Launching a company in the 80s was a lot different to the way businesses are launched in 2022. With no internet, just a phone line and definitely no social media, figuring out the best way to contact and maintain clients looked a lot different to the content we see today.
Navigating the rise in social media and learning to build a presence on the internet, Sound Images has learnt the importance of keeping up with the ever-evolving digital world.
Sound Images are a video production company, who were established over 30 years ago. They built their business from direct mail and cold pitching but with the help of the internet, they’ve been able to establish their brand as an industry leader, plus reach clients they’d never have been able to in the past.
We sit down with Creative Director, Kerrie Lawrence who talks about learning the ropes of social media and building business relationships over the internet.
Keeping up with the times and navigating a digital landscape
“Had a laugh at this question. I started Sound Images back in 1986 before social media was at our fingertips before the internet was in every home.
In those days, I experimented with direct mail, cold calls, yellow pages ads – there really weren’t many options to choose from with a limited (actually zero) budget.”
Connecting with clients and building brand awareness
“I love how social media humanises brands. It’s a perfect platform to build brand awareness and share whatever makes you different.
A lot of my posts will touch on the ways we fine-tune video edits, reinforcing the point that whatever it takes to create a video you love, the answer is yes. Social media is where we can consistently drive that message home.”
Life before and after Plann
“Creating content, then posting across different platforms takes a huge amount of time. I hate feeling disorganised and struggled to find a logical workflow for the platforms I currently post to (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google My Business.)”
Growing a supportive community through social media
“We don’t have a large follower count, still growing it slowly over time but it has helped us create more awareness of our brand and the ways in which we make the experience easier and more trusted for our corporate client market.
The first thing that got my attention with Plann was that you had LinkedIn – a more important platform for our corporate market.
I feel organised with Plann – that’s a really big thing for me, I know I can get most of my social media tasks done in one spot.”
And Kerrie’s favorite Plann feature?
“I really like that Plann gives me one spot to dump my ideas. As soon as I think of a possible post, I’ll go into Plann and create a title page that summarises what I’m thinking, then just save this as a draft.
Once a post is fully created, I can easily move the post around on the feed to see where it will look best within the feed layout and the surrounding posts.
I also love that my hashtag sets are all there, just click the hashtag button and choose the set I want.
Scheduling is then super easy – I schedule firstly to Instagram, then use the recreate functions to create LinkedIn and Facebook versions where I have the option to adjust the copy and hashtags for those platforms.
Even though I can auto post and be done with each post, I actually prefer a push notification so I can make a last-minute decision on whether I want that planned post to actually go right now. Just gives me a bit more flexibility for the multiple times I change my mind!”
Top tips for brands looking to succeed on social media in 2022
“I’ve only been playing in this social media space for about 18 months and have just fumbled my way through the design of my posts, trying different styles, evolving through the process to land on what I’m doing now.
Part of my design decision making has evolved from seeing how crowded our feed look with all our posts jammed up against each other, so I began creating more breathing room with neutral space between each post and it now makes me smile when I look at it, so that means I’m happy with the aesthetic – though I still find myself tweaking little things.
I’m the opposite of an expert on social media, just a small business owner learning on the go, but if I had to share a tip it would be don’t compare your follower count to others.
We’re a very niche market and so our followers are few in number. What I find more important is the quality of our connections and the relationships you build with these real people over time when you’re genuinely interested.”
What’s next for Sound Images?
“We’re constantly evolving – just as well with a business that’s decades young – so I like to keep learning new ways to make both our videos and our client experiences better.
With more than 90% of our production work coming from repeat or referral clients, our main focus will always be looking after them so they come back next time – it’s as basic as doing whatever it takes to make sure they love their video. The same would apply to any business.
It’s better to spend money on perfecting your service or product for each client than spend more money on trying to reach new clients.”
Ready to supercharge your success on social media?
Looking for an all-in-one content creation suite that allows you to effortlessly manage your social media channels? From mapping out your strategy and designing your graphics to saving plug-and-play hashtag sets, you’ll find everything you need inside Plann.
Go on, redeem your 7-day free trial of Plann Plus. If you don’t like it, keep using Plann for free!
