Episode 10: The Art of Organic Social Media

00:34

Ashtyn Morris
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Marketing Moves. I am your host, Ashtyn Morris, and today's episode is all about a foundational tried and true digital marketing channel social media, and specifically, how to grow an organic social presence. Our guests today boast over 100,000 followers between Instagram and TikTok and highlight engaging content for Clevelanders through their social media channels. Cleveland Vibes is a digital media brand and community focused on experience, culture, and lifestyle. Owners Kaitie and Kyle are as dynamic as they are creative and leave nothing off the table when it comes to sharing tips for living in the land. Kaitie and Kyle, thank you so much for being here. We're all really excited to learn from you guys. And welcome to marketing moves.

01:22
Kaitie Nickel
Oh, my gosh.

01:22
Kyle Nickel
What an intro, yeah. We have a couple other partners as well, so we have Julian and Mike that are also our partners as well in the business.

01:32
Ashtyn Morris
We're excited to learn about all of them. So before we dive into all things Cleveland Vibes, I just wanted to acknowledge to our listeners the challenges we've seen over the past few years about growing an organic social media presence. Whether it be new platforms, algorithm changes, or just people's taste in social media, the space is constantly changing and having to evolve. Everyone wants followers, everyone wants free engagement, and everyone expects to grow a following overnight. As a marketer, I know that is not easy and certainly takes a lot of hard work. So, truly, the Cleveland Vibes account and your growth is a testament to your content strategy and your holistic marketing understanding with your audience. So we're really excited to learn from you guys today. Why don't you guys introduce yourselves a little bit and share a bit about your backgrounds for our listeners?

02:21
Kyle Nickel
Why don't you start?

02:22
Kaitie Nickel
Okay. My name is Kaitie Nickel. I moved to Cleveland seven years ago, a little bit over seven years ago, and started to fall in love with the city, and that was where this adventure all began. I did not have a marketing background. I don't know. I'm completely yeah. And it's been a true passion project, and we've been so blessed along the way.

02:47
Kyle Nickel
Yeah. My name's Kyle, and Kay and I are married, and so Kay said she moved here seven years ago. When we got married, that's kind of where we started Cleveland Vibes. But I have been a sales manager at a tech company called BoxCast here in Cleveland for I was there for nine years and actually just recently quit. And now we're full time Cleveland vibes as of like, this past March. So it's just a full time gig.

03:13
Kaitie Nickel
Was an incredible salesman. He was, what, number? 4th, 5th employee at Buckscast? Somewhere in the first handful and brought them wow. I mean, insane sales numbers. Million dollar revenue maker over here. And got advanced to sales manager quickly because he was such a born leader. So I had to swipe him as soon as I could.

03:39
Ashtyn Morris
I love that.

03:40
Kyle Nickel
If I could talk about Kaitie, then. So Kaitie is I think Kaitie is a marketing genius, but always self taught. And I think that's the coolest part about her because she's always kind of just like known. Like, she's always kind of been a tastemaker and always kind of understood, I think what's cool and I think that's just always related to what we do. I don't know.

04:02
Ashtyn Morris
Wow, you guys are so interesting. And this is going to be a great episode today. I already feel it. So since moving to Cleveland from Florida, you said that Cleveland vibes was passion project. But really, what was the inspiration behind the inception of it?

04:17
Kaitie Nickel
It's kind of multifaceted. I moved around a lot. I came from a military background, so I didn't have like, one central place as home. So the way that impacted this journey is that one I had heard about Cleveland from a lot of different places in the country, mostly East Coast, but I'd spent some time in Chicago, so I had gotten, I think, a pretty good idea of how the United States viewed Cleveland as a whole, like how the population saw us. And I also really wanted a guide. Every time I moved, I really wished that I had every time I started at a new place, I wish that I had someone to tell me where to go and where to find the cool stuff. So those two things together kind of.

04:57
Kyle Nickel
Were the insight cleveland, when you started, you knew Cleveland was known as, like, the stick on the lake. And it was like the burning river. 88, all of these terrible things.

05:07
Kaitie Nickel
I couldn't make sense of it. When I moved here, I was like, wait, this doesn't add up. It's wonderful here. And I'd spent time in Chicago, and I paid triple on rent to live there and sit in traffic. And it's a beautiful city with a.

05:20
Kyle Nickel
Lot go to Chicago, they go to New York City. They post how amazing their experiences are there. Look at me at the bean. Look at me here, whatever tower they're on. But people weren't doing that for Cleveland. And I think that you were like, man, Cleveland is really beautiful.

05:34
Kaitie Nickel
I just don't think people yeah, well.

05:37
Kyle Nickel
I think the other thing is, like, so you want to show because nobody was doing that for Cleveland at the time. But then you'd also mentioned that I think it was cool is that you made intention to not make it about you made about Cleveland in general, which was like the cool part too, I think, as well.

05:52
Kaitie Nickel
Yeah, well, I met so many interesting, amazing people. I think one of the things that Cleveland has to really one of our biggest flexes never used it in that tense, but is our people like the people that so it never made sense to make it the story of Kaitie living in Cleveland. It always made sense to turn the camera outwards and all these incredible people doing amazing things and chasing their dreams and the grit and the glory.

06:20
Kyle Nickel
How do you change that false narrative? How do you change that false narrative? And it's like you change it by almost like that toxic positivity. Because no true change comes without a positive mindset. You have to have the positive change in order to see it. Because I think we're kind of passed down as Clevelanders from Cleveland. That narrative of Cleveland is being the mistake on the lake and then that projects itself into future generations is where we say that but perpetuates itself. And it's like, well, if we just always keep telling ourselves we're never going to be anything good, then we're never going to be. But if that talks positivity right.

