Essence, Marketing Strategist

11/20/2025

There's a million-dollar difference between social media marketing and brand marketing.

One chases trends. The other builds equity.

When working with heritage brands vs. startups, success looks different:

Startup Marketing: → Move fast, test everything → Engagement = success
→ Be everywhere, try all trends → Performance metrics are king → "Break things" is encouraged

Heritage Brand Marketing: → Move deliberately, protect brand equity → Brand perception = long-term success → Be selective, be intentional → Brand alignment + performance both matter → "Preserve value" is the priority

The Framework I Now Use:

Before creating any content, I ask:
1. Does this express our brand vision?
2. Which strategic pillar does it serve?
3. Would our target audience engage with this?
4. Does it feel premium but accessible?
5. Would our competitive set do this?

If the answer to any of these is "no," it doesn't matter how well it might perform.

This isn't limiting creativity, it's focusing it.

The best work happens within constraints when you understand the brand you're building, not just the metrics you're chasing.

For those of you who work with established or luxury brands:
- How do you balance brand stewardship with staying culturally relevant?
- What's your process for evaluating trend participation?
- Have you experienced a similar shift in approach?
- Would love to hear different perspectives. What am I missing in this framework?

11/20/2025

It took me 90 days of resentment to finally understand: underpricing wasn't helping my business, it was silently killing it.

I thought I was proving myself.
Building relationships.
Staying accessible.

Turns out, I was building something else entirely: resentment, burnout, and relationships destined to fail.

Here's the principle I learned the hard way:
Your pricing doesn't just reflect your worth—it determines the level of service you can sustainably deliver.

When I finally got honest about what different price points could actually support, everything changed.

Not just my business. My energy. My work. The clients I attracted.

I wrote about the evolution—what I had to unlearn, what I discovered about how your brain protects you from unequal relationships, and why "the customer is always right" makes you feel guilty for pricing appropriately.

Part 1 👇

There's a principle in business that took me embarrassingly long to understand: Your pricing doesn't just reflect your worth. It determines the level of service you can sustainably deliver.

11/20/2025

There's a specific kind of confidence that only comes from doing the work before you walk into the room.

Today I presented two major initiatives I'd been developing - the kind that require real strategic thinking, not just ex*****on. One of them immediately got pushback.

But here's what made this moment different: I'd already tested the exact alternative being suggested. Months ago. I'd lived through why it wouldn't work, learned from it, and that entire process is what led me to the solution I was now presenting.

I wasn't defensive. I wasn't caught off guard. I was steady.

This time, I felt completely in control of that room. I'd done the exploratory work that made confidence possible.

This is what strategic thinking actually looks like - it's not about having the loudest voice or the quickest answer. It's about being thorough enough, intentional enough, that when the moment comes, you're unshakeable.

Turns out, this is what luck looks like.

11/13/2025

I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop in Starbucks… but what I overheard hit way too close to home.

This morning, I stopped by Starbucks and saw a woman in the coworking area coaching a fitness client live on video.
Not a YouTube workout.
Not a prerecorded session.
Real-time coaching — form corrections and all.

And I instantly felt that in my spirit.
Because honestly? One of my biggest hesitations with fitness coaches has always been…
“But who’s going to correct my form if they’re in another state?”

I don’t want to be in the gym searching YouTube for the right way to move.
And I never actually said that to any coach — I just never bought.

That moment reminded me of how many customers do the same thing.
They don’t always tell you the real reason they hesitate.
They just quietly walk away.

And THAT is where great messaging and sales strategy come in.

When you understand the unspoken fears, frustrations, or questions your customers don’t verbalize… everything changes:
💡 Your content hits harder
💡 Your sales feel different
💡 Your conversions go up
💡 Your customers trust you faster

Sometimes the breakthrough isn’t in what your customer is saying.
It’s in what they haven’t said at all.

11/13/2025

Email automations make up 2% of emails but contribute to 41% of email sales.

10/23/2025

I was invited to attend AfroTech 2025, the second-largest event for Black professionals and innovators, happening next week in Houston. 🙌🏾

If you’ve heard of Essence Fest, the biggest celebration of Black culture held every July in New Orleans, AfroTech is its tech and business counterpart where culture, innovation, and opportunity meet.

