” And I’m like, “No, let’s do something like…” Or for 4th of July, not Father’s Day, that’s what it was. And I was like, “Let’s ask the team what are their plans for the weekend and then just start that conversation with your audience, well, what are their plans? Are they going skiing? Are they doing this? Are they just winging it? Are they just, hey, trying to keep the dog sane enough to not want to go bark all the time? So what does that look like?”
Jeff Randolph:
Going for more interaction rather than just a happy whatever, right?
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah, just a random post because you feel obligated to do that. And if you feel like, well, when I on board my clients, that’s the first thing I do, I have a list of holidays and then they tell me yes or no if they would like to participate in that, so then we can actually actively work on something for that instead of just doing, like I said, just a graphic.
Jeff Randolph:
A throw away?
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah. Let’s say, “Okay, you want to do Father’s Day, let’s celebrate all the dads in there, but let’s do something intentional with our content that actually makes it feel like heartfelt, like people actually want to watch that stuff.” Or Veterans Day, let’s find a veteran and do a giveaway, or let’s do something. We’re actually doing content probably three months ahead so that we can plan and we know what we’re going to do for that day. And I think it makes the clients feel good about their content because, like I said, they’re not just throwing something random on there. They’re actually putting that intention behind their content and it makes them feel good about their company.
Jeff Randolph:
And you bring up a great point, I’m curious about how far ahead you plan versus leaving space for, hey, this just happened?
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah, and I do. I do actually both. So usually I’ll leave space because, like I said, trends can pop up out of nowhere, but I usually try to get my clients to film once a month, and then we film the month before because it’s close enough to where we can keep up with what’s going on, but it’s all ready for the next month, and then we’ll have those little pockets like, “Hey, this thing came up. Do you want to do this?” Or I’ll shoot them an email or something and say, “Hey, here’s this trend. Do you want to film a little quick video and then send it back to me?” But those happen every once in a while. You don’t really have to worry about those things. And if you don’t want to do it, it’s a trend. So you don’t have to.
Jeff Randolph:
No harm, no foul.
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah. But it’s good that if you have those, you’re not too far out to where now once you’ve got to it’s like, “Oh, well, this is kind of outdated by now.” Or you’ve worked this whole marketing plan over something that’s completely wrong and now people have totally changed their ideas, like right now in the restaurant world it’s like martinis and appetizers is a big thing right now, getting into the girls world and stuff like that, they love that right now. So it’s like, “But in three months…”
Jeff Randolph:
Will that be the case?
Taeler Roberts:
No. So why would you want to plan that off of something that’s happening currently right now in this space, because it’s summer and that’s just a little bit different.? So I just try to keep it 30 days.
Jeff Randolph:
Okay. Reasonable.
Taeler Roberts:
So that’s always my goal, yeah, 30 days and it’s nice. And some people, they’re intimidated by a whole 30 days, so we’ll back it up to two weeks and that’s fine too, because usually I’ll just have the 30 days and then I’ll just send them the two weeks at a time so that it doesn’t feel overwhelming, because I understand-
Jeff Randolph:
But you know your handle, you’ve got your ducks in a row.
Taeler Roberts:
But I know that it’s good to go, yeah.
Jeff Randolph:
Excellent. Okay. Well, Taeler, I think it’s probably time to go into the lightning round, if that’s okay with you. Are you ready for this?
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah.
Jeff Randolph:
Okay. You have no way to know what I might ask. And this first question is going to be all about you personally, your favorite social media platform and why?
Taeler Roberts:
Definitely Instagram, because I feel like it’s centered around community. And recently they’ve really been digging into what they can do to help small creators, and so I really appreciate them for that, versus just looking at the dollar amount, what they’re going to get. So I really appreciate that about Instagram.
Jeff Randolph:
Interesting. Has it always been Instagram, or did you have other favorites over time that you’re just… Because Instagram’s been around for a minute or two.
Taeler Roberts:
Oh, forever, yeah. I guess I used to like Twitter in high school, now X, you know?
Jeff Randolph:
Yes, I’m familiar, but thank you for explaining-
Taeler Roberts:
I kind of hate X now because it’s just a mess.
Jeff Randolph:
Well, that was my next question, is your least favorite media platform and why?
Taeler Roberts:
That is my least now. It used to be my favorite, because I loved the conversations that used to go on there were a little bit more educational and I would say more higher quality of conversations. And I would say Reddit is also one of the ones that is taking over that space, which I do love Reddit. Or Reddit? Reddit?
Jeff Randolph:
Reddit.
Taeler Roberts:
Reddit. I don’t know. Everybody says that. So I think Twitter’s probably my… Or X or whatever is probably the least favorite. Least favorite.
Jeff Randolph:
I can agree with you there. I can agree with you there. The Reddit piece was interesting. It gives me a chance to throw out a couple stats. For Reddit in looking at them as an ad platform, the role that that plays in the purchase decision is very much an influencer kind of role where I may or may not be the right decision maker for this product or service or whatever, but on Reddit, more of that audience that informs the decision goes there to research and goes there to find more information about whatever. So just an interesting note about a reminder that every platform has its own place, there’s a time and a place.
