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A
All right. Welcome to Newport. Welcome to the. This is beach equity today. Yeah, Sweat beach.
B
Yeah, I like beach equity. Beach equity goes hard.
A
Beach equity goes hard. So we're in here with Oren. I'm in his town. I'm in his town, his neck of the woods.
B
I gave him the pass, the Newport beach pass. He can get a boogie board without anyone giving him trouble.
A
But today we honestly have no plan. We were going to sit down on the beach. We were trying to workshop this earlier today and figure out what we were going to do. Sit down on the beach, get on these ugly beach chairs and make some content. So when we talk a little bit about brand content, our content, what we're doing with cut 30, the whole nine, and I'm gonna get right into it. So you and I both been working with a handful of brands, I'll say in the last probably nine to 12 months. Right. A significant amount of brands. When a brand comes to you talking about content strategy and they're trying to develop it, where do you start? Where are you? Like, okay, we need to start here before you. And start thinking about content ideas.
B
Yeah. So usually now this is a lot different than it was like nine months ago. But now I really talk about, okay, what's the team that you have in, like, we really go through, like, who do you have? And then what are their skill sets? It's no longer like, what's your dream content? It's more like, okay, do you have a graphic designer? You have a video editor, you have a creator? Okay, can you get one? Like, can you do this? If someone willing to talk on camera, basically, like, look at the toolkit they have. Because then you have to decide, do you want to hire more people, do you want to like bring stuff in? Or then what can we do with what we already have? But that's the new way. Now I'm kind of reverse engineering it. What about you? How are you doing it?
A
It's roughly the same. So when we onboard clients, like, we're going through like a big list to literally understand constraints, bandwidth, team and skill set. Because if they don't, like, they could have this dream content that we want to be putting out these series, but if they don't have the right people, they just have photographers or like kind of old age creators, it's not going to work.
B
Yeah. And the new thing that I think we've been doing is basically been like, hey, if you don't have somebody, like, everyone's been trying to hire a creator and using services like JT Service and a bunch. But I actually feel like there's not like, most of the good people are getting scooped up or like getting good money. It's actually harder than it was ever to get those people. And so now what we're doing is like, it's a training piece. You recommend, like, people run through cut 30. Like, like, yah, the art director guy works at crease. Like, he ran through cut 30 and I make all the crease content. And I was like, hey, here's a content plan. But you know, like, they trained somebody to execute it and he's amazing. Like, obviously you have to find someone that's good at it, but I feel like that's the new thing is like, all right, if you can't recruit that person, like, you need a training curriculum for them. And obviously, like, we can just run them through cut 30 because we, we work through that. But I think that's how a lot of brands think about it is like, all right, we need to train somebody.
A
The other thing that we've been doing with some brands is we've been putting together creator programs. And we learned this from a different brand where, for example, you bring in 10 to 15 creators for a month, and you pay them a grant to two grand for that month, and they create two to three pieces of content every single day. And then basically what will happen is week one, two or three will drop off week two, whatever. By the end of the four weeks, you have one or two outliers, and then you bring them on full time and they're in that 50, 60k range. But you'll easily find the outliers who not only know how to make viral content, but from week one to week four, their content goes from okay to good to like, pretty fucking great.
B
That's what's been funny. So I get this dichotomy of, like, the only people who I take now for that kind of work are people that, like, I have some great relationship with or I see exactly how their content could work or like, bigger, bigger brands. So I'm starting to talk to, like, much larger companies. But I like that conversation because, like, they all have larger budgets, but they don't really understand how to spend it. And when I'm like, hey, you should. I'm pitching some similar things. Like, you need 10 creators. You need, like, all right, let's accumulate a ton of ugc. Let's actually look at your performance budget. Like, what are you doing for your performance creator? Can we pull some of that budget? But I think that's how to look at it if you have like. Because look, if you have 20 grand, that's like 10 creators giving you at least 20 videos each. And like, and you can learn a lot or you can like onboard some people a lot. And people just don't think that way. I think a lot of it's because, like, people are like, oh my God, it's so much work to track and brief and all that. And like, that's the real missing skill set right now is the people that can just brief content, like all day. That's the most, like, people keep hitting me up to hire for that and I'm like, well, you have to be able to give somebody, like, it's easily 200k plus to get someone that's ill that's doing that. And then like, they're just going to go do some hotter shit, like 100%.
