Social media marketing was the post I’d been looking for

Amy O’Sullivan grew up in the village of Gathabawn, Co Kilkenny, and studied economics and law at Dublin City University.

The daughter of a solicitor, she thought she might follow her mother into the legal world, “but soon realised it wasn’t for me”. Seeing her mother run a law practice did, however, inform her thinking: she too wanted to be her own boss.

During college she wrote for a student magazine and worked on college radio. A short course on TV presentation followed, with a view to moving into the media professionally on graduation in 2013.

“I tried and failed,” she says. But the skills she picked up proved invaluable.

At the time social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook were still in the ascendancy and digital marketing jobs were opening up. “I just thought, I could do that,” she says.

O’Sullivan got a job doing social media and public relations for a Kilkenny boutique and from there moved to an events company, doing promotional work for brands such as Champion Sports and Irish Life Health.

She joined a health food start-up as a digital marketing executive, organising product tastings in supermarkets and at festivals, capturing customer-led content to boost online engagement.

She trained up in digital marketing and within two years was promoted to sales and marketing executive. “I found I had a natural flair for sales and marketing,” she says.

“I was also meeting so many other food business owners at events who said they wished they had someone like me to do their socials.”

Having spotted an opportunity for what her long anticipated business might do, she completed a “train the trainer” course in her spare time.

It meant that, when the time came, O’Sullivan could go out on her own and not just carry out social media marketing for clients but teach them the skills they needed to go on and do the work themselves. It also meant she could host workshops for groups of business owners.

“The big challenge for small business owners when it comes to socials is finding the time to do it. It’s why they tend to just give it over to someone junior to look after. But by not focusing strategically on growing their organic reach, they are missing a major marketing trick.”

In 2019 she set up AOS Consulting, providing social media marketing services. “If it didn’t work out I felt I could always get another job.”

In the beginning, the hardest part was getting her pricing right. She fell into the trap of offering unsustainably low prices just to win business — always a struggle to unwind. “I’d even offer to work for free just to show them what I could do.”

She had one valuable asset on her side, however. Two years previously she had spotted a newspaper story about a new branch of Network Ireland, the networking association for professional women, which was just setting up in Kilkenny. She joined and quickly volunteered to work on its committee. It meant that, when she started AOS Consulting, there was a ready-made business network to tap into.

“I also reached out to really experienced business women for mentoring, for help with my business plan, and just general advice and guidance, which was invaluable,” she says.

When Covid hit, and businesses pivoted online in droves, demand soared. AOS Consulting is now a full-service creative agency providing services such as digital strategies, content creation and website development.

She has continued to work with Network Ireland and this year was elected its national president. “I think it’s more important now than ever for women to help women,” she says.

“Just 2 per cent of global venture capital goes to women. It means that if my brother and I started the same business and made the same pitch, he’d be far more likely to get funding than me, which is shocking. There is so much work to be done.”