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Katya Allison

Director of Marketing
Content at GRIN

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GRIN Gets Real

About GRIN Gets Real

Welcome to the GRIN gets real podcast, the show for people who want to maximize their marketing potential. From influencer marketing to eCommerce strategy and everything in between, each episode will feature industry experts that share their insights and provide actionable tips to help you achieve your marketing goals. Subscribe and stay tuned!

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Customer Spotlight: Osmo Salt Co. with Jess Doherty, Social Media and Influencer Marketing Manager

In this episode:

Jess Doherty

Social Media and Influencer Marketing Manager

My name is Jess, and I love to meet new people (and pet every dog I see). I am a connector by nature and relationship building is my jam. I am east coast born and raised, recently turned into a SoCal resident. After 20 days visiting sunny SD, I was never going to leave.

Customer Spotlight: Osmo Salt with Jess Doherty featured image

Full episode details

A conversation with Osmo Salt’s Jess Doherty

On this Customer Spotlight episode of the GRIN Gets Real podcast, host Katya Allison is joined by Jess Doherty, Social Media and Influencer Marketing Manager at Osmo Salt Co.

As a smaller brand within a niche market, Jess has a unique approach to #influencermarketing that helps her build her #ecommerce business.

Her #creatormanagement strategy revolves around strong relationships with micro-influencers. These #content creators typically have smaller, tight-knit communities more likely to take action steps after being exposed to a marketing campaign.

Hear all about Jess’ full marketing strategy by clicking the video below!

#microinfluencers #GRIN #GRINGetsReal

Quotes from the episode

Customer Spotlight on Osmo Salt w/ Jess Doherty quote and headshot

“I want to make sure I’m nurturing and creating relationships with people who really care about this small company.

-Jess Doherty

“I never want just quantity, quantity, quantity. I want quality influencers, I want to be able to make a connection with them.”

-Jess Doherty

Katya Allison (Host) (00:05):

The Customer Spotlight series of the GRIN Gets Real Podcast is meant to highlight GRIN brands who are successfully leveraging creators as part of their marketing strategy. Each brand shares the brand story and insight on how creators add value to their story. In each episode we dive into who the brand is, their customer creator program, and the impact the creator economy has on their brand. GRIN is the number one creator management platform designed for the next generation of brands who recognize that in the creator economy authenticity is everything. To get insight on how GRIN can help you manage your creator strategy, visit grin.co. That’s G-R-I-N.co.

(00:48):

Now today I am chatting with Jess Doherty from Osmo Salt. Osmo Salt is a premium cooking and finishing salt company started by Nick DiGiovanni in July of 2021. They source their salts from all over the world to ensure that they use the most high quality salt. Now their products range from your normal flaky white sea salt to black truffle salt with truffles sourced from Sicily. It is luxe and comforting bringing flavor to your meals without crowding your spice rack. So sit back, relax and get ready to listen to Osmo Salt’s story of influencers and creators as a strategy. Jess, welcome to the GRIN Gets Real podcast for the Special Customer Spotlight episode. I’m so excited to have you on.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (01:50):

Thank you. I’m excited to be here.

Katya Allison (Host) (01:51):

So let’s get the ball rolling. You are here from Osmo Salt. So tell me who is Osmo Salt and how did you guys get started?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (02:00):

Love that. So Osmo Salt, we are a cooking and premium finishing salt company. We were founded back in July of 2021 by Nick DiGiovanni, and two other co-founders. We’re a very small company, but our main goal is really just getting into people’s kitchens and really valuing the fact that anyone can cook with a very small amount of things in your spice rack.

Katya Allison (Host) (02:24):

Tell me about your why.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (02:26):

Yeah.

Katya Allison (Host) (02:26):

Why even do this? Why even get into salt? It seems very niche.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (02:30):

It is very niche, but Nick being who he was, he studied food science and climate at Harvard. He always found a love for cooking and then he created his venture by starting out on Master Chef Season 10, he was in the top three. Salt is in everything.

Katya Allison (Host) (02:47):

Yes.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (02:47):

As everybody knows that too. And the fact of having something that already has the seasoning in it or the flavor in it, or just picking one thing off your spice rack and being like, ‘I don’t don’t need to have oregano or thyme or sriracha or any of these things’, it’s already in the salt. And that was the main thing that we wanted to create.

