Here is a transcript generated by otter.ai of The Content Mix podcast interview with Ali Galan, global social media expert at Antler, on why you should always invest in yourself:

Shaheen Samavati 0:14
Hi everyone, I’m Shaheen from The Content Mix, and I’m excited to be here with Ali Galan, global social media manager for Antler, an early-stage venture capital firm. Thanks so much for joining us.

Ali Galan 0:25
Thank you for having me.

Shaheen Samavati 0:28
Just to start out, can you tell us a bit about your background and how you ended up in social media marketing?

Ali Galan 0:33
Yeah, sure. So traditionally, I came from a sales background. I wasn’t always involved in social media. But recently, since I’ve sort of shifted from sales, I’ve always had that sort of marketing touch, really, so then pretty much what I did was just position myself from sales to marketing, which was quite a difficult experience. And maybe something we can go into a bit later, but yeah, since then, I’ve just been pretty much in social media. So I started at a company called StudioCanal, which is like a major finance company based in London. They’ve done films like Harry Potter, Terminator, things like that. And where my position was, I was actually a marketing assistant. That’s where I pretty much got my early taste in marketing and social media, things like that. But then after that, I’ve been organically moving to more specific content and social media. So this is pretty much where I am now.

Shaheen Samavati 1:33
And for those who don’t know, can you just tell us a bit more about Antler and what the company does?

Ali Galan 1:38
Yeah sure, so Antler’s an early-stage venture capital firm. We pretty much invest in people who are, you know, like if you’ve had a brilliant idea, who are looking to grow their business and pretty much don’t have the right sort of collaboration with the network producer. So we pretty much have an extensive list of global advisors within our company. And we also connect you with a fantastic team and co-founder to make your business come true.

Shaheen Samavati 2:08
Yeah, and the company is just a few years old, right?

Ali Galan 2:11
Yeah, we launched in 2017 in Singapore. And then since then it’s just been massive expansion, you know, across multiple different territories around the world.

Shaheen Samavati 2:22
So you’re based in London, but you manage social media for all the markets.

Ali Galan 2:27
Exactly. So pretty much I’m in the London office, well not now, because we’re all locked in, in isolation. But my position pretty much, you know, talks to all the stakeholders across the globe.

Shaheen Samavati 2:42
Can you tell us a bit about what your day-to-day is like in your role, what your responsibilities are?

Ali Galan 2:47
Sure, so pretty much my day-to-day is kind of like split, in a sense. So first and foremost, you have to focus a lot more on the content aspects, having to create some of the content. Also look at different content mixes. So we have a bit of a mix, like blogs, podcasts, things like that. And then of course, we also have the social media management aspect as well. So having to post some of the content, communicate with our community as well, do a bit of paid initiatives as well. So we’re looking at trying to, not necessarily rescope, but mainly try to position ourselves to be the number one venture capital firm in the world.

Shaheen Samavati 3:25
Yeah, and I think it’s interesting, your approach to content marketing is not typical, I think for a venture capital firm, which tend to be kind of secret and not put a lot of stuff out there. So why is that? Why do you guys take this approach?

Ali Galan 3:42
I think it’s just the way the market is moving. Before it used to be a very sort of secretive, under-the-rug type of… nobody wanted to know about venture capital. But now I think, you know, we wanted to sort of change that, we want to become a much more known venture capital firm, where we actually collaborate with people, and make sure… we don’t want to come across as a traditional corporate system, we want to sort of like come out of that shell, and hopefully we will be able to do that.

Shaheen Samavati 4:15
So who is the audience that you’re targeting with your content?

Ali Galan 4:19
We pretty much invest in exceptional people. Now, when I mean exceptional people, I don’t necessarily mean the types of people; it’s more like a mindset, right? We’re looking for people with grit, with spike, with determination. These are the types of people that we want to invest in. And this is the type of content that we produce, so we can, you know, connect with those types of people.

Shaheen Samavati 4:41
And the channels that you work with right now?

Ali Galan 4:45
Currently at the moment, we’re on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. So that’s where you can find all of our channels.

Shaheen Samavati 4:53
I see. And do you put more emphasis on one or another? And also the types of content you share in the different places?

