Younger Generations & What they Want & Expect on Social Media with Heather Cox of Aglow Presets EPISODE 4

Carey: In this interview with Heather Cox, we talk about what the younger generations want and expect from brands on social media. I always enjoy speaking with Heather about her business because she's super passionate about her work, and sharing her art of photograph editing. Two of the biggest take aways I had from our conversation are first, the importance of aesthetic, and what a thoughtful aesthetic can do to catch the attention, just what we're all trying to do, engage people, and excite this younger generation. And two, building audiences. Many times, brands find themselves just putting up content before they think about who they're speaking to about what they have to offer or share. It's kind of like sitting down with your grandmother and saying, "Hey, dude, what's up?" You would never do that.

Carey: By Heather building her audiences and Instagram, she can then target them effectively to get them to stop, to look, and hear what she has to share. And then she keeps on building new audiences to broaden her customer base. Hope you enjoy.

Carey: Hello, everyone, welcome to episode four, the younger generations, and what they want and expect from brands on social media. And today, we have Heather Cox. She's owner of Aglow Presets. And she absolutely has a love for photography her entire life. She believes, and she helps people optimize and enjoy pictures, and helps them use them and their modern qualities as a way to really create memories, which is what everyone loves to do. At least when they don't do it, they realize when they do create memories through pictures, how much everyone appreciates it.

Carey: And then enhancing them with presets is really what she specializes in, to help pictures look their best. And not only does she get joy out of taking pictures, but it's her main passion of editing them, which is not easy for everybody. She has three kids, she owns this wonderful business that's just taking off, and she really wants to help people make a lasting impression, help people and their businesses take their images really to the next level. So, many of you may not have heard of presets before. So, that's really what her ... Not invention, but her own artistic way of creating presets, and that's what we're going to talk about today.

Carey: So, Heather, thank you so much for being here.

Heather: Thank you for having me.

Carey: So, let's get started. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself, and your company Aglow Presets?

Heather: Yes. Hey. So, I'm actually a speech therapist, but I have always had a love of photography and editing pictures. So, a little over a year ago, I created a company called Aglow Presets, where I create different filters for pictures in the Adobe Lightroom program. So, for people that don't know what a preset it, it's basically a pre-made filter that is made in the Adobe Lightroom program. A lot of people are familiar with Adobe. Each preset contains a specific combination of really high quality edits. You can edit every single color, 100 one way, 100 the other way. You can edit the lighting, the contrast, there's so many different things you can do to the picture to create that look. So, it kind of ... You save it as a preset. So, with one click, you can transform your pictures, and they can be reapplied to as many photos as you want to use them on.

Heather: So, for years, I've just been using standard apps on my phone to edit my pictures. But I never really got the look that I wanted. So, I started researching, and wanted to know what professional photographers use to make their pictures look flawless. So, over the past year, I've created over 55 different presets that really enhance pictures by brightening them, bringing out the different colors, and giving different looks to pictures.

Carey: That is awesome. I just learned about presets earlier this year from you, and it really opened my eyes to the possibilities, and so, we share it with businesses because a lot of them don't know. And it really helps that aesthetic that is so important now, especially on Instagram, where it creates this consistency to the wall, and to the pictures in the stories, where even though they might not have the same exact filter on each photo, they go together. Kind of like an outfit. Right?

Heather:  Absolutely. 100% yes. Yes. That's why a lot of businesses do use them because when they're displaying products, or even fashion. Any type of business, it's all about the look and catching your eye. So, it really enhances that.

Carey:  Yes. That's awesome. So, your customers, with our subject around the younger generation, your customers are the younger generation for the most part, not 100% at all. But they really do migrate toward using presets, which is part of why you focus on Instagram. So, can you tell us what you know about them, and how you think about serving them on Instagram and Etsy with content and communication?

