Hey, deveryone, welcome back to the show today. I'm so excited to introduce you to Stephanie Paradiso, who I was just fangirling all over Stephanie's visuals that she has on her sales pages. Like this woman is an absolute creative and launch genius. So Stephanie, so glad to have you here.
Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here.
We are here today with a timely topic, I think for a lot of our listeners, obviously, by the time this airs, we're just a few weeks away from one of the biggest sales weekends of our entire calendar year, Black Friday Cyber Monday, and you are so good at helping service providers, especially have an explosive q4 with a really big black friday Cyber Monday weekend.
So I want to dig into all the ways that we can be marketing smarter, not harder, during this crucial time of year. But before we get into that, I just would love for you to quickly introduce yourself to our listeners who may be discovering you for the first time.
Sure. I'm Steph Paradiso. I am a certified digital marketing strategist, and I'm also the founder of inspired social collective, a marketing agency based out of Southwest Florida. I'm not from Southwest Florida originally. I'm a New Yorker through and through. I grew up on Long Island. I moved here about two years ago, and you could probably hear that in my voice as we start talking. But like most marketers, my journey to actually being a marketer is not linear. I don't think anybody like when they're a kid says I want to be a digital marketer when I grow up and get older.
So it was never something on my radar. And funny enough, my oldest daughter, she's seven, she's going to have a parade in school in a few weeks for Halloween where they dress up as what they want to be when they get older. So she said she wants to be a dancer. And I said, That's awesome. I love that. I think it's great for you. But what about a digital marketer? And she goes, Mom, that's boring. I would never do that. I beg to differ, but I mean, I just love what I do, and it makes me so happy.
And kind of what you said at the very beginning, the creative aspect of it is really what gets me going. It's what excites me every single day. So I can genuinely say the path to getting to be a marketer wasn't linear, but I'm so, so happy that this is where I am now, because it just lights me up.
I love hearing that and honestly, being a marketer myself and coming from that background, I feel like the best marketers are really artists at heart, right? They're like creatives who really understand how to tell a story, how to connect emotionally with people. It's so much more than just analytics and spreadsheets and all of these, you know, logistical things of marketing.
So I'm so glad you're here to infuse your creative genius into our audience. I think for the purposes of like preparing our minds for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, if you will, it's important to understand the actual person buying the consumer, right? And so much has changed in the marketing landscape in the last couple years. I'd love for you to share what you're observing is different about how consumers are making buying decisions in 2024 and moving into 2025 compared to how they were buying in previous years.
This is so good, such a great place to start. I think that this is where small business owners and service providers in particular tend to get tripped up. A lot of my clients will say I've always done it this way, or I've done this and has always worked for me, and now it's not working. And my answer is that the consumer has changed, and so what was working once before is not going to work anymore.
And I know that sounds really scary and disheartening, but it's actually a good thing. It allows us as business owners to challenge ourselves, but unfortunately, we cannot figure out a new strategy and a new path forward unless we really understand what is happening with consumer behavior. I would say that this is going to be different for every business out there, right? It's going to look and feel different, and we're going to we'll talk about how the nuance per industry we can kind of dig into. But really the thing to note is that from 2020 to 2024 there's a huge shift in consumer behavior. And it's not just in the way they move through the buyer journey, but it's also in their journey as a person, as a human, right?
So we need to consider the buyer journey, but then also the human journey. And I think that that second part is where businesses are not really digging into and doing some research with the things that we're seeing the biggest change in consumer behavior that really links back to Black Friday and quarter four as a whole, is this idea that consumers are taking longer to make purchasing decisions. I think that this scares people, right? And if we don't really get to the bottom of why this is happening, it can be very discouraging. And it sounds like, oh my gosh, they're taking longer, and this is why business is slower.
But from my perspective as a marketer, specifically dealing with service based businesses, it is a really, really good thing, right? And here's why, the timeline of when somebody is introduced to a brand, to when they actually make that purchasing decision, to when they convert it is expanded, which means we just need to have more touch points with a brand, with a business, before we can make a decision. And this is because consumers are more shrewd. They need more information. They're researching more. They are comparing to what's out there more, right? We're in the world after 2020 there's an explosion of online businesses, right?