Ali Galan 5:01
So at the moment our sort of number one channel is on LinkedIn. Because we’re venture capital, we look for people to, not necessarily recruit, but people to onboard. LinkedIn is pretty much that sort of platform. We can connect with our audience a lot more, better than say, for instance Facebook, or you know, compared to Instagram, because it’s very visual. And you know, for a venture capital firm, it’s very difficult to become visual—not like a design company or graphic agency. We’re a very numbers-driven venture capital firm. So what we try to do is try to make sure that we can create good quality content and establish that across our social channels. And in this way, you know, we’re not necessarily just a LinkedIn venture capital firm, we’re actually across the board, if that makes sense.

Shaheen Samavati 5:50
How would you describe the tone you use in your content?

Ali Galan 5:55
That’s a good question. I wouldn’t say we’re, again, corporate. We are more like… we can be fun. But we’re also, you know, informative and educational. We’re trying to not necessarily just preach about Antler; we also want to connect with people in a sense, you know, if you’re an entrepreneur, and you need some advice on how to, you know, start a business or how to do this, we can enable that by creating content specifically for you. That’s pretty much the approach.

Shaheen Samavati 6:28
Yeah, I definitely got the sense that your content seems friendlier than average, I’d say. Or like, approachable, I would say.

Ali Galan 6:35
That’s the approach.

Shaheen Samavati 6:38
Yeah, very cool. Well, I have a few things I wanted to ask—trying to decide which one first. When you say you have these global channels, do you have specific channels for different markets? Or is everything done, like, in English for the international market?

Ali Galan 6:53
Yeah, sure. So pretty much before I started at Antler, that was the main question, you know, because we were across multiple different territories, all with different time zones, it’s very difficult to create one content specifically for one territory. So the question at the beginning was, should we create multiple different platforms, but because we’re only just starting in the social media space, it was a no-brainer to be honest, just focus on one platform at the moment. And then once we begin to grow roots, and you know, become a lot more established in this sense on social media, that’s when we can begin to, you know, spread our wings a little bit more and have different territories, post on their specific, or local channels.

Shaheen Samavati 7:37
Because you have programs in different cities. So when it comes to social media, I guess you’re sharing things from all of those programs in one place.

Ali Galan 7:46
Exactly, yeah. So that’s pretty much my base. It’s very difficult in a sense, because we have different territories who have engaging content, but then one territory has another engaging content. This is a problem that a lot of global social media managers experience, is like, what sort of content should I prioritize, in a sense? And how can we post a much more diverse content mix? So that’s been a challenge, and it’s been something that, you know, I’ve looked into and tried to make sure it’s in the best hands, if that makes sense.

Shaheen Samavati 8:18
And I noticed you guys have a podcast and you’re doing some things with YouTube. So how does multimedia content play into the bigger picture?

Ali Galan 8:26
Yeah, that’s a good question. I think essentially, what we’re trying to do is create as much relevant pieces of content for our users, I mean for our audience. And you know, for that pretty much what we have to do is like we research, you know, what sort of content do entrepreneurs engage in and a lot of the things popped up, you know, we had white papers, we had guides, ebooks, things like that, but the number one surprising medium is podcasts. And podcasts we see, you know, it’s becoming the number one medium across the board. It used to be like images and pictures, but now it’s more like videos and podcasts, and we even see like, the recent news with Joe Rogan signing to Spotify for a hundred million. I think, you know, that’s just pretty much where the market is shifting towards: voice and podcasts. So that’s where we’re trying to, like, tackle that niche in a sense. We’re trying to do it in a much more innovative, but also on-brand, way as well.

Shaheen Samavati 9:24
Yeah definitely. On the podcast, you guys are interviewing people who’ve taken part in the program? Is that right?

Ali Galan 9:32
No, so we’re actually interviewing, pretty much like successful entrepreneurs, visionaries. These are people who’ve, you know, had multiple different companies, some may have failed, some have succeeded, of course. So that’s pretty much our approach in that aspect. We’re trying to make it relevant for first-time entrepreneurs, or, you know, ex-entrepreneurs, who maybe had a business but unfortunately failed. They can watch our podcast and see some inspiration, or take some tactics and strategies from these podcasts, and then begin to implement it in their own business.

Shaheen Samavati 10:04
I see. So it’s kind of, yeah, the kinds of experts that your, the kinds of people you would invest in, or whose companies you would invest in, would be interested in hearing from.

Ali Galan 10:15
Exactly. Yeah, pretty much.

Shaheen Samavati 10:17
Very cool. Well I guess, is there anything else you would say that you do differently, or that’s unique?

