‘We don’t have a social media strategy’: How Baked by Melissa’s CEO and co-founder Melissa Ben-Ishay went from founder to influencer
By Kimeko McCoy • August 13, 2024 •
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With so many changes taking place against the digital marketing landscape, typically the very best possible approach is to find no longer non-public any approach at all — as a minimum in the case of social media, according Melissa Ben-Ishay, co-founder and CEO of dessert company Baked By Melissa.
As a substitute, Ben-Ishay props her phone up on her kitchen counter as a minimum as soon as per week, the gain she walks her TikTok followers by all the pieces from how to construct crispy rice to gnocchi, and, certainly, a catalog of desserts.
Ben-Ishay is one in all many founders-grew to was-influencers who’re navigating the booming influencer marketing home and inserting a face to their brands to more authentically connect with followers. The founder-influencer pipeline is normal at this point, and perhaps the pattern is most traditional in the little- to medium-sized enterprise and suppose-to-particular person mark spaces, the gain founders are cranking out allege to preserve up with the likes of influencers who’re launching their non-public brands.
In this episode of the Digiday Podcast, Ben-Ishay talks about being a founder-influencer, and shares her thoughts on the ever-looming TikTok ban and why Baked by Melissa’s social approach is now not any approach at all.
Under are highlights from the dialog, which non-public been evenly edited and condensed for clarity.
Duality in the founder-influencer characteristic
It was Covid. I construct myself dessert every evening, whether I’m baking something with my childhood or factual a handful of chocolate chips. I also cook dinner dinner for my family most days, particularly against Covid because I learned myself home a long way more. I would open cooking dinner for my family at relish four o’clock whereas I was initiating to carry out up requires the day. So it was straightforward for me to factual open recording issues. I would put up them to this burner legend @MelissaBenIshay, that I created factual to be taught to use the app because social media is international. It’s a international facet. Bask in with the rest, it feels it till it. So I knew I necessary to be taught it and that’s what I did. And the flicks I was posting, they non-public been doing better than the flicks we non-public been posting from Baked by Melissa on TikTok. I factual decided to in some unspecified time in the future put up the salad I was making for dinner from Baked by Melissa’s TikTok and it has relish 40 million views. So I had to preserve doing it.
I’m doing it because it’s working. It’s no longer straightforward. I even non-public a paunchy-time job. I even non-public little childhood. I’m a hands-on mother or father. I desire to be unique, but it certainly’s an improbable facet that’s taking place. I observed the varied to in actuality turn Baked by Melissa into an influencer and to be a CEO enterprise mark, and likewise that sells a product and likewise an influencer. It’s a in reality weird and wonderful facet. I’m no longer relish most influencers the gain I want to boost my family by this characteristic that I even non-public. I would even be very selective with the brands I resolve to work with, most tasty brands that I like.
It’s no longer a method, is the immediate solution. We don’t non-public a social media approach. You — the community that follows our legend — you’re telling me what to supply you in accordance with what you’re horny with. It’s in actuality that clear-prick. I even non-public a social media supervisor. I find originate, obviously. You peek me on the video, on the video show, I’m making every recipe. I dedicate Thursdays to allege. I’m on my feet in my kitchen turning out as a minimum seven recipes that now my social media supervisor does motivate me edit. However for a in reality very long time, I was doing the total editing myself, and I if truth be told thank God I even non-public some motivate.
TikTok contingency notion
I don’t care. No subject will possible be, will possible be. I mediate the very best possible issues near from alternate, evolution. Swap is sorrowful for quite quite lots of folk. I mediate social media in standard is improbable, but it certainly also isn’t factual for the psychological health of adolescents in society. If there could be now not this form of thing as a TikTok the next day, Baked by Melissa will possible be larger than heavenly. My childhood’s generation will possible be better for it. We existed sooner than. We’ll exist after, and I’m clear original quite quite lots of will near after.
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