And so there's more options than ever. There's more information out there than ever. For consumers, they're doing their due diligence, which I love, because at the end of the day, once that person converts, we know that they have taken the time to really understand that whatever it is that you offer is what they need. They are super invested in your brand and their belief that what you have to offer them is going to be that transformational solution that they're looking for is sky high.
So at the end, this leads to what we would call a stickier consumer, somebody that is more loyal to your brand, somebody that is not going to regret their purchase and is really going to be invested. I know that as somebody who also coaches and is not just doing done for you services, I need this, right? It is an incredible thing to have a client that believes in you, but then also takes action. And I think that that's what happens when the buyer journey is expanded. They've just done more research there, they have 100% buy in.
The other thing that happens is because if we can have a stickier consumer that builds loyalty, and then over time, that builds the average lifetime value of a customer, and that's what we want, right? Even though this seems like a really scary change, if small business owners understand what kind of information their particular consumer is looking for, and then can essentially serve it up on a silver platter through their content marketing that is going to lead to, I think, an overall better result for everybody, happier consumer, happier business owner, and feel more fulfilling.
I love that you're taking this kind of 10,000 foot view and not looking at just a moment in time like, how quickly can we get to the first purchase? But really, like you're saying, how do we create the most qualified consumer that's going to stick with us for the long term and see that average order value really increase over time, which I totally agree with as as a fellow marketer, just understanding acquisition costs and also, you know, it's the data shows over and over again that it's much easier to upsell an existing customer than to get a first time buyer right.
And so over time, your expenses decrease, but your revenue actually increases because of those stickier consumers like you're talking about. So I'm so glad that you brought up that point. Now, one of the things that you mentioned is understanding that the timeline is longer, though, for that first purchase.
So in knowing that buyer behavior, how would you recommend service providers, service based businesses, and honestly, any industry that's planning to do some sort of Black Friday Cyber Monday launch, how would you factor that into the timeline of said sale? Like, are you starting your sale or previewing the sale much earlier than you would have in past years. What does that timeline look like for you?
Yeah, this is also really important to note. There's a lot of data that supports this idea that the customer journey has been expanded, but there's also a lot of data out there that shows consumers are spending smaller amounts of money, but they're doing it more often. And so when we look at the trends and what's been happening with Black Friday overall, one thing that we saw in 2013 is this idea of these, these big brands, like the Walmarts and the targets of the world starting their sales in October, right?
And we're going to see that again in 2024 this is, though, what I think last year scared a lot of brands. They were like, oh my gosh. How can I possibly start Black Friday in October? That doesn't make sense, and I agree, because it's not Black Friday in October. It's pre Black Friday. And so this idea of really giving consumers more opportunities to convert with more conversion events, more offers, more campaigns and launches throughout quarter four, instead of just focusing to cyber week is, which is what traditionally we have seen in the past, and what has worked in the past. We want to now shift to looking at quarter four is sort of the a Black Friday marathon, if you will.
And again, I think that this will scare some people, right? Even just using the term Black Friday, I think off puts people, especially service providers, because they don't believe necessarily that a service or what they have to offer is what consumers are looking for on Black Friday, but the truth is they are. They're looking for a deal, right? And so if we can offer more opportunities throughout October, November and December to have these conversions, we can then meet the consumer. Where they're at. Some people are going to need this much more extended timeline to the point where they might not convert until December.
That's great news, because if we're listening to this episode in November, you still have time, right? And if you really want to get ahead of the ball, starting your promotions, your holiday promotions, your q4 promotions in October, even though it seems kind of premature, really is the way to go that way. If somebody is more nurtured, they're further down the road, they don't have to wait until Black Friday to start working with you. And actually, the best thing that can happen is you then build that loyalty.
So if people are making smaller purchases, but they're doing it more often, if you have campaigns launching October, November and December, you now have the opportunity for that repeat customer to come back, potentially three times throughout this the sales cycle. So I think that that's really the key to maximizing revenue in this part of the year where traditionally we might have said that's going to overwhelm my customers. They're going to shop in October or early November, they're not going to come back again.
But changing your offers, changing your campaign visuals, your messaging, to meet the consumer where they are at that part of the year is really going to be super effective. And I think that that's the major trend and shift that we're seeing in this holiday season.
