“If you start with a product, you sell that product…With founder-generated content, you can start with a personal brand and sell anything.”
Madelene ‘Maddi’ Ragno is a marketer, podcaster, small-business owner, and fervent champion of founder-generated content (FGC). She not only includes it in clients’ marketing strategies, but also uses it to promote her own small marketing business, MADE Creative Co.
“[FGC] brings a sense of humanisation to a brand,” Maddi says. “It kind of brings to life easier and quicker the ‘why’ behind the brand.”
Another massive benefit of FGC, Maddi says, is that it shortens the sales process by gaining customer trust and loyalty first. By establishing a relationship between the customer and founder from the customer’s very first interaction with a business, the founder makes the customer more likely to make a purchase. Contrast that with a more traditional marketing strategy for a small business, where a customer is presented with a product first. In this case, they make their decision based solely on the product’s merits, without any emotional attachment to the brand itself.
“If you start with a product, you sell that product,” Maddi says. “With founder-generated content, you can start with a personal brand and sell anything.”
Here are some forms that FGC can take:
- Business journey and story
- Day-in-the-life content
- Product insights
- Company updates
- Thought leadership
- Thoughts and opinions from the business owner
Where do you start?
So, you’re sold on FGC, but haven’t implemented it yet. Where do you begin?
As we’ll find out, there are multiple ways you can show yourself in social media content, and they don’t always include showing your face. But, if at all possible, try to calm your anxiety about appearing in front of a camera or writing a more personal social media post, Maddi says.
“I think people get scared because they are afraid their personality won’t be liked…If you are quite shy or quiet, that still is a personality, and there are still people who are going to like that personality. So I don’t think there’s a wrong or right personality for it.”
If you’re making video content, you also don’t need any expensive equipment; a decent smartphone with access to the internet will do. In fact, high-resolution imagery may actually be a disadvantage when it comes to this form of content.
“On TikTok, people almost want low quality and low production,” Maddie explains. “People prop their phone up in their car, or just walk and talk. I almost think the less production, the better.”
Lastly, you don’t necessarily need a bunch of marketing know-how. When Maddi teaches her clients to make video content, she usually instructs them to imagine they are talking to a friend, or using video chat. She also starts clients off on TikTok, as this is the platform that she has found to be the easiest to use at first.
Of course, TikTok isn’t the only platform where you can post FGC. Small-business owners have found success with FGC on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn, among others.
Want to know more? Let’s look at how three small-business owners have leveraged FGC for success across three different platforms: TikTok, YouTube and Facebook.
Case study: Brooki Bakehouse
Brooke Bellamy is the owner of Brooki Bakehouse, a Brisbane-based bakery that produces solely cookies in a variety of flavours. Brooke’s TikTok is a textbook example of founder-generated content. The videos on her page offer an intimate glimpse into her business operations. Viewers can watch Brooke mixing and rolling out dough, conducting a tour of her bakery, and taking viewers through an entire day in her life.
Brooke’s first foray into social media involved posting her bakery’s daily menu on her Instagram story. But it wasn’t until she started using TikTok, and making content with her face and personality in it, that her brand achieved notoriety. The big success came with her ‘day-in-the-life’ videos, which went viral and led to a big increase in customers.
“We had a slow trickle of customers coming into the bakery after discovering it online, and within weeks we were noticeably busier, which encouraged me to continue posting almost daily,” Brooke told ISB in an interview for our 45th issue.
What makes Brooke’s content so popular? It boils down to a mixture of curiosity and escapism, Maddi says.
“People love process content,” the marketer explains. “Brooke also does a lot of cooking recipes and day-in-the-life content. People are also intrigued by how other people live; it’s aspirational-style content as well.”
Some tips for great video content:
- Incorporate textual or visual hooks into the beginning of a video that make the viewer want to
keep watching. This could be an unusual shot or an attention-grabbing caption. - Use ‘process scenes’: Brooke uses close-ups of actions in progress, like a cookie box being opened or cookie dough being mixed.
- Change the scene or angle every three to four seconds to keep things interesting
- Include a variation of zoomed in shots and zoomed out shots.