Katya Allison (Host) (03:08):

So you guys have just a variety of different salts that have different herbs infused. Am I using the right language?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (03:16):

Kind of I mean, it’s totally fine. So for example, we have a flaky sriracha salt. We have a roasted garlic salt, we have an Applewood smoked salt. And a lot of grillers, the big time people love to buy Applewood specifically for their grill. And with this you get the same flavor with just the jar of salt.

Katya Allison (Host) (03:34):

Oh, I love it. That sounds delicious. It’s kind of making me want chips as salsa. So you’ve just described Osmo Salt, your brand. Let’s dive into a little bit of just kind of your customer. I just said that I was craving chips and salsa, but how does salt fit into your customer’s lifestyle?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (03:57):

I love that. Like I said, salt goes on everything. And being in the kitchen, if you go into someone’s kitchen, there is always salt there.

Katya Allison (Host) (04:05):

Yep.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (04:06):

It doesn’t matter the shape or size, but I feel like everyone always recognizes salt by. You go out to dinner and you see that little gross shaker that’s been on the counter forever and you don’t know how long it’s been there, but it just looks beat up. But we really wanted to take on that luxe vibe of being in your kitchen. You want to keep it out on your counter, you don’t want to put it away because it looks so beautiful. It’s like black, it’s sleek, it’s metallic. And we have these incredible rechargeable grinders that you can keep out too.

Katya Allison (Host) (04:34):

Nice.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (04:35):

You just have to push a button and it goes. And we just wanted to be able to bring the whole family together in the kitchen, enable people to try new recipes, try new things and be able to cook together. Because that’s the most important part about being in the kitchen.

Katya Allison (Host) (04:50):

Yeah, I was going to say, it’s got to open up the world for maybe people who have picky eaters in their family as well.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (04:57):

Totally.

Katya Allison (Host) (04:58):

Salt seems like a very easy thing to introduce to the palette. Just put a little bit of salt on it. Maybe it has an additional flavor that really knocks it out of the park. Which I think even talking about the lifestyle and what it is that you guys are trying to achieve, I think it is a product that definitely should be living in this influencer marketing and this creator world. So tell me, how do you find, or how do you use that kind of ethos of how you want to fit into the lifestyle of someone? How do you use that to find that right creator for Osmo?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (05:31):

Yeah, it’s such a good question. I mean, we have a very large array of creators because, I’ll repeat myself this whole podcast, everyone uses salt. Totally understandable that our salt is a little bit more expensive and a little bit more luxe. We have creators age ranging from 13 to, I’m going to go with 70s. But yeah, it’s definitely a larger demographic where we’re testing out new creators all the time.

Katya Allison (Host) (06:00):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (06:00):

Some of our highest performers are fitness influencers and they cook all the time. But it’s more of that this salt only has one ingredient and there’s no junk so you don’t have to worry about it. And it works really well for that whole demographic of people purchasing the product. And then we have our chefs, we have our young chefs, and it’s really just finding, because we’re only a year and a half old, if that. So finding those niche little markets that we can get into and finding the exact customer that we really want to pinpoint.

Katya Allison (Host) (06:31):

I love that you said fitness influencers because as soon as you said that, I thought, ‘well of course that totally makes sense. They eat a lot of chicken and vegetables’, right? But it’s all steams. I want to add a little bit of flavor and it probably punches up something that is normally a little bland. And this is coming from someone who eats a lot of chicken.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (06:50):

It’s okay. You need salt.

Katya Allison (Host) (06:53):

Exactly.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (06:53):

I mean you need to hydrate, that you’re working out. You’re not going to put it in your water all the time. That’s lame.

Katya Allison (Host) (06:58):

No, I don’t even know that people… Do people put salt in their water?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (07:02):

Oh yeah, big time. Look up like adrenal cocktails and you’ll find salt and water or things like that, you’ll see. Lemon water with salt.