Heather: Yes. So, I did find out very quickly that my main audience and my customers for presets are the younger generation, specifically ages 13 to 25. I kind of found out just through my customer base, seeing the girls posting them, and getting insights off of my ads kind of telling me who my audience was. So, and I found that the younger generation really doesn't use Facebook as much as we do, the older generation. And they really are focusing on Instagram these days. Posting pictures, and specifically, posting on their stories. I think that's that age range outlet for their creativity.

Heather: So, Etsy has also been great because I think it is user friendly for that generation, too. It has reviews, it's just easy to navigate. So, Etsy has been my main platform, really, for to sell my presets. I do have a website, as well. But I do like to direct most of my traffic to Etsy. But yeah, the younger generation, they really like that kind of instant gratification where they see the pictures pop up right away. And I just think that, for me, Instagram seems the way to go to promote my presets.

Carey: For sure. And your traction has shown that that's a great decision, and you enjoy it, and you're so good at it, too, which really helps. So, for people that don't know what Etsy is, I started using Etsy when it very first came out because I'm kind of an artsy person, and it was originated for artists to ... As a platform to share and sell their handmade things. Now, I think they still have that as a central concept to the platform, but there's more on Etsy now than back in the day when it was just artists. But it makes sense that you went there because your craft is an art form, and it allows you to transact on the purchase. Is that kind of what your thinking was by partnering with Etsy, as well?

Heather: Yes, correct. Like you said, it's really for handmade. I think they branched out a little bit, where you can have partners that can also create some of your items, too. But yes, it's like a home base for people with creative ideas, and it just was perfect for preset.

Carey: It's a very visual platform, too. Kind of like Pinterest, I think. So ...

Heather: Agreed.

Carey: So, okay. Well, as far as aesthetic, that's people would become more aware this year, and I think in 2018 of what aesthetic even meant. But it's kind of that overall look that couples with your brand. We have a company that is sort of an outdoor flair that we work with that we help them with their social media and their Instagram. And we had a set of presets on there at first that made it look a little bit dark, and we were trying to go kind of after that edgy feel to the aesthetic because they're kind of a rugged outdoorsy kind of company, like I said. And then we decided when someone's outside, they prefer to be outside usually when it's sunny. So, let's brighten it up. So, we switched out the presets to a more bright look. But that's kind of what somewhat of what aesthetic means.

Carey: Heather, I'd love your thoughts on that. But we'd also like to know what, if you could share with us, how you've built the aesthetic of your Instagram presence, and how it appeases the younger audience.

Heather: Yes, for sure. And aesthetic feed is what everybody wants these days. I get so many questions that, "Please help me make my feed on Instagram more aesthetic." So, it's really, like you said, it's creating that flow and consistency from picture to picture that makes it appealing. And presets can make your feed very pleasing to the eye, and catch attention to really, like you said, get that flow. And it can be either using the same preset on every picture, or using different presets and just keeping the lighting, like you said, and the brightness the same from picture to picture. Because I know every picture is different, depending on the lighting, like you said, if they're indoor, outdoor pictures.

Heather: So, I always encourage my users to tweak each preset to match the picture before so they have that nice flow on their Instagram feed. So, I created a YouTube channel with helpful videos on this topic, and different editing techniques. But my personal feed on Instagram, I like to showcase other people using my presets. So, it's not just me every picture. So, it doesn't look probably ... If I had my own feed, I would have maybe a different look to it of the same thing going on. But the good news is is even though I use all of my customers pictures, for the most part, I do post some that I have posted of myself. But they're all different presets. But the flow still ... My feed still looks aesthetically pleasing because they're all a similar brightness, and presets really bring out clarity. They not only enhance the picture, but they really increase the quality of the picture, as well. A lot of people don't know that.

Heather: I recently started editing old photos. It's great for really, really old black and white photos, too, to make the picture even a better quality than it was on looking at it online. But, so, for the most part, it's just ... Yeah. Presets, just the brightness of them, keeping that consistent, and keeping the fairly same color scheme. But yeah, that's what everyone wants because that's ... Business, people sell products from visual. It's so visual these days.

Carey: Absolutely.

Heather: So, having that look great is going to help any business.

