Social Media Marketing is one of those areas that has shaken up and redefined the way businesses communicate, connect with the community and raise their profile in the market place. The fast pace in which this new marketing channel has taken over when it comes to profile exposure has left a lot of my clients reeling and lost when it comes to where to start and how to build this platform. When I  raise the topic of social media with my existing clients I’m faced more often than not with blank stares and glazed over looks. This article is therefore for them, its a case study of the company A Bikini a Day, this dynamic duo have over 4 million followers, yep you heard me correctly 4 million!

So today I want to share a fantastic article I read a month or so ago written by Angie Fox for Collective Hub about the dynamic company. Enjoy!

“They’re something like a phenomenon.

They’re out to create the “largest marketing platform for the swimwear industry” and, if you’re asking us, they’re well on their way. Natasha Oakley (pictured left) and Devin Brugman are the female power duo behind A Bikini A Day, and their influential bikini-clad snaps, as well as a swimwear line, Monday Swimwear, have struck up a plump audience of beach bums and island dreamers.

Here, they offer up a few pointers that have worked wonders for their burgeoning brand (and individual ones too). If you’re wondering what it takes to win the internet, read on.

Post daily, analyse often

“I think the best training with social media is to actually be there every day posting, analysing, experiencing it, relating to your followers and understanding what people want,” says Natasha.

“We’ve always tried to be ourselves and share with our audience products and destinations that inspire us and images that we love. The great thing about using social media as a marketing tool is that you get instant feedback on what resonates with your audience immediately and can respond and adapt where required.”

Diversify your comms

Although the bulk of their followers engage with A Bikini A Day via Instagram, Natasha believes in having a diversified communications strategy. Along with their steadily climbing website audiences, the pair also heavily use Tumblr and Snapchat, where they currently attract in excess of 100,000 views.

“People don’t just follow an Instagram account, they follow us and they enjoy being a part of what we create. So if Instagram was canned tomorrow our followers would find us elsewhere, wherever that would be, and continue to follow along with our journey,” she explains.

Followers aren’t currency


Though she won’t reveal the brand’s annual turnover, appearance fees or the seed investment figures they received for their labels, Natasha says emphatically that she doesn’t view followers as ‘currency’.

“Brands who might only be interested in us for our ‘numbers’ may consider our followers as our currency, however, we consider our followers our friends and biggest supporters,” she says. “We place a much higher value on what we can personally bring to the table in brand collaborations, for example, the quality of our shoots and genuine passion for the brands we work with, along with access to us as models and personalities and designers.”

Balance relatability with aspiration

“The majority of our audience is female and they look to us because we are both relatable and aspirational. We’re happy, healthy girls who try to make the most out of life. We’re not super skinny, we love to laugh at ourselves and believe in enjoying everything in moderation,” says Natasha. “Our audiences look to us for inspiration on not only swimwear, but also our lifestyle: what clothes we wear in our daily life, how we work out, where we travel to, where we eat out at. Swimwear naturally has a strong presence on our accounts, however the focus is definitely on the lifestyle.”

Play to your strengths

Their friendship is a saving grace. The pair has never fought; perhaps due to the way they’ve deftly divided up the labour, each playing to their own strengths.

“Devin is extremely good with social media, with writing and creating content, with curating blog posts and with liaising with our clients. My role is everything from organising our entire schedule for the year, booking all of our trips, negotiating our contracts or liaising with our clients with regards to any collaborations,” says Natasha. “We really balance each other out… we are lucky to have each other as best friends and business partners and have such an amazing dynamic.”

This is an extract from Issue 42 of Collective Hub.