Katya Allison (Host) (07:10):

Don’t mind me as I’m typing away looking on pinterest. So you said that you guys are about a year and a half old. Have you always worked with creators and influencers during that entire time? Where are you guys at in just the development of your program? And I know that you also have a background in working with creators and influencers. So tell me a little bit about where you guys started with influencers.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (07:35):

Yeah, for sure. So previously to Osmo Salt, I was at a different company with a large scale influencer program. We had about 600. And there was a point where there were five of us as influencer managers working on that, where we each had about 125, very manageable. And then it decreased about one or two people working with 600 plus influencers. So Osmo was complete opposite of that. When I first came on board back in April, they weren’t even a year old yet. They were really focusing on their six partners that they had brought on, based on relationships with Nick. So names being The Golden Balance, Cooking with Lynja, QCP, Jack Arnold, like really big, Max the Meat Guy. And these are more on the celebrity chef esque kind of vibe almost, but mostly on Instagram. And they’re all brand partners.

(08:26):

So they’ve been working with them for a long period of time. And that’s kind of why Osmo has really blown up and taken over the internet in the salt worlds, in cooking worlds. You see it everywhere now.

Katya Allison (Host) (08:39):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (08:39):

Especially with those creators. And for me, when I was onboarded, my goal was to create an actual influencer program.

Katya Allison (Host) (08:46):

Okay.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (08:47):

So not as long with the partners, but an actual influencer program. We’re at almost about 40 creators now. I’m all about that slow growth model. I never want to just quantity, quantity, quantity.

Katya Allison (Host) (08:59):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (08:59):

I want the quality influencers, I want to be able to make a connection with them. Is this someone that I could sit and have a beer with? That kind of vibe. I really want to be sure that I’m nurturing and creating relationships with people who really also care about this very small company. Because right now budgets are low. We’re not able to pay big time influencers, tens of thousands of dollars to create one piece of content. Where we’re not really sure if it’s actually going to generate sales for us at the end of the day. And that’s why brand awareness right now and finding people who really love Osmo is really our goal.

Katya Allison (Host) (09:36):

Now why do you take the approach of less is more as far as how many creators you want to add into your program. And mind you, I completely stand behind that, but I’d love to hear what your thoughts are on that.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (09:50):

Yeah, totally. Like I said too, relationships are everything. These creators are human beings, they’re not just powerhouses throwing out content. And to be honest, I make content. I know how much it takes to put into a piece of content. It’s a lot. And brands that aren’t able to pay these influencers to do this content, it’s definitely tough. And at the end of the day, these influencers, it goes hand in hand. They need to be able to find the brands that they actually love and want to nurture a relationship with. Because for me, if I was an influencer, I would want to find a brand that really aligns with me. So that way when people think of me, they think of that brand and vice versa.

Katya Allison (Host) (10:34):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (10:35):

So kind of creating that back and forth between me and those influencers that I’m onboarding, I want to be sure it’s authentic. I want to be sure that they really do love Osmo and see themselves growing with us as a company.

Katya Allison (Host) (10:48):

So that sounds like it’s a lot of conversation in order to build out that relationship, what do you use before you even get to having that conversation? What kind of qualitative and quantitative metrics are you looking for before you’re like, ‘All right, I do want to reach out to this person’.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (11:07):

Yeah, definitely. I’m not really that influencer manager who’s going to see paid partnership on someone’s page and be like, ‘Yeah, I’m totally going to reach out to them’.

Katya Allison (Host) (11:16):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (11:16):

‘They’ve done a lot of paid partnerships’. I really enjoy finding people whose content is not sneaky, but it’s simple. It’s like they’re showing a day in the life and they’re real and they’re easily mixing in these brands because it’s natural.

Katya Allison (Host) (11:31):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (11:32):

That’s really what I look for when I’m looking for a creator. Obviously I can’t see the sales that they’re doing for other brands, but I can see the views, I can see the engagements. I really look for influencers who are actually communicating with their community.

Katya Allison (Host) (11:47):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (11:47):

So if they’re commenting back to people, that kind of thing. You really just want to see that they’re able to nurture their community and that they would want to do the same for you.