06:53
Kaitie Nickel
Okay. Now, this is the last thing I know that you've got questions.

06:57
Ashtyn Morris
No, this is great. I love this.

07:00
Kaitie Nickel
But this is the final whatever evolution of this is. That is not enough. Clevelanders know this. And this is a draw. My bang like crazy because this is fact and it is so strange. So the fire in 1969, the mistake on the lake, the one that got us dubbed the pinnacle of whatever crisis in the riverside one, did you know that fires on rivers were extremely common? They were in any manufacturing city, Pittsburgh, Boston, Chicago, they would have all experienced river fires because there wasn't legislation in place to stop corporations from dumping whatever they wanted into rivers. So they were a commonplace thing. In 1969, though, there was legislation going through Clean Water Act to stop this from happening. And this story needed to be told. So in 1969, there was a small fire in Cleveland, a very teeny tiny fire in Cleveland.

07:56
Kaitie Nickel
Most people in the city didn't know it happened. Most people on the river bed didn't know that it happened. But the photo that they used in the nationwide press skyscraper, high flames from a decade earlier, from the 1952 fire, not even irrelevant.

08:12
Kyle Nickel
Cleveland became the scapegoat.

08:13
Kaitie Nickel
So Cleveland became a scapegoat of a very worthy cause. Something that, I mean, I'm glad that they rallied the troops and that people voted correctly on that. But the story, it was fake news then and it is absolutely fake news now. So getting Clevelanders of the mindset that this is like, this wasn't true. This isn't true. We should be so proud to be in Cleveland and from that's, it has to be told because it's a complete fabricated story.

08:38
Ashtyn Morris
Mantling, the narrative.

08:40
Kaitie Nickel
Yeah.

08:40
Ashtyn Morris
Amazing. I learned so much.

08:42
Kaitie Nickel
This there we go.

08:43
Kyle Nickel
Wow.

08:43
Kaitie Nickel
Just getting started.

08:44
Kyle Nickel
No, this is like I said, podcast over.

08:47
Kaitie Nickel
Like I said, this is going to.

08:49
Ashtyn Morris
Be a good one today. So in particular to your Cleveland Vibes in the presence, how would you explain your business model to someone that maybe has never heard of you guys?

09:02
Kyle Nickel
So Cleveland Vibes is just a branch of what we do, actually. So it's interesting because Cleveland Vibes is a digital media company, but we also have an agency called Vibe House Social. And so this is kind of where it's kind of above that where we help other businesses run their social media or do the marketing side of what they do. And then we also help other creators do the business side of what they should be doing.

09:29
Kaitie Nickel
And how that started was that Cleveland Vibes is the general business model for an influencers pay per post. We also make a ton of organic content to make sure that we bring the overall algorithm and views up and make engaging content. We throw some events, but they've never been a big money maker for us. And apparel has been kind of a side hustle. So it really is mostly the main influencer model of working with local businesses to promote their products and their services. But in that we realized that there are so many content creators who desperately need somebody with a business mindset. They're artists, and they want to have somebody come in there and help them handle just like I did handle the business side of it.

10:11
Kyle Nickel
That's how we realized it was a good thing. It was like because Kaitie was doing this kind of on her own while I was working as a sales manager for a number of years, where the number of inquiries coming in through email, the number of phone calls that she had to. She she couldn't handle that and have.

10:25
Kaitie Nickel
Time to be creative.

10:26
Kyle Nickel
And have time to be so, like, we know creative people. We want to just help them stay focused on being creative.

10:31
Kaitie Nickel
Creative, right.

10:32
Kyle Nickel
Because that's what they're good at. And like, somebody who's a sales manager, I'm really good at it. I could sell my wife's creative skills all day long, right? And I could be like, this is why you should deserve to be paid. Because we know we're going to it's.

10:47
Kaitie Nickel
Hard to say I deserve this in.

10:50
Kyle Nickel
Any creative job, right? I mean, a photographer that has to hop on a phone call and be like, hey, you should pay me this much money. That's really hard to say because what you're doing is you're saying, oh yeah, I'm worth this much. And it's a really personal thing. But if you put them in between those two things, that knows how to.

11:06
Kaitie Nickel
Sell the creative invoices handles the sends.

11:08
Kyle Nickel
The invoices, sends the proposals does the sales call side of it. Right.

11:12
Kaitie Nickel
And conversely, though, we also realized that there was an issue with a lot of local business owners who are business minded and are being forced into a creator role because the only way that they can survive in the marketplace is through digital media. So Vital Social hasn't been officially launched yet. We have clients that we're taking just kind of quietly and the ones that we've fallen to organically. But we help them create content for their page and help them connect with these local influencers. Because bringing these skill sets together can unlock a whole new level of potential.

11:44
Ashtyn Morris
For the local overwhelming, for people knowing what they need to do, but also realizing that they can't do it, they don't know how to access those resources. And having you guys there isn't really the midway between all that is amazing. I mean, I think it's also critical that you guys realize as your brand has grown and you've had to expand your team, which we'll get into a bit, that you don't want to sacrifice any quality of what you have done in the past because that's made you Cleveland Vibes and people recognize that, the quality of content. So realizing, you know what, for us to scale, we really need to have XYZ in place. I think that's a testament to you guys as business owners. I mean, that's amazing.

12:22
Ashtyn Morris
Especially because you don't want anything to tarnish what you've done and you're continuing to grow at a rate that is almost yeah.

12:30
Kaitie Nickel
Well, first and foremost, we want Cleveland to benefit from what we do. If Cleveland is ever if the general public if Cleveland wins, we all win. And if Cleveland loses, we're not winning. We haven't done our job. So that's everything we do. We first go like, is this going to be good for the city overall?

12:48
Kyle Nickel
Yeah.

