Who’s that girl?
Gretta van Riel is an unstoppable entrepreneur from Australia. She started her first company at the early age of 22 with only $24 in her bank account and from that moment on, everything skyrocketed for her business. Later, after seven years, she now runs five lucrative companies (yes, five!) in different industries and niches.
The right place and time
She has bettered herself repeatedly after a long personal and professional journey that included swimming and getting a difficult degree in communications and media at the University of Melbourne. Gretta was definitely able to understand the vital connection between social media and sales before most of us did. She was absolutely one step ahead of the social media marketing game and today, her enormous revenue proves it. An inspiring tale, huh?
She rocked Instagram
Image Credit: Foundr
Some people also know Gretta as the Queen of Instagram, since she was famous for scaling followers and engaging real fans like a pro. And what’s the coolest thing about this? That she openly shared her tips so you can be successful too and refine your digital marketing practices now!
Gretta had been working low-key for a lot of years because, of course, she’s highly self-driven. Lately – and fortunately! – this has changed for the benfit of young entrepreneurs who are struggling to set up their own business.
She began to appear more and more in the media, giving interviews, seminars, and online courses. She enjoys helping individuals and companies to grow and use their full potential. Her appearances are always uplifting and she transmits her motivation and professional advice in such a concise and serene manner. She’s undoubtedly a strong model of discipline, intelligence, hard work, and success.
But you may be wondering… what’s this multiple-business journey all about? And most importantly, how can this article help me to gain a little more influence in my niche?
I know how much you want to take your small business to the next level, so we’re going to deal with Gretta’s secret tips to build a real audience on Instagram. That means bringing together a group of people who not only follow you and double tap your posts. We’re talking about truly engaged fans who feel part of a community and are ready to buy because they trust you, you’re authentic, and the expert in what you have to offer.
Gretta’s Multiple Projects
So, first I’ll briefly introduce Gretta’s companies for you:
SkinnyMe Tea
This company was her very first and was able to make 600k a month in 6 months. It sells different detox tea packs.
Skintox Co
Here she sells beautiful skin products to have a natural detox from the outside to the inside.
DROP Bottle
It’s a functional and delicate bottle to change the way people drink water. You put fruits on it and drink fruit water with a lot of possible combinations. What’s clever about this company at an engagement level is that people share their own recipies and fruit mixes.
Hey Influencers
This is her latest company in which influencers are connected with suitable brands so they both can do business together.
The 5TH (Exited)
The 5th sells stylish and exclusive watches. And what’s interesting about this brand is that 5% of their sales go to less-fortunate kids at an international level.
Image Credit: Twitter @grettavanriel
The Fix
If you feel like you’ve been using your Instagram account wrong, stop posting. Read this first because I’m sharing with you four doable and practical steps you can apply today to your social media marketing strategy. No matter the niche you’re in, or if you sell products or services, you can do it. Jump-start your brand today with Gretta’s tips!
- Vertical accounts: Imagine you sell nail polish. You will want to follow other accounts who also sell nail polish, apart from being located in the same place and having a similar amount of followers. You know that already, right? But the advanced move here is to follow eyeliner shops, for example. Users interested in eyeliners may probably be interested in nail polish as well. Gretta did that on Instagram with the vertical markets of her business and we know how the story ended for her!
- Tribes: People (especially young buyers) don’t want to just be directly marketed all the time. They care a lot about brand values, lifestyle and sharing the benefits of products and services. They want personalisation and a real impact on their lives. So, taking the example of nail polishing, you could create a hashtag to express the importance of always having your nails done. People can easily identify with this trend and multiply your visibility in ways you never imagined showing a picture of their nails always done. This is a more effective technique than just publishing a picture of your product and the price.
- Influencers: Gretta has Oprah as a major influence to advertise Dropbottle. But, she also makes room for any customer of her brands. For example, she has a section for Ambassadors on her Skintox website. That way, she’s showing her clients using the products and giving them the real importance they deserve, with some awesome space on her website and a link to their social media accounts! You can do that too, even though you have a few clients and you lack a website. You can totally start small with your ambassadors’ group on social media.
- Subniches: If you sell nail polish, don’t stay on the surface with commonplace hashtags. Extremely broad hashtags like #nails and #beauty won’t be enough to carve out your way through the nail polish market. This means you can try something more specific like #neonnails, #gelnails or #nailart.
Learn more!
I know that you’re impatient and always want to read more about how to improve your business fast. Luckily, you can easily access complete online courses by Gretta van Riel on Shopify Academy and Foundr. Because there, she reveals all the details to a successful audience building on Instagram as well as an ecommerce step-by-step plan that you can adapt to your business goals.