So smart. So it's like almost a shopping continuum, if you will, like that marathon you were describing, rather than say that as a one off, big event.
Yes, I'm someone who learns through through, like, real life examples. So could you maybe even walk us through, like, speaking of these micro conversion events, what do those micro conversion events look like in your own business? Like, what are some of the things that you've peppered in for your audience to buy in October, November, and then, of course, leading up to that big cyber week?
Absolutely I love this, so I'm also kind of like a learn by visual. So let's kind of map this out a little bit, if we're looking at q4 holistically right now, I have just recently launched in September. So we're in October now, but back in September, I launched what we would call our signature program, and that is teaching small business owners how to actually create their black friday plan. So this is what's cool, is that I'm doing this plan alongside of my students right now, and I'm going to lay it out exactly how I plan to launch everything piece by piece. S
o that was my big q3 launch. Now we're in October, and one thing that I'm asking myself is, okay, I don't want to launch something just for the sake of saying, Hey, this is an opportunity for us to bring in a few extra revenue dollars. What can we put out there? I'm really thinking about what is my consumer kind of struggling with right now, and what's going to be that really juicy, like, can't say no offer. So couple things for me.
Number one, I think it has to be a lower ticket offer right now. I think it has to be very poppable, something that people are like, Yes, I need this in my life immediately. And for me right now, that thing, I think, is going to be how to maximize your email list, so that way you have this very valuable piece of digital real estate to then maximize sales in November, for Black Friday, December, and then moving into January and q1 building that momentum. So that's what we're going to be working on in October.
It also really aligns with a lot of the sort of PR opportunities I guess, that have come my way. I am speaking to an amazing group of creators, and one of the topics that we're covering in that talk in late October is relating back to email marketing. So not only am I thinking about q4 Black Friday. But I'm also thinking about, okay, how does this offer fit in everywhere else in my business? Right? So that's going to be, I think, really important for October, when we move into November, some of my clients, what we're suggesting is kind of like this two part drop.
So I do work with product based businesses as well, but we can mimic this for service space. If you have complimentary offers, offers that don't compete, but really like go so well together, you could actually do a smaller sort of launch, like a low lift launch in November, or a very small drop of digital products in November that complement your Black Friday offer really, really nicely. And I think that that just kind of like leads, again, brings people through that buyer journey. And then part of your messaging, part of your marketing during Black Friday can very specifically be to the segment of customers that have purchased that initial offer. Hey, this is a perfect compliment. It's going to enhance your results.
So that's going to be one piece of it, right? If you are, let's say a web designer, maybe in late October, early November, you're launching like a branding offer. People now have their logo, their brand kit, and then for Black Friday, you're up selling them to maybe a website in a week. Offer, right? That would be. A really natural upsell, and that's a really good way of thinking about it, not just necessarily a two piece offer, but like a down sell and an upsell complementing one another. One way to do it, one thing that I did last year, that I was obsessed with and had really good success with, was launching a Black Friday pre party.
So we love a party around here, and we like to get, you know, build hype, make it exciting for our community. And you know, we decided to do this four day Black Friday pre party, where we did higher ticket offers, but in very limited quantities. And I felt like this worked really well. Again, people are spending less money at a time, but they're doing it more often. But for Black Friday, there's a lot of urgency associated with that weekend, and we are like fast and furious, and there's a lot of competition. Personally, I don't necessarily recommend a very, very high ticket offer for Black Friday weekend, because, again, I think it should be a quick yes, poppable, right?
But for some service providers, they have lots of high ticket right? And myself included. So what is the trade off here? The Black Friday pre party allowed us to offer those higher ticket offers with a little bit more time to think about it. It wasn't like the consumer's head was spinning like, oh my god, this brand, that brand a million messages in their inbox. So we did this pre party the week before Black Friday, and we had amazing conversion. One of the offers was coached for a year. It was a $3,000 offer, and we converted on that, which I don't even I put that out there because I was like, Okay, what else can we add to this?
And it was just like, let's see what happens. And it was actually the best converting offer of that week. So that is one idea that I'm going to be pulling into my business again. We'll change up the offers. We'll probably do VIP days for this year again. That's going to support my 2025, business goals. So I don't want whoever's listening. I don't want you to look at Black Friday and q4 kind of just like in this container, I want you to think about, how can what you put out into the world support your larger goals, not only to end this year with a bang, but also for 2025 How are you setting yourself up for success?