12:48
Ashtyn Morris
Amazing.

12:49
Kaitie Nickel
Wow.

12:50
Ashtyn Morris
So what would you say based off.

12:52
Kaitie Nickel
I know sounds really weird when I say it out loud, but it is.

12:55
Ashtyn Morris
Found and I love it. I mean, I'm from Ohio. I've been in Cleveland for seven years now. I grew up outside of Youngstown area, but I love Cleveland. There's so many things to do, so many opportunities, and the people are great. And I love what you guys have done with your account. And it's truly amazing. And that's why we're so excited to get you guys on here today. What would you say is your most successful social media channel?

13:25
Kaitie Nickel
If you gauge it on the general metrics? I guess so. Cleveland Vibes, the Instagram has over 100,000 followers, and it is our biggest it's.

13:36
Kyle Nickel
Our most profitable, it is our most.

13:38
Kaitie Nickel
Biggest account, but also Cleve or Leave account's.

13:42
Kyle Nickel
A really cool what's cool about our Cleve or Leave account? This is kind of like our secondary brand that we started just within the last year. Cleveland Vibes, I think, bodes towards a little bit more of a female audience.

13:54
Kaitie Nickel
It's just aesthetic.

13:55
Kyle Nickel
It's super curated content where we wanted Cleve or Leave to be a little bit more of like the grit, if Cleveland Vibes was more of like the glitter. Right. So in that way we started posting Cleve or Leave, which is more male oriented, more like sports cars, whatever. And that has grown 30,000 followers just this year alone.

14:18
Ashtyn Morris
I love that account, too.

14:19
Kaitie Nickel
Yeah, we've had a couple of viral ones with that and had like a huge jump, things like that. So success.

14:28
Kyle Nickel
Well, what's cool thing, it just shows that weren't just one trick pony. That there's different types of content that can kind of hit, you know what I mean? Just depending on I think we've just been proud of that one recently.

14:39
Kaitie Nickel
I also am really proud of some of our Vibehouse client accounts. We do the Crazy Bins account and it's so fun. Totally different type of content outside of our wheelhouse, but we've had a ton of growth there. I think we've brought them somewhere from like 1213 thousand now. They're up over 30 in the last year or so, and it's been all through fun content. It's a dream job. So that's another one I'm really proud of.

15:06
Ashtyn Morris
So how have you guys been dipping your toes into TikTok? I know obviously your presence is larger on Instagram, but I know you have a TikTok account. How has that process been?

15:17
Kaitie Nickel
It's kind of been on the back burner for a while. I was like, is this going to stay in America? And is this going to keep the lead that it has? So I kind of was like, do we need to go? I feel like once you miss that big boom where you weren't in that, like but also after everything went down with the legislation in the US. I saw such a huge hit to so many creators'views. It was so obvious and it was across the board, huge creators saw it. That really kind of freaked me out. It just made me not trust their algorithm as much, so we don't invest as much.

15:52
Kyle Nickel
Well, what's interesting about TikTok is I think TikTok is mostly like people talking and much more personal brand, which we have tried to stay away from intentionally. So we've been kind of reposting a lot of our stuff there on TikTok.

16:07
Kaitie Nickel
We're not strategizing for it.

16:08
Kyle Nickel
We're not strategizing for it as much yet. Where we have strategized a little bit more. So is focused on our email list, some of our articles we've written to kind of grow the brand. But I mean, what do you think we should do for TikTok? What do you think would help? You know what I mean? You're also a marketing pro. What do you think would help us?

16:25
Kaitie Nickel
Honestly, I feel like we've grown it over 20,000, but it's been like such an afterthought for the first, like, eighteen K. It was just messing around, but it was like, just try to get.

16:35
Kyle Nickel
People advice all the time on this.

16:37
Ashtyn Morris
Yeah, I definitely think TikTok is a place you need to be in terms of having that presence. Especially because you know, you can create great content. It's more figuring out what content is going to work better on TikTok versus Instagram. Maybe testing out the same reel on TikTok as you do on Instagram but then pivoting like okay, my audience isn't responding to this well, maybe try a completely different non Cleveland Vibe aesthetic for a TikTok and if it blows up and you keep going from there. But my advice as a marketer would to be know there's no harm in trying in terms of trying it out. If the content doesn't work. But I think there's a lot of opportunity there just because people know you on Instagram but pretty much everyone in some capacity is also on mean we're.

17:24
Kaitie Nickel
Not going to miss them entirely.

17:25
Kyle Nickel
Do you think that it's important to show your face on TikTok?

17:28
Ashtyn Morris
I think it depends on what you want the face of Cleveland Vibes and TikTok to be. Do you want it to still be the same vibe of well, the aesthetic.

17:39
Kaitie Nickel
Stuff doesn't perform there. If we try to do the pretty stuff over there, it's not going to hit.

17:43
Ashtyn Morris
So I think if you're willing with your team someone to try put themselves out there a bit, maybe not necessarily being a face of it, but seeing how that performs. Because like you said, people really resonate well with some of those get ready with me or talking type videos where it's almost like you're on FaceTime with someone and that's clearly different than the content you guys have. So I say give it a go and figure out what's still authentic to your brand because you want to maintain that quality across all your channels.

18:10
Kaitie Nickel
Do you find that it's monetizable though? Because when I go to where I'm going to invest my time, we are so tight on how much extra where we're putting our projects. That's where I'm like. Is it only through TikTok shop that we would like? Is that really the best way for us to go?

18:26
Kyle Nickel
TikTok Shop is huge right now.

18:27
Kaitie Nickel
TikTok shop is huge. That might be really the only way we want to.

18:30
Ashtyn Morris
We have a lot of ecom clients as that's coming about more seeing all the opportunities to lean into there. So I think for your apparel, yeah.

