How LV Collective Is Using Social Media to Build Trust, Not Followers [Endless Customers Podcast Ep. 106]

This transcript has been generated by AI and not checked for accuracy.

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:06:14

Speaker 1

A lot of people think that followers are the most important thing in social media. How many followers you have.

 

00:00:06:14 - 00:00:19:13

Speaker 1

But with the way the algorithms have been changing, it's it's really not followers anymore. People are looking at views, shares and sales as the real metrics that you need to worry about.

 

00:00:19:15 - 00:00:20:03

Speaker 1

Look,

 

00:00:20:03 - 00:00:22:06

Speaker 1

There's always value to a follower.

 

00:00:22:06 - 00:00:26:02

Speaker 1

But you know, those are not the metrics that are moving your business anymore.

 

00:00:35:03 - 00:00:46:19

Speaker 1

Welcome back to Endless Customers. I am your host, Alex Winter. And today we have Kendall Guinn on the show. She's the chief marketing officer at LV Collective. And an old friend, Kendall, welcome back to the show.

 

00:00:46:21 - 00:00:48:08

Speaker 2

Thanks for having me, Alex.

 

00:00:48:08 - 00:01:06:00

Speaker 1

Yeah, I'm so excited to talk to you today. We got a lot of ground to cover, and I want to kick things off before we get into the meat and potatoes here about what LV collective is all about. So can you just give our listeners and our viewers a little background about yourself and about the company, and just set the stage for us?

 

00:01:06:00 - 00:01:30:18

Speaker 2

Yeah. So LV Collective, is a, experience based living company. So, we do, student housing, multifamily. And then we have a hospitality group as well. Which kind of helps bring, you know, coffee shops, bars, restaurants, which helps bring energy into our living environment.

 

00:01:30:20 - 00:01:39:23

Speaker 1

That's very cool, very cool. So you need to I have I don't think we have anything up here like that. Maybe you guys need it. Can we expand and have you come up to the New England area?

 

00:01:40:01 - 00:01:50:07

Speaker 2

You know, we're we're making our way up there. I think the closest getting is we have a project, that we just broke ground. In Maryland. So, we're we're working our way up there.

 

00:01:50:09 - 00:02:09:04

Speaker 1

Very cool. Oh, I that just it sounds intriguing to me. I can't wait to unpack some of this. So can you tell us a little bit how your endless customer journey started? And I know you've had a long run with it because it was originally. They ask, you answer. So can we just talk a little bit about how you discovered they ask, you answer now endless customers and what that journey was like for you.

 

00:02:09:06 - 00:02:37:23

Speaker 2

Yeah. No, I have, I have I've known about, it since, they ask you answer back down to the sales lion days. And I was actually introduced to Marcus Sheridan. They ask you answer by my bio dad. And he was a sales leader in his organization. And really looking, for how they could, you know, disrupt, what they were doing in the sales and marketing side.

 

00:02:38:01 - 00:03:00:09

Speaker 2

And so he sent me, the, the stuff that he had seen from Marcus. And I started following, the blog and everything that was going on at the time. And, eventually, several years later, I got the chance to bring Marcus in for a workshop. And that's where we really met and started to form a friendship.

 

00:03:00:11 - 00:03:23:05

Speaker 2

We went on with consulting with the sales client and made that trans with, transition with hand to impact, and continued coaching. And really got, that kicked off, through, through the life cycle at the company that I was at prior to LV  Collective and then we're able to bring that relationship over to my new company.

 

00:03:23:05 - 00:03:42:18

Speaker 2

About four and a half years ago when I joined LV Collective, and have seen, you know, that the service evolved to endless customers. It's been really transformative in my career. It's been more than just like a marketing approach. It's been a business philosophy that I brought to the companies that I've gotten the privilege of working with.

 

00:03:42:20 - 00:03:58:04

Speaker 2

Yeah. And, you know, it's really helps, you know, change markets and transform business. And so it's been fundamental to kind of the type of marketing that I practice and kind of the approach that we bring full circle into, what we do at LV.

 

00:03:58:06 - 00:04:17:02

Speaker 1

That's really cool to hear. And it is a principles based, like methodology and, and ideology. So to be able to take it from different industries, B2B, B2C, whatever the case may be, and it works across all of them and it really resonates with you. That's that's so cool to hear that. I really love that. So can we talk a little bit about Marcus's energy?

 

00:04:17:02 - 00:04:32:04

Speaker 1

I mean, he's just it's palpable when he's on stage or when you do a workshop with him. He's he's like in your face in the best of ways. And he's just he brings that energy. What was that like, having him having a buyer side and building that relationship and as it like, started to like, permeate into your businesses.

 

00:04:32:04 - 00:04:36:20

Speaker 1

What was that like, for you and just getting to rub elbows with Marcus.

