Kristen Gioscia, MA, AMFT

I’ve never really told you all what I actually do for a living, so here you go Pisgah Peaks Ventures builds & manages fractional marketing team for SMBs that are doing under 10-15 M ARR. The teams could be anywhere from 2 to 20+ individuals. Hiring for PT marketing roles can be a big drain on small businesses. They're unsure of who to hire, how to train, and they def don't want to manage them. This keeps costs in check (no office space here!) + avoids costly benefits / W2 wages. Perfect clients for us? B2B companies with 1-2 internal marketing team members Dispensaries with 2-5 locations. Soloprenuers who are scaling from 6 > 7 figures. A few years ago we started investing into other small businesses & at this point have equity in a handful of other SMBs. The goal? By 45; be able to live off the proceeds of our portfolio and golf 4X a week. To my network.... Tell us What do you do? Why do you do it? Post in the comments!

40

12 Comments

Hey California small businesses! We know you hustle hard, and your digital marketing campaigns are key to finding new customers and growing revenue. But guess what? The California legislature is messing with your money. They're trying to pass a new law – SB 1327 – that'll jack up the cost of digital advertising by 7%! That's right, 7% more expensive! This tax is supposed to target the big tech guys like Facebook, Google, and TikTok, but guess who really ends up paying? You guessed it – small businesses like yours! You're already facing enough competition from those big brands with their massive budgets. You don't need lawmakers making it even harder. Tell your legislators to oppose SB 1327 and stop this tax madness before it hits your bottom line. Click below to sign the letter and protect your marketing budget! Your voice matters – let's show them we won't take this lying down. #nonewtax #digitalmarketing https://lnkd.in/gZBGUeKC

3

Who else is attending VidCon next month?! I'd love to schedule meet-ups. 📆 I'll be in Anaheim alongside Kate Finley, a featured panelist on Thursday's schedule. Kate will discuss how the creator economy can fuel growth and drive business success. 👏 Hope to see you (and my favorite influencers -- looking at you, Hank Green!) there. 😎 #VidCon #InfluencerMarketing #Influence #Influencers #Creators #CreatorEconomy

6

1 Comment

📸 Ready to spice up your food brand's social media with user-generated content? Our third blog post is your secret ingredient for UGC success: 🎨 Align UGC with your brand identity 📊 Repurpose UGC across marketing channels ⚖️ Balance UGC with your own content. We suggest 30% UGC, 30% original, 30% curated, 10% promo – what works best for you? 👥 Build lasting relationships with content creators 🇬🇧 UK businesses, take note! We've included essential legal considerations for using UGC. Small business owners, here's a taste of our practical tips: 🖥️ Showcase UGC on your website 📧 Feature customer content in newsletters 🏪 Bring UGC into your physical space Plus, get a glimpse of future UGC trends in the food industry! Tuck into the full post here: https://lnkd.in/gFMx6dqp #UserGeneratedContent #FoodMarketing #SocialMediaStrategy #SmallBusinessTips

3

In the past week, I've spoken with two beauty brands facing 𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖘𝖆𝖑𝖊𝖘 & 𝖉𝖊𝖈𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖘𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖗𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖘 😑 They're both struggling to identify the root cause and are scrambling to get back on track. One brand hired a CRO agency to assess their UX design against best practices. They then took these suggestions and conducted testing. They implemented 85% of the suggestions, which unfortunately led to an even further decrease in conversion. The other brand hasn't taken any specific action yet to improve the website but has been experimenting with different paid marketing campaigns, trying to pinpoint what's driving the reduction. While both brands share similar challenges, it's easy to generalize solutions based on a surface-level analysis of their websites. However, there's a lot of nuance involved. If we end up working with these brands, our approach will start with a deep understanding of their customers and how the brand fits into their lives. While both brands play in a similar space, their customers are quite different. This involves analyzing competitors and evaluating their historically strong channels to see where they've had the most success with acquiring customers. Although both brands clearly need website improvements, it's never that simple. Understanding the entire customer journey and how folks interact with the brand outside of the website is just as important. These external touchpoints are like the doors customers enter through, so optimizing them and creating synergy is just as important for driving conversions online.

