The evolution of the digital space comes with new tools, strategies and new leaders. Marais is definitely one expert making strides in the marketing space while spear heading different campaigns creatively.
She has experience in all areas of content creation, from music videos and visual effects to social media and advertising. It is that profound knowledge that has lead her to become one of the greatest social media marketers of her time which has landed her amazing clients in USA and world over. Notably so, her work does not come easy, and execution is of the essence in all aspects because of how fast paced the field is.
It is her journey that has made so many novices and strategists want to work with her as she has been in the business for a very long time and has always managed to produce results. We sat down with Zoe Marais to find out more about her craft as a marketing and creative expert.
How did you manage to get where you are today as a creative social media and marketing expert?
Zoe – “ Early beginnings really. I remember, back in the Instagram had just made its way into my small town in Spain where I grew up. I was always an early adopter, being passionate about technology and connecting with people it seemed like an amazing app and I couldn’t wait to see where it headed. I even remember the first time I hit 30 likes, it was this selfie I took, edited with a standard IG filter thrown on, it felt like a big deal. Shortly after starting my own instagram I was gaining a lot of traction which bled through from my Tumblr account back then. It was exciting, I started gaining 3-4k followers a day, and at this point I was starting to get messages from brands to promote the products. This is when I realized this was beyond just an Instagram post, but a calling.”
“I quickly realized that there was so much value in content for brands, I started paying close attention to what was performing and what wasn’t. My goal was to create the best content for them so they would keep coming back and offering me more free stuff, paying me to post and so fourth. At this time, brands were thriving on Instagram, and I used that as my driving force to reach out to businesses myself and offer more than promotional photos on my own page, but rather full fledge social media strategy and content designed to increase sales.”
With the constant changes online, how do you adapt and manage to stay a leading force?
Zoe – “With every industry, specifically social media, things are contently changing. The biggest challenge is to constantly stay on top of things, as soon as you get in a flow with a content strategy it’s already time to start thinking and anticipating what will happen next so you can consistently stay ahead of the game. Trends, algorithms, audience behavior, changes so frequently and if you’re not lean or flexible enough to tackle these head first, you’ll unfortunately never make it in the social media game. What worked last week won’t work next week, and that’s the exciting truth that makes this game so fun to be a part of.”
Strategy aside, are there other key skills other content strategists and marketers can take on to become good at what they do?
Zoe – “Aside from the strategic side of things, I decided I wanted to take this one step further. I went to school for film production to learn the ins and outs of high quality content, which I then applied into social media. Rather than just relying on a phone and a cute background, I noticed that brands needed to tell stories. And they needed to be good. Look at the Nike’s, the Patagonia’s, the Redbull’s. They are key players in the content game. How do they do it? Incredible brand authority and deep meaningful stories. Humans want to be spoken to on a deeper level. They want more than to just see your product on a model. They want to be told what this product means to them, how it changes their life, and then help them envision a better life with the product. From there the rest is history. After years of honing in on my craft, I was able to tie in all things I love, video production, branding, creative content, and forceful marketing, to build a name for myself as one of the strongest players in the game, bridging the gap between consumers and companies.”
Marketing professional and content creator, Zoe Marais is at the forefront of this new age of marketing, by natively merging brands into social media she’s been able to not only grow brands from the ground up but also increase conversions and revenue for companies across any industry.
Social media is a very important marketing tool. What should experts focus on to harness Social media and use it fully?
Zoe – With social media you need to blend in but stand out right. You need to move fast but hit all the trends. You need to learn how to be playful without compromising the integrity of a brand. These things are overcome when you understand more than just the social platform, but rather having a solid foundational knowledge on who the audience is and who the brand is. The only way to overcome any challenge is to be vigilant in seeking solutions, in looking for what’s next, constantly evolving with these platforms to avoid being left in the dust.
With the fast evolution of online marketing and social media, where do you think the space is headed?
Zoe – “Its hard to say where this field is headed, but I do know that as the years go on this type of marketing will only grow stronger and stronger. I predict that we’ll soon be shifting into meta verse marketing where we’re not only being fed ads and content on social media platforms, but we will be in the platforms face to face with these marketing efforts. This is a space I’m extremely passionate about too.”
What advise would you give other marketing experts or content strategists moving forward?
Zoe – “You need to let ideas come to you, for epiphanies to strike, so mastering that balance is one of the hardest but most impactful things you can do. One thing I do to combat this is to pay attention to the hours I spend browsing, by limiting my social intake to around 1h a day on average (keeping it at almost zero on weekends) has really helped me to maintain my constant flow and upkeep on current events, trends and changes, but also keeps my mind running free in my head.”
The ever evolving marketing and creative digital space is one everyone has their eye on, it’s always great to hear from experts like Zoe Marais and get clarity on what’s happening and what we need to prepare for a better digital space tomorrow.