Ali Galan 10:28
Yeah. So traditionally, I’ve always been in a social media role, in a sense, I’ve always had, I’ve also owned my own agency. So you know, just consulting with multiple different small- to medium-sized businesses. And you know, these sort of things change. It’s very difficult to have a one size fits all, in a sense, when it comes to social media, because everyone’s strategy and everyone’s focus on social media is very different. You know, one brand can be, “I want to focus on brand awareness.” Others can be, “I want to generate more sales.” So it’s more to do with trying to align your knowledge of social media to fit with a client or with a with a company that you’re working for. So that’s been not necessarily a challenge; it’s been an experience that is always changing. And we all know that, you know, social media is forever changing, you can’t… you know, the tactic that worked last year isn’t going to work this year, because of algorithms and things like that. So it’s just trying to be as adaptable as I can be.

Shaheen Samavati 11:21
So speaking of that, how do you keep up to date on the latest trends? How do you refresh your skills?

Ali Galan 11:29
So I can tell you my routine, it’s pretty intense. But if I show you, I literally have like a book collection here. I read a lot, more than before, since we’ve all been in isolation. So I spend my mornings going through a lot of like media sites, I go through a lot of podcasts. I go through a lot of blogs as well, articles. And I’m also trying to engage in a lot of events as well, so I get invited to a few events a week about social content, things like that. So just trying to refresh some of the knowledge that I have, but also add additional knowledge that I didn’t have before. So that’s what kind of makes you different in a sense when you’re a social media manager, because essentially, you know, if you tell someone, you’re a social media manager, they could think all you do all day is just go on Facebook, Twitter, just post. It’s very mundane, and it’s routine, and you probably don’t have to think too much. But it’s completely shifted. And it’s because, you know, you always have to stay up to the trends, right? Every day, social media changes, it’s pretty much 24/7, never turned off. So you have to keep up. And one of the ways that I do that is of course, through social events, but there’s also actually actively being on these channels, and trying to engage with the community and see where they are, what they’re engaging in, what content they like, and this way I can get a better understanding of the social media world.

Shaheen Samavati 12:48
Yeah, that’s a good point. I mean, how do you measure the success of your activities on social media?

Ali Galan 12:55
First and foremost, I check my iPhone screen time and see if it’s above 10 hours. If it’s above 10 hours, then I know okay, I’ve been on social media for too long. There’s also like, you know, another metric that I look at is, it’s a bit sort of crazy, but every month I do like a personal review and see exactly, okay, this is what I’ve changed and this tactic has worked for me this month. You know, this is something I need to maybe develop or even, you know, continue. So it’s like, you need to really take this to make yourself accountable in these sort of things, and make sure that, you know, you are staying up with the trends, you are always learning. You know, that’s always important in social media, and in marketing in general, you just always have to be learning.

Shaheen Samavati 13:39
I’m curious, have you done… do you have any community building aspect? It sounds like you do, but in terms of like a group or a forum?

Ali Galan 13:49
So I have my own website—actually I’ll plug myself in, AliGalan.com—where I do, like, well I would say daily, but it’s pretty much weekly blogs, about different social media strategies, things like that. And I get a lot of emails from people saying, “Can you help me with this?” Or, you know, “What are your perspectives on this?” Or, “Can you write about this?” So it’s like, I’ve kind of built my own community, in a sense, through blogs. I’ve also got, like, I’m pretty active on Twitter and things like that. So it’s more like, from a proactive standpoint, I haven’t done as much as I would like, but from a reactive standpoint, I’m constantly on it every day.

Shaheen Samavati 14:26
Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, this can bring us to the recommendations section. Do you recommend any marketing influencers to follow?

Ali Galan 14:37
Marketing influencers, you know, the traditional, you have Seth Godin, you also have, like, Gary Vaynerchuk is doing a lot of things in marketing. But also in the UK, there’s a person called Steve Bartlett who does posts on social media, he owns a social media agency called Social Chain. So I follow him quite a bit on LinkedIn, because he’s literally always updating me on different algorithms, different changes in social media, things like that. But essentially, I would lie if I say I get a lot of information on the internet, I pretty much rely on my books to get all the information that I know.

Shaheen Samavati 15:13
Do you have a book recommendation that you’ve read recently?

Ali Galan 15:16
I can pick one now, actually, I’ve got quite a few. Let’s see… I’ve got this one here, it’s called Superfans by Pat Flynn. I’ve also got Top of Mind as well, by John Hall. I don’t know if you can see that.

Shaheen Samavati 15:32
Yeah.

Ali Galan 15:33
I have quite a few…

Shaheen Samavati 15:35
Traditional printed books!

