We recently connected with Jaiden Robinson and have shared our conversation below.

Jaiden, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

Social Media is not new, but social media management is. Because of this, there are a lot of individuals capitalizing on the new need to hire a social media manager, but they don’t have the education or experience to do a good job. So instead of focusing on brand messaging and reaching their client’s target audiences, they increase post frequency and follow trends to hopefully get seen. Following trends can certainly help you “get seen”, but they don’t help businesses make more money.

What we do differently is focus on a holistic marketing strategy first, social media second. Our clients all start with an extensive marketing strategy that is omni-channel, and then we break it down for social media specifically. This way, they can use their marketing strategy on other parts of their business while we manage the social media side of things. This is extremely important because it helps their messaging be cohesive across all channels and all work is going towards the same goal.

We strongly disagree with the idea that posting 10x a week and using trendy audios will help businesses get seen. All that does is put unnecessary pressure on the social team and annoy their current audience.

Jaiden, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Utah in 2016. While I was in college, I worked full-time for a promotional marketing firm on their automotive team, working with brands like Lexus, Genesis, and Hyundai. I gained a lot of knowledge about marketing during this time but realized it wasn’t what I wanted to do long term. So, I quit and got a job working for an influencer marketing firm. This gave me a ton of knowledge about social media and digital marketing in general. I was able to take these skills, coupled with my marketing degree, and start doing social media management on the side for some extra cash.

Well, that side hustle only lasted about 4 months, until I quit my full-time job and jumped into building my own business, The Rave Social. I truly can’t believe how fast things changed, but I am so grateful.

Now, I am able to help businesses of all sizes with their digital marketing strategies and social media management. I am helping businesses get clear on their messaging and reach real people that need and want their products and services. I’m giving them hours of their week back by creating content, posting, and engaging for them so that they can focus on whatever lights them up. I am guiding business owners to feel empowered in their social media strategy. And most importantly, I am helping businesses create genuine social connections that make them money, long term.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

When I started social media management, I noticed early on that there were a lot (I mean A LOT) of people entering the market at the same time as me. There has been a spike in demand and people are capitalizing on it. I knew I would have to build a reputation so I immediately started networking with “veterans” of the industry. I DM’d them, commented on their posts, got on their email lists, downloaded their freebies… and then they started to notice me. I joined a private group of them on IG, where they were discussing ins and outs of the industry and I started engaging there too. After I started to have real conversations with them, they let me into their circle and did the same for me. Some of my biggest spurts of growth have been because they shared about me, endorsed me, or referred me clients, and now I have built trust in the industry.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn people pleasing on a level I never knew existed. I have always been a people pleaser and have been actively trying to reverse my habits for years, but starting a business forced me to put an end to that. Nobody likes a people pleaser (weird, right?!), they’re not trustworthy and they’re often burned out. When clients started asking for out of scope work I had to say no. I really had no other choice, there simply was not enough time in the day for me to take on more projects. When I hired my assistant, I had to give her real, raw feedback, or else we would lose our clients and she would lose her job.

It hasn’t been easy, but I think I needed to be pushed to the limit to get rid of my people pleasing tendencies.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theravesocial.com
• Instagram: @theravesocial

Image Credits
Madi Brown Creative (for the photos of me)