It was the last day of Hispanicize 2016. The last talk was given by Gaby Castellanos, whom I heard had been baptized as “The Queen of Social Media”. I was already following her on several social networks, but it was not until that presentation that I understood why this woman caused such a stir. I have to tell you … What a presentation! It definitely closed the conference “ with a bang “, and I left Miami with 1,000 ideas in my head, including the creation of this project.
Something that I really like about this adopted daughter of Spain is that she tells it like it is, no matter if people wa nt to hear it. In addition , in the time I’ve been following her, I’ve seen that she is not just on top of her business. Gaby, who lives half the time in an airplane, is always caring for her community, is a fan of her clients and fights unrelentingly for the political crisis in her native Venezuela.
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Considered one of the fifty most influential people in the world by the American magazine Fast Company, Gaby Castellanos has founded several advertising agencies, like Netthink Carat (Aegis Group) and SrBurns, both leading agencies in the Interactive and Social Media sectors in Spain.. She currently leads her project Socialphilia Karma Advertising, an agency that works in Madrid, Mexico City, Caracas, Bogotá, Lima and Miami, under the philosophy that what you give is what you get.
Gaby is an example that women can break the mold and succeed, and that is achieved by working hard and giving back to the world what it has given you, as she says in this interview.
Latinas in Media – Who is Gaby?
Gaby Castellanos- As I’ve always said: I am a walking smile.
LM – Behind such much creativity … What inspires you?
GC – The good and the bad in the world. Providing solutions to problems, solving things that seem impossible, and doing them from creativity.
LM – How do you become one of the 50 most influential people in the world?
GC – I think with a lot of effort, talent and perseverance, and a good dose of giving back to the world everything it has given you. And the result: a great responsibility to communicate with people and for them to listen to you and find validity in what you say.
LM – What do your clients look for in you? What do you attribute your success and your agencies’success to?
GC – My clients? Risky strategies, brutal creativity, and results that would thrill anyone.
Our success in @socialphilia? We love what we do in such a way that the results go hand in hand with the energy, the desire to do, the talent, the experience, the knowledge and the emotion behind each of our projects/clients.
LM – What is the importance of having a community and not an audience in social media?
GC – The audience is what you can have and the community is what is created through the attention, affection and strategy that you put into it. It is the result of effort, the so-called “Engagement”.
LM – What is the difference between an “influencer” and a person who wants to be famous?
GC – The influencer (the real one) is not made, it is born.
The created ones are simply an intention to create/generate a profit.
For the real influencer, the benefit is to bring value to their community.
For the fake influencer, the intention is to take advantage of his “audience”.
Two completely different things.
The fake influencer is created by buying fans/followers, faking data and likes.
The true Influencer does not need that, it is influential in its small community of 20 people, but its influence is unbeatable.
LM – Do you think the digital world and social media are a threat to traditional media? Especially with new features like YouTube TV.
GC – A threat? Never. A complement. But all those who believe that the digital world came to take away their bread, will never do business in this environment. So they always consider it a threat. I have been saying this for decades, and yet many people still turn a deaf ear to it.
LM – How can Latinas use digital media as a voice, in a country where we are a minority as women and immigrants?
GC – With strategy, women are strategic by nature, is an innate characteristic. Being Latina brings us creativity, we must solve problems in the most innovative way possible, and then it is a great mix. I’ve done it and if I have been able to and have turned my timelines into media (sometimes, very related to political crises), we all can. It only takes a good strategy, creativity and a lot of common sense.
LM – You take the time to answer every message or comment that you receive in each of the social networks; I have witnessed it. How do you do that when you have thousands of followers and why take the time to respond to everyone?
GC – With love. I love my communities. With patience, you have to take time from your personal life for it. And I understand that it’s reciprocity. If my followers/fans take the time to talk to me, how can I not find time to answer them? I would be a very rude woman and my mother did not teach me that! Hehe.
LM – What advice would you give to girls who begin to undertake the digital world? (Bloggers, YouTubers, Instagramers, etc.)
GC – The fleeting fame is fleeting because it does not last. Nothing is achieved quickly in life. Everyone who has HONESTLY achieved success has had to work hard.
You have to work; and don’t work to get free stuff or for improper personal gain. Work because you love what you do. And if that is not happening, you’re doing the wrong thing. Then look at what you do best, try to make it profitable, and if you can’t, raise your hand and ask for help from people like me, who can give you a hand to find that unique space in the market that is waiting for you.
More about Gaby!
A book: The three that I have pending to publish.
A YouTube Channel: I see everything. I do not have a favorite.
One “Latina in Media”: Women who have participated in the development of FB and Twitter and are now big business digital entrepreneurs.
One social network: Facebook, without any doubt and its adjacent.
One App: Depends on what? To entertain me: Netflix. To read: Feedly. For travel: Hopper. For when I’m lost: Waze. To connect my work: Dropbox. And many, many more!
One brand: My client, Coca Cola, and not because it is my client or I worked for them, it is a brand that I love, just like McDonald’s. They are brands with which I have worked and continue to work, and that live in my heart. And thanks to the work, they are my clients.
A quote: Any of #LaVida2.0 or #BibliaPublicitaria.
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