A
That's the thing we've been dealing with is like on the, on the playbook side, when we're. We're the consulting, the hardest part is like, we could give them good ideas, we could give them good examples. But the disconnect does come in the brief. That brief has to be so well with hook ideas, with pacing, with shot, like shot ideas, shot lists, very specific examples that match the idea. Or else what we think they know, they have no idea what it is. There's such a big disconnect there. And yeah, it's a hard thing.
B
One thing that went really well at Gel Blaster, when we had a bunch of creators, we were doing a creator per country, like a Germany creator, a Mexico creator, a UK creator was like they were running the same brief. Basically it was all POV content and some exceptions. There was a few other styles, but it didn't require your face to be on cam. It was like they could repeat this video this other person did in their language. But it's like very hard. Like, you have to find that for a product that's not like so inherently cool looking. Like, the way that is is pretty hard.
A
And even think about like Gel Blaster, there were so many things that they could replicate. Like you could send all of those kind of airsoft POV videos and just be like, hey, this is what you're replicating. And. And it's kind of like it's very easy to. To say yes, because it's you strapping a GoPro. You're strapping whatever. You're strapping your phone.
B
Yeah, use those. The neck rigs, bro. The magnet neck rigs is the most underrated content Making tool in the game. Yeah, yeah.
A
The other thing that I think is big for brands, especially when they're creating the content strategy is again not going straight to the idea. But start thinking about like the narrative and the perception you're trying to create. Right? Like I think you and I, we both talk about midday squares, like their whole narrative is better for you chocolate. Then you look at a company like represent their narrative is on a mission, right? And those that central idea, that central narrative is, okay, I'm laying the foundation with this idea, this perception that I'm trying to fuel. Now when I think about content ideas, now when I think about my content pillars, all those things need to feed and amplify that narrative or else you're creating a perception that nobody like your whole narrative, the whole idea there is to be able to create something that people gravitate towards that they feel like pulls them into something bigger that they align with.
B
If you don't have that framework, it's not just your core content that's hard. It's almost like any marketing decision. So one of the things that like I do a lot of, I've started to move a lot of work towards like instead of like it's a month to month consulting, I'll do like a workshop. So I'll do like four hours for the team or a day with the team. And one of the ones I did a lot, not this last few months, but the few months before that was all about trend response because everyone was like, these things are happening. How do we keep up with them? How do we decide? Like how do we do anything with them? That was the biggest thing there was like, all right, so these things are all happening. You all know them, you see them, you put them in a slack but you don't do anything. But then it's not just about who's going to act on it, but is this right for the brand? So basically we just come up with a matrix of being like, all right, well how do you actually like, what is your decision criteria on if this is right for us or not? And it's good. It forces a good brand conversation and it forces a fluid brand conversation. It puts a set of rules in place that brands can use to like actually act on content versus be paralyzed by legal and approval.
A
And I think like when you go through exercises like that, brands realize how disconnected content is from every other part of the company. You know what I'm saying? Like they don't understand how. Oh shit. Like just because this is trending doesn't mean we should do it. And if this is trending and we could figure out how to do this well, where it feeds that narrative, it feels like, or feeds what we're actually trying to do as, as a brand, then it works. And then there's it like it, it becomes so obvious that these disconnects are such a reality for 100 million. Like we do, we have conversations like, these 100 million dollar brands, legitimate, like 100, 150. And the entire department is disconnected.
