Talia Datt: a study in start-up success

How did your entrepreneurial journey begin?

I was born in Johannesburg, my family immigrated to Melbourne when I was three. Having that immigration story, having those roots overseas, pushed me in an entrepreneurial direction from a very young age. Both my parents started their own businesses, so you could say it runs in our blood.

At Monash University, I studied marketing and international relations, everyone always thought I was going to be a politician. But when I went on exchange to Sweden for six months, I met a lot of people in the entrepreneurial space, and it started to trigger my thinking. I was also sharing my travels and started building a following online, so much so that lots of people in my network would ask me how to use social media to leverage their own businesses.

When I returned from exchange, I took the first job I could get because I had no money. I was an administrative assistant in an insurance firm, and it was not for me. The day I quit was the day that tap-to-shop on Instagram launched, and I remember thinking there’s something in this. I enrolled myself in a short course, started to learn more about social media, and found a gap in the market.

I began to offer a service to businesses to run their social media accounts for free. I would knock on doors with a box of chocolates with my business card attached. I didn't even charge for my services. That was my leg in the door and there was low expectation on both sides. Funnily enough, it was a hard slog to even get clients to say yes to free services. Social media for businesses was so new, and they were hesitant to have me, a 22-year-old, represent their brand.

I landed about two or three small businesses and very quickly demonstrated that I could make them money via their social channels. I remember working for a small gift boutique in Caulfield, and they had gotten this new $300 chair in. I styled this chair, took a photo of it, posted it on socials, and we sold 12 in one day. At that point, I realised the power of social media and that I should probably start charging for my services!

In 2018, you founded full-service social media marketing agency, The Social CliQ, which has since worked with over 300 brands worldwide, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Tell us more about your business.

The Social CliQ is my first baby, and it will forever be my first baby. It was first called Tailored by T when I was working out of my home and then when it started growing, when I opened my first office and started hiring employees, the name changed to The Social CliQ.

The Social CliQ offers social media management for a range of different businesses in the fashion, beauty and lifestyle space. We do a lot of content creation, as well as advertising. Think of it essentially as an extension to a marketing team – you come to us with your goals, and we put together a strong strategy and a way forward to achieve those goals. It's highly customised and tailored.

The Social CliQ really happened because word within the Jewish community got out that I was offering these services, and I'm so thankful, because I would say that it's because of the community that I was able to grow my business at the rate that I did. One lead led to another lead, which led to another lead and so on.

You then launched sister company, The Content CliQ, in 2021, which is a user-generated content service provider specialising in TikTok that has connected brands to over 3,000 creators globally. How do the two businesses work together?

The Content CliQ came about during COVID when TikTok was absolutely popping off, and we saw it as an opportunity. Whereas a lot of other agencies would struggle to diversify into a new platform, as they had set processes and services, we were still relatively small with a team of around eight people, so it was quick to retrain, relearn and adapt to TikTok as a channel.

In doing so, we realised there is a huge content creation need when it comes to TikTok. You want to have different types of personalities and produce between 20 and 30 videos a month. At the time, we were in lockdown, and we couldn’t do video or photo shoots, so we came up with the idea of approaching the micro-influencer, and gifting them the product with a brief to create content for us. Today, it’s known as user-generated content, but in those days, there wasn’t a name for it. That’s the beginnings of The Content CliQ, which is a user-generated content influencer agency.

The Content CliQ is much more set and transactional, compared to The Social CliQ, which is more tailored and unique, but the two businesses do go together. When we're tailoring a service for any client for The Social CliQ, we're including The Content CliQ services.

The Content CliQ  not only works with The Social CliQ as an agency, but about 50% of The Content CliQ’s clients are other agencies that we white label to, because we were the first to get the model right. We also work with brands that might have an in-house marketing team but who struggle with this area.

I’m curious, how many hours do you spend on social media each day?

Way too many – my phone is telling me six hours a day, but that’s not including the time I use my computer!

The hours are almost endless, but scrolling on social media doesn't really occur in my personal life anymore, because it's such a big part of my professional life. My algorithm is very skewed. It’s not a reflection of who I am, it's a reflection of the companies that we do work for. I'm constantly researching competitors, seeing what's trending overseas, and so on.

Have you had a ‘pinch-me moment’ in building your businesses?

I honestly wake up most days and think, how am I in this role? I know it's not luck, it's by working day in and day out.

A recent moment that’s top of mind is our work with Booktopia. The new owners asked us to take on the marketing of its relaunch. Knowing that we are so cemented in the market that we were a first point of contact was so exciting.