Ali Galan 15:37
Yeah, I don’t really do e-readers or things like that. I keep a stack. Like, if I can show you, genuinely, it’s a lot of books.

Shaheen Samavati 15:47
Wow, that’s awesome. Cool. But those ones have particular practical tips for social media?

Ali Galan 15:55
Yeah, the number one actually, the number one book that I’ve taken a lot from is called Ogilvy on Advertising in the Digital Age. This is the one by Miles Young, the former CEO of Ogilvy & Mather. So yeah, I’ve read a lot… I’ve literally read that book like five times. So it’s very intuitive. It has a lot of up-to-date information that you can actually replicate today. So yeah, I’d recommend that book.

Shaheen Samavati 16:22
Awesome. And is there a particular tactic, like a main takeaway, that you got from it?

Ali Galan 16:30
I have a lot, but I don’t know whether or not it would work for your business, in this sense. It’s more to do with always being consistent and how… because you hear that word, you know, consistency. But in that book, it tells you ways of being consistent. You have like… it also gives you a lot more practical frameworks, like you have digital social contract, and things like that. So I could go into it, but I feel like that’s a separate conversation in itself.

Shaheen Samavati 16:54
Yeah, it makes sense. Just to give a peek at what it’s about. All right, and then any valuable industry group or resource?

Ali Galan 17:06
I’ve actually invested in a lot of courses. So I did the Hootsuite social media marketing course. I did the HubSpot social media marketing course. I’m pretty much looking into courses every month to invest in. I think the number one sort of key takeaway, you know, if you were to watch this podcast is always invest in yourself. Even though it sounds pretty cliche, I think it’s overlooked a lot of the time. You know, when people tell me, “Okay, why do you buy so many books?” It’s like, you want to make sure that you’re a well-rounded person as well. Because you never know, social media is changing. If you look at traditional marketing, you know, back in the days where you had the billboards and radio ads and things like that, people thought that was the thing, but then it shifted very, very quickly into social media. And then now it’s gonna shift into something else. You always have to stay ahead of the herd. And one of the ways to do that is of course by investing in yourself.

Shaheen Samavati 18:01
Yeah, absolutely. Was there any parting advice you’d like to give to those looking to advance in their careers in social media?

Ali Galan 18:12
Yeah, sure. I think a lot of the time, social media especially, people feel like you need to have multiple different qualifications. You have to graduate from a successful school or things like that. With my sort of road, as you could say, I’m pretty happy where I’m at at the moment, and it’s not from, you know, like a traditional standpoint. I didn’t actually go to university to study social media, I actually went to university to study business, which is untraditional. That’s like the number one advice, is you can become whatever… I know it sounds quite cliche, but you can become who you want to become if you just shift and position yourself to be that. You know, for me, like the way I got my first internship at StudioCanal was very, very hard core. I sent literally 200 emails to multiple different companies around London, and I literally just put my face in there. I was like, “Please just give me one week to prove myself and let me just try.” And out of the 200, StudioCanal, surprisingly, the number one company, got back to me and said, “Here’s your internship, let’s start you here,” and then that’s how I pretty much, put me into the next position. I was the global social media manager for iZettle, which is the largest fintech in Europe. And then from there, I became a global social media manager for Antler, you know, the number one venture capital firm. But it’s just trying to position yourself to… like what they say, right: proper preparation with the right opportunity equals lucky. So it’s just trying to do that, pretty much.

Shaheen Samavati 19:41
So what are you looking forward to doing next?

Ali Galan 19:45
From a micro standpoint, go outside. We’re all pretty much locked in, in isolation. But from sort of a macro standpoint, it’s just trying to, you know, continue developing myself, make sure I’m always up to the trends and keeping up to date with everything. And also eventually my sort of objective is to obviously give back. I feel like, because I’m doing a lot more voluntary work and things like that. For me, I feel like, even though I am young, it’s like, you know, something that’s ingrained in me to give back to people. So I’m trying to do different things, like teach young kids on marketing tactics and things like that. Even teach them how to, you know, properly position themselves into a career, things like that. So it’s giving people in my position, the opportunity that I never had. That’s the, sort of the objective.

Shaheen Samavati 20:36
Yeah, awesome. Well, thank you for giving back through this interview. We’ve really learned a lot from your experience.

Ali Galan 20:44
Thank you.

Shaheen Samavati 20:45
And thanks everybody else for listening in. For more perspectives on the content marketing industry in Europe, check out TheContentMix.com. We’ll also be releasing a lot more of these interviews in the coming days, so stay tuned. See you next time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai