If you could create your own fantasy board of directors, who would be on it? CO— connects you with thought leaders from across the business spectrum and asks them to help solve your biggest business challenges. In this edition, we ask the founder of a children’s clothing brand to share her insights on social media.
In this edition of “Ask the Board,” we feature Dinah Chapman, Founder of Little Trouble, a children’s clothing brand. Dinah clocked what Gen Z and millennial moms truly want: Trendy, wearable, quality kidswear that doesn’t scream “live, laugh, love.” So she made it. And TikTok ate it up.
She used her digital expertise to go viral, sell out drops within minutes, and build a cult following in the process. Dinah’s journey from mom-to-be to CEO is what happens when internet culture meets real consumer demand. She didn’t have investors or a trust fund. Just an idea, a TikTok account, and a whole lot of hustle.
Below, Dinah shares how small business owners can effectively use social media platforms to thrive. She offers practical tips on content creation, storytelling, and community building, as well as how to use analytics to refine strategies and increase visibility without spending a fortune on ads.
Create engaging, high-quality content
Focus on high-quality visuals, engaging captions, and storytelling. This doesn’t always mean polished. People love to see the real raw version of content creation, but photos and videos should still be clear, high res, and have good audio. Share behind-the-scenes content, customer testimonials, and UGC [user-generated content] to foster an authentic connection with your audience.
Be the ‘face of the brand’
People love to know they are buying from you when you’re building a community-driven e-commerce brand. I spend so much time chatting on my stories and engaging with real customers in the direct messages. This helps me connect but also shows people who they are investing in and that makes a huge difference when there’s competition and a lot of brands to choose from.
Balance content variety
While maintaining your brand vibe and aesthetic, incorporate a variety of content types to see what resonated with your community. Sometimes, a certain content type does well when it comes to click driving to site, but something totally different does really well for engagement and shares, which also serves a really important purpose when building a brand account (which is way harder than a creator account). Try a mix of images, stop-motion videos, quotes, lifestyle videos, BTS [behind-the-scenes] stories, etc. This keeps your feed dynamic while still adhering to your visual style.
People love to see the real raw version of content creation, but photos and videos should still be clear, high res, and have good audio.Dinah Chapman, Founder of Little Trouble
Collaborate with influencers and content creators
Almost all markets are super crowded so owning some share of voice and getting your brand in front of prospects is super important. Partner with as many different creators, influencers, and affiliates who have influencer or impact in potential customer segments as possible. The more people sharing/talking about your product, the higher the EMV, which leads to a larger impact halo effect.
Strategize ways to create content at scale
There are so many resources available these days that help you create different types of content so take advantage. A few of my favorites include:
- Soona: You send your products to their studio and they host photo and video shoots with your products that you can attend virtually. They can do product and lifestyle, but I think they are best for product.
- Trend and Clip: You connect with creators and send free products in exchange for UGC testimonials, product videos, and related assets.
Find your winners for paid and create as many variations as possible
Paid channels, specifically Meta and TikTok, need a massive volume of content constantly added into rotation for an ad account to scale quickly and profitably. Use a tool like Motion App to isolate your winners and identify scalable assets that you can create more of. When it comes to paid, it’s all about finding the winning sequence and then investing in volume. Nothing kills an ad account quicker than stale creative.
CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.
Your hard work deserves to be rewarded! Apply for our premier small business awards program, the CO—100, to earn national media attention, get VIP access to premium networking events, and potentially be awarded $25,000! Apply and learn more, here.
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