B
Small brands are crushing it. Like, this is one thing I like to think about. And this goes all the way up. Like why there's so much room for incumbents is because just like these big brands, like, you can only imagine like how much it takes for them to do something that you can be like, hey, that's $1,500. You know, I could just go do it. And I think that's why we've seen so many brands come up. But think about, there is. That applies to influencer too. So I see this on the other side where I have all these like big brand deals and Ashwin has a bunch too. Well, some of the same, some different. We get these companies that just have no idea. They just want you to read the script and you're like, hey, like, not only do I make content as an influencer, I actually make content about making content and I also teach people to make content so I have a really good understanding of what will work and work for my audience. And you don't. Yeah. And like, and then you just get these teams. You're like, oh, wow. Even though you spend this money for this company and you spent millions of dollars in those campaigns, you don't know what it is. So something Ashwin was joking about I thought was a fire idea. He was like, you know what, I should break down my, my best branded, like paid content. Like why it worked so I could actually case study of what they should be doing. Yeah, he made like, he literally was like his salesforce.
A
He was like, hey, I made this ad and got 99% of the budget. Like, here's why it worked.
B
And I think that's what. Because when brands listen, like, it goes inherently well. And I think that just as much as like everything about the alpha and where social media is, there's the same amount of alpha and like how you deal with influencers.
A
So one thing I've been, I've been talking to more brands about is there's a disconnect when you look at your organic content as its own thing. And then you look at influencers or athletes or ambassadors, whatever, as its own thing, instead of looking at your top influencers, your outlier influencers, to be like, they're a part of my content team. And then now you're actually integrating them into your content pillars, into your content strategy. Versus, hey, I need you to make this content. Because we have this promo coming up. It's like, no, no, like, figure, like, put it in your contract that they need to attend one content meeting every single month. They need to be in the mix.
B
We'd all be down, right? You know, I think that's the thing, is because you want the content to work. My biggest thing, hardest thing for me is I have all this brand deals. I say no to a bunch of them, and a lot of them just know the content's not going to. And you really. You want to. All I want is for that just as well as the other content, for it to propel forward. But brands that get it, like, I do, I have an ongoing deal with Artlist. I do a bunch of videos, but they're just like, it makes complete sense for me to be like, I do their announcements. They have a new program, they have a new feature, They've got a new guide. It makes sense. Like, I have input on those. Like, I'm quoted in the guide. They're putting it out about it was section. And it's like, they inherently get it. And it's so nice when that happens. Like, you're willing to do a lot more for those brands and be like, even this last video I did with them, I had a version. I was like, no, it's like the day before, I'm like, it's not good enough. Send another one. Because I care about maintaining what that looks like. And I know that they're willing to work within what I think will work.
A
And I don't think the brands realize that. We rather, like, chances are we rather work with five brands instead of trying to negotiate with five other brands, because these deals aren't, like, the deals aren't going good because the content isn't good, and they're not giving us freedom. It's like you integrate with those companies, like you're saying, and we feel like we're a part of the campaign. You're gonna want it to perform better than anything else. Like, that's how I feel with, like, Heat Map and like, these companies or particle, whatever that, like, I align with and I fuck with what they're doing. It's like, okay, you're bringing me into the mix, I'm gonna make sure this shit delivers.
B
I think there's just still play to have those conversations with creators around what you really do. And the hard part too is even I look at it is people come to me, they want me to do a traditional green screen video. But now I do all this other content and I'm trying to be like, all right, what actually works or not or be fluid. And it's hard too. And everything has to have a hashtag ad or be in front of it. There's no way to really start the conversation in this organic way. And so I think there's gonna be a lot of change in how we execute these over these next few years. Like an interesting time, but it is look. But getting sponsored content, if you are trying to be a creator, like deliver a good message, you have the ability to fund a lot of the other things you're interested in and work on and do that in addition to working like a day job. I was working a job for a minute, doing a lot of brand deals without having it inhibit my work. I think that's a really big opportunity for anyone out there with a unique voice.