 

00:04:36:22 - 00:05:05:04

Speaker 2

Yeah. No, I mean, he's incredible. He he he says, I think, you could be a prophet to the world, but nobody's going to listen to you in your home. And so these were ideas that I had with everybody to buy into, for a very long time. And, you know, actually getting him there and having that moment, I since had it done with other people at impact with Dak and other other coaches that have come in, and they bring that same energy, and excitement when you do those things.

 

00:05:05:04 - 00:05:41:06

Speaker 2

And it helps like legitimize like what you're saying and what you're thinking about. To kind of link the rest of the company. And that energy is really exciting. And I, I don't know, it just, having them there, brings it into, a new reality, a new way of thinking that maybe you. Me who? I'm not nearly as good of a public speaker can't don't have the experience working with the range of businesses that he does, that, you know, gets that internal buy in that you really need to be able to do this successfully.

 

00:05:41:08 - 00:05:56:16

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah. And how about coaching too? Did you clearly you found that coaching was was important not to just be come up like a profiteer, your company. But also how was it just like from an accountability standpoint, did you did you find that really helpful as you were implementing this across your companies?

 

00:05:56:18 - 00:06:16:20

Speaker 2

Oh, absolutely. I think the coaching is so key. It's so funny because when I first hired Marcus, to come, I think I was seven months pregnant and, I, I think I told people still, like, if somebody had told me that morning that, my executives would tell me after that to go hire a video, full time video person.

 

00:06:16:20 - 00:06:37:00

Speaker 2

I told you you were crazy. And of course, I was, like, seven months pregnant. That's exactly what I did. Was, they were like, by the time you're on maternity leave, we need had a video person on, on board. And so I went out and we hired, and, honestly, we really kicked everything off while I was on maternity leave.

 

00:06:37:02 - 00:07:04:07

Speaker 2

And if it weren't for the coaches there who were taking my team, training them on everything and guiding them through during the time where I wasn't even physically in the office, I don't think we would have, you know, gone as quickly or, kind of been able to implement as much as we can because we had that coaching and, you know, it wasn't just like an accountable party of like hearing you do this.

 

00:07:04:12 - 00:07:22:21

Speaker 2

You know, it was a lot of times you don't do because you don't know how to do or you don't know the next step to take, or you don't know if what you're doing is any good. So having that feedback from the coaches of not just what to do and did you get it done, but like getting that like you know, gold star of like, oh, you did it and you did it really well.

 

00:07:22:23 - 00:07:27:18

Speaker 2

Was really like motivating for the team to keep them going through the implementation.

 

00:07:27:20 - 00:07:32:02

Speaker 1

Yeah. And it sounds like you came back to progress and people were already. Yeah.

 

00:07:32:07 - 00:07:43:02

Speaker 2

Yeah. It was incredible to kind of like go out and then come back and see how much further we were without somebody there, like leading the vision or strategy, because that's what the coaches stepped in and did.

 

00:07:43:03 - 00:08:00:19

Speaker 1

That's so cool to hear. Yeah. Very nice. So can we talk a little bit about and this is something that Bob and I and the team here at impact are really impressed with at LV Collective. You guys do such a great job with your social media and how you post and the engagement that you get and just the overall content and positioning of it.

 

00:08:00:19 - 00:08:16:05

Speaker 1

Like, it's just really impressive. And I'm not saying that to blow smoke at like I love the stuff that you guys are posting and I really want to pick your brain. And I'm sure our listeners and, and viewers want to hear too, like, what's the secret sauce? So can we talk a little bit about your social media content and just.

 

00:08:16:07 - 00:08:19:05

Speaker 1

Yeah. And just like what you guys are doing over there.

 

00:08:19:05 - 00:08:19:18

Speaker 2

let's do it

 

00:08:19:18 - 00:08:30:16

Speaker 1

so what what is the what is the mix or like what is the content strategy. What platforms are you on. Can you give us like a little overview of the the game plan or like what's been working for you?

 

00:08:30:18 - 00:08:53:15

Speaker 2

So, you know, it's a it's a little bit different per what business you're talking about. Okay. You know, our core base, we have student housing properties across the country. And obviously Instagram and TikTok are huge, for the student housing. And we also have multifamily. Those are the ones we lean into. And then we have hospitality concepts as well.

 

00:08:53:17 - 00:09:15:06

Speaker 2

Depending like hospitality will lean more in on things like Yelp, where people are going for hospitality information, and has, you know, minor social components to it. We're also like looking at Google reviews across these, and everything like that. But I would say, Instagram and TikTok are primary channels, for our student housing and living.

 

00:09:15:08 - 00:09:33:03

Speaker 1

Yeah, that makes sense. And it sounds like it's really important to think about your, your kid demos and their ages and what platforms they're already using so you can meet them where they are, which is an endless customers principal for sure. So can you, can you hit us with some like some metrics or some maybe some content that you put out that's worked really well.

 

00:09:33:05 - 00:10:09:06

Speaker 2

Yeah. For sure. So, you know, we we have been, working on our Instagram and TikTok for a while. You know, as we've gone through, the year, your strategy has to continue to evolve because, you know, like, social media looks like four years ago is not what it looks like today at all. And so, you know, like, as early as, like a year and a half ago, we were having a really successful, we were building our audience, with really successful, like, giveaway strategies.

