A Company That Does it Right~ Grey Bandit Extended
Just a short three weeks ago, I published a small opinion piece on Grey Bandit’s success since their opening five years ago and I’ve realized since there’s more to the story.
Let’s start from the beginning. Imagine mid-quarantine, around July of 2019. Some of us were bored, or over-worked, and all were obsessed with our socials. I happened to be all of the above. I have always loved being in front of and behind the camera. This naturally feeds into what kind of content I post on my socials and what my time may have gone to during this pandemic period. Grey Bandit during this very same time was more seriously looking at potential micro-influencers and had reached out to me. They were seeking a gifted collab where they would send me products in exchange for posted content and free use of images I shared with them. Flattered, I looked into the company and agreed. Since then, I have been fascinated with their exponential growth in comparison to other small boutiques that I have seen.
Grey Bandit’s primary platforms are Instagram and Tiktok. They use these two platforms to connect with their consumers, build feedback, and launch product. I feel they are so easily and successfully able to do this due to their unique voice. As mentioned in my prior article, “this company is run by people who are in the same demographic as those they are selling to, it also creates a certain appeal. They are creating things that they would love, and because they love it, there is a large likelihood their customers will too.” More specifically, the owners are triplets, Lindsey, Courtney, and Robert Glasser. Two out of three of the twins did their undergrad at Drexel University and decided to create a fake business model for their final project. What once was. a proposal became reality as they found passion behind their offering. They found by creating the brand’s voice around their own real-life struggles/ truths and pairing that with accessible and trendy clothing they could reach a market of girls who wanted to be seen.
If we want to get technical with it, we can see that Grey Bandit posts up to a few times a week on their main feed, alternating between Reels and Posts. However, they post on their stories multiple times a day. The different content-sharing methods serve different motivations. Their posts and reels serve to grow their account, share micro-influencer content and create credibility. Their stories are meant to connect with their audience by showing real-life try-ons, asking for consumer feedback, and advertising new products. They use the same type of material on their Tiktok, but instead of using micro-influencers on their main account, the owners do it themselves. They don’t seem to have a specific time of day they adhere to for their main posts, but for their stories, it's through the day to engage as many people as possible.
Now, we might be wondering, how do they find micro-influencers? They actually hold an application every few months for new girls to collaborate with them. They advertise it as a great way to gain a footing as an influencer. This allows them to have fresh faces and a plethora of backing to their company as they grow forward.
Here are some examples of posts that I think they did really well and connects with their audience:
These posts show both their unique voice and relate to the consumer by creating a visual attachment to a relatable event, in this case, spring break. Their Tiktok, in comparison, could use some work on their posts.
The reason I believe this is because I feel they could grow much faster on this platform if they implemented their micro-influencer strategy on this platform as well. Highlighting them on their page by doing collabs, stitches, and reactions would create more momentum for them.
Overall, the growth they have seen is unprecedented and interesting in comparison to their competition.
