In Conversation with Elisa Morey | Hopper HQ Spotlight

Elisa Morey is an incredibly busy woman. Owner and Creative Director of the marvellous Maintain, whilst impressively juggling being a Mom, wife and influencer.

Maintain is a digital marketing agency powered by a team of game-changing strategists, enthusiastic collaborators, forward-thinkers, and passionate creators. They love what they do, which is probably why they are so good at it.

We were lucky enough to steal 20 minutes out of Elisa’s jam-packed schedule to ask some wonderful questions about Maintain, her client process, opinions of social media and, of course, Hopper HQ.

Be sure to check out their Instagram @MaintainDigital to stay up to date with everything they are doing in their company and their community.

Introducing Elisa…

I’m Elisa, wife to Jonathan and mother to three little humans but also the Owner and Creative Director of Maintain – a digital marketing company that my husband and I started about four years ago from our little home in Florida.  It started as Jonathan freelancing at first – building websites and managing Google Adword accounts – while I freelanced as a photographer; all this in the midst of having babies. 

Now we have a full fledged team of marketing, branding, photography, and videography experts – Along with social media, of course.  And we’re just taking it day-by-day and growing as we go.  As far as the company goes, we do everything from inbound marketing to web design to social media management, branding, photography and videography.  We’re kind of a one-stop shop for companies who are all around us.

What is it that makes Maintain unique as a digital marketing agency?

I think something that makes us unique, is that our clients become a part of our family.  As I said Jonathon and I are married and we have three kids, so our employees become part of the mishmash and craziness of our lives. And along with that our clients do as well. I really think the hospitality we provide our clients really sets us apart. And our dedication to stay true to our clients and what makes them, them. Maintain does not ever want to turn them or their brand into something they are not.  We encourage an in-depth exploration process while giving our expertise and our advice and steering them in the direction that we believe will work best for them, and their audience.

Also, we try to make ourselves available, just the ability to get hold of us, whenever they can, and not have to go through a lot of communication lines is probably something else that sets us apart too.

What’s your process with taking on a new client for digital marketing?

“from brands that they look up to, to the clientele they’ve had in the past, any pain points that they are having now, to where they see themselves and their company in the future.”

The first process we go through with our clients is called a deep-dive.  We’ll all usually meet in person – during Covid it was a lot of Zoom calls – and still some Zoom now.  For the deep-dive, we will usually meet in person and dive into everything: from brands that they look up to, to the clientele they’ve had in the past, any pain points that they are having now, to where they see themselves and their company in the future.  So it’s generally a couple hours of really getting to know them as a company, and getting to know the thought leaders they find inspiring, and their goals and aspirations. 

And then, the real fun begins.  We book a creative meeting to talk through all  “the fluff” –  colours, textures, photography, branding. What they love, what they hate, and how they want their company to make others feel.  

Then, we meet back up as a team and decide on a content strategy for website, ads, branding and social media. Making sure it all correlates in a way that will bring their potential clients through a journey of discovery and getting to know them and then actually becoming a customer.

In your perspective what’s the key to quality content creation for businesses?

“the key; an initial plan and setting boundaries”

As we’ve been getting busier we’ve started noticing something that is the key; an initial plan and setting boundaries. Whether it’s in creative and you are using a moodboard or branding colours or through content and you are sticking to a specific subject matter, boundaries and planning are key. For example, we have a tree company as a client and hurricane season is coming. We are going to plan all our content around hurricane season and getting ready for that in the Bay Area.  As a creative it’s easy to look here and there and everywhere, and think you need to do that – oh and a little bit of that- ah and that too.  And you kind of wind up with a lovely mess of beautiful photos, graphics and content, but they don’t really go well together. They don’t really tell a story.

So, I think the initial planning, and that’s something we are working on now with our team, THAT is where a lot of success can start.  

• Knowing your target demographic
• Setting boundaries that you want to work within content-wise and aesthetically
• Taking the planning process one step at a time

How important is social media presence for businesses in 2021?

“I think that being on social media is important, but I don’t think it’s everything.”

I would like to say it is of utmost importance, but not any more important than all the other moving parts within a business. I believe that being on social media is important, but it’s not everything.  Rather, it’s important for companies to maintain their health on the inside of their company so that it shows on the outside of their company.  

And that’s kind of where social media comes into play. Where you can highlight the really good things that are happening, or what you are doing in the community or new products you’re coming out with.  And all that is all really important and really beautiful, but you want to make sure that your company is healthy as well.  It just kind of all works together. You can have all of the planning in the world, but still have your company fall apart, because you’re not maintaining the health of your employees, or the health of yourself, or your financial health.  Putting all that first and then doing some planning on the pieces that you really like about your company, or what you’re offering people and kind of let it shine from the inside out.

Do you think it’s important to break down that third wall and have a face behind the content and the company?

“That’s what draws people in, you know, knowing the story behind something.”

Yeah, I think that’s super powerful for people to see the raw ‘what’s going on?’ ‘Who’s the owner’?  ‘What’s the owner doing?’ ‘How did you make that furniture’ ‘Where did your company start?’ – just kind of seeing the everyday, because then people aren’t just getting this beautiful sheen on the outside. They are gaining the value of  ‘what it’s really made of’ and that’s what draws people in, you know, knowing the story behind something.

I’ll tell you this – I won’t go out and buy a $50 mug.  But if I know the mug was made by someone in another country, where it was sourced well and they were paid right, then I will pay $50 for that mug, because of the story of that mug.

A more personal question, I fell across your Instagram account @the_morey_story, how do you have the time to keep that channel active and beautiful?

“To be able to capture that and look back on it really brings me a lot of joy. “

I don’t always have the time.  It’s just my own personal account where I can share pretty snaps of the every day. Plus the kiddos are just full of so much life and craziness! 

To be able to capture that and look back on it really brings me a lot of joy.  There’s not really any time for that, but somehow we fit it in.

Is there anything exciting that we should keep an eye out on Maintain accounts?

We are in the middle of rebranding.  So we’re going to have some new stuff popping up later on this year.  And we’re in the process of finding a physical location for ourselves and to share with other artists in our community.

So there’s something exciting on the horizon.

What do you think about Hopper HQ?

“[Hopper HQ] are really responsive, which I love.”

We really like using Hopper HQ.  We did a lot of research before we decided on Hopper HQ.  A huge thing that our social team likes is the ability to see the grid on the side and move things around that way.  

The chat is also super helpful. When I chat with support they are always really good about letting me know when an issue will be fixed, or what’s going on, and what I can do on my end.  So they are really responsive, which I love.