Boasting over 4,000 Facebook and Twitter followers and a whopping 23,000-plus Instagram followers, this entrepreneur is leveraging social media and influencer marketing with finesse. Dive in and learn about his philosophy on management and audience targeting.
Cinderly, Inc.’s CEO Luke Stoffel—also known as the brand’s “Chief Executive Belieber”—is no stranger to marketing. A 10-year veteran in the branding and digital marketing industry, he’s worked with companies like Coca-Cola and had his art and photography featured in The New York Times, Vanity Fair and more.
In 2015, Stoffel decided to create something truly special, on his own terms. After partnering up with his longtime friend and award-winning author Laura von Holt, they created Cinderly, a startup targeting millennial women.
When describing the business, Stoffel lets his unique brand voice soar: “Cinderly is a startup run on sparkles. As a media giant for the self-spirited millennial unicorn, we build amazing iOS stickers, games and mermaid podcasts. And, we lead a Stanford University workshop focused on inspiring a generation of princesses!” Add in the company’s glitter-filled lifestyle blog, unicorn-inspired cookbook and curated Facebook shop, it’s clear that Cinderly is working its target audience from all angles. And doing it well.
Cinderly started out just like any other brand: with minimal followers and the need to make a name for itself. But Stoffel was more than up for the challenge. He turned to social media marketing to seek out influencers who fit the image he had of his core audience: young, vibrant women looking for a dose (or a pitcher full) of whimsy in their lives. Just three years after the company’s founding, Cinderly regularly collaborates with some of Instagram’s most influential voices, including travel writers, lifestyle gurus and fashion mavens.
How’d he do it? Stoffel stayed laser-focused on his base while navigating the ever-shifting sands of social media. “Realizing that all products have a shelf life and keeping up with innovation is hard when tech giants like Facebook and Instagram release features you’ve been working on for months. I overcome this by focusing on my core audience—understanding them so I can repeat small successes with these cheerleaders over and over again,” he says.
But knowing one’s audience isn’t enough: Successful influencer marketing hinges almost entirely on thoughtful pitches and compromises so both parties get value from the partnership. Stoffel’s strategy? Remaining open-minded and willing to compromise. He explains, “I knew in my corporate job that things never went my way because people wouldn’t listen. On the flipside, I found out that things in my startup were failing because I couldn’t listen. In a world of me, me, me, I realized we were doomed if I didn’t start to think of us, us, us. You can start an empire with a dollar and a dream, but you can’t build a tower without support.”
Of course, Stoffel can’t spend all his time on social media—he has blog posts to write, apps to develop, interviews to handle and products to create. So, he turns to a few different tools to streamline Cinderly’s online presence. “We try to automate everything socially to find our most valuable customer. Social isn’t our fulltime job so tools like Crowdfire and If This Then That (IFTTT) really help us make the most out of our active followings,” he says.
Interested in learning more about this glitter-infused lifestyle brand? Head over to their website and follow them on Instagram. Want to learn more about the brilliant mind behind Cinderly? Stoffel’s personal Instagram account, rife with gorgeous photos and positivity, is certainly worth a scroll.
