Nearly 50 people attended the Polk County Chamber of Commerce’s monthly Learning Lunch Tuesday. Brett Foisie presented a program called “Social Media Marketing with Zero Ad Spend.”
Foisie is the owner of Done Bros, a media company for real estate, construction and outdoor industries, and the founder of Social Elevation, a social media and website consulting business.
Foisie spent 12 years in the oil and gas construction industry. He has a degree in occupational safety and health from Columbia Southern University and holds professional certificates in AI, web design and marketing.
Having learned through his own experiences, Foisie said that ads can sometimes feel like a money pit and that small businesses often can’t compete with big ad budgets.
“People trust authentic content over ads. Organic marketing works when you are genuine, consistent and creative,” he said.
Offering a social media content strategy, Foisie stressed the importance of video first, be it Reels, Shorts, or TikTok, depending on which social media platform one is using.
“Humor and humanity cut through the noise. Post raw, real, frequent content. Short-form videos have shown to have the highest reach. Document, but don’t overproduce,” he said, adding, “People like behind-the-scenes information, updates and bloopers.
Foisie said that AI can be used as one’s assistant because it can write captions in seconds so that videos may be repurposed across multiple platforms. He said that it also saves time and provides more consistency.
Using the Facebook platform as an example, Foisie encouraged those attending to join and engage in local groups. Don’t sell – just share, help, answer questions. Build trust, then business follows, he said.
Referring to it as “the comment hack,” Foisie instructed everyone to always be your first comment, to pin important information and links and to reply to everyone because it doubles your reach.
He said the organic approach works, with statistics showing that video posts on Facebook generate 135% more organic reach than photos and that posts with comments and replies are favored by algorithms.
Using his own experiences as an example, Foisie referred to the Drone Bros’ flood coverage from spring of 2024 in which his coverage went viral, reaching 60+ million views.
“Authentic behind-the-scenes posts result in stronger engagement and humorous posts are shareable and memorable,” he said.
Calling it “homework,” Foisie gave everyone the following seven-day challenge: “Post one behind-the-scenes photo or video. Write your own first comment before anyone else does. Join one new Facebook group relevant to your industry. Repeat consistently for seven days and see the difference.”
In closing, he emphasized that one doesn’t need a $5,000 ad budget, but just a $0 consistency budget. “Be genuine. Be consistent. Be memorable.”
For additional information, Foisie may be contacted at brett@dronebros.us or through www.dronebros.us.