18:41
Kaitie Nickel
It'S a no brainer, especially if you.

18:43
Ashtyn Morris
Have people talking about what you're wearing in terms of Cleve or Leave or Cleveland Vibes apparel. There's a lot of opportunities even to build up that storefront and then what you can do is build up your link, pop on your Instagram, linking out to your TikTok. There's so many opportunities and since you have a loyal base already and you have your website, you have an engaged email list, really you just got to start.

19:05
Kaitie Nickel
I'm feeling inspired. You inspire me. Starting tomorrow. I'll see you there. TikTok people. I'm like talking, like, straight to the mic.

19:16
Kyle Nickel
Ashtyn, you're hired. Cool.

19:22
Ashtyn Morris
So I know we've covered a lot, but earlier you said a really important thing about influencer marketing. So, as you know, it's an agency here. Influencer marketing is really important to a lot of our client strategies and helping grow brand awareness. And I feel like you guys sit in an interesting seat of are you a content creator? Are you an influencer? How do you want to define yourselves? Or are you okay with not maybe fitting into one mold?

19:50
Kyle Nickel
Yes, we are okay to fit in one mold.

19:51
Kaitie Nickel
I don't think we have a choice.

19:52
Kyle Nickel
In fact, it's interesting because when were talking to real estate people, right, it was like, talked to r1 estate agent, and they were telling us, they were like, oh, Cleveland.com posts about the listing of the month for free. So that person saw us as media. That person saw us as media, because they do. And then we talked to somebody else about like, hey, they're listing. And they were like, oh, I would pay something similar to my photographer. And that person saw us as something more like a photographer, videographer photographer more.

20:22
Kaitie Nickel
And then some people are like, hey, come in and get some appetizers for free, and that's it. And post about us. And they think of us, obviously, as an influencer like typecasted, which is weird.

20:33
Kyle Nickel
Because you kind of see in the corner of all three of them, right? So it's like, I think what we want to be actually is the future of media in Cleveland.

20:42
Kaitie Nickel
I think content creators are the future of media in general.

20:45
Kyle Nickel
True.

20:46
Kaitie Nickel
Yes.

20:48
Kyle Nickel
We're already there.

20:49
Kaitie Nickel
I think people just haven't shifted totally into that mindset, seeing it that way. Yeah. But I do think that people are already consuming their news more. So through, like, TikTok creators are the trusted source now. So I think people are getting there. But right now, we do sit right in that intersection of, like, are we media or are we influencer? And I think as we grow the team, it feels more we are going.

21:13
Kyle Nickel
After media, definitely to some degree, right. It's like people don't trust or engage with traditional media sources as much. They don't watch the news. They don't read articles. They scroll on social media. I literally have my phone up and I'm scrolling on TikTok or Instagram while I'm watching Netflix. You know what I mean? That's where you all me information. So you told me where the eyeballs are. You tell me what media is. Right? Because to me, wherever that is, wherever that person is consuming information, that's media. So I know that we are that, but it's like people don't see it that way yet. But I think that we want to start telling bigger stories in 22nd videos, short form video just knowing that people aren't going to spend time it's a.

21:58
Kaitie Nickel
Tricky thing, though, because how the news is able to cover stuff like that is through taking huge corporate sponsorships, and that's not a route we're willing to go. So that's been the kind of the tricky thing. That's what kind of differentiates we're also.

22:09
Kyle Nickel
Not journalists, you know what mean? So, like, I don't know how to balance that line, but I just know that we care about, I think, informing a younger generation on things that are going on.

22:21
Ashtyn Morris
Yeah.

22:22
Kyle Nickel
You know what I mean? And I think it's very much so needed thing, because if you think about what is the media in Cleveland right now? It's like there's Cleveland magazine. Cleveland scene. Cleveland.com. That's it. You know what I mean? Well, there's the news, too, obviously. WKYC there's other stations, too, but I think destination Cleveland, too. But I just think about who's saying the hard stuff. Like, we can only be fluffy. I don't just I think about the justice system, right? This is just my own riff raff here, but I think Kling.com is the only people that even talk about that anymore. And it's like nobody cares about that because nobody's saying anything about it.

23:02
Kaitie Nickel
But maybe that's because it's not being delivered to them in the content experience.

23:07
Kyle Nickel
That is relatable to them.

23:08
Kaitie Nickel
So we're hoping to bridge that gap.

23:10
Kyle Nickel
I don't know.

23:13
Kaitie Nickel
We've got big dreams. It's a weird position, I will say. And we didn't ask for it. In a way, like, I started this account with the lowest of expectations. I was like, maybe my brother and will come visit me. He doesn't believe me that Cleveland's cool. Like, maybe I can get my friends to come visit me, and I have all this content. I need a place to put it. Our expectations were so low, but as it grows, we do just feel really humbled by it and accountable to the city to make sure that they and we want to see it grow. We want people to be informed so that they can be involved, so that they can be invested. And just we're trying to fit the needs that Cleveland has, and that's really our only goal.

23:58
Ashtyn Morris
There's so many pockets of Cleveland that are undiscovered. I mean, like I said, I've lived here for a few years, but I'm discovering new restaurants, new events, and where I go is you guys, because you're always posting about it in the sense it can be overwhelming to just go to a Google search of best restaurant in Cleveland and not really feel like you're experiencing it, but with your content, you really get an idea of not just you lay it out all out in the caption. You get to see it, you get to experience it, and you guys really are the go to source in Cleveland as a media outlet. But to your point, it's really.

24:35
Kyle Nickel
Happy because we don't hear that often but.

24:38
Ashtyn Morris
It'S definitely an interesting seat you guys sit in because people might look at you as an influencer or a content creator, but then you have a team of creators with you. So can you speak a little bit more about that, about some of the people that work with you in terms of their different roles and responsibilities?