A
And the crazy thing too is it's fairly simple. Making one video for a brand, if you're doing it for five brands over the course of one month, you can make a good amount of money. If you're in that, what, hundred, 150,000, you know, follower range. Like you could make a significant amount of money to then be able to. I mean it's. Dude, it's like invest if instead of investing in a, like getting somebody, invest 250k into your startup. You can literally make content, make 250k 5 to 500k. Like if you're in that, that range, it depends on how much content you're making, the audience you're going for. But like you could literally be your own angel investor and keep all the.
B
Equity like on TikTok the money to start this brand or do this thing. And it's like, like you make money by making this kind of content and then you make money by like freelancing. Like money doesn't come out of the air. Like money comes from like living below your means or getting extra income. But we live in this time where like between TikTok shop, even like the TikTok YouTube creator funds the ability to get like grow a following and do brand. Like if that's not like in the picture, like for anyone who, especially if you're extroverted, like you should just Be going for it. If you want to take money for a business, like, if it's not like deep tech, I really don't think you have to deal with the. These businesses are kind of almost better as like a flowing, like a fluid living thing that like, works over time and like, ebbs and flows.
A
Let's talk basics on content creation and video creation, especially for some of these brands who don't understand scripting, they don't understand developing hooks, visual hooks, title hooks. They don't understand that a video has three hooks. Start there and then we'll kind of work our way down from writing scripts, hooks to pacing, delivery, storytelling, etc.
B
Yeah, I'm going to give some, like, concrete examples. I had a pizza oven company hit me on LinkedIn. I was like, look, I don't want to work on this project, but I'll just give you direct advice real quick on, like, how you'd work on this. They had all these beautiful pizzas coming in and out of the oven. And I'm like, all right, that's great to reframe. It's all positioning. How do you make that a single or shareable thing? What makes me share the pizza oven with my wife or my boy and be like, like, this is. I want to use this. And it's inherently like, just give the breakdown. Like, all right, if that is all of a sudden a really interesting combination of ingredients and then they're all listed out and there's someone interesting or funny or good looking giving the presentation of what that looks like with the same exact video you already have, it becomes shareable. Right? And it's just like, oh, like, this is how you, like 65 protein, 65 grams of protein. How you do it, like, oh, done. I could do that with this woman. Yeah, but he's already in. You know what I'm saying?
A
Yeah.
B
I was looking at all their content. I'm like, if you don't lead with someone's body vibrating, immediate losing. Like, you have an immediate visual hook and people get desensitized to their own companies. Like, look at it from a consumer's lens. Like, what makes you stop scrolling? And for any of those companies, like pizza, vibration, phone case, whatever it is, like, what is that moment that makes people, like, lean in, you know?
A
Yeah, I think so much about like that. Remember that David Ogilvy quote where he's talking about 4 out of 5 people only read the headline. And so if you don't spend enough time on the headline, like, or if you waste your headline, you're wasting basically 80 cents of $1. And I think like when we're thinking about a short form video, we're just taking the idea of a headline. It's like, you're hooked.
B
Good looking pizza, 200 grams of protein pizza. You know what I'm saying? Like some plate. I understand what it does. Person's body vibrating with some sort of benefit. Like you just, I think it's just, it's so funny how easy that position thread is too. And a good example. I talked about this in my YouTube the other week. But Ed from the Other Cut 30 who did these like really beautiful breakdowns of like this is why I love the cinematography of the bear and cut 30, it was very much like, hey, why don't you move that to a playbook of the bear cinematography. Here's the six technique. And I started bookmarking all his content once he shifted to that being like, yo, this is sick. And then I automatically now it's funny like twice I brought him up as an example of someone, someone should hire because like they'll be. These things come up in meetings, right? People will be like, how do we get this look? It's like, oh, actually there's this guy who I bookmarked who actually tells you exactly how to get that look. And that's it. And that's like, put yourself in the consumer shoes. Like how do you want to be perceived? And especially for services businesses like designers, et cetera, it's like, oh, the person that knows how to do that, who I bookmark because they know how to do that, becomes the person you want to hire. And that's a connection I feel like a lot of like freelancers need to make with their content.