Katya Allison (Host) (11:58):

Absolutely. They end up being your brand storytellers in general. So you want to make sure that they’re bought in and that they can speak about Osmo in the same way that you would knowing the ins and outs of that. And you can’t get that with, here’s some salt product placement. That’s why brand ads aren’t as successful as creator ads, right?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (12:18):

And with that too, having these creators, a lot of them have reached out to us or have used the product prior. I don’t really look for giving someone a code that’s never used the product, never posted about us.

Katya Allison (Host) (12:31):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (12:31):

Because like I said, it’s really not authentic and I personally as a consumer wouldn’t purchase from someone like that.

Katya Allison (Host) (12:37):

That completely makes sense. Now, in regards to your program, I don’t want to ask you to break down the structure, but I do want to ask, is it product gifting, is it commission, is it flat fee paid partnership or is it a combination of all three things?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (12:54):

So since we’re new, like I said too, we do a lot of product gifting and commission structures, so affiliate. And our influencers and our people that are joined in really know that that’s what we have to do right now until we’re able to work up to doing more flat rate opportunities and they’re open to it. So I’m 100% transparent, I’ve set goals with them and intentions to be able to do more flat rate opportunities with them once they do hit a certain mark. But we really do need to see that revenue coming in if we are going to be doing any flat rate things. And I know that’s not what every influencer wants to hear.

Katya Allison (Host) (13:30):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (13:31):

They’re putting so much time and effort into creating this content. I want to be able to give them what they deserve. But with these smaller brands, it’s really, like I said, you want to find those people that are willing to put in the time because they know that it will be beneficial for them at the end of the day.

Katya Allison (Host) (13:47):

Do you find that you have to do a lot of negotiating because you guys are developing your brand and connecting with influencers? So is there a lot of back and forth and having you being in the position where you have to explain, ‘Hey, I’m not going to pay you that because of X, Y, Z’.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (14:04):

So I’ll use one example. But to answer your question, no. If anyone tries to negotiate or is looking for a flat rate deal, I’m very open and transparent with them that that’s really not the type of creator that I’m looking for and that they should definitely be looking into other brands that can afford that. For me, one of my very big partners that I love to work with gave me the opportunity to do one piece of flat rate content with them at a very discounted rate. It was just for a test, we really wanted to see if it worked and they were so open to doing it for us at a very discounted rate because they wanted to be able to prove that flat rate does well. At the end of the day, it wasn’t like the best option for us, but it was something that was really cool to test. And so great to see the fact that that relationship was the reason why they were offering to do something in discounted rate because they believe in the brand and they trust me. And at the end of the day, that’s all I can ask for.

Katya Allison (Host) (15:03):

That is all that you can ask for. And it speaks volumes again about the relationship that you’re trying to establish with them. Now you said that you’re working with about 50 creators and influencers. Tell me a little bit about what your creator mix is. I know that there are a lot of brands that see a lot of success with micro and nano influencers, especially for more of those bottom of the funnel conversions that you’re looking for. But I also know that you’re trying to do brand awareness as well too. So are you looking for macro, micro, is it a combination? Do you have a sweet spot yet?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (15:37):

I love that. And it’s funny too because a lot of people think using a micro influencer for brand awareness is the goal. To be honest, micro influencers are usually the ones that bring in the big bucks and it’s because they have the small tight-knit communities that trust them. For us at Osmo, like I said before, we do have the partnerships that Nick has created with Osmo and some of the larger creators. So they still do stuff for us often. We definitely have some that thread the needle a little bit more than others. But I would say we definitely have a big mix because I have people who reach out to me all the time and they’ve been using Osmo forever. Our range of people following these creators could be anywhere from 2000 all the way up to 5 million.

Katya Allison (Host) (16:22):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (16:22):

So we have a huge range and they’re all different in their own special way, but it’s still really great to not compare but contrast the content and see what really works with their audience, what their audience demographic is. Is it more moms, is it more young kids? Because Nick for example, being on Master Chef and things like that has a large range of kids age ranging from 13 to 20 that love him to be honest. Sorry to all the moms and dads out there, but your kids are probably going to be asking for Osmo for Christmas, I’ll tell you that right now. It’s going to happen. It’s so crazy.

