For more than two years we've been helping businesses and entrepreneurs manage their social media channels — and our services have expanded considerably along the way. So our name may not sound unfamiliar to you. Have you ever wondered how Social Hippo came about? Where it all started, why, and above all: what the idea was?
A conversation with our founder
We took the time to sit down for a short conversation with Judy, our proud founder. Together with her husband Michael she built the company up from nothing into the growing, dynamic business we know today. Here's her exclusive take on the Social Hippo success story.
"Before I started Social Hippo, I worked for ten years as a marketing manager for a company. Even then I noticed that demand for digitalisation had risen enormously. The demand, but above all the need. At that moment we were at a point where this hadn't been developed enough in Belgium. So after work hours — together with my husband Michael — I started helping other businesses and entrepreneurs with their digitalisation processes. Back then it was mainly websites, branding, designing business cards and flyers, and of course social media. Essentially everything to do with showing up professionally and digitalising.
One day — and because demand kept increasing — we decided to take the leap. It absolutely wasn't an easy decision, but we were determined: we both gave up our permanent jobs and set up our company. A choice we haven't regretted to this day, a choice that has brought us to where we are now.
When Social Hippo was founded, our main focus was managing social media for other entrepreneurs. Our reason? We felt there weren't enough partners in Flanders working on it at that time.
It didn't take long before we hit our first problem: the quotes we made were often too high for the entrepreneurs. They apparently had different expectations, a different picture of what managing social media actually involved, and unfortunately they didn't realise how much time it could take. Many of them didn't have the budget for it either. A shame, because it was exactly those small entrepreneurs and starting businesses who needed it twice as much. Not only because of a lack of time and knowledge, but also because those were crucial moments for them to be present and active on social media.
We knew the problem, so it was up to us to come up with a solution. We started thinking: there had to be a way to make our process simpler. More automatic, more efficient and less time-consuming. So we could bring the price down for our end clients. We had a clear goal in mind and we went looking for an accessible and above all affordable solution: helping people digitalise by… digitalising. Michael was already — and still is — a great IT talent. That's how we managed to automate a lot of internal processes: our own software tools, but also integrations with existing tools. We also developed a system to work efficiently and respond quickly when it comes to communication, planning and publication. From that moment we worked semi-automatically and this had — as expected — a positive effect on our prices.
We had a specific concept in mind and an online approach played a very big part in it. The way we saw it: entrepreneurs have no time during the day and would rather hire a social media agency from their sofa in the evening. No ten intake conversations and endless meetings to align needs and requirements. What we would guarantee? A fast start, an accessible form of communication and the chance to put packages together online themselves, based on what each individual entrepreneur needs at that moment.
All the positive feedback and the growing number of clients soon made it clear: we'd found our success formula for Social Hippo.
Today — more than two years, six employees and a new workplace later — we're more convinced than ever that our company can add value for so many other entrepreneurs. The beautiful thing about our concept? It's flexible and modular. Our subscriptions can be cancelled monthly, you can pause when you're closed or when things are quieter, and you can choose and put everything together yourself. Which social platforms do you want to post on? Do you want campaigns? What budget do you want to spend on it? More posts this month or fewer? Everything can be adjusted with just a few clicks in our online portal. Or you simply ask your social media manager through WhatsApp.
Something else we find very important: accessibility. We know better than anyone that entrepreneurs are incredibly busy during working hours, which is why our WhatsApp is available 24/7. Our clients can literally send good ideas or ask questions at any moment of the day. Whenever it suits them. That's how we invest in enjoyable communication to get to know our clients better in a simple, low-threshold way. Online doesn't equal distant at all. We go for a personal approach, but with the convenience of an online way of working.
On top of that, a few months ago we expanded our services. Entrepreneurs can now also come to us for building and sending newsletters, writing and publishing blog posts, and setting up and following up ads on Google and social media.
All of that — and the certainty that it stays affordable — month after month, is what makes us such an attractive partner for other businesses.
Whether we always had it easy? Absolutely not. Just like every start-up, we've overcome plenty of obstacles. Within software development, but also in rolling out our concept, gaining recognition and finding the right people to work with. As a young couple and starting entrepreneurs, we had no capital available at all. It was — and sometimes still is — a heavy and difficult road, but we're happy and above all proud that we've reached this point after just two years. We'd never have dared to dream that we'd grow so much as a company in such a short time. We're also very grateful and incredibly happy with our current team. We believe we can still get a lot out of our company, and we're convinced there are many other businesses we can help with their social media and, in turn, help grow.
Every day brings challenges, but we're more motivated than ever to go all in and give it 100%. We'll soon have some very exciting news to share with the world too, but we're keeping that to ourselves for a little while longer."