A
So to like even take a step back. Something that again, most brands don't know and I think is essential is every video has three hooks. There's the title hook. So this is the text that you put on the screen. Whether that's, you know, it could be kind of replication.
B
Like on this version it's Beach Equity and there's just us running. That's the hook.
A
So like there's the three hooks, there's the title hook. This is the headline that you're writing on the screen. Then there's the thing that you say, right? Your, your audio hook. Then there's the visual hook, the thing that you're doing. And sometimes you could combine them. So like we've talked about this technique called Pope in the Pool where like if I'm talking to the camera, but I'm Also tossing my phone like this while saying something, naturally you're going to pay attention to. To the phone. It's going to almost like make you not recognize the time. As I'm saying, some kind of verbal hook to the camera outside of that. Right? So those are some of the. The. The key vision or key things and key aspects for good hook. But now, going into storytelling, I think the easiest thing that a brand could understand when they're script writing is to just use the but so therefore framework, like to make it so simple. Because what I've noticed is there's. There's a. I won't name the brand, but, like, they'll send me this script, right? And bro, it is like, sentence, period, sentence, period, sentence, period. And I'm like, just read this out loud. Read this to the person that's right next to you and tell me if they're interested or tell me if it flows. Does it feel like the next line is needed? If the next line doesn't feel needed, then we have a problem out the jump.
B
Well, that's something I do all the time with scripts in the brand workshops is I'll be like, all right, like we wrote. You wrote the script. Because part of the things we do is we'll do exercises. People will write some videos and be like, all right, you're going to read them and I'm going to read them and I'm going to time it. Because that's the other thing too. It's like, all right, cool. Okay, well, when do we get to the point? Seven seconds, in 50 seconds in whatever. And you just roll through it and like, as soon as you say it out loud, you just get a whole lot to break down. Like, but to four.
A
Yeah. So the first one is like, okay, and I'll use one of my. One of my examples is it makes it easier. So it's like, this is Tesla's marketing playbook. But first it starts with xyz. So that means. Right. And so I'm using. Basically what I do is like, I use the hook. And then by using. But it's almost like you're forming another hook that's like, oh, like I need.
B
Like, this was the biggest sales day of our career, but we have a massive problem.
A
Exactly.
B
Yeah.
A
And you got to use that voice, too. You have to change up the voice. But naturally, like, it forms another hook that's like, okay, that is that that headline really set the context. But then all of a sudden, we form like this other question in somebody's head by saying, but and then you transition to more information by saying a line. So this is Tesla's marketing playbook. But first it started with Elon did this. So it really changed when he did this. And that so makes it like, oh, okay, there's more information that I need to though, or I need to know. And then, like, you then introduce therefore or then. Or something like along those lines where it's like. Like, you basically trying to keep presenting information in a way that it makes it feel like that information was needed for you to be able to complete this bit of education or entertainment or whatever it is.
B
And yeah, and I feel like you can also do those visually. Like, you can be like. Like, your butt or your sober. Who does this really well is Rob has been on the podcast Rob the Bank. Like, his videos now he has props. You can see. Like, he will basically say a sentence and he'll, like, pull out a katana, literally. Or he'll be like, da, da, da, da. $7,000 chrome hard jeans. Right? It's just a vehicle for you to be like, oh, like. But, okay, so, like, why does this thing exist? And, like, where is it taking me? And you start to see through the videos and be like, oh, this guy pulls out four different things, like, throughout his video. Again, that's like an interesting. Like, you start to look at those vehicles, we're like, okay, you can say those or you can show those. And once you start getting those tools and those little tricks, your video can be almost the same every time. Like, the same kind of framework is you need to have that people also grow to expect a certain style. So I feel like that's good too. So what are you looking to do with your content next? I know you've added carousels recently, which are crushed. What are you looking to do next?