24:53
Kaitie Nickel
Yeah, we've got a great team.

24:55
Kyle Nickel
So, yeah, our team obviously, this company is nothing without our team. And I think we're not even necessarily the leaders of the company. Julian and Mike are just as much influential. So Julian does a lot of website development. He also does content creation. He does a lot of our backend systems. He does our Google Ads, paid social. He does a lot of that stuff. Right. Mike is definitely he's in sales.

25:27
Kaitie Nickel
He works in just networking in general. He's huge for it.

25:31
Kyle Nickel
He's a huge networker. Yeah, I mean, he's pretty much gotten us into all of the right rooms. I think.

25:38
Kaitie Nickel
We'Ve tried so many times to put ourselves into clear cut roles within the company. Like, you are sales and you don't do anything but sales, and it's falling apart every time. I think we're just small enough at this point that everybody does kind of have to pitch in a bit towards everything. And we are all have a diverse skill set that we can all kind of have something to bring to each team. So it makes a mess.

26:01
Kyle Nickel
We announced that were hiring on social media, and we got 177 applications within 2 hours, which is 24 hours. 24 hours.

26:11
Ashtyn Morris
24 hours.

26:13
Kyle Nickel
It was over 100 in the first 2 hours. Yeah, I think that was 70, like, turtle dinners. Maybe it was a world. Maybe. I'm confused there. The wild thing is that we ended up hiring Christy, who's amazing. She was doing social media at Disney, running their TikTok.

26:27
Ashtyn Morris
Oh, my God.

26:28
Kyle Nickel
So she's fantastic. Beth actually, she's also not a Cleveland native. She's from California. She was working on some other big social accounts in Cleveland as well.

26:37
Kaitie Nickel
And she was beating the same drum that were like, I'm from California and I love Cleveland. And everyone is like, what? These comments are so she was a.

26:48
Kyle Nickel
Clear choice for and we just saw both examples of their work. We're like, this is amazing. You already get what you get what we're trying to do. And so everybody in team makes content. Every team kind of, like, helps drive the boat. But I think we're nothing without Cleveland vibes is all of those people. It's not just us.

27:08
Ashtyn Morris
Would you say, I know you've been around for some time, but your success has really just continued to skyrocket, but can you pinpoint a post or maybe an opportunity in the past few years that really helped Cleveland Vibes take?

27:22
Kaitie Nickel
I well, with Cleveland vibes. It's funny. It instantly started getting traction. And I'm so grateful because I don't know, it is. So hard to post without to post into the void. And I feel for like I'm grateful that right away Clevelanders were so tuned in and so ready for this. From the day one we started having followers rolling in. But it was never a big jump. We never had like one day that we jumped 2000, 5000 followers, anything like that. It was consistency. And that is what I tell everybody. I'm like it's really 90% just choosing. I'm going after this no matter what. And I'm going to keep showing up.

27:59
Kyle Nickel
A couple of my favorites though. It was last year, I think we made like the Guardians Hype video for the playoffs, which was pretty sweet. That was awesome. You posted a couple of Browns posts last year, which were one of them, like this dancing video in the rain. Yeah, that was a good one.

28:16
Kaitie Nickel
The team is out of the playoffs, but the beer still works.

28:19
Kyle Nickel
Yeah. So I've been just as a Clevelander my whole life. Those ones are really cool. I can't think of any others. I was just so proud of those ones because I was like, these organizations have been around my whole life.

28:34
Kaitie Nickel
But Cleve orr Leave has had a couple of big jumps lately.

28:38
Kyle Nickel
We filmed Amari Cooper's car. We didn't know it was him. And his car is like a one of one car. It's like a $285,000 car. And Julian got it. Julian's going on the highway. Posted about that 600,000. Never been seen on the road before. The thing is basically a tank, right? That was being filmed. That was wild. And then we reposted. Oh, if Cleveland is more like the grit like you talked about earlier, like a little bit more like just unabashed pro Cleveland, like in your, like it's know, Cleve or get out. Right? Cleveland or get out. So Julian also came with this phrase, miami of the Midwest, which is just like clearly crazy, but also it's not that crazy. But it was just kind of like premature. That post went viral, which is pretty funny, mostly from people being like, yeah, right.

29:29
Kyle Nickel
No, it's not right. And we're like.

29:33
Ashtyn Morris
Engagement.

29:34
Kyle Nickel
Right? Yeah, no, totally. And that was actually of the intro pool party. We did the word out pool party, which is cool.

29:40
Kaitie Nickel
That's because you were in the video.

29:41
Kyle Nickel
They were like, there's Ashtyn. And we did one with Bernie Kozar. It was really funny of him talking to he's your boy. He's talking craft to some Steelers.

29:52
Ashtyn Morris
I love that.

29:52
Kyle Nickel
Yeah.

29:53
Ashtyn Morris
So do you have any advice to people who maybe are, I don't want to say embarrassed to start shooting content, but do people ever be like, why are you guys doing this? Or aren't you embarrassed that you're taking all this video content and what did you say to them? Or what advice would you give to someone who wants to become a content creator?

30:13
Kyle Nickel
This is funny. I was with my friend justice, were actually out at Glamper and it was like were there to be shooting something. And it's always kind of embarrassing, or at least it was for a like just to be like, I have to do this to get the shot or whatever, you know what I mean, with my phone out, standing on table, bright lights, doing whatever.

30:32
Kaitie Nickel
And we generally we don't do shoots separately. We try to like because we want to capture a full place we want to be and capture the actual vibe of what it feels like to be there. So it's not.