As a digital marketing strategist, I’m honored to be part of an environment where Black creativity, entrepreneurship, and technology are at the forefront.

I’ll be sharing insights, connections, and lessons from the experience, especially for those of us building our own lane in business and tech. 🚀

08/24/2025

“Make it go viral.”

If that’s your strategy, you’ve already lost.

Duolingo’s rise on TikTok looks effortless — 16.7M followers, billion-view campaigns, endless headlines. But behind the owl costume are lessons founders can’t afford to miss:

Why community is your real creative brief

Why ROI thinking kills brand equity

Why burnout is inevitable if you don’t scale systems

Read the breakdown of Duolingo’s Viral Playbook to see what it really takes to win at scale 👇

https://thescalesociety.us/2025/08/24/duolingos-viral-playbook-genius-burnout-and-the-systems-behind-sustainable-growth/

07/17/2025

Kim came to me with content—but no clarity.

She was posting on TikTok but wasn’t seeing the kind of engagement or growth she knew was possible.

So we got to work:
✅ We clarified her core message
✅ Updated her bio to speak directly to the right people
✅ Adjusted her profile name so her brand was instantly clear

Simple shifts. Strategic thinking.

The result?
→ Her posts took off organically
→ She started getting hundreds of comments from engaged, aligned followers
→ Her TikTok growth became exponential—with real people, not bots

This is what happens when your profile does the talking before your content even starts.

If your social media isn’t converting, start with the foundation—your message.

🔔 Follow for smart, simple strategy that builds real growth, not just noise.

07/15/2025

In 2020, I was a virtual assistant—always being pulled into social media tasks I didn’t ask for.

“Just post something.”
“Put this up, we need to stay active.”

That was the extent of the strategy. No direction. No purpose. Just noise.

But instead of staying frustrated, I leaned in.
I thought: If I’m going to do this, let me do it right.

So I turned what was a chaotic task list into a full-blown business—backed by intentional marketing strategy.

Fast-forward to now:
✅ I run a results-driven agency
✅ I’ve helped brands go from invisible to in-demand
✅ I’ve made the unknown world of marketing clear, strategic, and profitable

This page is for business owners who are done with “just posting” and ready to actually grow.

You don’t need more content. You need a plan that works.

🔔 Follow for real strategy, honest insight, and marketing that drives results—not confusion.

07/13/2025

Diana came to me with zero followers. Literally. No social presence. No list. Nothing.

She’s a brilliant practitioner—but new to online marketing and overwhelmed by what to post, where, and how often.

We focused on strategy, not noise. In just a few weeks, here’s what happened:

✅ She launched her first posts with clarity
✅ We set up a simple funnel using content that educates + connects
✅ Her email list started growing fast—with real leads asking how to work with her and pay her

No dancing. No daily hustle. No gimmicks.

Just a clean, credible presence designed to attract her ideal clients.

You don’t need more time. You need a strategy that actually speaks to the right people.

🔔 Follow for grounded marketing that gets real business results for experts, founders, and professionals.

07/05/2025

The more I started showing up online, posting consistently on social, the more things started to shift.

Not just in likes or views, but in real conversations.

One day, someone I knew reached out.
We weren’t close, but we’d always had good energy.

I told her what I was building.
I invited her to play a little “goal game” with me, share one goal, and support each other in hitting it.

Not long after that, she told me she was looking for a new opportunity.

And I realized:
She wasn’t just smart, warm, and aligned
👉🏾 She might be exactly who I need to help lead my next phase of growth.

She’s trained in admin tech.
She’s curious about marketing.
She thinks like an operator.

I wasn’t sure I had the perfect package ready yet.
But I pitched her anyway.

Because I know that top talent is the shortcut.

When you find the right person, you don’t wait for perfect conditions.
You move.
You build the offer.
You get strategic, because the return isn’t just skill, it’s acceleration.

She said yes.
And now I’m doing the work to make sure she’s supported, equipped, and empowered to help us scale.

All of this, because I kept showing up.

sosmarketing.biz

💬 What has visibility created for you lately?

07/04/2025

You can’t attract the right people if you never say what you’re building.

The more I shared my vision publicly, the more aligned talent showed up.

Say it out loud.