So that worked really well. We did a very easy yes offer for Black Friday weekend, about 55% off my membership, which, again, converted really well. We did that from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving through, I believe we extended it to Tuesday after Cyber Monday. That's a really nice amount of time. Gives people opportunity to jump in in the beginning, say yes, when the hype is happening on Black Friday, and then come back if they missed it again on Tuesday.
And then in December, I'm actually taking a page out of your book, Ellen, I was so inspired by your 12 days of Christmas last year, I loved it so much that we are going to do a version. I haven't quite decided yet if it's going to be all offers or offers mixed in with some freebies. I think it's also a really great opportunity to offer some list growth for your business. So opting in for freebies during that 12 days of Christmas, I think, is a great strategy. I think that you, I don't know if you have an episode on this, but I remember listening to like a debrief.
So what a great what a great resource for your audience as well. But I was super inspired by that. So that's going to be our December offer. So bird's eye view of q4 that's what that looks like on a very bird's eye view level. I guess my goal here is to support my audience, give them resources and tools that I think that they would say yes to based off of where they are in their customer journey right now and what they need to grow their business. But then also, how am I setting myself up to have momentum in January as well?
Wow. Okay, if you're listening to this, I have no doubt that your hand is scrambling to write down all of these notes. Or if you're in the car, maybe you need to come back to this and listen a second time, because that was so generous for you to break it down into that detail, I I really appreciate that Stephanie.
And I think the biggest overarching takeaway that I got from what you just shared is this concept of not looking at Black Friday, Cyber Monday in isolation, but really looking at it as a revenue stacking opportunity, like, like you said, 100% even looking forward into 2025, okay, what is some something that someone's going to buy? Someone's going to buy now that's going to help convert them into the next offer. Or, like you said in that pre party, how can I sell a complimentary product that come Black Friday?
It'll make sense to remarket to those existing buyers. I just think that's so so smart. So I really want to pull that out for our listeners. I also wanted to kind of ask, though, you know, you mentioned that the higher ticket offers you were kind of saving more for that that pre party, and then during actual Black Friday, you were doing more of, like a low ticket, no brainer offer, because there's that time urgency connected to it, and people have to make that quick decision. But for the. Service Providers listening, who are like, you know, I have a higher ticket service, a done for you service, let's say, and maybe the traditional route of discounting, which is usually what people expect when it comes to Black Friday, doesn't really resonate with them, because they don't want to offer, let's say, their service at a 20% 30% discount.
What are some other creative ways, either you personally or that you've seen your clients offer that doesn't require a discount to still get people to see, wow, this is such a great deal, and I have to hop on this.
I love great, great question, and I'm so glad you pulled that out, because I feel like that was a piece missing just from that, that last little segment. So I am a firm believer in that discounting does keep you competitive, however, service based business owners kind of operate in this separate silo, right? And when we're competing for, you know, eyeballs, the discount is not necessarily going to make or break you, especially when you have a high ticket offer, because product based business that can offer a 40% discount versus a very high touch, high level service is their apples to oranges, right?
So we're not really competing directly with that. I always think a discount is fantastic, but I also have clients that have had better success offering value ads or their time depending on what their service looks like. So if you are offering, let's say, a $5,000 service, right, and that is very structured, and it doesn't necessarily offer any additional one on one time with you like we have a service like this called the brand blueprint, where we essentially create a marketing strategy from scratch for our clients, it is super high ticket.
So one thing that I would offer is, actually, we do offer an upgrade. You can add on a direction and professional photography shoot at a local studio here. So for Black Friday, I would perhaps offer that as a bonus. And it is a $1,500 bonus. So and of course, I would lose a little bit of revenue on there, but there would still be some profit, because it's built into the original add on anyway, and that is super juicy. So you can add value based bonuses, rather than discounting the actual time and billable hour that you're perhaps putting in. If you are somebody that has a group program and that is what you're launching, or you have a course one on one time, I think is always going to be the best value add to me, you know, being able to have that, like, additional pick your brain.
