We had the privilege of interviewing Taylor Murray, the founder of 14 Social Lane, a social media marketing company from Dublin.
We asked her 10 questions about Social Media Marketing, which we thought would most help our audience of small businesses and individuals looking to grow their online presence!
Now without further ado:
1. What’s your top three tips for any small business looking to grow their brand presence via social media marketing?
My first tip for a brand looking to grow its online presence would be consistency. You should have a concise posting schedule for each platform and stick to it. Make it realistic so you don’t suffer from burnout. Post every single day, whether it’s a reel, carousel, TikTok, or a story.
Secondly, focus on building a community. If you build a strong community, they will buy anything from you! Lastly, have a recognisable face for the brand, whether it’s the founder, employees, or social media manager. Having a recognisable face means people can identify the brand without even looking at the logo. Great examples of this are Aimee Smale, the founder of Odd Muse, and Sisters and Seekers, who feature their employees prominently on social media.
2. How do you stay updated with the latest social media trends and algorithm changes?
I stay updated with the latest trends because I am chronically online. I know 100% of the trends mainly just from scrolling. Other great ways to find marketing news are LinkedIn and blogs, such as Social Media Today, Later, and The Social Juice.
3. How do you measure the success of your social media efforts? Which metrics do you prioritise?
Nowadays, views and followers are considered vanity metrics, but I still think they’re very important. For example, I had 1.2 million views this month on my personal TikTok—that’s many potential leads!
However, the most important metrics to watch out for are saves, shares, and comments, as these really boost your engagement. Leaving a question for followers to answer in your comments or a call to action to save the post for later are great ways to increase engagement.
4. How have you found running your own social media marketing agency, and where do you see it being in a couple years?
I’ve really enjoyed running our social media marketing agency, 14 Social Lane, so far. I’ve found that the least expected people will be your biggest supporters, and that imposter syndrome tends to creep up every now and then. My goal is to have the largest social media agency in Ireland, as it’s not as big here as it is in the UK or USA.
5. What do you enjoy most about working in social media, and what keeps you motivated in your role?
My favourite part of working in social media is how fun and flexible it is, especially being your own boss.
I love the content creation side of things, going to clients’ businesses and creating content for them, directing TikToks, and editing. I’ve always been a very confident person, so I love the social aspect!
6. What’s the most creative social media campaign you’ve ever seen, and why do you think it was successful?
Someone I’ve been analysing these past few months is Sabrina Carpenter. She has blown up very fast, and some of her marketing tactics are very interesting.
One of them is at the end of her song “Nonsense,” where she ends the original outro differently every single time she performs it, relating it to the city she’s in, recent events, or controversial comments. This is called expectation variation. People have their phones out because they know it’s coming, but it varies depending on where she is. It also brings a sense of togetherness to her fans that she relates it to their city. This then gets posted online by everyone in the crowd in each city, and I think it’s genius.
7. What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned about social media marketing in your career so far?
The most surprising thing I have learned is just how much psychology is used in marketing. Nothing is a coincidence; every campaign you see from huge companies is psychologically backed to make you buy.
8. What do you consider a very underrated social media platform for businesses to use for marketing?
A very, very, very underrated platform to use is Pinterest! I auto-post all mine and my clients’ posts from Instagram straight to Pinterest, so I basically don’t have to do any work, and we get 30k+ profile views per month!
9. What emerging social media platform/ trend most excites you
What excites me most is the shift from influencers to community. I really think the influencer world is going to change. People want more authenticity, and brands are realizing that.
A great example is REFY, which chose 10 actual customers from their community for an all-expenses-paid brand trip to Mallorca, selected from their Instagram broadcast channel. Many brands are hopping on this trend instead of the usual influencer brand trips.
10. Where do you see social media marketing in a couple years?
This relates to the last question—I believe marketing will become more authentic. People buy from people, not products. They want to see behind the scenes and the journey to success, and they also buy into a feeling. I think marketing will be more real, with behind-the-scenes, employee-generated content, and way less polished.
Final Thoughts
Thank you again so much to Taylor for answering our questions!
We think that some particularly interesting insights are the examples she’s picked out of strong social media marketing by big brands, and how you can emulate their tactics.
It’s important to keep up to date with all the latest tricks and strategies to avoid being left behind in this increasingly digital age!
This has been the #2 edition of our Agency Spotlights, which is a series we will continue producing weekly, so stay tuned.
