Giulia Guerrieri teaches you how to get better at marketing on social media in less time Giulia Guerrieri
We’ve all heard that saying – that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration (most commonly attributed to Thomas Edison) and there’s probably no one on the planet who understands this better than the entrepreneur. It’s no secret that being a founder is not for the faint hearted (in fact, according to the 7th edition of the Startup Snapshot, 44% of founders experience high levels of stress and 36% have experienced burnout) particularly because they have so many different hats to wear.
Between the long hours, high risk, constantly divided attention and no solid answer to what should be prioritized first (because it’s usually everything), remaining consistent in the areas that require it the most can be one of the biggest challenges of all.
Especially in the realm of digital marketing, the importance of consistency can’t be overstated. According to McKinsey, maintaining a consistent customer experience across the entire journey not only enhances satisfaction but also fosters trust and strengthens loyalty. Additionally, research from Techpedia reveals that brands prioritizing consistency are valued 20% higher than those that don’t. But whilst the evidence supporting consistent marketing is clear, many founders find it challenging to keep pace with its escalating demands and constantly shifting goalposts – social media is more saturated than ever, meaning the quality of content needs to be much higher to capture attention.
Giulia Guerrieri, a business strategist and coach, knows this struggle all too well. Back in 2020, faced with a $25,000 debt, she decided to try upselling thrifted clothes on Poshmark. Her success greatly increased when she started using social media to drive traffic to her shop and she was able to clear what she owed within six months. Buoyed by this success, she decided to try her hand at a couple of other online businesses but found the marketing techniques she was being taught by others were leaving her in a precarious situation.
“I realized that most of my niche (online coaches, course creators) talk about “effortless marketing” and “trusting the process” but that never worked for me,” she recalls. “It left me in a constant state of fight, flight or freeze. My income was unpredictable and I never knew where my next dollar would come from.”
Recognizing that one of the most common challenges she and other founders faced was establishing a reliable method for consistent business, she began experimenting with a different approach and is now committed to teaching others how to enhance their digital marketing efforts to drive sales growth. This starts with getting entrepreneurs to understand what’s really required of them.
“When it comes to marketing, I don’t believe it’s about how good you are but rather how many times you swing the bat. Consistency means showing up every single day,” she says. “I’ve never been the best editor when it comes to posts, my content does not have a high production value, but my message is consistent and congruent [and] because of this, I’m able to reap the benefits of compound interest.”
As a first generation American woman, Giulia encountered her fair share of obstacles, something which has shaped her approach to marketing and business growth.
“Growing up I was always worried about money – my parents came from Italy to America and set up a business and they had to work twice as hard as most to make it a success.”
This, coupled with the fact that she was exposed to social media early on in life, meant she got a glimpse of what was possible to achieve, but no clear strategy to get there.
“Seeing the wave of influencers back then made me crave a life of financial, location, and time freedom. I had to figure out a way to make money online, because I believed that was what they were all doing. But after speaking to another creator friend who told me most people have to work jobs on the side to sustain the lifestyle, I knew I had to figure out another way,” she recalls. “Experiences like this have only motivated me to create a way, even when it does not exist.”
In a landscape where automated funnels and passive marketing strategies reign supreme, Giulia still prefers to use sales calls – a journey she describes as “long and hard,” but that she recognized for its sustainable growth potential.
“The evergreen webinar funnel system to me is broken. It relies on scarcity, timed decision making, and is intensely driven by fear. Sales calls have been the pathway to help us qualify leads, convert at a higher price and focus on getting only people in our program that we know can get results,” she explains. “You actually can’t go on my website and buy my course, and that’s for a good reason. We don’t accept everyone.”
This deliberate exclusivity ensures that every participant is a perfect fit for the program, aligning with Giulia’s long term vision and going against what has become the norm on social media: to try to convert people on-app, something she believes is the primary reason entrepreneurs find it so hard to consistently market to and convert customers.
“Instagram is a top-of-funnel platform meaning that your sole purpose on [apps like this] is to get someone from having no Interest to having interest. The biggest misconception is that marketers think people go from viewing content straight to making sales, but building relationships is the missing link.”
