Talk like a human: It’s all about people

Kelsey Burdett is a 2016 Fellow and a lover of everything digital, dot-connector, podcaster, and she talks about the importance of supporting entrepreneurs. From transferring her journalism and reporting basketball games background to sales at Shopify to being a Senior Partnerships Manager at #Paid, Kelsey helps brands receive funding from incubators like Clearco and strategizes how brands can connect with the right content creators. Her main marketing advice? Move away from social media numbers, focus on your brand’s direct impact and message, and outsource Influencers as a collaboration opportunity to make your brand look more appealing. If you’re interested in content creation, influencer marketing, and building your personal or company brand image, let Kelsey guide you through insider tips and tricks.

Season 2 — June 2, 2021

Advice to Develop a Sense of Resilience and To Deal With a Lot of Rejection in Sales:

Expect rejection. That’s the best thing you can do entering a sales job. Take rejection as an opportunity to learn and understand particular sales cycles, what clients need when, and as a chance to gradually progress through rejection in each step of the cycle. This makes it easier for you to handle future rejections again, and again, and again.
Spend your time on people who are moving along. Don’t waste your time convincing somebody who’s not in the market for your product or service. It’s way too much education and hand-holding to explain to people or businesses what your product or services are worth.
Set expectations from the beginning. It will save you the anguish of chasing people that just aren’t ready. Give people the leeway of opting out of something that doesn’t align with them.

Influencer Marketing Trends To Follow

There’s been a massive influx in the number of creators in the content creation ecosystem. People are starting to look out for creators that understand that there’s a difference between creator and influencer. Creators are now an outsourced marketing tool.
Brands are looking to creators for product photography, product description, ambassador programs and for messaging, copywriting and various services beyond just creating an image of a product and posting it on a social media feed. As a result, brands are starting to develop long-term relationships with content creators.
Exclusivity agreements or requirements coming from brands are being introduced. For example, if you’re working with a creator, you’ll require that they haven’t promoted other similar brands in the past.

Tips on Brand and Content Creator Partnerships

Stop looking at follower counts. Working with an influencer or content creator with millions of followers doesn’t indicate whether or not they will convert your product well. Instead, look at engagement rates: Who is commenting on specific photos? What portion of their audiences are male, female? Within that portion, what are the age brackets?
The biggest mistake a brand/company can make is picking people based on the wrong metrics. That’s something #paid steps in to figure out and help companies with. The service goes beyond looking at what a person looks like, and instead, how passionate they may be about what your product or service reflects in their work. Ensuring that the content creator you decide to work with is invested in your story or the message behind what they’re sharing.
The biggest mistake that a content creator can make is accepting too much creative direction. Understandably, brands can make creators lead because they have a big following, know how to build that following, and understand what resonates and what kinds of content will generate engagements. However, taking a step back and asking brands what they want to see can strengthen the collaboration.

Highlights

"Communication is a gift to us and the ability to interact with others is an important transferable skill" 5:20

"If you want to flourish in organizations in a hypergrowth mode, take ownership of your learning and development" 16:54

"As a brand, it is important to pick creators and influencers based on the right metrics" 27:00

"The rest of the community will feel supported when more people portray their honest experiences with entrepreneurship" 41:18

"Even if there's someone better then you, it doesn't make them better-equipped to go do the things that you want to do" 42:00

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