 

00:10:09:08 - 00:10:33:05

Speaker 2

And we had, like, a Morgan Wallen reel at our Rambler Athens property go viral. Had over 2 million views. And I think we converted, I think we, converted, like over 10,000 Instagram followers through that. Kind of giveaway promotion. And it was all because it was that concert was so hyper local. It was only pulling from the hyper local audience that we wanted there.

 

00:10:33:05 - 00:10:36:02

Speaker 2

So it was incredibly relevant.

 

00:10:36:04 - 00:10:46:15

Speaker 1

You said you said 2 million people like that posts and you had 10,000. Follow on. What were those numbers? Again? Hit me one more time because I'm like, I'm still kind of baffled by that.

 

00:10:46:17 - 00:10:52:19

Speaker 2

On the on the Instagram reel. And then 10,000 of those converted were followers.

 

00:10:52:20 - 00:10:56:14

Speaker 1

Wow. Wow. That's incredible. And that's just one post.

 

00:10:56:16 - 00:10:57:04

Speaker 2

That's one.

 

00:10:57:04 - 00:11:05:17

Speaker 1

Post. Okay. And it sounds like you really got specific with geo targeting. And because you knew this event was happening and of course, Morgan Wallen, everybody knows who Morgan Wallen is.

 

00:11:05:17 - 00:11:23:17

Speaker 2

So he's having a moment. Yes. And so was like right in there for the type of person we were trying to target at our properties. And it helped us. And what was really exciting is that we kept a lot of those followers. You naturally see a tradition attrition after you, like, announce who the winner is and stuff like that.

 

00:11:23:17 - 00:11:46:10

Speaker 2

But I think we hung on to like, about 80% of our followers that, then we were able to organically continue to market to them on that platform. And so it was a really successful. Now we don't see giveaways working like that anymore. That was the strategy from like a year and a half, two years ago. And the algorithm is we changed to prioritize away from things like that.

 

00:11:46:12 - 00:12:00:07

Speaker 2

But it kind of goes to show you how, how you can use social media to kind of grow more, infinitely more quickly than most other platforms allow you to in business these days. Right?

 

00:12:00:09 - 00:12:17:06

Speaker 1

Right. It sounds to like you're trying to align with like, key demos in certain buyers. So how do you how do you pick and choose that? Like what events or like trending topics or like how do you how do you figure out what's going to get in front of more of your best potential people?

 

00:12:17:08 - 00:12:43:02

Speaker 2

Yeah. So it starts with kind of knowing your audience. And so, you know, and by doing that, we so we actually on our student housing properties, we have a social media intern in each of our markets who's in charge of creating the content. And really, you know, driving that strategy. And so it it already makes it authentic because it's coming from students.

 

00:12:43:02 - 00:13:03:02

Speaker 2

It's coming from the people who, like, live at our properties. Most of our social media interns live on property, and they are already in tune with, like, what their campuses trends are and what's going on in social media. It's really helpful to have kind of these social natives who are, like, already even creating content for themselves. Right.

 

00:13:03:03 - 00:13:23:17

Speaker 2

And so when it comes to like, how do we know what to create? It's funny a lot of our competitors, a lot of other brands will, kind of hop on whatever the trend is, the trending audio, you know, whatever is going on at TikTok at the moment. But we kind of take a more fundamental approach.

 

00:13:23:19 - 00:13:51:18

Speaker 2

We lean into kind of like selling a lifestyle, and we lean into, like, educating our customers, which, you know, there's a huge demand for, especially on sites like TikTok. People go there to be entertained. Yes, but also to learn. And so we, there's while there, we could go to this big shiny like trends thing and we kind of stick to the basics.

 

00:13:51:20 - 00:14:15:14

Speaker 2

And then we, we look to other industries where I think, you know, CPG has a ton of great social examples. And we're not looking to our peers. We're looking to people. And, the, the kind of like consumer product goods, beauty, kind of like the industry fashion, that our audience is already relating with and engaging with their content.

 

00:14:15:16 - 00:14:18:16

Speaker 2

And then we like to pull inspiration from there.

 

00:14:18:17 - 00:14:36:06

Speaker 1

Wow, that's really cool. Now, I love I love hearing that because I feel like sometimes there's a lot of trendy, quote unquote trendy things that are happening. You know, I like I'm going back. I'm like the ice bucket challenge or something like that where or there's like a trending piece of audio and it's cool for like five minutes and then it's like a flash in the pan.

 

00:14:36:06 - 00:15:01:21

Speaker 1

Right. So how do you create content that has a little bit more substance to it and that people can relate to and also get educated on? I love the education piece. So can we talk about how you build transparency through your content? Like, I love that you have these interns boots on the ground. They're real people at like, how do you how does that play into building that transparency, building trust and pushing that further so that people want to follow you and want to learn from you?