Katya Allison (Host) (17:00):

You will have made it then, you will have made then. This is stocking stuffer.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (17:03):

Santa is bringing Osmo, but yeah, it is insane. So crazy. But it’s crazy to see what these creators can do and what type of demographic they bring in based off of just going towards a child and then the child tells their parent and the parent knows about it.

Katya Allison (Host) (17:19):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (17:19):

So it’s kind of cool.

Katya Allison (Host) (17:21):

That’s true. I mean, I’ll be honest. Well, Osmo is not my example, but I was going to say, my son asked me for, this is going to sound so silly, but he asked me for Honey Mustard and I was like, ‘I didn’t even know that you liked Honey Mustard’. And he instead, I have 12,000 yellow mustards, but you wanted Honey Mustard and I bought it. And now it’s that regular staple. I think especially when it comes to kids, you’re always trying to find, you’re trying to refine their palette too. So if they gravitate towards something that’s a little bit out of the mac and cheese and chicken nugget zone, you’re like, ‘Oh hell yes, let’s make that happen’. So I can absolutely see that, you heard it here first folks. Stocking stuffers, salt shakers, grinders, the whole nine yards. So good.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (18:08):

So good.

Katya Allison (Host) (18:08):

Now do you repurpose the content that you’re getting from these creators? And if you do, how do you repurpose it?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (18:15):

All the time. A lot of these creators are really, really great about sending me a WeTransfer, sending me through Google Drive, sending it through dm. Just making sure that I know that their content’s posted and obviously through GRIN they’re able to check off that we’re able to use it for ads or things like that.

Katya Allison (Host) (18:32):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (18:32):

So it’s really great. We’ve been testing a lot of ads on TikTok, we repurpose on our own Instagram page and I feel like we’ve really been focusing on TikTok right now. So…

Katya Allison (Host) (18:41):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (18:41):

It’s really nice to have all of these creators creating content for us that can be repurposed on our Instagram feed, which is kind of the main goal right now.

Katya Allison (Host) (18:50):

Do you find that you are asking for or receiving more video than static post content?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (18:57):

Totally. I can’t even remember the last time I received a picture.

Katya Allison (Host) (19:00):

Interesting.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (19:01):

Video and reels is 100% the main thing, especially in cooking.

Katya Allison (Host) (19:06):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (19:06):

Just because people want to see, well that’s a lie. I definitely have a couple pictures, but they’re probably more along the lines of the chefs that are more restaurant style.

Katya Allison (Host) (19:16):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (19:17):

And then the at home chefs are the ones that are going to town with the sick girl content, or there’s one creator who makes this beautiful pastas and caprese and she’s so good with the different products and showing them in different ways. But I send out monthly emails as well with what products we want to really focus on, what’s out of stock, things like that, just so we can get things that we need. And it’s been so cool seeing what they do.

Katya Allison (Host) (19:43):

You totally sparked a completely different path of a question because we were talking about just relationships in general, and you just said that you send out an email of, ‘Hey, these are the things that we want to concentrate’. What kind of other things do you do to help sort of foster more of that community amongst the creators that you have?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (20:03):

So yeah, like I said, monthly emails, sometimes biweekly.

Katya Allison (Host) (20:06):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (20:07):

Just to stay in touch. And I try to get them to respond to me, but they’re busy people. I’m sitting here like, ‘This sounds funny, what will get them to respond to me?’ But no, so I’ll do that. I’ve created an Instagram group for them to connect with each other.

Katya Allison (Host) (20:25):

Yes.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (20:25):

But I’ll only add them if they ask me to. I never want to put, especially if there’s a micro influencer and then someone who has millions of followers, I don’t want them getting spammed with DMs all day.

Katya Allison (Host) (20:35):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (20:35):

So it’s only if they ask. And then I do surveys randomly too.

Katya Allison (Host) (20:39):

Nice.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (20:40):

I’ve done one, I need to do a couple more. But just to make sure that I’m doing a good job. And if there’s any input that they have for me on, honestly, they probably see more. They’re working with multiple brands, they see everything so they can give me feedback based on what they want to see with the program.

Katya Allison (Host) (20:54):

I love it.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (20:55):

It’s a win, win.