Another misconception she wants to debunk is that in order for content to be attention grabbing, you need to spend hours making it. “If content creation only takes two hours per week, you have the majority of your time to be spent on relationships, either with potential new clients or current clients to get them results and retain them. People spend way too much time on marketing and not enough time on the other core functions of a business that actually make it successful. Marketing is just one small part, but it’s the part that is the loudest on social media.”
This is Giulia’s advice for getting better at marketing both consistently and successfully on social media without having to spend lots of time doing it.
Stop looking for immediate results
The first challenge Giulia teaches her clients to overcome is the need for instant results for their efforts. “Results won’t come until you’re consistent. When I had a dead Instagram account it took me only 30 days of posting 2x per day to revive my account. That’s now led me to earn consistently 6-figures per month. The initial startup investment (aka your time) is hefty, but that’s with any great thing in life, you have to put the work upfront to enjoy the benefits later on.”
Giulia understands that most entrepreneurs feel they are best placed to share their brand’s authentic message, so instead of looking to delegate, she suggests instead creating a content system that you can “rinse and repeat.”
“I developed a content system that allows me to make 7-days worth of high converting reels in just 2 hours per week. As a busy CEO, I naturally turn to outsourcing the creative, but I realize the creative is my zone of genius and I can’t delegate that task. So I had to find an easier way. If you want repeatable outputs, you need repeatable inputs.”
Adaptation is key
Giulia knows that staying ahead means embracing change and using data to steer the ship. “We track everything… Without data, we make emotional-based decisions.” By diving into metrics like show rate and conversion rate, she’s not just making guesses; she’s making informed choices that keep her business on track and growing.
Giulia’s own Instagram journey is a testament to the power of this data driven approach. “If you don’t adapt to the platform, you will die out,” she warns. She suggests regularly checking your analytics and tweaking your content strategy, rather than riding the latest trend wave.
“Moving from a “believe in yourself” (aka emotional) approach to a data driven one has allowed me to separate my identity from my company. I used to think I was the problem – that I didn’t have the right mindset to be a million dollar business owner. Then I realized, when we don’t have data to drive our decisions, we can be wildly irrational as human beings. By closely looking at our numbers, daily, I’m able to see where the bottlenecks are and quickly resolve them with my team.”
Look beyond follower count
Giulia’s perspective on social media metrics is refreshingly unconventional. “Followers are equivalent to monopoly money,” she asserts. Despite boasting a sizable following of 70,000, she recognizes that true success isn’t measured in numbers but in meaningful impact. “Success is a feeling that comes from within,” she reflects. For her, it’s about the tangible moments of transformation, like helping someone quit their job or achieve their financial freedom. It’s these heartfelt connections and real-life transformations that fuel her sense of fulfillment.
This is why she suggests focusing on relationship building instead. “When you focus on the depth of the relationship with one person in your audience over the width of trying to reach so many people, you create meaningful connections that inevitably turn into sales.”
Your unique voice will get you further
“Storytelling is the secret,” Giulia emphasizes. By sharing the highs and lows of her life authentically, she forges a deep bond with her followers. “Taking out my iPhone camera when I’m living some of the best moments of my life, but also some of the worst, is really what has shaped me as a powerful creator,” Giulia explains. For her, authenticity is paramount, as it allows her to connect on a profound level with her audience.
However, Giulia warns against the pitfalls of fluffy content and encourages creators to be bold in their messaging. “The best creators have polarizing opinions and thrive off of controlled controversy,” she observes.
Stop trying to make everything passive
Giulia’s on a campaign to “make active income cool again.”
“When you do work you love, it doesn’t feel like work. If I had to do something for the rest of my life, it would be exactly what I’m doing right now. I got clear on my purpose before I built my business and I recommend everyone else do that too.
“Remind yourself that marketing is just one small part of the game. If you’re not seeing results, it’s usually because you’re lacking the skills necessary to get you there, which is a hard pill to swallow. One of my client’s says “Leave your ego at the door” and this is a great mantra to remember because you will be a student for life. The minute you stop learning, or become averse to trying a new way, you will begin to decline.”
To learn more about Giulia and her work, take a look at her Instagram account here.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/biancabarratt/2024/03/25/how-to-get-better-at-social-media-marketing-so-you-can-actually-make-more-sales/