 

00:15:01:23 - 00:15:20:14

Speaker 2

Yeah. So that's something we struggled with. So like, you know, we really wanted to create the educational content across social media, across all our sites. And and what we found is that some of these are really good social media person is not always the most comfortable on camera. Right. And some of them are they're naturally content creators. But some of them aren't.

 

00:15:20:14 - 00:15:39:15

Speaker 2

And so we're really struggling with like, because when we're managing accounts, I think probably like ten accounts across the country. And how do you get the equal amount at the posting consistency that you need to. Right. Yeah. And so, that's where we step back. And actually when we came back from Impact to Live last year, we took our whole team to Chicago.

 

00:15:39:15 - 00:15:59:19

Speaker 2

We went to and back live and we were kind of we were really toying with like, how do we get more of this educational content made and out in social media? And so we actually ended up coming back from that, and we had decided we need to start a podcast. And, and actually the podcast was like the result of the goal was viral TikTok clips.

 

00:15:59:23 - 00:16:28:08

Speaker 2

Okay. Right. And we had seen other brands like, like I think at the time, like the new heights with the Travis Kelce, all of these like short podcast clips were going viral on the internet. And still you still see that that was like the call her daddy. And like all of these other podcasts that are really relevant with our demographic, people are really used to watching, an Instagram or TikTok clip of somebody with headphones on, kind of like in a podcast interview, split screen environment.

 

00:16:28:08 - 00:16:48:12

Speaker 2

Right? Yeah. And so we're like, okay, let's use this podcasting because we started with like, okay, how do we get more viral TikTok clips? And then we're like, okay, well then how do we get great stories? And we're like, okay, well, let's take long form and then make short form. So that was the the impetus for us to start the best for, which is our podcast that talks about living.

 

00:16:48:12 - 00:17:11:15

Speaker 2

It talks about kind of we kind of call it the best for for the best four years of your life, which is what people call their call it. Right? Yes. And so we go to different markets. We recorded, seasons in Austin, Texas, Columbus, Ohio, Tempe, Arizona. And then we have a bunch more seasons planned and coming out really soon that we're excited to announce.

 

00:17:11:17 - 00:17:37:01

Speaker 2

But we go in and we interview students, about their experiences in college, about, you know, like their trials and tribulations and what it's like living and living away from home for the very first time. And what happens to create our, like, these really interesting stories, that are both educational and really entertaining? And I think, you know, over it, we launched it actually just about a year ago.

 

00:17:37:01 - 00:18:02:12

Speaker 2

We've had over a million views and growing on TikTok. I can't even count anymore because every day it seems like we have something new go viral. And so we'll, you know, we'll shoot up by, you know, a couple 100,000 views every day. Wow. So that that was one way that we, we thought to get that authenticity in, to really hear from students and making engaging content that happens to do really well on social media.

 

00:18:02:14 - 00:18:18:15

Speaker 1

Yeah, I can only imagine. I remember back when I was in school and I'm going to date myself here, but podcasts weren't a thing back then, and it would have been so cool to hear from other college students about their experiences and what they were feeling. It would have been very relatable and helpful because I remember freshman year, it's like drinking from a firehose.

 

00:18:18:15 - 00:18:35:09

Speaker 1

There's so much to digest and to try to understand and to assimilate, and it's a lot to to manage all at once, especially when you're being away from home. So that's really cool to hear. So you said you were at Impact Live Chicago. What gave you or what sparked this idea while you're at Impact Life, do you remember?

 

00:18:35:11 - 00:18:59:21

Speaker 2

Gosh, I think it was I think it was really, it was really talking about the there was a conversation about how do you take the content that you have and move it across, like how do you reskin a long form blog post and turn it into a nugget or a carousel on Instagram? Right. And how do you take your content and repurpose it across channels?

 

00:18:59:23 - 00:19:17:04

Speaker 2

And I think for us, you know, the result was like, how do we get more quality social? And we were like, wait, we have to make something long form in order to do it now. We started our very first one. We actually rerecorded because we were like, okay, let's just do this, let's do a zoom call. Right?

 

00:19:17:06 - 00:19:54:17

Speaker 2

And, we were like, going to make it a really quick and easy and not highly staged thing. And then who we are and being like, and we have a whole in-house video department and we don't do very much halfway so that we ended up pulling it back and we got the full production crew involved. Gotcha. That did a much bigger, setup that is stage, but actually it ended up benefiting us, because, we would, I would say like, only like maybe 5% of our, our viewership comes from the streaming sites like Spotify and things like that.

 

00:19:54:17 - 00:20:17:19

Speaker 2

YouTube is huge, for us. And people love to watch content, watch podcasts, which that really surprised me. My husband does that. I don't do that. I don't watch podcasts. I listen to them. So and that's something we learned about Gen Z, is they really like to watch their podcasts. And so, you know, like made for incredible YouTube content, as well.

 

00:20:17:19 - 00:20:23:16

Speaker 2

And so that was one of the things that we learned in this was like, okay, TikTok and YouTube is where it's really going to pop off.