Katya Allison (Host) (20:56):

Now what would you say is kind of the key to managing a successful influencer marketing program or working with creators in general? I’m sure that there’s not just one thing, but I’d love to hear your high level, folks you heard it here first again.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (21:13):

GRIN. No, I love Grin so much.

Katya Allison (Host) (21:15):

I’ll take the plug, I’ll take the plug.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (21:18):

No, honestly, at the end of the day, it’s just who is managing your influencer marketing program is the number one factor of if it’s going to perform. I mean…

Katya Allison (Host) (21:30):

Okay.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (21:30):

They need to be the one that’s making the relationships, not really being the face of the brand unless they’re in the content, but being the face of the brand to your influencers. They’re talking to them every single day, they’re checking in. They need to be able to ask them questions and really create that bond between the brand and them. Because at the end of the day, if you don’t have a person managing it…

Katya Allison (Host) (21:52):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (21:52):

There’s nothing there for them. They want that human connection and that brand connection, but it’s still not there without a person. So if you don’t have someone running your program that can handle really creating and manifesting those relationships with these people, it’s just not going to work.

Katya Allison (Host) (22:07):

Okay. I’m obsessed with the fact that you said that because I think that most people, when you ask them that question, they think of something very tactical. I need the right program or workflow, or I need to find 1000 creators. That’s the key to success. But I think it’s really saying something when you talk about who is that person that’s trying to make that connection because it is about the right person in the right seat in order for that to be successful. So I love that you’ve stated that. Now, what kind of value would you say creators have really brought to the brand?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (22:42):

Oh my God, everything. If we didn’t have these creators, we would have zero brand awareness because it would just be from me posting TikToks on the Osmo account and they’d be like, ‘We want Nick’. But I mean, Nick does such an incredible job too, of mixing Osmo into pretty much every video that he creates. And it’s so sly, it’s just in there. He’s just, pinch of salt. Everyone recognizes Osmo and Nick now. The brand awareness factor from all these creators is so genuine and unique. And I’ve talked about this guy before too, but QCP, I could never tell him how to create his content because it’s so funny and vulgar and hilarious. But he still includes Osmo. And people now know if you see QCP, you see Osmo in a video because he’s salting his pasta water. So the full on brand awareness factor of everything is just because of these creators. It’s why it’s everywhere.

Katya Allison (Host) (23:38):

Yeah, that’s so true. Again, you’ve had experience working with creators before, so I’m interested to hear what kind of evolution have you seen with working with creators from when you first started to where you’re at now in your career with Osmo?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (23:53):

Yeah. Wow. When I first started, it was back in the midst of the pandemic, and I feel like we definitely had a lot of influencers and people that were out there as content creators or just… I feel like people kind of found their niche. People have really found their niche over the past few years, whether it’s a video, whether it’s a photo, you’re sticking to it. Whether someone’s on TikTok or Instagram, they’re not really doing both anymore.

Katya Allison (Host) (24:19):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (24:19):

No one’s trying to balance both. If you find a creator on TikTok sometimes, sometimes you go to their Instagram and it’s their normal life, you’re like, ‘Whoa, what did I just tap into?’

Katya Allison (Host) (24:29):

These are two totally different versions, right?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (24:32):

It’s so true. So I feel like people have really started to concentrate on one platform and they’re really known for that.

Katya Allison (Host) (24:39):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (24:40):

When I was starting out, I feel like people were kind of just trying to do it all and it didn’t work. You needed to really that whole quote, master of one or whatnot, but wanting to be a master of just one, so that way you can actually produce the content. Because the people who are really good at Instagram and creating those beautiful reels, not going to be as successful on TikTok. It’s just two totally different platforms. And finding that as a creator was the main thing. And also as an influencer manager, finding out what they did best.

Katya Allison (Host) (25:13):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (25:13):

And offering them that feedback and being like, ‘Well, we know you’re really good at posting on Instagram and these are amazing reels and we want to see them, but your TikTok content isn’t really performing as well’. So I feel like these creators have taken the feedback that they’ve got from brands in those brand deals and kind of found what works for them.

Katya Allison (Host) (25:32):

Well, I also think it’s so time consuming as I think there are a lot of brands that miss that it is time consuming.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (25:42):

Yes.

