SocialLIVE

A Guest Post By Stephanie Abrams Cartin and Courtney Spritzer, Co-Founders, Socialfly

When Facebook debuted its live feature, we immediately began brainstorming how we could best utilize the tool for our business. After discussing multiple names, taglines and pop culture reference our weekly Facebook Live show, SocialLIVE, was born. What started as a social media experiment has quickly become an integral part of the Socialfly brand, company culture and our favorite part of the week! Video content is the future of social media and for brands, businesses or influencers questioning the benefits, we detail five ways going live has improved our agency.

1. Build and Establish Thought Leadership

At Socialfly we are experts in all things social media, and we have known for a long time that video content is king of the social media world. So naturally, when Facebook’s Live feature debuted we immediately knew the potential for businesses, brands and our agency. We are always challenging our team to come up with new and creative ways to use social media, and SocialLIVE not only lets us share our experiences on camera but allows the team to test the new features that we are going to pitch to our clients. The ultimate purpose of SocialLIVE is to discuss the latest social media news that impacts our clients and everyday users. Through our Facebook Live show, we can share our unique insight into the social media news and trends that make up engaging social strategies for our clients and our internal team.

2. Highlight Our Company Culture

The Socialfly team is full of creative minds that are quick with memes, hashtags, and captions. We strive to make our office somewhere our employees enjoy being and we feel that shines through every week as we share laughs, snacks and recap the latest platform updates live on camera. In the last few months, we have expanded the show to include more of our team and their commentary on the subjects that interest them the most. This strategy has not only helped to demonstrate the culture we have created in our office but also builds the team as everyone has a role fit to their area of expertise. One of the greatest results since starting our show is when applicants or new business leads reference it as a reason for contacting us!

3. Grow Our Creative Capabilities As An Agency

As our SocialLIVE audience has grown and more of our team is involved in the process, we have become more knowledgeable on video content creation, and as a result, we have expanded our creative capabilities as an agency. We now include cinemagraphs, 360 videos, animation, promotional content, and more in our services! We have seen the value of professional and live video content to increase brand awareness and engagement with our audiences, and we are excited to extend these capabilities to our clients as well.

4. Expand & Better Understand Our Audience

To remain relevant in the social media world, you need to know the audience you are targeting. Their likes and dislikes, interests and the kind of content that motivates them to engage. Since the conception of SocialLIVE, our network of followers clients and “fans” has expanded and we regularly and consistently measure who we are reaching and the rate of engagement on our videos. This insight is critical to better understand the kind of content that works for live video and how to grow as an agency.

5. Grow and Develop as a Team

As SocialLIVE has evolved, the choice to include more of our team members seemed natural. We are an all-women all millennial office and faithful to the stereotype of our generation, we have opinions to share on just about everything. We choose the content for #SocialLIVE based on what’s trending but also based on the areas that interest and inspire our team. Whether that is a new tech update or unicorn toast on Instagram, we encourage our employees to find content that they would have conversations about with their friends and family. Putting together our weekly shows as a team makes the results that much sweeter as everyone has a responsibility that contributes to the success of each episode!

For more insight into the latest social media trends, tune into #SocialLIVE every Wednesday at 10 am live on Facebook!

Stephanie Cartin, Co-Ceo and Co-Founder, Socialfly

Stephanie Abrams Cartin is the Co-CEO of Socialfly, a New York City-based Social Media Marketing & Influencer Agency. Stephanie is also the co-author of “Like, Love, Follow, the Entreprenista’s Guide to using Social Media to Grow Your Business.”

A graduate of the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, Stephanie first began her career in sales at Marriott International & Hilton Worldwide. While helping friends launch entrepreneurial endeavors, she recognized the tremendous positive impact social media could have on a business’ sales and marketing efforts. Soon after, she teamed up with Courtney Spritzer to launch Socialfly. Since then, Socialfly has successfully helped hundreds of businesses successfully enhance and leverage their online presence to grow their brand.Socialfly has worked with national brands including 20th Century Fox, John Varvatos, Vera Bradley, FullBeauty, Canada Mark Diamonds, Huntington Learning Center &  Nest Fragrances.

Courtney Spritzer, Co-CEOand Co-Founder, Socialfly

Courtney Spritzer is Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Socialfly, a New York-based social media marketing and influencer agency, where she oversees all operations, strategy, and finance. She is also the co-author of “Like, Love, Follow,” her first book, written as a guide for entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses using social media.

Beginning her career as a Financial Analyst at American Express and before that as a Bond Underwriter at Hanover Insurance Group, Courtney recognized early on the tremendous opportunity social media presented businesses. In 2010, Courtney met her now business partner, Stephanie Abrams Cartin who shared the same insight and vision of a future in the field. In 2011, the two paired to create and successfully grow Socialfly. What began as a side hustle, with Courtney and Steph working nights and weekends from their apartments, quickly turned into a budding, successful business. Knowing they were on to something big, they ceremoniously quit their jobs on the same day and walked out of the corporate world together. Nearly five years later they’ve helped hundreds of businesses enhance and successfully leverage their online presence through fan engagement and interaction.