Advertising, Marketing & PR
Jamie Reilly, Founder of Reizia Digital
Published: October 31, 2023 | Updated: 31st October 2023
Very few people at the age of 19 are able to set up their own business.
One who is though, is Jamie Reilly, Founder of social media marketing agency Reizia Digital.
Now 20, Jamie set up his company in February of this year and his since been working on scaling it.
Jamie started by outlining how challenges in his past led him to develop an entrepreneurial mindset.
“I grew up in a situation where things were not the most ideal, so I’ve always been driven to make something of myself.
“Back when I was 13 I started studying marketing and learning to understand It – even if I didn’t necessarily know it was marketing back then.”
At that age, he started creating Youtube videos which prepared him to, at 15, do some volunteer work with a local agency in Somerset – which is where he grew up.
Later he began streaming on live-streaming website Twitch during COVID – and was able to build a growing community.
After moving to Southampton at 18, Jamie then did an apprenticeship with a local marketing agency, completing this and moving into a Digital Marketing Executive role before feeling as though he had reached his growth potential in that company and decided it was time to start looking into how he could go it alone.
Asked if there’s anything which particularly draws him to the world of social media and marketing, Jamie explained: “I’ve always loved the thought of evoking emotion and a reaction out of people.
“When I started streaming on Twitch during lockdown I always enjoyed sharing my stories and sharing the fun I was having on games with my friends and other people.
“As I’ve got older I’ve started to understand how that translate into impact for business owners.
“I think it’s that focus on individual story which sets me apart from some of the others in this space.
“Some agencies might just offer a generic approach to marketing, for example three posts per week across Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram and will just put them up like clockwork with zero collaboration with the client.
“For me at Reizia Digital, it’s all about collaboration. I love to feel at the end of the day like I’ve made my client’s lives easier and that my work is having a positive impact on them.”
This enjoyment goes beyond the type of work Jamie does, however, as he also takes pride in the type of companies he works with.
“There’s been an overarching theme of helping startups in Southampton become established,” he explained.
“The biggest win for me is when I start working with a company that has pretty minimal brand awareness – they’ve mapped out their service provision and they nail what they do but they’re struggling to communicate it – and I come in and provide them with a strategy and the means to do so.
“One of my key, pivotal clients was Reach Social Enterprises, who work with adults with learning difficulties in Southampton and provide them with a service provision that encourages independence and allows them to build business acumen.
“They came to me because they wanted to be better known in Southampton, so we started creating content and I introduced them to some PR opportunities – they went and spoke on SoSo Show and they held events with me promoting them.
“The events had great turnout and they’ve raised a lot of money to support their work.”
Jamie went on to give some advice to any company looking to improve their social media presence.
“The main piece of advice I give to a lot of my clients is to promote the human element.
“A lot of businesses will put out cool graphics all the time, but they won’t show their team, their mission or their purpose.
“I’m so big on ‘show your people’, don’t just show the service your provide, show how it benefits the world and the community around you.
“I think to be able to make that content well you need to have a really good understanding of your client or business, how they think and what they do with their business. That’s why I make sure to visit each of them every month, as it gives me the chance to chat to them and develop content which is unique to them.”
Looking to the future, Jamie explained that the current goal he is working towards for Reizia Digital is having a hub for his business where he can work out of and create content.
“I don’t want it to be a standard office with a bunch of chairs and desks, I want it to be a collaborative space with cool decor and a creative environment – the sort of place a client or prospect can walk into and recognise what I can bring to their business.
“Right now though, I’m mainly focused on scaling up my business and talking to new clients.”