What really strikes me about your leadership is your agility. You’re not afraid to pivot and embrace new ideas. What advice do you have for other leaders who may be more resistant to change?

It's a mindset – and it's not just up to one person – it needs to be the mindset of a company to be able to adapt to change.

I always ask people I interview for a position in my team: how do you feel about change? Change is a concept that's consistently discussed, but often when it comes down to it, it’s something no one likes. Working in this industry, change is a core value of ours, we're never going to stay the same. We have to adapt at all times.

Social media is often the topic of discussion at a political level, for example, the federal government's recent plan to ban under 16-year-olds from accessing such platforms. How does this impact your businesses?

We're always monitoring the debate around social media, and I’ll add to that the concerns about the Chinese government’s insights into TikTok. It's never ending. At the end of the day, being in this industry, I know that data isn't sacred – these platforms have all the information they could possibly want about you.

At the same time, we must remain ethical in the way we promote certain products, offer our services and the way in which we work. For example, we work with weight loss companies, so we need to be mindful as to the right sort of messaging to ensure people feel included and not judged. It’s the same with teen marketing – we have to be so careful that we are empowering them and not promoting unrealistic standards or expectations.

As well as founding your own businesses, you’ve also invested in a range of local, high-profile e-commerce start-ups, including Matcha Maiden, Tapt and Pretty Privilege. What’s the secret to a successful business?

Staying true to your brand is most important. A lot of brands ultimately take the wrong path when they start creating what they think is cool, as opposed to creating what is true to their brand and will resonate with the audience they're trying to target.

From a more general perspective, the level of resilience needed to run a successful business, is for me, the biggest lesson. I have a personal bone to pick with this, but a lot of entrepreneurs get on socials and they promote this idealistic life with their perfect family, perfect car, whatever it might be, but it's nothing like that at all. It’s just hard work every day, being consistent, sticking to your routine and making sacrifices when other people don't.

Everyone loves the end goal – building this massive company, the fame, the fortune – and no one likes the journey of getting there. It’s about being resilient during that journey. I've learned a world of advice and understanding in business over the last six years, and I'm just at the start of my journey.

Tell me about your Social Media Monetisation course that you developed in partnership with entrepreneurial education company, Foundr.

The purpose of the Foundr course was to empower other business owners. We started as a small freelance company, and a lot of our work in the early days was to help other small businesses. As our team grew, our office grew, our overheads grew, it became less sustainable for us to do that, and so the course came about as an opportunity to give people guidance in the social sphere if we can't do it for you.

Having a proper structure or formula for social media is probably one of my biggest takeaways from the course. It's about pre-planning one or two months in advance; creating the foundations; making sure you're happy with the concepts; and then adapting and making those assets as you go. Obviously, that won’t work for all industries, but social media doesn’t need to be as frantic or last-minute as people think – a lot of businesses get lost in that idea.

In 2022, you were recognised in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in the marketing category for Asia. What did this mean to you, personally and professionally?

That was a personal goal of mine that I've always wanted, and that feeling of achieving it when I was 25 was just incredible.

That award really validated everything in my mind and built my confidence in my businesses. Since then so many opportunities have opened. Being a female in my 20s, it's very quick for businesses, especially the big corporate institutions, to straight away judge you as not experienced or professional enough. Having the Forbes award as part of my portfolio and brand has very quickly opened doors and made people second guess their original thoughts.

Tell me about your connection to your Jewish identity.

I grew up very traditionally Jewish. My parents keep Shabbat and our house is kosher. I went to Leibler Yavneh College for primary school and moved to Mount Scopus Memorial College for my secondary school. My best friends today are still the girls I finished school with.

My environment is very Jewish. Going to Blake Street Shul as often as I can, having Shabbat dinner every Friday night, and embracing Jewish tradition in everything I do is super important to me.

How has your Judaism influenced your outlook in life and in business?

Community is so huge for us, and having a network and support system around you are something that we always help each other with.

From a business perspective, the opportunities I was provided through the Jewish community were huge. Word of mouth – even someone sitting in shul speaking to someone else – meant our name very, very quickly spread. That helped me build the foundation of my businesses. When I've had serious challenges or hurdles, or if I’ve felt stuck, it's been very easy for me to turn to the Jewish community and trust them with my conversations. Their advice has been extraordinary.

Looking forward, my goals are to raise a strong Jewish family and build that continuation.

What does social impact mean to you?

For me, it's just about doing right. I always say, kindness always wins. From an ethical standpoint, doing the right thing, always and to the best of your capability, is of the utmost importance. That can really impact everyone around you.