December 5, 2015, witnessed a striking incident involving a young businesswoman hit $1 million sales in just one day! Gretta van Riel co founded “The Fifth Watches” whose products sold out in a jiffy. Gretta claims to gain this popularity through Instagram and at the same time, sent 30 watches to other social media influencers before the launch. These simple hacks along with the exceptional popularity of the other companies owned by Gretta, and her excellent online presence lead to the record breaking stature achieved by The Fifth Watches. Read on to know more about the success story, and most importantly, apply her formula to improve digital marketing of your business.
Who is Gretta van Riel?
Gretta van Riel is one of the Forbes under 30 successful entrepreneurs. Gretta is famous for making $1 million e-commerce sales in a single day. She is one of the largest social media influencer having 16 million followers on Instagram. The companies owned by her include The Fifth Watches, Hey Influencers, Drop Bottle, and SkinnyMe Tea.
The starting story
Gretta van Riel was merely 22 and just acquired her degree from University of Melbourne with a keen eye for fashion, and telemarketing. She started off with $24 and with time, developed a multimillion dollar company, SkinnyMe Tea. Her exquisite taste for tea along with her fitness goals led her to make the first ‘Teatox’ in the world. The cleansing tea products aim at solving many health issues and also come with many exercising and eating tips. The success of the innovative thought that has been crafted into reality with perfection, was just the beginning of the journey of Gretta van Riel.
In 5 years...
In 5 years since Gretta van Riel delved into entrepreneurship, she has developed an empire worthy of $5 million. The amazing success of SkinnyMe Tea won Gretta “Shopify Build-a-Business” competition. Gretta soon realized that she can repeat the formula to re-build her customer base for other companies. In 5 years, SkinnyMe Tea sold more than 11 million cups of tea across the globe. Apart from this, Gretta’s “Fifth Watches” managed to sale watches worthy of $1 million in a day! Her social media marketing strategies has not only gained her 16 million followers, but also led her to create Hey Influencers, a phenomenal influencer marketing platform.
The businesses
The first company founded by Gretta van Riel is SkinnyMe Tea in 2012. The business started off at Melbourne and flourished solely because of the passion displayed by Gretta to pursue her vision. She built a team of experts in the domain of nutrition, fitness, and naturopathy to develop the exceptional quality of “Teatox”. The company claims to sale its products to over 350000 customers which further inspired the team to aim for higher targets.
DropBottle is also owned by Gretta van Riel with the vision of crafting bottles that would revolutionize the purpose of staying hydrated. The functional abilities of these bottles along with the trendy designs have captivated the customers. The bottles can be used for numerous purposes such as drinking water, fruit juice, and tea.
In 2014, Alex and Gretta co-founded The Fifth Watches and promoted it only through digital platforms. After the astonishing sale of $1 million in a day in 2015, the founders decided to keep using the five-day sales model. The company sells the products for only 5 days and spends rest of the month taking orders and filling up the stock. The buzz created by this strategy resulted in the sale worthy of $200000 in just 5 minutes.
Gretta van Riel founded Hey Influencers in February, 2015. This is an influencer marketing platform which features paid speaking opportunities, corporate workshops, podcasts, and interviews. This powerful platform creates connection and collaboration among brands. Apart from this, the brands can engage audience through this platform created by one of the biggest social media influencer, Gretta van Riel.
Instagram Tips
Great van Riel is one of the most influencing personalities possessing a widespread online presence. Following her footsteps will take you closer to being extremely popular on social media. Gretta says that your company must offer products that are unique and resonates with the audience. List down the major influencers pertaining to your niche and create bonds with them. Gretta further says that build your followers before you launch the product and not vice versa, which is usually applied by the companies. She also suggests that when you launch a new product, keep it lean. Do not go overboard and opt for grand launch.
In the words of Gretta van Riel herself, she went with her instincts and created unique products. Although she admits that it is extremely flattering to have followers who give her the stature of role model, she herself followed her own ideas and created her own path. So choose your path while using her experience to attain unimaginable heights!