Taeler Roberts:
And they already have built out audiences. You can target so well on there. If you’re a sneaker brand, they have thousands of sneaker communities on there, and that is something that they have that other people don’t is they have those built out… Maybe Facebook with Facebook groups…
Jeff Randolph:
With the groups, yeah.
Taeler Roberts:
… But that’s about it. They have actually communities specifically for one thing. So you could, like you said, use that as an influencer platform, maybe someone on there can post or they’re a big admin on that community or something that is just such, I think, an untapped market, for sure, because on Instagram you post something, it’s harder, I should say, to target your market on Instagram versus Reddit.
Jeff Randolph:
Well, and I’ll do the other stat that I have burned into my brain on Twitter, X, that the average tweet has a lifespan of seven minutes unless everything goes wrong and then it’s going to last forever, but seven minutes. So it’s a crowded space, your message may or may not be seen by anyone. It’s a challenging place to be. So I get it. I understand why that would be your least favorite. Next, what company or person really gets it right in the social media world that you look up to and you’re like, “You’ve got this, you’re doing it.”?
Taeler Roberts:
Oh, there’s a lot of people. Let me see.
Jeff Randolph:
I can even see the wheels turning on who do I pick? People are going to judge me based on who I pick.
Taeler Roberts:
For real. That’s true. I feel like the first person that comes through my head or company is Duolingo just because I feel like that… But I feel like that’s also a cop-out answer because I think that’s what everybody would say, because they’re leading that space of entertainment right now and really pushing the boundaries and they change their strategy up, and they’re really trying to hit that Gen Z audience and so they’re making that funny content. But it’s funny because I think they are hitting the Gen Z, but I think they’re also hitting Millennials because they are pushing the and I think Millennials, we grew up on meme culture and Gen Z’s not really into the memes. They’re like, “Ew, that gives me the ick,” or whatever they say. But I think it’s filtering to both, and their subscriptions have skyrocketed since they’ve changed their strategy and done that funny content. So I would definitely say them, but I think not everybody needs to follow what they’re doing, so don’t go jump on there.
Jeff Randolph:
That’s right. Your results may vary. Don’t think that this is exactly what you need to do.
Taeler Roberts:
Don’t go jump on Duolingo’s strategy, because that is definitely very curated.
Jeff Randolph:
I think a lot of people look to Wendy’s as like, “Oh, you’re crushing it.” But, again, it’s a crowded marketplace and you’re going to be seen for a couple of real good zingers.
Taeler Roberts:
And they’re in such a different space. They’re using social media just as an entertainment thing. They’re not really looking for a big ROI. Even with Red Lobster recently they did that endless…
Jeff Randolph:
In the shrimp I think it was, which caused most of the restaurants in town to go out of business, I think.
Taeler Roberts:
Oh, it was bad, yeah. So that’s just the power of social media there is that people they weren’t even following their content that they post all the time. They were just looking at it as, well, I can gain something out of this. And I think if you focus on building more of a community, then they’re less likely that’s a corporate business or a little bit higher up business, a little bit different, but I think if you focus on building a community, they’re not going to want to use you in that way, I guess you could say. They’re going to want to respect the boundaries that you set because you’ve really set up that community of people. So I think in that position it was a negative, and maybe they didn’t look at their audience really closely enough. So I don’t know really what went on with that.
Jeff Randolph:
Gotcha. Next question. Do you have a favorite YouTuber?
Taeler Roberts:
I don’t honestly really watch YouTube that much.
Jeff Randolph:
That’s an answer in itself. That tells us something.
Taeler Roberts:
I really don’t watch YouTube that much. I’m more like short form content girl. But I would say the first person that comes to my head though when I think of YouTube is MrBeast, because I feel like that’s everyone’s…
Jeff Randolph:
Fairly popular guy.
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah. Well, I don’t really watch his videos, but I like watching his podcast’s. And he’s on podcast or if he goes on certain things, I like watching him outside of his character, I guess you could say. So he’s very informational. But outside of that, more short form content, yeah, that’s me.
Jeff Randolph:
I’m going to put you in the world of TV sitcoms, if you could be any TV sitcom character, who would you want to be?
Taeler Roberts:
I’m trying to think.
Jeff Randolph:
It could be a little weird because if you’re not watching sitcoms, if that’s not your thing, then it’s not-
Taeler Roberts:
Okay. I was thinking about, okay, this is probably bad though I feel like because he’s not really a good person. Do you know Mad Men?
Jeff Randolph:
Oh, yes. Well, as someone in the advertising industry, I am familiar with Mad Men.
Taeler Roberts:
But Don Draper, I love him, even though he’s a pretty bad person. But I just love his character and I love that show, that’s one of my favorite shows, and I rewatch it all the time. But also I would say… Oh, what’s his name? I’m trying to think. You said who would I be?
Jeff Randolph:
Yeah.
Taeler Roberts:
I don’t know.
Jeff Randolph:
Or it could be just a character you love. Who were you thinking of?