 

00:20:23:18 - 00:20:38:14

Speaker 1

Yeah, I totally agree. And I'm like, your husband, I like watching podcasts versus listening to them, which I know is counter-intuitive because it's a podcast. But that's and we do the same thing too. We started out on zoom and then we quickly realized, so it's just it's cool to hear that. And I also have to shamelessly plug really quick here.

 

00:20:38:14 - 00:20:57:17

Speaker 1

Impact live is coming to Hartford August 18th through the 20th, and you can get some really great ideas. You can meet some really amazing people like Kendall here, so if you haven't hey you tickets, get them quick before they're gone. Okay, August 18th through the 20th. All right, now that I'm done with my plugging, let's get back to you said that there's ten channels right?

 

00:20:57:17 - 00:21:24:23

Speaker 1

So I want to get into the you know, you've established the cool factor. The metrics are there. You're getting tons of views and engagement. It's really impressive. How do you manage all of that? And where does where does it come into play of like not only just managing but defining success from like a pipeline standpoint and getting people coming in and how you like qualify those leads or how you just kind of nurture them into something more than just engagements on TikTok and on Instagram and on different platforms.

 

00:21:25:01 - 00:21:49:18

Speaker 2

Yeah. So I mean, those are two really big questions for me on how to like, measure. So like manage. First I would say, yeah. So we have a social media director, Laura, who is probably one of the most scalable human beings in our business. She what she is able to do with interns on the social media side is absolutely incredible.

 

00:21:49:20 - 00:22:10:12

Speaker 2

She also utilizes our video team and things like that. But, she has created a training program, for her interns. And so where she can really quickly onboard because of the fact that we're managing interns, there's a lot of turnover, right? Because people get out of school and then they graduate, and they have to go on to something else.

 

00:22:10:14 - 00:22:34:00

Speaker 2

Right. And we've been privileged to keep in our portfolio in other roles. But we so we have to really be able to quickly train and onboard people. And then she, you know, she has, a really good system for managing and improving content. And then she hosts monthly meetings with her team from around the country.

 

00:22:34:00 - 00:22:58:21

Speaker 2

It's super cool to see her get on, with interns. You know, from Columbus to Tempe to Atlanta to, you know, Austin, and get everyone together and bring the trends that they're seeing, the content that they're relating to. And, then share that across, the company and across the industry. And it might be something that's catching on.

 

00:22:58:23 - 00:23:17:18

Speaker 2

And Austin, but hasn't quite come to Columbus yet. And so we're able to like, see ahead of some of those trends, especially since we're so hyper focused on these college markets, which are like very separate and very distinct and different, but kind of like tied together by this thread of this generation who's like at that moment. Right, absolutely.

 

00:23:17:18 - 00:23:36:18

Speaker 2

And so, so, yeah, she has a she's, done a great job of like being able to scale the human side of it and, and make it a really, seamless. I mean, our properties are posting 3 to 4 times a week. On the feed, and then at least three stories a day. A lot of times more.

 

00:23:36:22 - 00:23:39:22

Speaker 2

So incredible amount of content. That.

 

00:23:39:23 - 00:24:02:22

Speaker 1

Sounds like it. Yeah. Wow. Can I can I ask a detailed question? Because you got my. We'll spend an hour. Right. So we've been talking about this here at impact. And I think a lot of people are probably asking the same question. Is it better to post in platform, or do you use like a management tool that like just pushes out to all the different platforms at once or like what's your what's your recommendation there?

 

00:24:03:00 - 00:24:36:23

Speaker 2

Yeah, so we have at various times tried to do scheduling. You know, rails are almost impossible to schedule and so therefore like it, it makes sense to post them in natively. We're also experimenting with things like trail rails, which have to be posted natively before they'll be pushed out to a wider audience. And so, really, after kind of going all different ways, we found it's most effective to post natively within the tool, both Instagram and TikTok.

 

00:24:37:19 - 00:24:43:20

Speaker 1

And it sounds like you recommend having a social media expert on the team that can help manage and and work through all this.

 

00:24:43:20 - 00:25:06:11

Speaker 2

Yeah, 100%. And, it it can't if it's if it's not somebody world if they don't understand it, they don't live it every day. It's hard to own it. Right. And anything you're doing in business, you want that ownership and accountability. And so, you could keep a job unless on its own, trying to keep up with the algorithm updates.

 

00:25:06:11 - 00:25:27:04

Speaker 2

And there's a lot that is changed. Kind of like I said earlier, about how how you think about followers and how you think about engagement, and how you have to even shift your content strategies to meet those algorithmic changes. So, I definitely recommend having somebody in-house owning it so that they know, kind of where to keep pivoting your strategy.

 

00:25:27:08 - 00:25:44:16

Speaker 1

Yeah. No, that makes sense because I was going to ask you that about the algorithms and how you keep up with that. But it sounds like when you have a specialist and that's what they do, you can stay at least on trend with that curve because it changes all the time. I feel like every time I open the app, there's something different that I have to think about or something different positioning wise, that you have to be aware of.