12

3 Comments

NEW OPPORTUNITY. LEGACY BRAND. Freelancing, contract work, affiliate marketing, and home-based businesses of all kinds account for a growing source of income for people of all ages. If you are wanting to add to your monthly income, have you thought about earning as an affiliate? Full disclosure: you DO NOT have to be an influencer with a huge following to earn affiliate income. 2024 may have brought financial challenges to many families, but there are also fantastic opportunities to earn additional money every month! I love the opportunity to be an affiliate because you can help people by introducing them to products you love and that have worked for you, and be compensated at the same time - with no additional cost to the people who buy the products. It works even better when you partner with a legacy brand that is a leader in the industry, with high customer satisfaction and retention, and consumable products that get re-ordered each month. Lots of WINS there! For the first time in 68 years, one of the original wellness brands in the country now offers affiliate income based on product sales. Plus there are other incentives on top of the percentage of sales This completely new compensation program is in response to how young people want to earn income but it is perfect for every age group. Being an Affiliate for different products and brands has exploded. Companies want to pay regular people like you and me to share their products. We can all be affiliates now - and we can benefit as a marketer! I am excited to tell you about this particular affiliate opportunity because I have been a loyal Shaklee consumer and distributor for over 42 years. I am proud to share quality products that really do change people's lives. If you haven't heard of Shaklee (because many say that they are still one of the best kept secrets after almost 70 years), I invite you to learn about and then appreciate all the unique attributes and legacy this brand has to offer. Brief overview in the video and lots more here: https://lnkd.in/eZ--bqJ or here: https://lnkd.in/eDJSuZzB

1

Quick reminder: more of your cannabis/hemp brand's website visitors will become email signups than customers right away. That means you need to be extremely cognizant that: 1. You have a welcome email sequence/flow 2. It's doing a good job of engaging new people on your list In SEO, we know that: → Some people will be ready to buy right away → Some people want to learn more about your products first → Some people want to learn more about your company first That's why we prioritize building transactional and informational pages that educate people deeply about your specific products and cannabis/hemp in general, while also ensuring your about page is easily accessible. Your welcome email flow should give people similar context; it needs to finish the job your website started. The exact order will vary, but generally, this means some mix of: → Product promotions → Review showcases → Social media showcases → Company story emails Include something for everyone in your welcome flow, because everyone's gonna get it. Don't just think about how to get more people on your site. Think about what happens to them after they become part of your brand's ecosystem.

1

How are DTC Brands leveraging Influencer Marketing and Creators for BFCM? In the traditional sense of creator collaboration and influencer marketing, it would be an outdated strategy to scale for Black Friday Cyber Monday. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it won't work--it's just extremely expensive. So what are some ways we're seeing creator collaborations or influencer marketing for DTC? 1. Long-Term Organic Content Creation - Creators and brands are looking for ways to collaborate on the social media side. We've seen deals of creators doing X amount of videos per month on a retainer bases. This is great on both ends as brands can quantify the number of content deliverables each month for certain creators and can adjust accordingly. Creators love this because there's a long term agreement on work and compensation. It's really a win-win and should be utilized more. 2. Product Seeding - This is more of a numbers game. It's like throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. Sometimes, influencers will post, but sometimes they won't. You're really just crossing your fingers at this point. Believe it or not, this is more of a risk because you have to consider COGs and shipping costs. You do need only one winner to hit, but it's important to understand that this really is just a numbers game. It CAN work, but may take a while. 3. Live Events/Activations - Throwing a live event and inviting creators/influencers in your industry can be a great move. However, it is entirely dependent on how you curate content during that event. Note that hosting events takes a lot of work and money, so the only way you can make the best use of it is to curate good content during the event to be repurposed for ads, website, social media, etc. 4. Creative Collaboration - One way to save on cost is IF your brand is great at putting together effective creative briefs. If your brand is able to write awesome ad scripts and execute on those briefs, it opens the doors for you to collaborate with who you want. You're essentially giving them the exact blueprint on what to do. It's lower on cost and 90% of the success of the campaign falls on you. If your brand has this capability, I would highly suggest this option. Overall, there's definitely a shift in how collaborations are happening between DTC and the Creator Economy. I think that unique and creative partnerships are going to make a huge splash... Super excited about that. Anything I've missed? Comment below!

56

42 Comments

LinkedIn follower growth is *not* a vanity metric. The no. of company page followers should be tracked… And, big milestones should be celebrated company-wide. But, many will disagree because: > Growing a company page is hard > It requires daily effort & creativity > Competitors are kicking their @** Hitting big milestones creates a feeling of momentum. Especially when your followers are current & future customers. LinkedIn follower growth is *not* a vanity metric.

