Breaking the Marketing Mold: Afton Porter Of Style Guide Society On 5 Innovative & Non Traditional Marketing Strategies That Can Engage Audiences Like Never Before
An Interview With Chad Silverstein
Know your Best Colors: The first thing I always do with my clients is give them a color analysis because when you know your best colors you are going to look your best. And when you look good, you feel good, and you perform well. Having a color analysis done is vital to your business and personal brand. Your branding colors need to be colors that look great next to you, because you are your brand.
Traditional marketing methods are no longer sufficient in today’s dynamic and fast-evolving market. To truly engage and captivate audiences, businesses need to think outside the box and adopt innovative and non-traditional marketing strategies. What are these strategies, and how can they transform audience engagement? I had the pleasure of interviewing Afton Porter.
Afton Porter is the visionary in luxury real estate image consulting, leveraging her extensive background in high-profile fashion styling to revolutionize how high-end real estate agents present themselves in the competitive property market. As the founder and creative director of Style Guide Society, she uniquely combines her fashion industry savvy with strategic marketing insights. Learn more at AftonPorter.com
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! To start, could you share when and how you got started in marketing? I have degrees in fashion merchandising and marketing.
When I graduated from college I was a retail coordinator for CK Jeans and would travel in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to merchandise the CK Jeans area in major department stores so they may sell more clothing. I was the liaison between the buyers in New York and the department store managers in the southwest. I later became the lead stylist at Phoenix Fashion Week and coach of their emerging designers boot camp that teaches designers how to market their company to become profitable. And now I have my own image consultancy that helps real estate agents attract high net-worth clientele by building a brand through style.
What has been the biggest shift in the marketing industry and can you give us an example of how it impacted you?
I started in the business in 1997, so there have been many changes and shifts in the marketing industry since I’ve been around. In 2024, the most important shift in marketing is that you need to have your own strong personal brand regardless if you have your own business or your work for a company. When you have a strong personal brand businesses will want to hire you because they understand more clearly the value that you bring. The shifts in marketing have impacted me by retaining clients globally, not just in my surrounding cities.
Can you explain why it’s essential for businesses to break away from traditional marketing and embrace new strategies?
The traditional way of marketing was the only way to get your business in front of new eyes and grow at the time. Now we have so many more options to tap into and you are leaving money on the table if you don’t utilize them. When you get creative in how to hyper-target your clients you will save time and money acquiring new customers or clients and grow faster.
Could you share and briefly explain the first major change you made to break the trend of traditional marketing that was not so common?
The first major change I did was to break away from traditional marketing and focus on building a strong personal brand for my real estate agents through elevating their personal style and image management. Now real estate agents are building a relationship with people online by being the face of their business and the star of their business, not the homes or the breakage.
I apply my high-end fashion styling skills to the luxury real estate agents to curate their image for high-end clientele. This is a holistic approach using their own body type, coloring, and lifestyle to create the perfect image that helps them shine in their career. These are not traditional elements of traditional real estate where they just throw on a black blazer and white shirt. My clients standout in their field.
What specific results did you see after implementing this change?
Let me give you an example. A real estate agent coach found me from a Facebook ad in July, loved my brand essence so much that two months later she booked me to fly me out to Richmond, Virginia to speak to her real estate agents on how to elevate their image for more success in their business. That’s the power of a personal brand.
How do you ensure that these new marketing strategies resonate with your target audience?
You have to test and see what works. Having said that, when you have curated your image to perfectly align with your gifts, talents and lifestyle, you can’t help but be more successful at whatever you are doing because you will be more confident in how you feel about yourself.
Can you share an example of something you tried that didn’t deliver expected results or ended up becoming a financial burden, and what you learned from that experience?
If you want to post and ghost your social media followers instead of staying and playing, you will be very disappointed. I think so many times people think they should just be able to post and that the buyers will come flooding in and it doesn’t work that way. Just like showing up at a networking event takes time to develop relationships, it takes even longer to create meaningful relationships online. You need to be patient and have conversations with those who are in your circle of influence.