30:45
Kyle Nickel
And I'm like, just this is like, embarrassing to get all these different types of shots and stuff. And he's like, no dude. He's like, all these people know that influencers exist now. And don't you think that they wish they could have as much fun with their friends as you are? And I'm like, man, that makes me feel shitty about it. Because the reality is you just have.

31:04
Kaitie Nickel
To lean into it. If you feel awkward doing it, then you're not having fun. Then obviously nobody's going to look at you and be like, oh wow, that looks like fun. So we just have to like you just have to go hard, grow.

31:13
Kyle Nickel
And if it's just paying the bill, you know, I should be able to stand on top of the table and just spin the phone however I need to in front of whoever is there.

31:21
Kaitie Nickel
At this point, we just don't even think about it. He used to get really mad at me when it was like, really? When were a super small account. And I'd be like, taking photos of and he just wanted to eat. And I'm like, phony. I'm like, well, I'm like.

31:33
Kyle Nickel
We don't even do this to dogs. You know what I mean? I'm like, you put like a treat on a dog's nose. You put a treat in a dog's nose and then you're like, go get it. Here, look at this food. I'm like, we've been waiting for an hour for this food, and I have to wait even longer looking at it.

31:46
Kaitie Nickel
But now he's the one taking all the shots.

31:47
Kyle Nickel
Now we're taking all the shots.

31:49
Ashtyn Morris
Dynamic Duo so what advice would you give to people and businesses trying to build a brand through organic social? I know you've talked about your own content strategy with Cleveland being at the heart of it and what's going to be good for Cleveland, but what type of thought process goes into building out your content in terms of, okay, we're going to do this reel? I also noticed you guys don't do any static content. I'm sure that is our decision because of the algorithms. But really, people might not know how to build a content strategy. So what advice do you have for them, holistically as they're looking to build their presence?

32:24
Kaitie Nickel
We do content strategies a lot for our clients. It's something we don't actually do that much for Cleveland Vibes, and we are still so early on in our journey, it feels kind of funny to be giving anybody advice because our company really did start within the last few years and the last year, we've seen immense growth. I mean, it really was a passion project while I stayed with my kids for years and years. But the content strategy for Cleveland Vibes mostly what's good for Cleveland, we have content strategy for individual posts and we have ways that we make posts intentionally. But because there's so much paid work right now, it is kind of hard to make it as cohesive. Yeah, I still want to put a lot more into our content strategy. That's something. Now that we've hired, I'm getting to.

33:08
Kyle Nickel
Make sure we do enough organic content too. Right. Because obviously you want to have audience.

33:14
Kaitie Nickel
Try to get as much organic content.

33:16
Kyle Nickel
Or these people just shilling out for whatever comes their way, but it's like that. No, we want to make sure we do organic content, too, but there's nothing.

33:23
Kaitie Nickel
Really that's about our only strategy right now.

33:26
Kyle Nickel
And we have the content calendar booked out like 1014 days in advance with different concepts or ideas. But a lot of times that flexes, a lot of times that just moves.

33:35
Ashtyn Morris
Life happens quickly. Sometimes you have to post something that's timely. It might not be timely in two weeks.

33:39
Kyle Nickel
Right.

33:40
Kaitie Nickel
That is a strategy, too. I guess if we're thinking we watch what's going on in the city, it's obviously most viral if it is happening right in the moment. So that's a huge part of it is just following what is being talked about in society as well and in Cleveland and making our posts relatable to that. But yeah, static posts. There's something that we are about to switch over all of our giveaways back to static posts. So that will be at least one static post you'll be seeing from us more regularly. Carousels will be implementing more of those too, so it really hasn't been on purpose. It's just that most of our content creators just love making video content. And it was so freeing coming from just having carousels and static posts to be able to tell this story so much more.

34:22
Kaitie Nickel
Like whatever story were telling with more than just aesthetics. It's been fun to play with, but we will be doing more static posts as part of our strategy coming up.

34:34
Kyle Nickel
Yeah, I think we made the switch to just reels, I think because we just knew that the algorithm is going to favor that.

34:39
Ashtyn Morris
Yeah, the algorithm really does favor video content.

34:42
Kyle Nickel
Totally.

34:43
Ashtyn Morris
Yeah.

34:43
Kaitie Nickel
By far. Totally. Yeah. Now we can kind of like, put it back, it feels like. But yeah, in the beginning it was like although we watch one of our content creators, her audience is used to seeing her carousels and her posts, and they do better than her reels. So it really is if you do.

35:04
Kyle Nickel
Have what your audience wants, if you.

35:06
Kaitie Nickel
Have a community that is engaged with you, they want the posts in the same format often as what they've always seen them. So there's that, too. Yeah, we're learning still.

35:16
Ashtyn Morris
Definitely.

35:16
Kaitie Nickel
We're still learning and going.

35:17
Kyle Nickel
Can we ask you a question?

35:18
Ashtyn Morris
Of course.

35:19
Kyle Nickel
I love what do you think we should be doing better? I mean, it's as far as how what do you think Cleveland needs and what do you think Cleveland vibes should be doing better to serve the community?

35:29
Ashtyn Morris
Man, that's a loaded question.

35:31
Kaitie Nickel
No pressure.

35:33
Ashtyn Morris
I think you're doing an exceptional job in terms of getting out information about things that are happening in the city in a way that's engaging to people. But I do think it would be interesting to see a little bit more of you guys. I know the goal really is to promote Cleveland, but your team has such an integral presence in all of your content that getting to know you guys a bit more. And as you're growing your team and the opportunities and I do think expanding upon your different outlets of you have your website, which has great content and blog content, informative content, your email list, and people are obviously scrolling.

36:12
Ashtyn Morris
On Instagram and TikTok, but they're engaged in these other channels and I think leaning into those opportunities a bit more, maybe even sending more than one email a month when it makes sense.