Case study: Scott Brown
Scott Brown has been a builder for 20 years, and has made over 400 videos for his YouTube channel, Scott Brown Carpentry. Scott’s YouTube videos cover a wide variety of topics related to his business, from building tutorials to process videos to tool reviews.
Scott’s content looks beautiful; it’s shot on a nice camera, professionally edited, and well written. But, as Maddi explains, that’s not necessarily why he’s successful. Like Brooke, Scott creates process-oriented content that appeals to his audience’s curiosity.
“His content is around processes as well,” she says. “People love to see how things are done. His hooks as well. Like, “We don’t waste time with lasers”. That’s a pain point that people obviously have.”
Scott’s content also lends itself to building trust with his audience, Maddi points out. By laying bare his processes, he allows prospective clients to verify for themselves the level of effort and attention to detail that he brings to his work.
When ISB talked to Scott, the carpenter confirmed that YouTube is mainly about trust-building for him.
“YouTube has been fantastic for building trust with clients and has brought us a lot of work, especially when we focused on client renovations,” the entrepreneur explains. “The first meeting with a client is so important, and the videos made that process so much easier.”
Crucially, Scott doesn’t solely rely on YouTube for getting clients. Though many of his YouTube viewers are from New Zealand, and a few reached out for renovation jobs after watching his videos, he has a website that attracts local search traffic through a shrewd SEO strategy.
“[YouTube] appeals to a wide audience who get to know us and build trust,” Scott explains. “Then our Squarespace site is the next step in showcasing our work professionally and encouraging potential clients to reach out for their projects.”
But what if your business isn’t as visually marketable as Scott’s or Brooke’s? We examined another business that has leveraged founder-generated content in a different way, which may be more useful in such cases.
The importance of a good hook
A great hook does exactly what it says on the tin: it gets the viewer locked into a piece of content.
“Intrigue is definitely the big thing,” Maddi says. “If it’s a visual hook, I think it’s a disruption of the screen with something you might not see every day.”
Scott mainly makes use of titles to hook in his audience. Here are some examples:
- “Why Our Timber is Banned in America”
- “I Never Use My Screw Gun”
- “Carpenter Tries the Cheapest Hammer on Amazon”
- “I Made a PLYWOOD Kitchen look like THIS”
Case Study: Capre Cleary
Capre Cleary’s business journey began with a Facebook group, A Skin Guide for Rookies (ASGFR) where she provided skincare tips to a tight-knit community. As the group grew, she decided to launch her own line of skincare products under the same name.
“Initially, the goal was not to create a business but to foster a space where people could share authentic experiences, give real feedback, and find support in a friendly, non-judgmental environment,” Capre says.
Just as the brand may serve her community, the community most definitely served her brand. Capre says the Facebook community has been “invaluable” for ASGFR, allowing her to understand her audience’s needs and receive real-time feedback. Though the entrepreneur explains that her community is “much more than a database”, she says the genuine connections and word-of-mouth recommendations directly contribute to revenue.
People often emphasise the importance of having an extensive database, but examples like Capre show that it’s just as important to have a detailed one. The benefit of FGC like Capre’s, Maddi explains, is that you get a far better idea of who your audience is, as opposed to anonymous viewer figures on TikTok or YouTube.
“Our Facebook community remains one of the most impactful channels for conversion, as it offers a level of engagement and trust that’s hard to achieve elsewhere,” Capre says.
How to build a successful online community around your business:
When asked, Capre gave us some tips:
- Create a warm and supportive environment where members feel valued and safe
- Give your audience a chance to share their experiences and insights
- Give guidance that is practical, accessible, and either research-backed or drawn from personal experience.
Becoming a trusted source
As Maddi points out, Brooke, Scott and Capre have one thing in common when it comes to their social media strategy: They all use FGC to position themselves as trusted figures.
“They’re showing their process and expertise in order to sell literally anything,” the marketer explains. “These three could literally sell anything to their communities.”
There are many ways to connect with your audience and share your unique perspective as a brand founder. Plus, as AI-generated content fills their feeds, customers are seeking authenticity more than ever. FGC is a powerful weapon to add to your marketing arsenal – and, as Maddi reminds us, personality can sell pretty much anything.
This article first appeared in issue 47 of the Inside Small Business quarterly magazine
