Ms. Vannette Tolbert is a Marketing & Branding Strategist who works with businesses and entrepreneurs to grow their personal and professional brands. She is the founder and CEO of The Aura Agency. We, from Emergi, sat down with her to hear about her successes and challenges. In this second part of the interview, Ms. Tolbert discusses her personal journey, and her philosophy behind the digital market and branding. She even shares some valuable brand building tips and tricks with us. Furthermore, she discussed the impact the COVID-19 outbreak has had. These are the highlights of the interview with the brains and force behind The Aura Agency.

The first part of this interview was published here.‍

What motivated you to move to Liberia?

I was raised in the States, because the war made things very difficult and dangerous for my parents so they were able to escape and start a new life in a new place, that’s why I grew up there. If the war never happened, I would’ve been raised right here.

So, my whole life, the way that my parents raised me even though we were all the way over there, was like: “Liberia is your home. This is the food we eat, these are the clothes we wear, this is the music we listen to. You can be here if you want to – take advantage of the education, take advantage of the opportunities but Liberia is your home. So, I just always knew that.”

I visited Liberia for the first time as an adult when I was twenty-six, and I loved it. I had such a great time, I would save my money every chance I had to come back! So, I started coming almost every year after that. And then finally one year when I was single, I was running my own business, and I didn’t have any kids, so it wasn’t like I had anything to give up; I decided to just visit for three months and see what it would be like. Those three months turned into a year, and now I’ve been here for four years.

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Can you explain your philosophy behind digital marketing?

I think that digital marketing is a very important component in any marketing plan in this day and age, because that is where your customers are. There are 7.7 billion people online right now, that’s a lot of people. So if you can catch even a small fraction of that market where they are, where they’re spending their money, then you have a real opportunity.

Digital marketing is also important because you can actually track your progress – you can track what’s working, what’s not working, it’s all there! You have your matrix right there for free! It gives you a unique ability that you didn’t have before, an ability you didn’t have with print media. You know with a billboard, maybe a lot of people will see it, but you have no way of tracking that. You just hope that you get some sales related to putting that billboard up.

It’s also easier to actually target the people you want to target because you can find them where they are. You just use the key words, you use the hashtags, you find the influencers that they follow, you find the micro influencers that they follow, and people they are paying attention to. You use those resources as a way to reach them and talk to them about how you can add value to their lives, how you can make their lives easier. Another benefit of digital marketing is the fact that it levels the playing field for small business. If you tell your story the right way, offer valuable services, and you really communicate why your audience needs you, then you really have the opportunity of getting the customer over the big businesses. 

How has COVID-19 affected your business?

Well, before COVID-19, after the last election we experienced an economic downturn. Before that, I had more clients than I have ever had in my life. I was having so much fun and I was working twenty-four hours a day. I enjoyed it. But due to the downturn, a lot of companies were saying: “Okay, we are not making a lot of money right now, so the first thing we are going to cut is marketing”. They didn’t understand how marketing really adds up. So, a lot of them cut their marketing activities. But the interesting thing is, weren’t making money and later realized they needed to start marketing again.

But then COVID-19 hit. For me, this meant that some of my clients started coming back because some of them were medical clinics – they wanted people to know they could still come, what the safety measures were around COVID-19, and where you can get tested. Other clients such as hotels wanted to attract customers because the tourism industry was hit really hard. Other clients, like restaurants, shut down for a while and when they opened they were trying to find creative ways to get people back, or to order food online. So, I’m not going to say that I’m in the same place as I was before the elections and before COVID, but my business is building back up again!

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At Emergi, we are focusing on renewable energy. What are your thoughts on that for Liberia?

It’s great for Liberia because one thing we have is sunlight and the sunlight is free! And I think we are also having a serious problem with the air quality, and this isn’t just Liberia, I think it’s a problem for any major city.

The air quality is not as good as it could be so I think if we could reduce the gasoline and fuel that we are using and run things on solar power, that would be more affordable and better for the environment.

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Do you have any tips and tricks for us?

I like the direction you are going in; I think you are taking a young and fresh approach. Just be sure to appeal to the youth because they are going to be the ones you will impact the most. They will bring their parents and friends onboard. Never be afraid to ask for help. You might get a million “No’s”, but you might get that one “Yes” that will make all the difference. Another thing is to be innovative in your approach. Keep things light, keep things fun. Spell out the benefits of what you are doing, but in an easily digestible way. You have to find ways to communicate that are understandable. Use pictures, use videos, just always remember who your market is, and speak to them in ways that they understand. And keep it fun while doing this, be that young and innovative brand!

Another thing is to be innovative in your approach. Keep things light, keep things fun!