39

21 Comments

Followers ≠ Influence ? I'd have to say this is TRUE. This is why when my team and I work with influencers we: • Always vet the fit very carefully based on the total audience across platforms and mediums, the demo of those audiences, content engagement, etc, and make sure the "estimated value" is above 100% per our internally set value calculations. • Work with influencers with a wide variety of follower sizes from nano to macro and never recommend putting all our eggs in one "influencer basket". •Always get the rights to re-post content and put ad dollars behind it. Sometimes the initially posted piece doesn't "pop off" right away, but we always want the rights to continue to leverage the content and get their voice in front of more eyeballs. ➡️ We're considering putting all our templates, guides, and resources together into an "Influencer Toolkit" so brands can easily bring the Influencer Marketing process in-house. Send me a DM if this is something you'd be interested in for your brand or agency.

3

HOT TAKE: There’s no such thing as a viral strategy 😵 Period. That’s it. No SMM plans to go viral from their brand account. We’re usually just focused on the mission: 🧑‍🏫 Educating consumers 🗣️ Engaging them left, right, and center to create a relationship 🍿 Entertaining prospects by inserting their brand or product into relevant conversations And then boom, it happens. Or maybe it doesn't. This is just another reminder that going viral isn't a strategy, okay? Don’t listen to *anyone* that says or promises otherwise. --- Hi, I'm Robyn Nissim 👋🏽 A Social Media-obsessed millennial who made a career for myself forcing global brands online 💁🏼‍♀️📲 ❤️ Liked this post? 👀 Want to see more? Hit the + or 🔔 on my profile 🤝 Looking for support? I got you! Visit my website or send me a DM

134

37 Comments

Wondering why your agency’s lead gen efforts aren’t working out? Tomorrow I’ll put together a lead gen masterclass for agencies who want to get to 10+ super qualified meetings per month. It will change the way you view lead gen. If you want me to notify you as soon as it’s released, please comment “NOTIFY” below. You won’t need to sign up for it, completely free to watch! ______ To learn more about getting clients consistently for your agency from LinkedIn go to 🦖 Tudor D. then click the 🔔 icon. You’ll be notified every time I post and you’ll be sure never to miss important content! #agency #newclients #AscendancyProgram

8

6 Comments

If you’re a D2C founder, here’s 1 of 4 lessons I have after taking my peptide company to over $2MM in 90 Days. Lesson #1: Match Your Funnel Assets & Format To Your Market’s Awareness Stage For Example:  We’re selling to a target market of women in their late 40s, 50s who want to lose weight. These women are highly aware about what products like Semaglutide, Ozempic, etc., are and already want to try it. Demand is also very high due to celebrity news about how well these medications work. (Oprah even did a huge special on it recently.) High awareness + high demand means we don’t need to do as much educating to sell our products. The target market already knows the product, and wants the product. So when they land on our page, we just need to show them why they should buy from us. This means instead of longer sales arguments, we should use more social proof and trust driven angles for our marketing. With that, we were able to scale to over $2MM a month with short ads and a shorter, 800-word eCom landing page! So if you’re trying to grow your own D2C business, remember this: For sales to happen, you must understand where your market is currently and adjust your marketing to meet them at that place. _____________ I share more of these insights at CA Pro, where I help D2C founders and their marketing teams increase sales from their campaigns. If you want to join, click my link in bio or send me a DM for more info. Will be posting the next 3 lessons in the next few days.

20

3 Comments

Hey there, fellow marketers and content creators! I just dove into this morning's questions in my inbox. Want a quick, valuable takeaway to amp up your SEO game? Here’s the lowdown: Keywords matter. --Short-tail keywords are broad, like: marketing --Long-tail keywords are narrow, like: SEO marketing expert near me Quality beats quantity. 🎯 --So do your research Content is your SEO gold. --When you write, apply a main keyword theme in your post Consistency fuels your site's visibility. --This whole internet, AI and human interaction relies on your schedule --Your audience doesn't want to have to guess when you'll be posting Engaging visuals boost time on page. 🖼️ --Pictures are worth a thousand words --Videos are moving pictures so you do the math ---Got a face for radio, that's ok, still post Because... Authenticity wins over search engines and hearts. Diverse content types enhance user experience. --Still keep a theme going --If you post about all things, well that detracts from your authority Regular updates keep your site search-relevant. --That goes for social media and websites so pick a schedule you can handle Strategic backlinks are SEO goldmines. --Don't go buy junk backlinks --Just reach out to other relevant websites / creators and ask them to link So, what's your move going to be? 📈 Let's exchange tips and keep pushing the boundaries. Dive into these insights, implement, and watch your website presence soar. Got a game-changer tip? Drop it below! ⬇️ #SEOStrategy #MarketingMagic #WebPresenceWizardry Have questions on how to do something? Drop it below!