36:22
Kaitie Nickel
There's definitely the only monthly newsletter.

36:26
Kyle Nickel
That was our joke. That's what our joke is. We're not the only month Cleveland's only monthly newsletter because everybody else just tends to be the only one that once a month. I don't know. Anyway, no, definitely. I love that. So why do you think people she's right.

36:41
Kaitie Nickel
And it's funny because I do tell every single one of my clients. I'm like, Show yourself. And when we do, it's because and.

36:46
Ashtyn Morris
It doesn't have to be in a way that's forced, but you just have such a warm presence about you guys that I feel like you're doing a disservice by not highlighting yourselves, not necessarily in every post, because obviously people want to know what's going on in Cleveland.

36:59
Kaitie Nickel
They don't care that much.

37:00
Ashtyn Morris
But to speak about who you guys are and your story, it's always nice to see those reflective posts. Sometimes you do like to include those in your content to learn a little bit more about you guys, not so much the events or businesses you're promoting. So I do think there's some opportunity.

37:15
Kyle Nickel
Here's a question. Do you there's an element of I've always thought that my friend Trevor Lee's, a famous photographer for Yosemite or whatever, he was telling me that sometimes he takes pictures of people and he doesn't show their face intentionally because he wants people to envision themselves in that situation. Right. And so I think what we've tried to do is make Cleveland the main character of our story, where we make the focus of it. Like what's happening in Cleveland and not ourselves. Is there an element to that's made that.

37:44
Kaitie Nickel
But we also know, though, that every client that we have, we're like, this is what people want, is to see the authentic and to get to know the personalities. And that is great content right now.

37:56
Kyle Nickel
Because people told us that a lot people told us that we should show ourselves more. We've been averse to it. No, but I think maybe you're right. I don't know. It's a good feedback.

38:06
Ashtyn Morris
I do think including yourselves in content, when it makes sense, and you guys have a family, and including more of that family content, obviously your audience has a wide range of ages, so you don't want to necessarily alienate an audience. At the same time, a lot of people are looking for community. A lot of people come to Cleveland with no like they've moved here for their jobs, college, whatever it may be. They might be missing home and missing that sense of family. So including that in your content, whether it be with you guys or your team members, I think is really powerful.

38:37
Kyle Nickel
It's amazing. I think you should do better. What do you think Cleveland needs? How do we help Cleveland in that way? If we have this voice to the city, what can we do to help Cleveland?

38:54
Ashtyn Morris
I think you're doing a lot already, but highlighting all of the different opportunities that people can pursue here. I think you're changing the narrative of people like to joke on Cleveland and sometimes like to be the butt of the joke. But there's so many opportunities. We're booming in terms of there's a lot of new job opportunities, new apartments, and there's things that you don't necessarily even have to pay for fun. I mean, our Metro parks, even just going walking around Crocker Park or Van Aiken, whatever it may be, they're highlighting that Cleveland is a place that you can really love but also grow at every stage of your life. Think about it. We have so many colleges here, between the East Side, the west. I came here for college, and I'm not leaving.

39:39
Ashtyn Morris
And also another thing, too, that we've touched on, maybe not so much in your content, but in Cleveland. We're known for having amazing health care. Cleveland is a place you can live, start a family and grow. There's so many opportunities here.

39:54
Kaitie Nickel
That's so good.

39:54
Kyle Nickel
That's so good. Yeah, that's awesome.

39:57
Kaitie Nickel
We've never touched anything medical.

40:00
Kyle Nickel
Cleveland Clinic follows us. Hit them up.

40:06
Ashtyn Morris
We'll see it happen. It's going to be a Cleveland vibes collab.

40:09
Kaitie Nickel
Cleveland Clinic. Cleveland vibes.

40:11
Ashtyn Morris
I love that.

40:12
Kaitie Nickel
That could be fun.

40:13
Ashtyn Morris
So obviously you've had some amazing success in just a few years, but it might be hard to really pinpoint this. But what is your vision for the next five to ten years?

40:23
Kaitie Nickel
Yeah, well, we want to really, like we said, perfect this whatever model that we are creating of bringing together the local influencer and the local business. I think what America needs is to invest into their local economy and to choose to put their dollars where yeah, support their local. I think it's going to be what saves our it's what our economy really needs right now. So if we could figure out this model and a way to recreate that in other small cities and other cities that need that same attention, cities like Detroit and Pittsburgh, there's so many cities that experience the same type of struggle.

41:01
Kaitie Nickel
So I think if we're looking in ten years, I hope that if we do nail this model here and we do see it as an effective way to help people here in Cleveland, that we can recreate it through influencer partnerships in other cities, in other small cities that could use a love.

41:17
Kyle Nickel
I also think, too, through our creator network or through the creator side of our agency, if we help represent even just like 20 creators in Cleveland, let's say we get one inbound lead from.

41:32
Kaitie Nickel
A Forbes Under 30.

41:33
Kyle Nickel
Yeah, Forbes Under 30, for example, hey, we can help get this message out to 30 different creators in Cleveland. And then that is how I think what the future of media truly is, because I think in that way, that creator economy. But if there's one source in Cleveland to represent all of them, then I think that is the media, right? And it's like we already reach 1.4 million people in Cleveland through Cleveland vibes, you know what I mean? Per month. If somebody wants to get a message out there, we only do so much, right? But we know that if we have a mouthpiece through different parts of the city, through different creators that we're working with and representing, helping them find business and kind of creating this creator hub, right, and we're already on our way there.

42:13
Kyle Nickel
We present like, five or six different creators right now. And it's like, we know that we can really help.

42:17
Kaitie Nickel
We're passionate about getting them paid, too. We believe that this is a job that deserves a career.