Great. Now, let’s dive into the heart of our interview. Could you list “5 Innovative & Non Traditional Marketing Strategies That Can Engage Audiences Like Never Before”?
- Professional Wardrobe: Design your wardrobe by your own unique personal style and not just as is expected in your industry. Lady Gaga didn’t become Lady Gaga by blending in. She was strategic on what she wore. What you wear actually changes your brain, so it’s important what you put on each day.
- Strategic Collaborations: Think outside the box of who you can collaborate with in your industry. What would be a fun, unique way to invite more people into your world whether online or in person. This allows you to leverage other people’s audiences with similar needs and wants.
- Know your Best Colors: The first thing I always do with my clients is give them a color analysis because when you know your best colors you are going to look your best. And when you look good, you feel good, and you perform well. Having a color analysis done is vital to your business and personal brand. Your branding colors need to be colors that look great next to you, because you are your brand.
- Behind-the-Scenes: We all love to take a peek behind the curtain and see what people are really like. Having a way to share stories of what you’re up to, how you are helping your customers, and that you are a real breathing human being, is another way your audience can fall in love with you.
- Customized Couriered Gifts: Okay, this might fall under traditional but I want you to take this to the next level. If you are trying to get the attention of a potential client, send them a gift that is not generic but customized specifically for them and have it couriered to them and packaged beautifully. Do not send this directly from a store or through a postal service, use an upscale courier service and you will stand out!
What challenges might companies face when transitioning away from traditional marketing strategies, and how can they overcome them?
Learning to do something new is always scary because you haven’t done it before, especially if you are wanting to move into the online space. It’s normal to feel that way and don’t let it stop you.
How do you measure the success and ROI of these new marketing strategies?
I measure success by the goal of the marketing strategy. Did we accomplish the goal of the marketing strategy? Was the goal for awareness, engagement with the brand or sales. Whatever the goal, sometimes you don’t really know how far the impact will go because the momentum takes time to build.
Looking forward, how do you see the role of innovative marketing evolving in the next 5–10 years?
The importance of a strong personal brand will become more and more necessary in all fields, an online presence is your business card and only social proof you will need, and being able to meet with clients not just online but in a virtual reality setting.
What advice would you give to business leaders who are hesitant to move away from traditional marketing methods?
If you have done all the traditional marketing and you are seeing a plateau in your business, you are going to have to do something different to get different results. When you have seen good results traditionally, it is easy to transition to digital marketing with some guidance. I know that it is scary to put your face online for all the world to see, and putting your face online allows all the world to see you. Isn’t that what you really want? You are actually holding yourself back from growing by not taking the next step.
Can you share any upcoming initiatives or plans you have for further innovating your marketing strategies?
I will continue to keep helping my real estate agents build their personal brand with style online and in person with the digital tools that I have to complete a virtual color analysis, see their digital closet online, shop stores specific to my clients online and put outfits together for them from anywhere in the world.
How can our readers follow your work and learn more about your approaches to modern marketing?
They can find me at aftonporter.com
This was great. Thanks for taking time for us to learn more about you and your business. We wish you continued success!
About the Interviewer: Chad Silverstein, a seasoned entrepreneur with over two decades of experience as the Founder and CEO of multiple companies. He launched Choice Recovery, Inc., a healthcare collection agency, while going to The Ohio State University, His team earned national recognition, twice being ranked as the #1 business to work for in Central Ohio. In 2018, Chad launched [re]start, a career development platform connecting thousands of individuals in collections with meaningful employment opportunities, He sold Choice Recovery on his 25th anniversary and in 2023, sold the majority interest in [re]start so he can focus his transition to Built to Lead as an Executive Leadership Coach. Learn more at www.chadsilverstein.com
Breaking the Marketing Mold: Afton Porter Of Style Guide Society On 5 Innovative & Non Traditional… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.