 

00:25:44:16 - 00:25:59:10

Speaker 1

So that's, a full time job. All right. So let's go. We talked a little bit about the management. Let's go into the like the pipeline and the results and how you track and just kind of keep all of this, gated so that you know how effective it's working. Like, are you using a CRM or using a tool to do that?

 

00:25:59:10 - 00:26:00:02

Speaker 1

Like, what's the.

 

00:26:00:05 - 00:26:25:06

Speaker 2

Fact that we use HubSpot, for and, and which is brilliant because it allows us to understand how effective our social media is being in terms of leads, and sales. So, the way HubSpot plugs in, we can see, you know, our, our attribution reporting, and we're able to understand exactly where social fits in our attribution reporting.

 

00:26:25:08 - 00:26:42:20

Speaker 2

Now we do do some, because of the nature of housing and what we do, and a lot of times we're at at least. So we have to, to go from like zero to signing leases, very quickly, which is not the business model. Most people have the time and runway to be able to build a brand and all of that stuff.

 

00:26:43:01 - 00:27:06:20

Speaker 2

So we do supplement with like paid social as well. And so we are able to see across both organic and paid social what impact that's driving. And you know, it's it's definitely and our like top six of referring leases. When you look at our full path, that attribution reporting, we do a lot of, like top of funnel awareness.

 

00:27:06:22 - 00:27:29:07

Speaker 2

And then we use it for retargeting as well. We can do that on, that I would say TikTok has gotten a lot better about their targeting. Really even in, in the past 18 months. And we used to like, not be able to target zip codes with TikTok. We could only get so, like, if we were trying to do Athens, you had to do the whole state of Georgia.

 

00:27:29:09 - 00:27:52:15

Speaker 2

So there has been we've been able to, as TikTok has progressed and into advertising, been able to, kind of, expand who we're able to talk to now because we are in the housing category, we are limited to like, special ad categories because we can't target by age or demographics or anything like that for housing.

 

00:27:52:17 - 00:28:09:05

Speaker 2

And that's where Gannett comes in. Is really creating that type of content. Who wants to? We have to be even more intentional about the type of content we create, so that we draw in the right audience, because we can't target, specifically by the categories.

 

00:28:09:05 - 00:28:23:19

Speaker 1

So can we talk a little bit about TikTok? Just because I feel like it's it's sort of the X factor, right? So it's like where is the where do you see the future of TikTok and how does that play into or compared to like YouTube shorts or Google or like what what does that look like?

 

00:28:23:20 - 00:28:30:15

Speaker 1

And from your perspective as we move forward into the future, especially with like AI and all these new emerging pieces coming out?

 

00:28:30:17 - 00:29:04:01

Speaker 2

Yeah. So I don't have a crystal ball. I don't know where it's going to be in the future. But I do know it's TikTok is really important for students in our age demographic right now. Okay. And, when it comes to, like, so a student housing project, we release the whole building every year, right? So we don't actually have to think about, you know, of course we do think down the road and we are thinking about what the future is going to be.

 

00:29:04:01 - 00:29:25:19

Speaker 2

But we're also, very much have the privilege of leaning in on the platforms that matter right now. So TikTok is, you know, look, we had a moment in January where we had to shut down all of our advertising, halt all of our content production because, for a couple of days, TikTok, we weren't allowed to post on TikTok.

 

00:29:25:19 - 00:29:51:00

Speaker 2

Right. And our and our audience was still there. But nobody could really use it. Right. And so, we're constantly having those push and pull. How much do you invest on TikTok? How much do you not and, you know, those are real conversations that we're having at our office all the time. You know, as we progress over the next couple of years as gender nation Alpha starts coming in and.

 

00:29:51:00 - 00:30:08:20

Speaker 1

We are seeing a rise, in the use of YouTube shorts. I think it's interesting, even as a parent myself, a lot of parents are, like, hesitant to let their kids on social media, but they do allow them to have YouTube, YouTube kids is something they're comfortable with in a brand that they're familiar with, right?

 

00:30:08:22 - 00:30:35:07

Speaker 1

So you see people, maybe this generation Alpha has been a little bit more restricted, in their social media use. But, but YouTube has been okay. Right? And so I do think we're going to see the rise of YouTube shorts, as, as, like an approved app for, kids to have on their phones, which is that can eventually bleed into that college time period that we're super interested in.

 

00:30:35:10 - 00:31:02:10

Speaker 1

Right? And so, yeah, I think it's something we just have to watch. And for now, we're kind of just more seeing the TikTok of that TikTok is, you know, with meta buying Instagram. All right. You know, when that have a you saw followers as a key priority because that was part of the the social graph which was native to how like metas, you know, thinks with this with its Facebook and Facebook friends.

 

00:31:02:10 - 00:31:32:15

Speaker 1

And when TikTok came in, it really prioritized kind of, views. Right. And it prioritized entertainment. We saw a huge shift in how people experience content online. And also, this idea that you could go viral became so much more prevalent with TikTok. And now we see Instagram pulling those features into their algorithm and and followers really being deprioritized in favor of like, views, sales and shares.

