Melbourne Social Co Celebrates Our 10th Birthday!
This year, Melbourne Social Co is celebrating 10 years in business.
I’m so incredibly proud of our business journey, from humble beginnings to now being recognised as one of Australia’s leading content-driven creative agencies.
I started Melbourne Social Co from my spare bedroom, as most start-ups begin, with one client and a lot of determination. As a person in my mid-20s at the time and of course, pre-kids - I loved working 60 hour weeks and throwing myself into the entrepreneurial game.
My client list quickly grew, and then so did my team, with my first hire being Rebekah Pickett, who has stuck with me (thanks Bek!) and now leads the team of 15+ creatives both here in Melbourne and around Australia. We’ve had 3.5 offices, a few different logos, many office plants (that sadly have not survived the journey) and an incredible predominately-female team of creatives over the journey. We have worked across almost every state in Australia (as well as a few ventures into NZ and Singapore) and have produced incredible work for household names like Fitbit, PETstock, BiC and more.
We’ve worked with SO many different businesses over the journey, from start-ups to global powerhouses, with both ends of the spectrum being equally rewarding.
While I understand that for many business owners, 2020 and now 2021 have been incredibly difficult, I am so proud to say that our team has gone from strength to strength over the past year in particular. Not only have our team adapted to working predominately remotely, but they have upskilled, hustled and continued to deliver incredible results over the pandemic period for our clients. In addition, we have on-boarded some of our biggest campaigns to date this year and are so excited to be working with some really great brands, such as Koko Black, Sass Clothing and Jenny Craig.
I’m so proud of our female-lead business, where we have been, where we are now, and where we are headed. Here’s to an exciting next 10 years!
Shelley
Melbourne Social Co Celebrates Nine Years In Business
Did you know that this month Melbourne Social Co celebrates our ninth year in business?
With a traditional fashion editorial background, our Director Shelley Friesen began forging a career in social media over ten years ago – establishing Melbourne Social Co in 2011. While pursuing IT wasn’t a stylish choice for a child of the 80’s, Shelley’s intuition to pursue social media was bang on (much like Olivia Newton John’s leotard in Let’s Get Physical!) “I got into digital marketing through identifying a need for businesses to embrace it. From my experience working in the editorial department of a fashion magazine and as a Marketing Manager for an Australian fashion and accessories label, I could see that social media was a tool businesses could adopt and utilise to connect with their consumers. Despite people’s hesitance at the time to take a leap of faith on such an emerging field, I decided to start my own digital marketing agency!”
Now a team of fifteen, most of whom can’t remember a world without selfies and Snapchat, Melbourne Social Co has been instrumental in building the digital presence of some of Australia’s biggest brands.
While 2020 has certainly presented its’ challenges for both our business and our wonderful clients, the power of digital and social media is greater than ever and we’re excited to be able to continue to assist small business owners in navigating this difficult time. (Read our top tips on using social media in times of crisis here.)
Want to get to know our team a little better? Click here.
Need assistance in navigating social media during the COVID-19 crisis? Our team of experts at Melbourne Social Co are here to help you. We can provide a range of services to assist your needs including virtual consulting sessions, copywriting, ad hoc graphic design, digital marketing campaign management and more.
We have a full team with all hands-on deck available to support you.
Our agency is also offering 50% off our online training resources during this time, should you be looking to upskill in social media management, strategy or content creation during your time at home. You can access our online courses here: courses.thesocialco.com.au and use the coupon code: upskillathome to redeem your discount.
Instagram removes 'likes' function
From today, Instagram users in Australia will no longer be able to see how many “likes” a post has a received.
The trial is underway for Australian Instagram users, after a movement towards “removing pressure” on the digital platform’s users.
Instagram will begin rolling out the trial update today, removing the total number of likes on photos and viewings of videos on user feeds and profiles, and permalink pages.
Users will still be able to see a list of likes on their posts, just not the overall number.
But don't worry, the change won’t affect measurement tools for businesses and creators on Instagram, and all likes and engagement metrics will still be available in those tools.
Facebook Australia and New Zealand director of policy Mia Garlick said Instagram should be a place where people feel comfortable expressing themselves, rather than judged.
“We hope this test will remove the pressure of how many likes a post will receive, so you can focus on sharing the things you love,” she said in a statement.
We look forward to reviewing how this impacts businesses on social media over the coming weeks, and in particular the relationship with business and influencers, who rely on social media metrics to prove the value of their content.
Want to chat to our team about your Instagram strategy? Get in touch today.