Carey: Yes, yes. It's huge. And the older generations now are becoming more accustomed to seeing it. And it's kind of like when ... I think of it sort of as when the old TV quality ... If you see a older football game, back from the '80s, I can't believe how blurry it is.

Heather: Mm-hmm (affirmative), yes.

Carey: And we looked at that, and that's what our eye was fine with. And then [crosstalk 00:13:50] but now that we have high def ... I don't even know what the terms are for the super duper high definitely ones now. But now our eye is used to that. And I think the concept is similar with presets, that's that we're getting accustomed to seeing that, and that's what our eye is pleased by. But the younger generation, that's really what they demand. The demand, I guess, might be a little-

Heather: It's, yeah, all visual. It is all visual, and what looks the best to their eye, for sure.

Carey: And then I love ... I just want to comment on the user generated content because we spoke about that in a previous episode around content and building content ahead of time, and what user generated content is. Because some people don't know that. And Heather, you've done an amazing job of maximizing the impact for your customers of user generated content, which means she's using those pictures of what her customers are using with her product, and showcasing that on a daily basis. So, it's a great, great method. So-

Heather: Yes. Thank you.

Carey: ... speaking of your customers again, you have something you call brand ambassadors. Can you tell us about that, and how this effort helps contribute to your content and engagement?

Heather: Yes. I currently have 73 Aglow ambassadors. I have 70 females and three men who help promote my presets. So, really initially, what I would do is ask some of my followers that had big followings and used my presets if they wanted to become ambassador. However, the good news is now I have people reaching out to me every few days if they can be one. So, to be an ambassador, basically I give them free presets and in return, they pretty much promote Aglow Presets for me. They mention me on their feed, they promote me on their stories, their Instagram stories about my presets, if I have a new release, if I'm coming out with a new preset, they tag me. And when they post a picture on Instagram, they'll tag me in it, and they'll post which preset they've used.

Heather: So, one of my first ambassadors was a girl at a university near where we live, and that has really in turn, spiraled into a big following, not only from businesses in that town. I have the tanning salon there uses my presets, boutiques there use my presets, as well as a lot of the sorority girls at that college. So, it's really great to have people around. And I have my ambassadors are all over the world. I have one in Ireland, and France, and I have a few in Canada. So, it's really kind of worldwide that they're promoting my presets. And I do, like you said, I love to showcase them on my feed because that not only helps them, they get notoriety from that, and they get to show off their pictures, and they know that all my followers will see it, also.

Carey: That's amazing.

Heather: So, it's a win win.

Carey: Yes. Yes. That's amazing. And it also allows people to see that variety, and people have ... Some of them have children, or you've got some men that are caring about their image and their personal brand, and it kind of gets people looking at the opportunities by showcasing themselves in a really professional and aesthetically attractive way, I guess is the best way to put it.

Heather: Yes...

Carey:Are brand ambassadors like influencers, would you say?

Heather: Some of them are, yes. Some of them are just kind of regular people. But a lot of them are influencers. And so, they have their own kind of gigs going on. But they do this, as well.

Carey: Gotcha. Okay. Because some people don't really know the whole world of influencers, or they've heard of it, but now there's something called microinfluencers that have fewer followers. So, for folks out there that aren't so familiar with the influencers world, there are many many many that have become really big, and they have millions of followers, and they charge a pretty penny to couple with brands, and they also tend to be ... Nothing against all influencers by any stretch, but brands sometimes feel a little anxious about working with some of the big ones because they're quite particular, or demanding sometimes is the word they use. I'm not saying that I've never had an influencer. But that's just kind of the world of that now, and the brand world. And so, there's something that has surfaced this year called microinfluencers that have fewer followers, but can be very influential, especially at the local level, or the industry level, and such. So, but that's a whole 'nother conversation.

Heather: Interesting, yes...

Carey: The one thing you've been really good at, Heather, is to continually using ads and promotions. So, can you take us through what you think engages the younger customer. For instance, with the language you choose, or the visuals you use in your ads and promotions.