Taeler Roberts:
Well, I was thinking about another show I watched, but I’m like, “I’m really not any of those characters,” on Shameless.
Jeff Randolph:
Oh, okay.
Taeler Roberts:
I definitely am not any of those characters, but that’s another show I watch.
Jeff Randolph:
Good guilty pleasure show to watch.
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah, so I don’t know. I just love Mad Men. I’m behind I feel like because Mad Men came out so long ago, but I just love that show. I wish something else would take that space.
Jeff Randolph:
A spin-off or something that keeps that living forever.
Taeler Roberts:
I try not to watch too much TV.
Jeff Randolph:
What is a social media trend that’s out there that you’re like, “Okay, we’re done. No more of that, the 15 minutes of fame are over. I no longer want to see one of these things ever again.”?
Taeler Roberts:
Oh my gosh, I already know. It’s the of course I do this because of this, of course I…
Jeff Randolph:
I’m a Kansas Citian, of course I… Fill in the blank.
Taeler Roberts:
Go to the Chiefs game every… Whatever. I don’t know. I’ve been over that for a while, and I think it keeps coming. It’s never ending I feel like. At first I thought it was just going to be a trend and it was going to end, but then I saw it’s funny because it’s like the young kids all do it and then you can see then the Millennials start to do it, and then it’s the older people start to, and then it just never ends because it’s always just trickling down like how people finally get to it or finally get the time to do the videos, because these kids have all the time in the world, they’re getting on it instantly.
Jeff Randolph:
And by the time it makes it to Gen X, Gen Z people are going, “Oh, man, I can’t believe I ever did that last week when it was cool for me last week.”
Taeler Roberts:
Exactly. Those ones though I have been hating those because I feel like there’s such a better way. And then I’ll say there’s… Okay, the other one is the transition videos where it’s like the bull hitting you or the water splash, and then you’re supposed to do that, I think people are going wrong with… Those are great, but they’re doing the same things. There was one guy and he switched it up, and instead of the water getting splashed on him, he was like, “Oh, so you thought water would get splashed on me because that’s what everybody does.” He’s like, “But I am not like everybody.” And so he positioned himself in that way.
Jeff Randolph:
With the anti?
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah, and I loved it. And it got a lot of views because it was doing the opposite of what everybody’s doing, but I think that’s going to go out, the transitions I think it’s easy to do so I think people are doing it because it’s easy.
Jeff Randolph:
It’s a good, easy template, but if you’re not really contributing something that’s better or different.
Taeler Roberts:
Exactly, then don’t do it at all.
Jeff Randolph:
Because you’ve given some advice there as well, that’s a nice bonus piece of advice. As a business owner, what advice would you give the year one in business you? If you could go back and talk to yourself as you were just starting the company, you’re saying, “Hey, I’m going to go do this on my own. I’m going to start this business,” what advice would you give yourself back then if you could travel through time?
Taeler Roberts:
Ooh, I think I would say don’t stop. And not that I did stop, but just when you do have those clients come in and everything, keep on the momentum versus like, “Okay, I need to fix all my business systems and slow down a bit and do all this first before I take the next step.” No, just keep going because that stuff will come. And especially as you get more income and you get more clients and just being out there more, people are willing to be a little bit more forgiving about those things if you produce great content or, well, in my space, if you produce great quality. And maybe you don’t have those back end things, but you’re still giving them the results. You might not have everything together, you might not have your invoicing all perfect and all that stuff, don’t focus on those things so much that you lose what you’re good at, because you can outsource those things once you get to a certain point.
And so I think I was so focused on that. I think a lot of business owners when they first started, they’re like, “I need to have this. I need to have this. I need to have this perfect CRM system, and I need to have this.” I’m like, “You don’t even have clients. How do you have a CRM system?”
Jeff Randolph:
That’s right. Who are you keeping track of?
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah, I have four clients, so I need to keep them in my CRM. It’s like, “You don’t need to be spending the money on that. You don’t need to be doing that.” So I think that I wish I would’ve just be a people person, get out there, go do entrepreneur events more, just focus on what you’re good at, and the rest will come.
Jeff Randolph:
Good advice. Solid advice. And with that, I’m going to take you out of the lightning round. Well done. Congratulations.
Taeler Roberts:
Thank you.
Jeff Randolph:
You survived.
Taeler Roberts:
I did.
Jeff Randolph:
Tell people where they can find you if they want to know more information about who you are, what you do, where should they go?
Taeler Roberts:
Yeah. I’m on Instagram a lot. Kai, K-A-I, Strategic Media. And then I also have a website kaistrategicmedia.com, so you can become a client on there, on my Instagram slide in my DMs.
Jeff Randolph:
There it is. Taeler Roberts, owner and founder of Kai Strategic Media, thanks for being with us today.
Taeler Roberts:
All right. Thank you so much.
Jeff Randolph:
And that is our show. Thanks to our guest, Taeler Roberts, and thank you for listening to the Small Business Miracles Podcast. Remember to subscribe, leave us a five-star rating and review, drop us a line on the website at eagadv.com if you have any thoughts. Until then, we’ll be out here helping entrepreneurs with another small business miracle.