42:24
Kyle Nickel
All these people are brilliant. My wife's, brilliant marketing mind. I think in 510 years, what's cool is I think if we're kind of this creator hub media outlet, that's kind of where I see it going. I don't know if that makes any.

42:38
Kaitie Nickel
Sense, but it's like a huge focus.

42:41
Kyle Nickel
On local, and I think we can bring we I think Cleveland is already on its way up, and I think we can help just take it there too, and just bring in a spotlight. And I just more than anything, I think I go like, if Cleveland wins, we all win. So if we help this city, like, more people are going to come here, and we're going to feel like a part of that. And that's, like, a huge mission for everybody in the city, I think, because I think as much as we talk about Clevelanders, the ones that have talked the most crap about Cleveland, they're also the ones that love it the most. You know what I mean?

43:16
Kyle Nickel
So it's crazy because it's, like, rocking, and I think it's an interesting intersection of, like I think Cleveland is going to be a pretty big player in the next 510 years.

43:30
Kaitie Nickel
Hopefully we'll stay busy then. Oh, definitely.

43:32
Ashtyn Morris
I have no doubt about that. Before we sign off, we like to do some rapid fire questions with our guests.

43:39
Kyle Nickel
Okay?

43:39
Ashtyn Morris
Are you guys ready?

43:41
Kaitie Nickel
Yeah, I think so.

43:42
Ashtyn Morris
YouTube or reels.

43:45
Kaitie Nickel
Reels.

43:45
Kyle Nickel
Reels.

43:46
Ashtyn Morris
Browns. Calves or Guardians game?

43:49
Kyle Nickel
Browns.

43:50
Kaitie Nickel
Browns games. Browns games, yeah.

43:53
Ashtyn Morris
East side or west side?

43:54
Kyle Nickel
West side. She didn't say West Side.

43:57
Kaitie Nickel
I'm both.

43:58
Ashtyn Morris
I love it all.

43:58
Kaitie Nickel
I love it all. I think it's all wonderful. That's a good I don't choose.

44:04
Ashtyn Morris
I don't get it. I don't get it.

44:05
Kaitie Nickel
I really think they both have such different things to offer. It's different. And it's not weird to not travel outside. I know. There's rapid fire.

44:13
Ashtyn Morris
No, it's not weird. Your version.

44:15
Kaitie Nickel
I love it in any other city, when I've moved to other cities, it isn't strange for anyone not to leave their neighborhood. That is a normal thing, to go to the gym and the restaurants and the salons in your neighborhood without it being like that's, because we're better nobody's going to travel that far. It's okay to stay on your side, but we don't need to be malicious about it.

44:37
Ashtyn Morris
No.

44:38
Kyle Nickel
West Side.

44:39
Kaitie Nickel
Love it.

44:40
Ashtyn Morris
Favorite pizza spot?

44:44
Kaitie Nickel
Oh, no, we don't say favorites.

44:47
Lisa Perry Kovacs
This is, like, hot.

44:49
Kaitie Nickel
We try so hard.

44:50
Kyle Nickel
Edison's booms. Orion.

44:52
Kaitie Nickel
That's a good one. That's a good list of, like that.

44:55
Ashtyn Morris
Not because a lot of the same vibes here at the office. Those are some of our favorites.

44:59
Kaitie Nickel
Edison's Booms. Wait, you left one out. Yeah, no, that's good.

45:04
Ashtyn Morris
Love it. That's a good list. Favorite brewery or breweries?

45:08
Kaitie Nickel
Thank you. There's so many good ones.

45:14
Kyle Nickel
Great Lakes.

45:14
Kaitie Nickel
I mean, Great Lakes. Jolly Scholar is a cool one.

45:17
Kyle Nickel
We like saucy, noble beast. I don't know.

45:22
Kaitie Nickel
We never say favorite. We try so hard not to find.

45:26
Ashtyn Morris
All of them on your Instagram.

45:28
Kyle Nickel
Yes.

45:29
Ashtyn Morris
Final rapid fire question.

45:31
Kaitie Nickel
Sibling reverie. Sibling reverie is another good one.

45:33
Kyle Nickel
There we go.

45:34
Ashtyn Morris
What is your number one recommended place to visit in Cleveland?

45:39
Kyle Nickel
Like, a landmark?

45:40
Ashtyn Morris
Whatever.

45:41
Kaitie Nickel
Like, if you were like, you have to go.

45:43
Ashtyn Morris
If you were only here one weekend and you could only go to one place, where would you send someone?

45:48
Kaitie Nickel
Art museum.

45:49
Kyle Nickel
Art museum.

45:50
Kaitie Nickel
I love that.

45:51
Kyle Nickel
Yeah, definitely.

45:51
Kaitie Nickel
Free and five minutes free. Little Italy.

45:54
Kyle Nickel
182,000 pieces of artwork, which is insanity. And then it's just like, what's, the fifth biggest in the nation?

46:00
Kaitie Nickel
It might be my favorite place in the world.

46:03
Kyle Nickel
That whole area over there is amazing. Totally.

46:05
Kaitie Nickel
That's the best. It is.

46:07
Ashtyn Morris
Thank you guys so much for joining. I think we covered so many hot takes and really interesting topics today that will leave marketers thinking differently about organic social. Can you tell our listeners a little bit more about where they can find you guys if they want to learn more?

46:21
Kaitie Nickel
Yep. Cleveland vibes on Instagram and TikTok, Cleve or Leave on Instagram. You can find us@clevelandvibes.com and you can reach us at contact@clevelandvibes.com Cleveland has the vibes.

46:36
Ashtyn Morris
Amazing. So that is it for today's episode of Marketing Moves. Head over to our website vividfront.com to keep up with VividFront in our all moves. Signing off for now.