Nikola Kökényová knows online marketing and social media strategies inside out. Whether it’s international companies, non-profits, or personal brands, she feels right at home in her field. Her main goal is to tailor services to each client so they can achieve their goals together.
Many of us know Nika from Social Spirit, her project focused on marketing, social media, and strategies. That’s exactly what we discussed with Nika in today’s article.
Nika, what marketing trends are prevailing?
In today’s world, I believe it’s crucial to shift your focus not outward to the apparent trends flooding social networks, but inward. Find out which direction you, as a brand, are heading, and base your strategy on that. It’s no longer enough to just follow trends on social media; instead, you should focus on your long-term vision. Only with a clear vision can you maintain consistency not only on social networks but throughout your entire business.
“Social networks are overwhelmed, and so are the people on them. That’s a sad but true trend.”
The truth is, we don’t have to do everything the same way as other creators who are successful. Fans can get used to anything from a creator, as long as it’s delivered consistently and patiently. For larger brands, the biggest challenge is presenting content on social networks in a way that feels human. We still see awkwardly adapted flyer visuals on social media, whereas it would be much more effective to show the people behind the brand talking about the flyer’s content in their own words.
Nika Social Spirit
Marketing has become a very popular field. Do you think it’s oversaturated?
It’s hard to pinpoint exact numbers, but I’ve definitely noticed a rise in specialists across various marketing areas in recent years. The real question is about the quality and actual experience of these professionals. Even though the market might be crowded, I still see a gap for starting small businesses that can’t yet afford marketing agencies but need a solid start. They’re looking for experienced freelancers with years of practice, and there are still only a few dozen of us in Slovakia.
Nika, tell us more about Social Spirit.
The purpose of Social Spirit is individual mentoring for personal brands that need to strategically handle their marketing activities and direct their energy where it truly matters for them. I regularly create custom social media strategies for companies. I’ve also created e-books on self-taught strategies and Instagram stories. Two years ago, I launched my only physical product, the #SOCIALSPIRITCARDS—an engaging tool that helps small brands tackle strategic questions about their business or provides ideas for social media posts.
#SOCIALSPIRITCARDS
What is your opinion on social media? Which one is your favourite?
One word. Instagram. It started bringing me actual customers when I had around 300 followers. I enjoy that I can truly be myself on the platform. It has tons of tools to make your content interactive and encourage your followers to engage and take action.
I use social media about 95% of the time for work. Since I’ve been working daily on social media for the past 8 years, it feels like a good balance when I avoid it in my free time. Ever since I started creating content, I’ve been consuming less of it. I think that’s also key to success, so you don’t end up feeling overwhelmed by it all.
What benefits do social media bring us?
They’re still the ideal starting point for small or personal brands to communicate. They don’t need to be polished—quite the opposite. Authentic, simple, unfiltered content works best.
They also help build relationships with the people you’re interacting with. Apparently, our brains can’t really tell the difference between people we know from online and those we know in real life. So, the more a brand is seen on social media, the more people feel like they know it. And the more likely they are to buy from it or support it when needed.
Nika Social Spirit
On the opposite, what are the negatives of social media?
It’s a massive time drain. Recently, I was mentoring a marketing manager from a company, and he told me he used to think social media was just about posting content. He was surprised at how much work is actually involved and what he’s really getting himself into. (Laughs)
It takes patience. A lot of creators start posting but give up after the first few months because they don’t see real results or their profile grows slowly. It’s much harder to grow on social media now than it was even just a year ago, but it’s still doable. It just takes a lot of time to figure out what really works for your future customers. And time is something we have in limited supply.
How do you see the marketing industry when it comes to gender equality? Do you notice any differences between female and male marketers?
Honestly, what I love about marketing is that it doesn’t care about gender or titles. In creative roles, no one’s asking what degree you have in an interview. They give you a task, and if you do it well, you get the job. If not, you could have an MBA in marketing and it wouldn’t matter—you wouldn’t make it. And whether you’re a man or a woman really doesn’t play a role here.
It’s a bit different when it comes to strategic positions, where you’re judged based on actual results and experience. But even then, I don’t think gender makes a big difference. We’ve got some strong female strategists in Slovakia who are leading by example.
“Marketing doesn’t care about gender or titles.”
Is there a quality where female marketers excel?
I think it might be sensitivity. I’ve had clients tell me that they felt truly heard or that with their previous marketer, they didn’t feel any connection to their brand. And because of that, they didn’t trust them enough to move forward. They kept looking until they found someone who really understood them.
Sometimes numbers and stats don’t mean much if someone doesn’t feel good about how their brand is being represented. On the other hand, if someone’s confident in how they present themselves, it can go way better than expected, even if the data isn’t perfect. But whether sensitivity is a female trait or just an individual one? I’m more inclined to think it’s the latter.
Nika Social Spirit
More about Nika’s work here: Nika’s Instagram profile