Katya Allison (Host) (25:42):

Which is why I had asked you, are you getting more videos than you are those static pictures? Because the videos, just to do one and then to edit it, I’m sure that they get faster than I am. So I’m not a fast video editor because there’s so many different applications that are available now, but it’s still very time consuming. So can you imagine if you created a TikTok and had to then be creative and think, is it going to be the same for reels? And now I’m going to have to edit it completely different. There are two totally different beasts. I’m glad I’m not, I’m on the software side of things. Well because it is, it’s so labor intensive, it’s insane.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (26:20):

It is. And a lot of these creators, I mean the big ones have teams to help them.

Katya Allison (Host) (26:24):

That’s true.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (26:25):

Editors. But these micro influencers, they’re doing it all on their own, honestly. Power to them seriously. They’re crushing it.

Katya Allison (Host) (26:35):

Absolutely. What you were talking about, having them have a totally different life on Instagram versus TikTok. It reminds me of, I’m sure you’ve seen this TikTok where, I don’t know what the audio is, but it’s the version that work sees you, the version your family sees you, the version your friend sees you. I feel like that’s so true on the different social platforms, right?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (26:56):

So true. So true. I love that.

Katya Allison (Host) (26:58):

Now, what is kind of the value of having those long-term relationships that you were talking about with an influencer? Why are you an advocate for that?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (27:07):

Oh my God, I love that question so much. So when I was at the brand that I was at previously, I made sure that whoever was in my campaigns… When I first started, I only had about 120 influencers that I built it up to. And then we kind of had to recalibrate as people left the company. But my 120 influencers that I worked with, I still talk to handfuls of them now.

Katya Allison (Host) (27:30):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (27:30):

They kept in touch, they followed me on Instagram, they still know what’s going on with my life. When they found out I started working at Osmo, they were like, ‘Oh my God, that’s so great. Can’t wait to try the product’.

Katya Allison (Host) (27:40):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (27:41):

And I’ve definitely brought a couple of them over with me because health and wellness and food go hand in hand.

Katya Allison (Host) (27:48):

Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (27:48):

And so even like that, finding these incredible partners that you worked with at another brand and being able to nurse them in another brand, even though it’s not a competitor, it’s great. It always works in your favor to be able to nourish those relationships. And not only in the brand spectrum, but in friend. Maybe one day you’re trying to work at a company somewhere else and this influencer has a connect and they’re like, ‘Oh my God, please let me know how I can help you get in there. I love that brand. I’ve been working with them forever’. You never know.

Katya Allison (Host) (28:20):

You’re tapping into a friend.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (28:22):

Yes.

Katya Allison (Host) (28:23):

Not just a creator, right? Yeah.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (28:25):

Totally.

Katya Allison (Host) (28:25):

It goes a long way. It’s why I can hang up on telemarketers, but I can’t hang up on my mom. I’m not saying you have to have the mom, daughter relationship. It doesn’t have to go that deep.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (28:37):

No, I know what you mean.

Katya Allison (Host) (28:38):

Like a funny aunt maybe.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (28:40):

Yes. That’s so funny you said that. I actually, I totally lied before about the age range. We have a two year old who cooks with Osmo and they call me Auntie Jess whenever they email me. And it’s actually…

Katya Allison (Host) (28:52):

Oh that’s so cute. That’s so cute.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (28:59):

She’s so cute. Her name’s Gemma. Look her up on our page. She’s like the cutest little kid, her and her parents crush it in the kitchen. They’re so cute.

Katya Allison (Host) (29:04):

That’s amazing. So how do you define success when working with influencers? And I always think that this question is really interesting because honestly, the knee-jerk is always conversions, bottom of a funnel. I’ve sold more, we obviously all are here to sell, but when it comes to influencer marketing, I think that there’s a bigger picture. So I’m always curious, how are you defining success? Like yes, my program is working.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (29:29):

Yeah, I love that. For me, I mean obviously like you said, everyone’s excited about sales, everybody’s excited about revenue. But for me, I’ll keep hitting this on the head, brand awareness is everything for us, especially as a new company. I mean, there are very massive influencers that we work with that get hundreds of thousands, millions of views. And to me, my number one thing that I look for is when I see a post that an influencer has put up and it’s doing really well, I look at the comments, I see who’s asking about Osmo, and I respond to every single one of them that is asking…

