Social Media Expert: The Content Strategy That Works in 2026

Natalie Barbu, founder of the social media management platform Rela, nearly shut her company down in October 2024 with $25,000 left in the bank and two months of runway. Three days after she and her team decided to close, a video she posted on TikTok went viral — not by the platform's standards, but by hers. It got 60,000 views in a day. That video generated seven times Rela's monthly recurring revenue in a single month. Within four months, the company hit $2 million in annual recurring revenue. The story is not about luck. It is about a specific sequence of decisions: narrowing an audience, listening to customers, moving fast, and refusing to quit until the game is actually over.

The Mistake of Building for Everyone

Rela 1.0 was a tool for influencers — or so Barbu thought. In practice, she modeled the company after Notion, whose audience is everyone. She wanted Rela to serve influencers, talent managers, social media managers, podcasters, and in-house teams. The result was a product she calls a "Frankenstein." Features built for one group confused another. Users would ask why a feature existed, and the team would say, "Don't worry about that, it's not for you." That confusion caused churn. No one knew who Rela was for, so no one recommended it.