 

00:31:32:15 - 00:32:06:01

Speaker 1

And so, you know, those are the things we're trying to understand is how do we create content with the goal of like sharing a safe right rather than the goal of a follow. And and not content really does. It looks quite different. And so what I think is interesting with TikTok is really more what they're doing and innovating on and how we consume content, than anything else, because it is leading to changes across the industry and how these algorithms are kind of like pieced together.

 

00:32:06:01 - 00:32:29:03

Speaker 1

And then I guess lastly, the the thing that I think is really interesting is that businesses are really leaning in to tock, tick tock, because you can get to new audiences so much easier in TikTok than you can on Instagram. And it's easier to reach people who aren't your followers on TikTok. Where is it? Still kind of hard to do that unless you're supplementing with paid on Instagram?

 

00:32:29:07 - 00:32:53:04

Speaker 2

Interesting. Okay, I didn't know that. See, I'm learning something there. It also sounds to me it also sounds to me and correct me if I'm wrong, that it's less about the platform, like TikTok is hot right now, but in ten years from now it might be something else. And it really seems to be like you. The content strategy stays the same, and the platform is almost like whatever tool you're leveraging to make sure you're meeting people where they are and you continue to build trust and put out good content.

 

00:32:53:06 - 00:33:12:15

Speaker 1

Absolutely. You know, it's really interesting because we do we intentionally create different types of content on Instagram than we do on TikTok. This is not one of those things. Like, we we posted something on one of our accounts on TikTok the other day, and it got like 2000 views on Instagram, and it got over 100,000 views on TikTok.

 

00:33:12:15 - 00:33:41:12

Speaker 1

Right? Wow. There it is. How you create the content and what types of content you create is very different between the two platforms. But I think, you know, at its heart, like just understanding where your audience is, is the number one. A lot of people would say, oh, like, it's only young people on TikTok. But it's interesting because, like, you know, a lot of the younger people who work with me, their parents are on TikTok because they want to be in touch with, like, what their children are doing.

 

00:33:41:14 - 00:33:46:17

Speaker 1

And so I think it has a much wider audience. Than some people think it does.

 

00:33:46:21 - 00:33:47:20

Speaker 3

Yeah.

 

00:33:47:22 - 00:34:14:15

Speaker 2

It makes a lot of sense. How do you see again? Like, this is just fascinating to me and I'm learning a ton. And thanks for sharing all this. How do you find the balance of creativity and knowing what platforms where you need to meet your audience, and also balancing that on like the seesaw of creative and business goals and making sure that you're still hitting your pipeline needs and you're still hitting revenue goals and you're still scaling and growing your business and and, you know, achieving those, those pieces.

 

00:34:14:17 - 00:34:43:03

Speaker 1

Yeah. For me, it's not about balance, okay? It's about like the create. If we bring the creativity, we see the business result like that. It that is the truth for us. If, if we bring in and creative doesn't have to be new or bold or exciting, creativity can just mean, really good storytelling, like finding the great nugget of content, finding that clip.

 

00:34:43:04 - 00:35:04:16

Speaker 1

It could be, parenting. Bring that really interesting life like, lifestyle club with like a really witty on point caption. Right. That makes people go. I relate to that. I'm going to share it. I'm going to save it. I'm going to send that to my roommate. I'm going to like and it's a it's a different it hits a little bit different.

 

00:35:04:16 - 00:35:25:20

Speaker 1

So I would say like, you know, all of those things lead to profile visits, link clicks, things that actually drive our business goals. And so I'd say the more creativity that we exercise and creativity being relative, you know, the better we see our results on the business side.

 

00:35:25:22 - 00:35:46:16

Speaker 2

Yeah. Yeah, that makes total sense. What would you what would you say to CEOs or to business leaders or chief marketing officer like yourself that maybe aren't bought into this idea, or they want to be very, selective with the type of content that they use. Because based off what you just said, it really sounds like you need to make content that your audience wants and not make content that you think your audience wants, or that your business wants you to do.

 

00:35:46:16 - 00:35:51:23

Speaker 2

Right. So how do you how do you navigate that? And what advice would you give to people out there?

 

00:35:52:01 - 00:36:14:16

Speaker 1

Yeah, I mean, I it's funny, I sat down and thought about that and talked about, with our social media director, Laura, about it, and she was like, is that even an option to not be doing social in 2025? And then we got into this little side conversation, you know, I'm, you know, business executive and getting targeted ads for all these AI softwares and productivity.

 

00:36:14:16 - 00:36:38:13

Speaker 1

And you know, marcom software. And, I got an ad the other day for an AI tool that looked super interesting, and I was like, ooh, I might even send this to my CEO. And then I clicked over within their ad, I clicked to their profile and they had five posts. Yikes. And I was like, yeah, yeah, this probably isn't legit, you know?