Oh my gosh, I have this question or, like, can we clarify this? Or can we work through that? I think that that's fantastic. And I've actually had clients do even a 30 minute bonus, or 45 minute does not have to be a full hour, especially if you have a larger cohort or a larger amount of conversions. And I think that works well. You can also build even more urgency into these bonuses and do early bird bonus, so the first 48 hours, or even launch these bonuses to a wait list, so that way your hungriest leads, your warmest leads, will take advantage of this and convert right away, and then even maybe offer that for the first 24 hours through Black Friday.
And I think that that would be amazing. But even if you didn't want to do a value add, even if you didn't want to do a discount, you can still create hype and excitement during this q4 period, especially black friday slash cyber week. Just through your messaging and your campaign visuals, you can really stand out and create excitement and hype and sort of like this party atmosphere, if you're investing in really beautiful visuals, a really great sales page, and if your messaging is timely. So for a lot of service providers, especially if you're B to B, you could use messaging like, hey, when everybody else wakes up on January one, they're going to start thinking about your goals.
But if you invest in this particular offer today, you are going to be so far ahead of your competition that once everybody starts, you're already like halfway through. So it doesn't have to necessarily be just the discount, just the promotion. You can pull something together that excites your audience, that is fun and creative, that is not taking away from, you know, your fair rate that you want to charge.
Absolutely and I think that novelty element, like bringing in everything, like you said, from maybe a one to one container that you normally don't offer, or that's an upgrade all the way to what you said with visuals, like a visual they haven't seen before. I think anything that triggers novelty during this time of year is exciting for the consumer.
So I'm really, really glad that you gave some specific examples of how people can tie in those elements. I also feel like during this time of year, because the consumer is being inundated with so many offers and so many brands trying to vie for their attention, it's easy for business owners to actually get caught up in that flywheel too and get into this game of comparison, right where it's like, oh, like, this person's already offering. Something similar to me, so why even bother? Or, oh, wow, their launch is so big and shiny and flashy, I can't, you know, live up to that, or whatever it may be that you know the stories that people tell themselves.
So when you hear that from your clients, your community, or maybe if you've even experienced that personally, how do you kind of get yourself out of that comparison game? And also, what are some additional ways that you think small business owners and service based business owners can really stand out during this time of year?
Yeah, this is so true. And I think that this is just human nature, no matter what industry you're in. You know, from content creators and influencers all the way to B to B service providers, comparison is just unfortunately part of it, I think number one just being cognizant of it, and just knowing that what we're seeing on social media is just, you know, we're looking from the outside. We're not internal. We don't know what's going on in their business. My favorite quote is, like 10 years of hard work will make you look like an overnight success.
So I always remember that we don't know what somebody else's business looks like. We don't know how big their team is. For most of my clients, they're solopreneurs, or they have a very small team I don't have. You know, you don't have the bandwidth to be able to do all the things when you are running the show by yourself, or you only have a few contractors. So number one, just be cognizant of it. Give yourself grace. But the other thing here, I think that is so important. And I actually just heard this today. So this is super relevant. I was listening to an online Summit, and one of the speakers said, essentially, worry about the consumer, not the competition.
And I was like, Oh my gosh, I need to write this down. I posted on my stories, and then immediately one of my clients was like, oh my god, I 100% like, this is the best thing I've ever heard. And I feel like we get so caught up in worrying about the competition and the offers and like, what's next, and how are we putting our sales page together? And like, is this post okay? Or what about this caption that we forget about who we're speaking to?
And I think now more than ever, especially during the holiday season, our consumer has to be at the forefront of everything. So I think it's consumer and community first. Competition is still relevant. We don't want to forget about it, because I do think that market research is important. But worry about that second, right? Really think about how can you support your community? What are you putting out there that is really allowing your audience to feel very connected to you and your brand? One brand that I think does this exceptionally well and is like a textbook for this is set active their founder.
And again, this is a product based business, but we can take a page out of their book. Their founder has this amazing community chat. What is it called on Instagram, a channel. She has this channel. She's offering sneak peeks behind the scenes, and I just feel like what she is doing to connect with her community and put that community first. It makes them feel almost like investors in the brand. They're voting on drops. They're, you know, she's asking them what they want to see next, and they're voicing their opinion.