A
Yeah, the thing that I haven't done well yet, and the main thing is I've been focused on growth content, right? Like, content to actually try to get people into my ecosystem. And what I need to start transitioning to is like, yes, still need to put three. Let's call it three of those out there every single. Every single week. But I need to start adding more vlogs. I need to start adding more, like, behind the scenes of us building marketing exam and what we're doing with clients and more of, like, my actual, like, what we tell people to do. Like the founding story, right? Like, I'm so in on just putting out, like, that educational content. Because anytime we do it, we get.
B
Yeah, well, the hard part is those don't do super well either. So I've been in the same scenario where, like, I talked about value for so long without talking about my story or providing, like, personality because it's hard too. Like, also, our lives aren't like, you can see it on LinkedIn or it doesn't. Like, everything's kind of inherently more complicated than most people's, but, like, it doesn't matter. Those thousand people that see it or those people that see it now have such a bigger, like, recipe of that and, like, worth. Worth getting through your heads. But something I respect a lot about you that I think is worth, like, having some context on is like, so you blew up and marketing examine blew up in the Twitter era. You were like a master of. I post Twitter content, I get email subscribers from Twitter content. Like, you had that locked in, but then like, you can't do that on Twitter anymore, right? No one gets it off Twitter. And you, like, breath me in the birds here. You methodically were like, I'm gonna use this next social media to like, engineer the same thing and like, find the same way out, like, a different way. And I feel like you get these people that are. That get content doing it on one thing and then just can't change to the new wave. And so I think that it's worth, like, thinking through you're you ever in those scenarios? You feel behind that? Like, I don't. You did that in like, the last, like, six months. Like, you did some content before, but you really, like, went after it. Like, you can still do that now. And it's worth, like, really taking seriously. Like, you can get leads from anywhere if you are dedicated enough and you provide enough value.
A
100%. So what I'll say is our company went from roughly close to 1 million to $3 million run rate in the last six months from short form, you know, like, completely changed the company and even helped us launch a new product that we've been toying with the idea of. And it naturally happened in the. And I had one of the biggest individuals in the fitness world hit me up and without even having to launch the product, they were like, hey, can you do this for us? And I was like, that is exactly what we wanted to launch. And it was right out the gate, a $12,000 a month back, right? And but the thing was like, similar to what you said, I didn't really actually go all in on short form until April. April. I was like, okay, I'm gonna post for 30 days straight. And that month I went 10,000 to I think it was 40 something thousand right in the span of a month. And yet during that, before that though, I was still trying to tinker with the idea of okay, I can make Twitter work. You just have to keep testing things. And I can make Twitter work. Until I was like, you can't, you can't. And then I was also have conversations with you and Colin and it's like you guys would tell me, hey, like this is happening, this is happening. It also all of a sudden made me realize like, dude, none of these situations happened with Twitter because it's faceless. Unless you are really like that. Such a big name, like let's call it. Even though I don't really fuck with him, like levels IO or like those individuals where they went on places where they did show their faces and all of a sudden their Twitter content becomes so much more valuable. Like he goes on my first million which has a big fallen all of a sudden in his Twitter.
B
My video has now made my Twitter that much more valuable and people see that it comes back in. But that's what that network's using. That's also why we're running now as we realize that that's like another framework for this that provides an even more intimate look. I feel like through sweat equity people get a much bigger idea of what you're trying to do than they ever could. Like in short form, same thing. What I'm trying to do communicate that in 60, 90. One thing I've been doing is I experiment mainly because I want to be able to be like, hey, we tried this thing. We're talking about, you know, a lot on TikTok and that's been really interesting. I've been doing like six minute videos.
A
Have you gotten Winnipopop?
B
Yeah, I want to win a pop. This last week it was like the fifth one.
A
The last thing I want to touch on before the sun sets. Is the, the thing that you haven't talked about enough, I feel like is you've been cranking on YouTube.
