What it’s like to Build a Business in the Age of Instagram

As someone who is insta-shy myself, it was extremely difficult to wrap my brain around the concept of brand collabs and UGC marketing. But I’ve come to realize how necessary––and not to mention––how much fun collabs can be.

I saw a digital world where these online women exuded confidence and portrayed the perfect life of fashion, beauty and travel. I now had to build a brand that fit into their narratives. Noa Kai Swimwear is a lifestyle brand, so what better way to connect with our audience than through collabs with ambassadors and influencers. 

I felt it was important to partner with ambassadors from all walks of life and at all stages in their content creation journey. The number of followers wasn’t always a determining factor for approving a collab––sometimes it came down to their story and providing someone with an opportunity to grow and build confidence.

Being a brand in 2020, we are faced with competition at each scroll of a finger. We are but 1 in a million swimwear brands on Instagram and that means we needed a strategy to stand out.

Our strategy: be a real brand.

At Noa Kai Swimwear, we achieve this by having our owners get involved in every part of the business. Nothing happens that I and my partner don’t believe in. We choose photographers who understand our vision, and we also shoot half our digital material ourselves. How much more ‘real’ can we get?

We work with a manufacturer we trust and who collaborates with us to design meaningful wearable pieces. Real also means working with genuine and authentic women who have stories to share, families to care for and who love traveling and beach time just as much as we do. In a way, we’re building an online community of like-minded women who want more than a swimsuit––they want an experience and memories.

Our Elevated Brand Ambassador program is underway and we can’t wait to share photos of women across North America enjoying their Noa Kai swimsuits. The age of Instagram is all about collaboration, exploration and… keeping it real.