And then by the time that the drop happens, or the launch happens, if you're, you know, implementing the strategy, these people that have been with you every step of the way, without behind the scenes content, really feel so connected to your brand, like a stakeholder, that I think it pulls them through that buyer journey, it actually pulls them to convert even more so. So remember, the competition is not relevant right now.
We can compare all day long, but it's not going to increase our revenue. What is going to really help us build our business and build those stickier consumers is putting the consumer and the community first.
Such great reminders. And what really stood out to me about what you just said is treating your consumers like their investors, like they're part of your board, right? Exactly, really thinking, Okay, how are we, how are we co creating this business or this brand together? I think that's such a huge perspective shift. I love that. And you actually referenced, which brings me perfectly into the next question that many of your clients you know are solopreneurs, or they have very small teams. How can people who fall in that category, who are listening to our podcast?
How can they invest best invest, I should say, their their marketing efforts during this time of year. You know, knowing that they have limited resources, knowing that they have limited time and budgets. What's the best bang for your buck? You know, when you're thinking through Black Friday, Cyber Monday?
Yeah, so one of the things that I have suggested to every single client right now is to book a photo shoot. This, to me, is the number one thing that I think you can do right now to make your brand look and feel different. Visuals are so important on social right, on any visual platform, and I don't necessarily think we need to have very polished, professionally photographed content throughout the year. I think iPhone for to. Geography works for the majority of the time, but for the holiday season, when we want to stay competitive, I think it's a really great practice to have that q4 photo shoot booked in. You know, if you're a founder and you need a new headshot, you get that built into that. You can start January with a beautiful new headshot.
That's great, but then also having these fun visuals, creating a mood board. I mean, I just did this. We go on Pinterest, we kind of just see what might spark your interest, and just go down rabbit holes, pull together a mood board and then let the concept, kind of, you know, ride from there, find a photographer that can really understand your vision. Not all photographers are going to shoot in the style that is going to make the most sense for your brand, and really plan it out, your outfits, your hair, your makeup, if that's something that you're into, your props, these are all things that are very nuanced but make the biggest difference.
And I will tell you, it does not have to be expensive to do this. You can do it with a budget of $500 maybe even less. You referenced my photo shoot for my sales page for one of my programs. Honestly, the big thing there was we did this huge, oversized shopping bag that was inspired by one of a brand that we saw on Pinterest. My husband made that with four pieces of oak tag, and we just put our logo and vinyl on it. But it does not, yeah, so scrappy. And honestly, these photo shoots can be scrappy.
And I'm, I'm all about being scrappy even, you know, after 12 years of being a business owner, we can still do it like that. So it doesn't have to be a huge investment, but the risk versus reward, like the reward is, you know, just it's huge. So I think those visuals, and you can disperse them all over your channels, they're great for email marketing, which, again, allows you to stay competitive. Just think about it, if you have your emails being sent. You know, of course, we want to use email marketing throughout the year, but during Black Friday, one thing that's really cool about email is that you have the opportunity to show up between like Sephora and Nike in the inbox, like you get the same type of real estate as these big brands do, and the same, you know, visibility, so that's really cool.
And those visuals and the emails can compel people to click. They really allow your brand to stand out, and they can tell a story. So if copywriting is not your strong suit, if storytelling is not your strong suit, get those visuals to tell the story and to lead your consumers through that buyer journey.
You know, that wasn't the answer I was expecting you to say when I asked that question, but I'm obsessed with this answer. And you know, what's really interesting is I haven't actually experienced it yet on the user side, but I know there are certain email delivery platforms, like Gmail that are planning to start offering visual previews. You know how, like, when you're in your inbox, you can see subject line previews and preview text, but now they're going to start showing images.
So I can, I can really see how that's going to help you stand out even more as a brand among all of the busy and by the way, if any of you are listening and want to see like a real life master class of this, any of the links that Steph mentions at the end of our episode will be in the show notes. Make sure you go look at her website, look at her sales pages, because that's gonna be like just the best example of how you can be really creative in standing out with your visual. So just wanted to give that plug to wrap up our time together staff.