B
Yeah, yeah. Creatures been popping. I found my audience on YouTube. I was like, oh, it's not the people I have on Instagram. It is young people that want to learn about creative careers. And so my job is basically to be an educator for them. And if I treat it as I'm telling stories to the 23 year old me, that's the content that works. And so I've literally been doing that. I almost one content format where it's like school learn this thing that they don't teach you in College in 28 minutes. And that format hits. It's it for you too, right? Like, and like, I will do that a bunch. And then the other format is just like more long form. There are no mentors for creative work. It's just me mentoring for like 25 minutes. And those formats both work. And am I getting, you know, 100,000 views?
A
No.
B
Am I getting 10 to 30 on everything? Yeah. And again. And that. But the follow ratio is crazy versus people that are getting way more because you're actually providing real value and I like it. Now I got editor starts this week and we're going to take it up a notch. And I'm like, I really feel good about making that work. But it's those formats that you have to find a format that you can repeat that people want to watch like a show and they're not what you'd expect when you're doing like oddball marketing content.
A
You know, I think the thing that people don't realize about YouTube as well is when you get somebody into your YouTube ecosystem, they want to follow you everywhere else. Right. Like when I like certain fitness individuals or trainers or whatever that I like to consume because I'm like, okay, I'm learning something every single time. I feel like, okay, I need to follow them on Instagram, Twitter, Tick tock. Because they're probably putting out good information there that I'm also going to learn. And that happens naturally with YouTube. And I feel like it's happening.
B
Yeah. People will comment on that and be like, you know, I thought about it a lot and I chose to follow you. Yeah, yeah. Like, fair enough.
A
You know, I have noticed that, that we'll have a few people on the sweat equity. It's like first. It's like, cool, cool. But wrapping up. That was the first episode of Beach Equity. Yeah.
B
We're gonna do sceny beaches all over Trinidad Tobago, the Maldives, you know, I mean, like, we're ready for it.
A
Yeah. What's next? We got to go to the hometown Hawaii.
B
Yeah. Aman Resorts. If you want to do the luxury version of this, we'll break down luxury brands from any of your facilities with the proper budget.
A
But we need luxury beach chairs. We can't have this janky from the air.
B
I mean, this, this helps keep us grounded. You know what I'm saying?
A
I've never seen more G wagons in my life than driving in la.
B
Yeah. Everyone's like, oh, you have a G Wagon. I'm like, hey, everyone has.
A
Everyone has a G Wagon. Yeah. It's been crazy.
B
I like to feel awkward without G Wagon.
A
That's fair. That's a wrap.
Episode 5: "5 Brand Social Trends You Need To Know For 2025" Ft. Oren John
Release Date: December 24, 2024
In this engaging episode of Sweat Equity by Marketing Examined, hosts Alex Garcia and Brian Blum delve deep into the evolving landscape of brand content strategies with their guest, Oren John. The conversation navigates through critical trends and actionable insights that brands must embrace to stay ahead in 2025. Below is a comprehensive summary of the key discussions, enriched with notable quotes and timestamps for easy reference.
The discussion kicks off with the importance of assessing a brand's existing team and their skillsets before diving into content ideation. Brian Blum emphasizes a pragmatic approach:
“It’s no longer like, what’s your dream content? It’s more like, okay, do you have a graphic designer? You have a video editor, you have a creator? ... What can we do with what we already have?”
[00:53]
Alex Garcia echoes this sentiment, highlighting the necessity of understanding team constraints to align content strategies effectively:
“We’re going through like a big list to literally understand constraints, bandwidth, team and skill set... if they don’t have the right people, it’s not going to work.”
[01:23]
With the scarcity of top-tier creators, Brian discusses innovative solutions like training existing team members through programs such as Cut 30:
“If you can’t recruit that person, you need a training curriculum for them. ... we can just run them through Cut 30 because we, we work through that.”
[02:21]
Alex adds to this by introducing the concept of creator programs, where brands invest in multiple creators for a trial period, leading to the selection of standout performers for full-time roles:
“Bring in 10 to 15 creators for a month, and you pay them a grant ... by the end of the four weeks, you have one or two outliers.”
