Brainz Magazine Exclusive Interview
Chantal Gatien is a business strategist and coach who specializes in marketing and sales. Her mission is to help millions of online entrepreneurs create a stream of income in the online space in the easiest way possible for them. Her strategies are innovative and have one goal in mind - to make you money. Anything is possible in today's world if you have the right strategy that works for you!
Tell us about you and your life, how did you end up where you are today?
As a child, you think that life is supposed to work out a certain way: enjoy your teen years, get an education, get married, buy a house, have kids … basically 1+1=2.
My journey definitely didn’t look like that (it was more like 5+7-10=2). Kind of like the journey of an entrepreneur – am I right?
If you look at me today and what I’ve accomplished, you wouldn’t think I was a high school dropout or ever battled addiction in my adolescence. But that was my journey. It took me a little longer to get to where I am, but I strongly believe that everything happens for a reason. When I finally decided to go to school at the age of 25, I enrolled in business & majored in marketing. I was always obsessed with everything that entailed running a business.
After finishing school, I was not happy with the jobs that were available to me as a “new” graduate, so I decided to start my own business. My first business was life coaching – helping women fall in love with their most authentic selves (that was literally my tagline).
When I started growing and scaling my business and seeking help, let’s just say I wasn’t too pleased with what was available at the time. So, I did my homework and actually used what I had learned from school (how many of us can say that). I pivoted and created a marketing agency which took a life of its own. I’ve worked behind the scenes on multiple 6 & 7 figure businesses, creating systems and strategies to help them scale in the online space.
Today, I teach people how to do the work instead of doing it for others.
It’s way more fulfilling to show people how to do it and empower them to run successful businesses than do it for them.
In what way do you offer a unique service to your customers?
Everything that we do is based around community.
Sure, it’s great to get hundreds of people in your programs, but what’s even better is getting to know these people and their business – that’s something that we prioritize above anything else.
Having said that, we create containers that are immersive and last a yearlong, so that people get the support they need while they integrate what they learn.
We understand the need now more than ever for people to be able to create an income that is on their terms. If the last couple of years has taught us anything, it should be that nothing is set in stone.
Our programs help people who are just starting out and don’t know how to sell to people who have been in business for a while and are looking to scale their business without having to scale the number of hours they work.
How do you determine whether a marketing strategy has been successful or not?
There is only one answer: test, test, test!
It’s simple, you don’t know unless you try. First off, there are hundreds of different “marketing” strategies. Understanding your data and what you’re trying to achieve as an end result is key.
Ultimately, all marketing should lead to sales but that isn’t always the case. Understanding the data in your marketing is CRUCIAL. Let’s take a basic opt-in funnel – there are many data points to keep in mind.
Getting people to see it: Whether you’re driving paid or organic traffic to the landing page – people must see it to be able to opt-in. If people aren’t getting to the page, your message is most likely off.
Views vs Opt-Ins: Knowing this conversion rate will give you a lot of data (people viewing VS people opting in). If you have high page views and low opt-ins, that tells you that something is off. It could be that your messaging is way off from what they thought they were signing up for or you made it too difficult for them to sign up and they got the heck out of there.
Sales emails: This is a BIG one and there is a lot to cover here. But once again it’s about data. Things to look at: what’s the open rate? Are people clicking to learn more? Are people opting out? Are people clicking and not buying? If your open rate is low – you need a better subject line. If people aren’t clicking to learn more – you need a better call to action. If people are opting out at a high rate – something could be off with your messaging. If people are clicking and not buying – your sales page needs some tweaking/they need a reason to buy now.
Once you have your data, you can then make tweaks. If you find for any reason that something isn’t working the way you expect, do not start from ground zero. Sometimes making a small shift can make a world of difference.
Finally, the number one thing that will make any marketing successful is to have a deep understanding of your audience.
Without that, everything you do becomes 10X harder.
Can you give us a simple tip on how to make your Instagram grow?
I struggle with this one. Everyone is so focused on having more “followers”, but followers don’t always equal sales.
The first thing I would focus on is building a community of like-minded people on Instagram.
That starts with a very specific bio: Who you help, how you help them and how they can work with you… be as specific as possible. Remember, first impressions count!
When someone lands on your profile we want them to know that you are for them. When we clearly state who we help & share the outcome of what we do… we grow our community (followers) and attract raving fans.
Your transformation statement (who you help and how) is the first line in your bio.
Remember, that you have very few characters so use numbers, emojis and always ask yourself "how can I shorten this" when you put it in your bio.
In the second line? Tell them what’s possible. And Finally — to turn your Instagram into a Lead Generating Machine.
The third line should tell them to take action by clicking the link. Keep it short, keep it simple and use the pointing down emoji.
As for everything else, (how to post, how many times to post, when, where, etc) create a strategy that works for you!
Yeah, reels with trending audio will expand your reach.
But just remember that you’re building a community, so if you’re not vibing with the trending audios, you have permission to just show up as you please – that’s what people will be most attracted to!
If you want a bio overview, just reach out to me on IG and I would be happy to help (@chantal.gatien).
What would you like to achieve for yourself and your business in the future?
Personally, I’m ready to start a family. I want to teach women that they can have it all – a thriving business and a family – not one or the other.
My biggest goal is to impact millions of people, help them get their time back and make the kind of money they dream of.
Which marketing channels would you say are the best ones to use when marketing a new product?
There are two parts to this. First off is understanding where your target audience hangs out and the second is being honest with yourself about which platform(s) you’re most excited to create and show up on daily.
If your audience is gen z – you’re going to want to focus on Tiktok and Snapchat
If you’re dealing with millennials – Instagram and Tiktok are great.
If professionals are your jam – LinkedIn, Facebook and Clubhouse are where you’ll want to spend your time.
My biggest tip is to focus on one and master it before adding on another.
I don’t believe in having to be everywhere, for me I would rather give my 100% to one platform instead of feeling like I’m spread thin over many.
Last year I made the decision to focus on Instagram and Instagram only. I trusted that it was more than enough to add value to my community and didn’t get distracted by all the flash of new apps.
Turns out, it’s really freeing to not feel like you have to be everywhere all the time.
In your opinion, what challenges do you think will affect the marketing industry in the coming years?
Oh boy, this one even scares me – The Metaverse. We’ve recently seen Facebook rebrand as Meta which shows us that they are embracing this new direction.
As marketers, we are meant to be innovative and embrace change but at the moment I honestly don’t feel ready for this one. This must be what people who clung to their rotary phones felt like when cellphones came on the scene. We will literally be able to communicate, market and sell in a way that’s never been done before. If you’re someone who adapts to change and enjoys new things, this won’t be a problem, however, it will be a learning curve for most.
Although I have my theories around how things will work, it will be interesting to see how this rolls out.
Finally, how does someone get in contact with you?
Free strategy session to see if one of our programs is right for you: Read more here!
