We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Renee Simons. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Renee below.

Renee, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

Recently in the influencer marketing industry, I see an increased focus on “going viral.” Creating a viral moment is an exciting opportunity for any creator to reach new followers and grow their platform, but in my experience, vitality isn’t the best marker of success. Instead, I work with my clients to identify content styles that resonate with their audience and lean into the follower engagement of that content. When you develop a unique style and point of view, those viral moments will come naturally and even if they don’t, you will maintain the viewership of your key follower base vs. new followers that aren’t invested in your digital story. Especially when we’re talking about brand partnerships and affiliate sales, developing trust from an engaged following is more impactful and valuable than mass following from going viral.

In influencer marketing, the biggest trend I see creators fixating on right now is going viral. Creating a viral moment is without a doubt an exciting opportunity for any creator to reach new followers and grow their business, but in my experience, virality should never be the goal or something to measure your success on. Instead, I’m always working with my clients to identify the content styles that resonate with their specific audience and make as much of that content as possible. When you can niche down and develop a distinct style that an audience is genuinely interested in, I believe that the viral moments will happen from time to time naturally. And especially when we’re talking about influencers recommending products to their audience, developing a true sense of trust with their followers is a much more valuable metric than virality, both in terms of brand partnerships and affiliate marketing. So in summary, focus on creating content that a small corner of the internet loves engaging with, and the viral moments will come.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a partner at Of Note, an influencer marketing agency located in Nashville. I launched the Creator Strategy division of our business in July 2022 to further support creators in the coordination and growth of their business. My team works with clients to build affiliate strategy, organizational tools and creative assets to implement in content creation and sharing. Our goal is to take the behind-the-scenes work off the creator’s plate so they can focus on what they do best – creating!

I feel especially proud to work for a woman-owned and operated business in a female-dominated industry. I feel empowered and excited to come to work every day because I love championing the creators that I work with and being a part of the team that helps build their businesses.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Since my early twenties, I’ve known that I wanted to work in business. I love leading a team, collaborating and problem-solving with like-minded colleagues. However, I had a picture in my head that working in business would likely end with me trapped in a cubicle, forced to wear an ugly pantsuit every day (a literal nightmare!!). All through school, I was determined to hone in on a career that would fulfill my desire to work in the business field, while still stretching my creativity. When I found influencer marketing, it was the best fit I could have asked for. Every day I get to work with creators and brands that I would be following if I wasn’t on their team. Now that I am in the position of building my own team and deciding what type of work environment I want to be a part of, I’m determined to keep that desire for creative expression and exploration at the forefront of what we do.

How’d you meet your business partner?

In the summer of 2020, I was searching for my first job in marketing. I was doing my best to reach out to my small network of Nashville business connections and one of those connections told me about a new start-up business preparing to launch, called Of Note. I met the founders, Katy Shah and India Mayer, and was immediately excited by the idea of joining a bold woman-owned business in the rapidly growing influencer marketing industry. I sent them a resume and interviewed, even though there were no positions available that I was qualified for at the time. I didn’t feel that the interview went well, but I continued to follow up with the founders consistently over the next several months while they prepared for their launch.

Eventually, Of Note had a client who was looking for an assistant to help run the day-to-day operations of her business. It was the perfect fit for me, and in less than a year I quickly grew from a part-time personal assistant to a full-time brand manager. A lot of creators didn’t even know what to call my job, but just started saying “I need a Renee, can you help me find one?” While continuing to work full-time I started a consulting business on the side, offering training for new employees of influencers. Katy & India took notice and felt that my services could potentially become an entire branch of Of Note’s business. They approached me in early 2022, and Creator Strategy launched under the Of Note umbrella in July of that year.

Contact Info: 

• Website: https://ofnote.co/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/of.note?igsh=a3hreXR1MXlnaWln