There's so many more questions I could ask you, but I just kind of want to get your quick hot takes on these two things. First is what is a big marketing trend that you've seen happen throughout 2024 that you'd actually warn people to be weary of implementing themselves. And then, on the flip side, what's an overlooked marketing trend that you think is going to make a huge comeback or get new attention in 2025
Ooh, I love this. Okay, I think one thing that we are quick to kind of fall victim to is just hopping on every single trend out there. Not every trend works for every business, and I think that that's okay to use a trend that's out there right now and be really cheesy. We want to be really mindful and very demure about what we pick. And I think that not everything is going to resonate with every single audience, and that's okay.
On the flip side, one thing that is 1,000,000% making a comeback. And I would for service providers, this is fantastic. Are in person events. And I know that after, you know, the pandemic, we sort of had this renaissance with events. People wanted to come back. But I'm talking about really curated brand experiences. Product based businesses are doing this really well, but as a service provider, I'm taking a page out of those product based businesses books, and I'm applying it to my business.
So one thing that we are doing in October that I am so excited about, we are doing the ISC content cafe. So I've seen lots of brands do these customer activations. Rode has done it. Summer Fridays has done it. Sabrina carpenter just did one where they do these pop up cafes, and essentially it's for their community to come together. Obviously they can shop their products and grab a coffee. I'm doing this a little bit different. We're making it very experiential. My audience is invited to come to a coffee house, where we're curating the menu, which has been so fun, and we have hired a professional photographer to come in and essentially help our attendees of the event take content.
So I'm going to be walking around, assisting with helping take B roll, learning how to utilize this in your content strategy. And then we have this photographer that will kind of capture behind the scenes shots, but it is so fun. My audience is really excited about it. And so having these in person opportunities, I think, also mitigates the amount of touches we need in the brand journey.
An event could kind of count for. Like, in my opinion, I think from three to five online touches an event really supplements that right getting in front of people, allowing them to hear your passion and listen, I don't have a brick and mortar. I, you know, fully remote out of my home. I am finding spaces, other brands that to collaborate with to have these events out.
So it is something that I think can work for any industry, but especially for service providers, where trust is so integral in getting people to convert and to work with you. Chef's kiss, like, put this on your your vision board for either q4 or immediately in q1 because I think it really is the fast track to, like, just bringing in those audience members, warming them up and converting them faster.
So creative and you are right, in person, events, I think, are the fastest way to hyper nurture either an existing buyer or someone new to your to your world. And I love, I feel like you and I are birds of a feather, because we both love taking a page out of other industries books, and we like to, like, observe what other people in other types of businesses are doing. And so I have never seen a service provider do what you just described, like that branded experience around the actual service that you're providing, obsessed like the cafe idea is so cute, so fun.
I can't wait to see all of the images come out on social media and follow vicariously through that. But that is brilliant. I think that is just a great example of, again, doing something that stands out in a way that is authentic to you and who you are and what you provide. So thank you. Thank you. Staff. This has been massively valuable. Where can our listeners continue to connect with you, or if they need your support in you know, in some of these things that we talked about, how can they hire you?
Sure? So one of the things that we are really focusing on right now are VIP days. We have found that this just delivers the best experience to all of our clients, and it's also really fun, because you get everything that we're working on done in a day. So some of the most popular VIP days that we've been doing right now are email marketing, creating funnels, setting up email workflows, particularly in flow desk, which we love. I've been using forever, and it's such a user friendly platform.
So if you're intimidated by email, we got to content days, but also what we just laid out here today, the offers, the campaigns, the way that we sort of plan this that can be done in a VIP day too. So if you're kind of like lost in the sauce right now and you just need a little bit more direction. You're not sure how to put offers together and then how to actually market them in really fun and creative ways. That is my zone of genius, and we can have a lot of fun doing that.
So that is what I can best support your listeners with and to find me. I'm most active on Instagram, and it's at Inspired Social Co. I would love, love, love to connect with you guys there. If you've listened to this episode, feel free to message me. Tell me what your favorite part was. I love feedback, and I would love to just chit chat about any of the stuff that we talked about today.
Amazing. Well, the VIP link and Steph Instagram handle, plus any other links referenced in this episode, will be below in the show notes. So make sure again you go check that out. Go say hi on Instagram, make that extra connection today. Thank you so much again Steph for joining us.