 

00:36:38:15 - 00:36:40:09

Speaker 1

And I immediately clicked away.

 

00:36:40:11 - 00:36:43:11

Speaker 2

Isn't that funny how that works? Right? Like the psychology behind that.

 

00:36:43:13 - 00:37:08:06

Speaker 1

Yeah. And so it's one of those things where like they spent good money to target me. They got me with really great creative. But because they weren't posting on a consistent basis, like they completely lost legitimacy in my eyes. Right. And I think that is why you have to continue doing business. And I think, look, you know, there is so much more than producing content.

 

00:37:08:06 - 00:37:28:17

Speaker 1

I think, you know, one thing we haven't talked about is community management, making sure you're responding to DMs and and really engaging with your community. We're using a tool, any chat, which helps automate some of that, serve up links that people want, be able to use some natural language conversation to be able to respond to people quicker.

 

00:37:28:19 - 00:37:51:13

Speaker 1

But that can be a huge, huge part. I mean, we have a property where we were signing leases and DMs, and we actually had to get a DM management software because we couldn't do it within the app anymore. We were missing leads by trying to respond to that. Right. Well, so, if you do community content, well, you have to do community community management.

 

00:37:51:13 - 00:37:59:04

Speaker 1

Well, and so, I would say community management, you know, and then you.

 

00:37:59:04 - 00:38:07:03

Speaker 2

Get the engagement pieces. Huge. And just to interject, what was the name of that tool that you were, that you were you just mentioned about the engagement piece.

 

00:38:07:05 - 00:38:08:07

Speaker 1

It's called many chat.

 

00:38:08:11 - 00:38:09:03

Speaker 2

Many chat.

 

00:38:09:03 - 00:38:31:01

Speaker 1

Okay. It's a tool that's primarily being used by, influencers. So they'll be like, comment, shop to get the links of all the products that I, referenced in this, but there are so many more creative uses for it. We'll use that same like comment guide to download our complete guide to parking in West Campus. Right.

 

00:38:31:03 - 00:38:48:16

Speaker 1

And so we can use it for our, like to create a really relevant, carousel or TikTok, and then you can have, like a conversion point of like, you know, comment this or like DMs this and we'll send you things that are tools that are really easily accessible.

 

00:38:48:18 - 00:38:50:08

Speaker 2

I love it, very cool.

 

00:38:50:10 - 00:39:06:06

Speaker 2

So a lot of our a lot of the people in this customer's community struggle with social media. And I think they want to do more and they want to understand it better. What's your best piece of advice that you could give them as they embark on this journey of social media and they start to take the plunge?

 

00:39:06:08 - 00:39:47:03

Speaker 1

Yeah. So I mean, at its core, endless customers is about building trust. And social media is a great way to do that, whether it be posting educational content or answering questions in your DMs. I think, you know, it's one more touch point where you can reach your customers, where they're already spending time every single day. I think, you know, executives who are leaning into endless customers have already so many resources that they need to start creating content on social media.

 

00:39:47:04 - 00:40:11:09

Speaker 1

You know, the the prompts that our content writers are using or articles we hand over to our social media team to promote those and turn them into reels. Right. And so, like, you've already got this robust toolkit. If you're you're following the endless customer mindset, and it's just a really natural step to take that, and extend it to social.

 

00:40:11:11 - 00:40:15:15

Speaker 2

Well said. They're already doing it. So why not leverage it on all these platforms?

 

00:40:15:15 - 00:40:27:06

Speaker 2

What advice do you have for people that are going, you know, closing out this year 25 and going into 2026 when it comes to their inbound marketing strategy and how social media plays into that equation.

 

00:40:27:08 - 00:40:54:04

Speaker 1

Yeah, I mean, I think right now there's a lot of uncertainty in inbound marketing as like what role will SEO play and what role will I play. You know, how our recommendations are going to look. Are people going to be searching on Google anymore? And like, look, a huge part of that piece of the funnel is kind of like being written right now.

 

00:40:54:04 - 00:41:20:17

Speaker 1

And we don't know exactly where everything is going or where it's headed. We can just make our best guesses. I think what we do know going into 2026 is that social media continues to be a robust part of how people spend their time online. So if you want people to know about your brand, if you want to find a community that you can engage with, social is going to continue to be a great place to do that.

 

00:41:20:17 - 00:41:26:10

Speaker 2

Kendall, this has been a great conversation. I've already learned a ton. I have a few things that I need to say back to my team.

 

00:41:26:12 - 00:41:32:14

Speaker 2

And I'm sure our listeners and, and our audience out there is going to do the same. But thank you so much for your time and for being on the show. I really appreciate it.

 

00:41:32:16 - 00:41:38:01

Speaker 1

Of course. Thanks for having me. I love listening to this podcast and it's such a treat to get to be on it.

 

00:41:38:03 - 00:41:46:13

Speaker 2

Well, you are welcome back any time. Thank you for listening and for everybody there watching and listening as well. This is endless customers. I'm your host, Alex. We'll catch you on the next episode.