Katya Allison (Host) (30:02):

Love that.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (30:03):

Where is this salt from? Where did you get that? The other day, I sent products to, she’s not even one of our influencers, but she makes incredible cakes in Los Angeles. I bake mistakes, look her up. Her TikTok’s incredible. But I sent her a bunch of salt. She used black flaky on cookies and it has over 4 million views. People were asking about it…

Katya Allison (Host) (30:23):

That’s insane.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (30:23):

Every time. So all these people are asking about the black flaky salt, and I’m like, let’s go get in the comments. We sold 60 pumpkin salts that are no longer in stock. Sorry everyone. But because an influencer that we have that posted about a pumpkin coffee. And I went in every single comment and told them that it was back in stock for them, just for 60 of them. It’s crazy. You never know how much the power of a comment is.

Katya Allison (Host) (30:48):

Yeah. Oh, that’s a good hack too. So I hope everybody who’s listening has taken the time to write that down.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (30:54):

Yeah.

Katya Allison (Host) (30:54):

Because that is a really good hack.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (30:56):

Yeah.

Katya Allison (Host) (30:56):

So I’ve got one final question for you. How do you measure the value of influencer marketing in general?

Jess Doherty (Guest) (31:03):

I’m just going to keep saying it, influencer relationships. I think at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many influencers you have in your grant campaign. It matters how many influencers will respond to your emails, how many influencers respond to your DMs, how many influencers trust you, send you their content, ask your opinion on things because they care and they really want to do well for your brand and for you.

(31:31):

Because at the end of the day, if you didn’t have an influencer manager working with these incredible creators, you wouldn’t have that communication back and forth. And why should they post about your brand at the end of the day, if they’re not getting that, compliments in return or you’re doing such an amazing job, or just sharing their content, at the end of the day, they just want people to see their incredible content that they’re doing. And that to me is so much added value from the fact that they’re being able to put their content out that they’ve worked so hard on. And these brands, regardless of if they tag you, regardless of if they work with you, you’re able to reshare it for them. No matter how big or small the brand is.

Katya Allison (Host) (32:11):

Absolutely. And honestly, I think when it comes to influencers and creators, what they’re doing is they’re building that brand equity for you.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (32:19):

Yes.

Katya Allison (Host) (32:19):

It’s the conversations that happen offline that you don’t even know, that you kind of almost have to just continuously look at your website. Your traffic is just going to go up. And that is that brand awareness that you’re talking about, right? If I get more direct traffic, yes. More organic traffic, yes. If I got more social followers, yes. You’ve got Osmo in the hands of many and then in front of the eyeballs as well too.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (32:44):

Yeah. At the end of the day, you’re not going to be able to track where it’s all from. Word of mouth marketing is still everything. Someone could post the most incredible cooking video and not tag Osmo, and they could get five, 10, 15 million views. And I wouldn’t know about it, but it’d be because traffic is going up that I’m like, Something must have happened.

Katya Allison (Host) (33:04):

Yeah. Someone used it. Someone used it somewhere. That’s amazing.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (33:08):

So it’s crazy.

Katya Allison (Host) (33:09):

Well, thank you so much for coming on here for our Customer Spotlight and sharing the Osmo story and also sharing your expertise. I appreciate you so much.

Jess Doherty (Guest) (33:19):

Thank you so much Katya, this is great.

Katya Allison (Host) (33:29):

Remember, you always get brand awareness, community revenue and content from implementing a strategy with creators. Now, how much of each of those takes a strong relationship between creator and brand to achieve mutual success. Remember to treat creators like your brand revolves around them because in the creator economy it does. I am so happy to have shared the Osmo salt story with you so that you can hear how they leverage creators for their brand. Be sure to subscribe to the GRIN Gets Real podcast. For more customer spotlight series, stories and marketing strategy, give us some stars and write a review. Tell me which one was your favorite. Connect with me on social, you can find me on LinkedIn, Katya Allison. And if you are interested in learning more about GRIN, visit our website at grin.co. Until next time, keep grinning.

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