5

7 Comments

The Power of Fair Compensation with TikTok Shop Affiliates When it comes to working with affiliates and influencers, fair compensation is everything. You can still run paid influencer partnerships and campaigns, but with TikTok Shop’s integration, commission-based relationships are a game changer! Why? TikTok automatically calculates, tracks, and pays out commissions for you. It’s seamless and SO easy—seriously, why wouldn’t you do it? When setting commission rates, people often recommend 5-10%, but a sweet spot to get started is 30%. It’s eye-catching, and influencers will be eager to jump in and work with you. Plus, with this model, the more influencers post and engage, the more they earn. The best part? You can easily track everything. See who your top sellers are and who’s driving sales, and then focus more energy on those creators who are crushing it! It’s a win-win for brands and affiliates alike. 🌟 #AffiliateMarketing #TikTokShop #InfluencerMarketing #Ecommerce #MarketingTips #FairCompensation Trndsttrs TikTok 😃

17

9 Comments

Can my brand succeed on TikTok shop? Let’s break it down 👉 1) Product Virality If your product can be easily explained by a young kid off the street; you’ve got a product perfectly designed for TikTok. If not, it’s probably not the best platform for you right now. 2) Affiliate / Margin Modeling Affiliate marketing is the lifeblood of TikTok shop. If you don’t have the margins to support a solid affiliate commission, TikTok shop will be tough. But if you’ve got a 20-30% margin to allot to great creators, you’re cooking with gas. 3) Impulse Purchasability Buyers are not searching on TikTok shop. They are consuming and scrolling often late at night. If you’re impulse purchasable, you are golden. If it requires significant research and consideration, not so much…

28

12 Comments

a few work wins in my first month! -tweaked current outreach strategy to increase opt in rate for gifting -started building relationship with a Major creator and she posted for the first time this week 💕 -A/B tested two very different types of whitelisted content for Sephora sale and saw a high CTR on one -Brainstormed some epic event ideas -Vetted 6+ tech tools & decided which one was right for us! -Organization , organization, organization. The non glamorous behind the scenes data part that will help us make better decisions moving forward! #influencermarketing

168

38 Comments

I’m hiring! Expanding the small team that works w/ me directly on marketing consulting projects (some pretty big brands we work with). Open roles: 1. SDR (Sales Dev Rep): you’ll be identifying leads, building relationships, nurturing deals. Very little cold calling. 2. Video Editor: if you’re good w/ motion graphics + sound design, that’s ideally who I’m after. 3. Visual Designer: mostly for presentations + infographics, maybe more than that. Maybe you don’t see a perfect role here, but you think you’ve got something useful - do feel free to pitch urself. (But pls, I am not looking for strategists or generalists rn) Compensation goes from ₹30k to ₹75k/month depending on skills. All roles are on-site in Bangalore (we’ll help w/ accomodation if you’re from out of town). If you’re still reading, here’s what’s next: Shoot me an email at [email protected] with a quick summary of what you’ve been up to past few yrs + your best work (portfolio, personal projects, whatever gives me a sense of ur style/skills). Last time I did this, got 50ish applications (tbh a little too many for me) but found the right person, so trying this way again. If you don’t hear back in 2 wks, just assume it didn’t work out this time. PS - If you know anyone who might fit, pls share this!

110

11 Comments

Here's a quick way to make more with email & sms: 👉 Send a value-based email campaign 👉 Create a segment of people who clicked in the last 72 hours, but didn't purchase 👉 Send that segment a targeted SMS about that email Example: 👉 Sleepwear brand sends email about cotton vs. bamboo sheets article 👉 Creates a segment of people who click on the blog post 👉 Send that segment an SMS about their bamboo sheets Clicks show intent. Use that extra SMS to nudge them closer to the sale. Try it out for your brand and see how it performs.

40

12 Comments