Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Cortes
Hi Megan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi! I’m Megan, the founder of Notif Social Studio, a boutique social media management agency based in Nashville, TN. Growing up with social media, like many of us, it naturally piqued my interest at a very young age—I’m talking middle school. My friends and I would record videos and secretly upload them to YouTube! So, it’s no surprise that my journey with content creation and social media ultimately led me to create my own social media marketing agency today.
I began my career in social media while pursuing my BBA degree in college. I helped local small businesses set up their social media accounts and taught business owners basic tools to leverage quality content in order to attract customers. They quickly saw the correlation between social media growth and revenue. One of my clients grew their TikTok to over 70K followers in just one month! This experience allowed me to build a portfolio, which led to my first corporate role in social media at iHeart Media. There, I learned how to manage and grow their subsidiary brands and had the opportunity to capture viral moments on TikTok for their tentpole events.
In my most recent position as the Social Media Marketing Manager at BEAM, a supplement brand, I served as the creative director for all product launch photoshoots and developed our go-to-market strategies for social media. This role further honed my skills in creative campaign direction and planning, teaching me how to effectively leverage content across digital platforms and the importance of maintaining consistent, premium branding. I also had the opportunity to collaborate with major brands like Dole and SunnyD on product partnerships.
All of this experience helped build my confidence to the point where I was finally ready to take the leap and start my own social media management agency. At Notif, I help founders grow their brands through effective social media strategies, high-quality content creation, and community. It’s incredibly empowering to help business owners bring their vision to life by bridging the gap between social media strategy and aesthetics, creating a brand that truly reflects the high-quality products/services they offer, and helping them achieve their business goals.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My progress hasn’t been linear. Before starting my corporate role, I actually launched a business called Jemme Beauty, where I sold high-quality glass rhinestones for makeup use. I leveraged my knowledge in social media to grow and nurture an incredible community of makeup enthusiasts and professional makeup artists. I even had my product featured on celebrities like Latto, Doja Cat, and Bella Thorne. I even connected with makeup artists from the hit series Euphoria and sent them all my collections to be used on the show.
I had big dreams of getting my brand sold at Sephora or ULTA one day. But those dreams were cut short due to personal struggles I was facing. I began to lose passion for the business, and after COVID, my product costs soared, severely impacting my margins. Around the same time, my grandmother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I would take her to her chemotherapy appointments in the mornings and work at night, creating content and fulfilling orders. After eight months, I burned out, and my grandmother’s health continued to decline. I entered a deep depression—no one ever talks about grief & trying to run a business. This caused me to let go of my brand cold turkey, something I felt a lot of shame about. I had once taken so much pride and joy in building that community, yet I essentially walked away from it. It haunted me.
After my grandmother passed, I took some time to process what I truly wanted. I knew my passion for makeup and beauty was still there, but I wasn’t passionate about my rhinestone product anymore. When I looked inward, I realized that what I enjoyed most about my business was building the community and the creativity involved in creating social media posts, planning and directing photoshoots, and overall content creation. That’s when it hit me—I should take social media seriously and help other brands grow their brands. And that’s how I ended up here. I have so much gratitude for where I am now.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Notif Social Studio is a boutique social media marketing agency created for founders that want to attract their ideal customers through social media by elevating their brand’s digital presence through creative marketing and social media solutions. We specialize in social media management, content creation, and social strategy while fostering a community on social and delivering a true ROI for our clients.
We are known for our content creation sessions, where I’m able to capture 1 – 3 months worth of content for our clients in just 4 – 6 hours! What set’s me apart from other agencies is my firsthand marketing experience working in house for brands and how to effectively craft, plan, and execute social media strategies and creative campaigns from the lens of a marketing professional. I notice a lot of content creators start social media agencies because they have found success in their personal brand content creation journey, but that doesn’t always necessarily mean you have the industry experience on how to deliver a true ROI for a client that isn’t just in the form of followers, which is just a vanity metric at the end of the day.
My most proudest moment so far in my agency is that I was able to increase one of my clients service bookings by 37% in just one month of working together through the power of an effective social media strategy. Seeing my positive impact on a brand and creating incredible friendships with my clients is truly so fulfilling.
What’s next?
In 6 months I plan to hire my first employee to be able to continue growing my roster of clients and I also plan to continue being more involved in the entrepreneurship scene in Nashville. I have been super introverted most of my life and this is something I am actively working on to grow a deeper connection with my local community.
I’m also a content creator myself and plan to continue to build my community and opportunities through that avenue.
Pricing:
- Social Media Mgmt starts at $2,500 per month
- Content Creation Sessions start at $1,500
Contact Info:
- Website: https://notifsocialstudio.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notifsocialstudio/ and https://www.instagram.com/themeganmarg/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notifsocialstudio and https://www.tiktok.com/@themeganmarg
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-cortes/