[02:58]
The conversation shifts to optimizing budget allocation by engaging multiple creators to produce a high volume of content. Brian points out the challenges brands face in tracking and briefing content across numerous creators:
“You need 10 creators ... you have to track and brief and all that. ... the real missing skill set right now is the people that can just brief content.”
[03:54]
Alex agrees, underscoring the complexity of creating detailed briefs that align with brand objectives:
“The brief has to be so well with hook ideas, with pacing, with shot lists, very specific examples that match the idea.”
[04:23]
A pivotal part of the discussion revolves around the necessity for content to reflect and amplify a brand’s core narrative. Alex highlights how brands like Midday Squares and Represent craft their content to support their central messages:
“All those content pillars need to feed and amplify that narrative or else you’re creating a perception that nobody likes your whole narrative.”
[05:09]
Brian adds that without a cohesive framework, even the best content strategies can falter:
“If you don’t have that framework, it’s not just your core content that’s hard. It’s almost like any marketing decision.”
[05:54]
Moving beyond traditional influencer collaborations, Alex and Brian discuss treating top influencers as integral members of the content team. This integration ensures that influencer content aligns seamlessly with the brand's overall strategy:
“Look at your top influencers as a part of your content team ... integrate them into your content pillars, into your content strategy.”
[08:11]
Brian shares his experiences with brands that understand this integration, leading to more authentic and effective collaborations:
“Brands that get it, ... are willing to do a lot more ... because they align with what they’re trying to do.”
[09:46]
A substantial portion of the episode is dedicated to the art of creating compelling content through effective hooks and storytelling frameworks. Alex outlines the three essential hooks every video should have:
“Every video has three hooks. There’s the title hook... Then there’s the audio hook. Then there’s the visual hook.”
[15:10]
Brian provides practical examples, illustrating how these hooks can transform mundane content into shareable material:
“If you don’t lead with someone's body vibrating, immediate losing. Like, what is that moment that makes people, like, lean in.”
[13:52]
They also discuss the "But, Therefore" storytelling framework, which aids in maintaining narrative flow and audience interest:
“Use the 'but, therefore' framework ... you’re trying to keep presenting information in a way that it makes it feel like that information was needed.”
[16:40]
The hosts explore how different platforms demand tailored content strategies. Brian shares his successful endeavors on YouTube, emphasizing the importance of providing value-driven, educational content that resonates with younger audiences:
“I found my audience on YouTube. ... my job is basically to be an educator for them.”
[22:20]
Alex reflects on his company's growth driven by short-form content and the strategic pivot required when platforms evolve:
“Our company went from roughly close to 1 million to $3 million run rate in the last six months from short form.”
[19:07]
They discuss the synergy between YouTube and other social platforms, noting how a strong presence on one can bolster followings across others:
“When you get somebody into your YouTube ecosystem, they want to follow you everywhere else.”
[24:21]
The episode underscores the necessity for brands to remain adaptable and continuously experiment with new content formats and strategies. Brian shares his approach to experimenting with different video lengths and formats to discover what resonates best with his audience:
“I experiment mainly because I want to be like, hey, we tried this thing. ... like, ensure that you can repeat that people want to watch like a show.”
[22:50]
Alex adds that systematic experimentation and dedication to providing value can lead to significant business growth and new opportunities:
“If you are dedicated enough and you provide enough value... you can be your own angel investor and keep all the equity.”
[11:03]
In wrapping up, Alex and Brian share light-hearted banter about future episodes and the importance of staying grounded amidst success. They highlight the evolving nature of content creation and the exciting opportunities that lie ahead for brands willing to embrace these trends.
“We do, we have to go to the hometown Hawaii ... break down luxury brands from any of your facilities with the proper budget.”
[24:26]
This episode offers a treasure trove of strategies and insights for brands aiming to refine their social content approaches in 2025. By focusing on team capabilities, strategic training, budget optimization, narrative alignment, and mastering content creation techniques, brands can navigate the dynamic social media landscape with confidence and creativity.