Heather: So, yes. Yeah, I typically run around six to eight ads at one time on Instagram. I say I do it on Instagram, I think some of my ads go to Facebook, and some the Facebook and Instagram type areas. But I find that most of my customers do find me through Instagram, through either on the feed, or sponsored ads on the stories. So, I do definitely try to create ads that speak to the younger generation through fun pictures, and bright colors. They like a certain look to a picture, which I found. They like the fun, being at a festival, or more party-type pictures than some of the older generation pictures that we used to use.

Heather: So, and also, a majority of my ads are video ads. So, I think this is huge, especially for this generation. Like I said earlier, they want kind of quick, instant gratification. So, using a video, I scan through different presets with simple verbiage, just talking either about a sale going on, or what preset I'm using. And also, the younger generation definitely loves a sale. So, I typically try to include that in some of my promotions. But yeah, they really just ... The videos, and using just kind of short verbiage, I think it really helps. But I use Adobe Rush, which is a video editing program. And it's really simple, and that way, I can just upload it right into my Facebook ads manager.

Heather: But yes, when someone's scrolling through a feed, I think they just really want ... They don't want to have to scroll picture to picture, but just if you have a quick, short video showcasing your products, I have found that's the way to go for my ads particularly.

Carey: Yes. My youngest is 17. So, he's not 13 anymore, or anything. But he's always looking at videos, that's it. He doesn't ... I don't know. I'm not sure what he reads outside of school. But yeah, videos are definitely the eye catcher. So, well, when you've built these followers, and attracted new customers ... Your customers are between the ages of ... What ages, Heather? I forget.

Heather: Well, 13 to 21 is the most. But I really think I would say 13 to 25, 30 years old. I do have several customers that are older than that. But the main, if I was just to group it in, that's the main group is that younger age-

Carey: Yeah, we talked about how there's lots of opportunity with photographers, and chefs, and things like that that aren't using your presets.

Heather: Right, for sure!

Carey: ... you've done a really great job of defining your audiences inside that key age range that is making daily purchases with you inside your social strategy. And so, how are you building multiple audiences to target and sell your products to?

Heather: Well, as far as audiences, this is definitely one area that I continue to learn and I want to grow in. I've taken polls, and asked some of the younger generation what are the things that they search on a daily basis, who do they follow? So, I can create audiences based on their interests. For presets specifically, I know that they're very popular with blogger, influencer-type people, college age girls, sorority girls. I do have a preset called clean and crisp that I market to realtors. I have a lot of boutique owners, realtors, anyone that really needs to showcase a product. So, I try to target as many of those types of people in my audience as I can. But I definitely feel that I have to continually change up my audience to reach a broader group of people.

Heather: So, I guess the biggest take away I have for this podcast is just to continually stay on top of the trend, and stay fresh, and just know that there's always something ahead.

Carey: Well, that's a great way to close. I love that. That's very inspiring. And you're a perfect example of that, Heather. Whenever I talk to you, you're always trying to think of ways to do things new, and a way to mix it up, and ways to attract new customers, and ways to grow and help people. Make them happy. Because it does make you happy when you're proud of your presence online, and on social media.

Carey: So, thank you so much. Can you let everybody know how to get in touch with you, and to check out Aglow Presets?

Heather: Yes, thank you so much, too. So, my Instagram handle is @aglowpresets, and I have a website, and it's www.aglowpresets.com. And you can also find me on Etsy, and search me up on YouTube at Aglow Presets.

Carey:  Thank you, Heather. That's awesome. Everyone, have a great day. Thank you so much.

Heather: Okay, thank you.

Carey: You're welcome.

Heather:Thanks, Carey.

Carey: Thanks for listening to the All Social Y'all Podcast. For free resources and materials, head over to allsocialyall.com. That's allsocial Y-A-L-L.com. Also, we'd love to hear from you. What subject areas would you like to hear about in future episodes? You can share that with us by dropping me a comment on our website, or in Instagram @allsocialyall.