In a time when social media influencers are dominating platforms, two Northern Ireland women have enjoyed success by connecting influencers with businesses to help boost their profile.
Having met through a tech startup in 2018, Francesca Morelli, 25, and Chloe Henning, 24, combined their skillsets to set up Vava Influence, Northern Ireland's first dedicated influencer marketing agency.
With Francesca having worked for her family business, Morellis' Ice cream, and Chloe having a wealth of experience in social media influencing and modelling the pair collaborated to fill a 'gap in the market'.
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Francesca explained: "Chloe was embedded in the NI social media and blogger scene at the time, and started inviting me along to jobs and events with her. I quickly noticed the untapped potential in the influencer marketing industry in NI which had a great community of talent, but no dedicated agency managing anyone, unlike the South of Ireland and the UK.
"Everyone was working on freelance jobs with little guidance. As well as that, many business owners wanted to work with influencers but didn’t know how to go about it, what to pay, or what to expect. With Chloe’s contacts and experience in the digital marketing industry and with my family business background, it just made sense to go out on our own. We knew that if we didn’t make that move soon, someone else would."
With their business only set to turn two next year, the pair are celebrating a number of successes including heading up Northern Ireland's first-ever TikTok house.
Francesca said: "As a young business, we’re still celebrating our small wins. It’s great to have even made it this far. Mainly, we’re so proud to still have clients on board that have been with us from the beginning; it really shows that they value what we bring to them as a business.
"As well as that, we get very excited when we meet new people that have heard of us or our business. We have just launched NI’s first-ever TikTok House – The VAVA Club – which will see 8 of Ireland’s biggest TikTok Creators come together to do fun activities and collaborate on content for one week.
"We always encourage our clients to be creative and try new things, so it’s great that we have got to a stage where we have the capital and awareness behind us to launch our own creative projects."
The pair have big plans for the future and hope to expand their business further into the UK market.
"We’re really keen to do more business outside of Northern Ireland and expand our clientele in the wider UK + Ireland markets.
"We’re also making steps to expand our team and hire some full-time staff members. We’re often asked about office space, but to be honest, we love remote working and hope to continue to be able to work from anywhere in the world when we’re not running events.
"We hope to maintain our position as trusted influencer marketing partners and continue to expand our network of creative talent across the UK."
For anyone thinking of starting their own business, Francesca had this advice: "When you want to start a business, it can feel like a mammoth task and many people get too overwhelmed to actually start. Break it down into small steps.
"Work out your business model – who is your customer, why will they be paying you and how much? *Remember, you can always come down in price; it’s much more difficult to go up.
"Set up your social media accounts, start posting content, source suppliers. Take it step by step and before you know it you’ll be trading! Learn from your mistakes. Don’t let fear prevent you from trying, just go for it."
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