Austin Armstrong got hit by the social media bug at 14 years old, learning how to get more followers on MySpace. Today, he has three million followers across Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Earlier this year, Armstrong launched the AI tool Syllaby, which is designed to streamline content creation and help businesses run a successful video marketing campaign. He said he wanted to create something that automates the process and provides people with a step-by-step guide.
Ultimately, Syllaby helps business owners create a social media content strategy quickly and easily.
“Social media has changed my life,” Armstrong said, “and I just want to empower other business owners, entrepreneurs and creators…(to) change their lives too.”
From 2019 to 2021, Armstrong and his wife lived in Durham while she attended Duke’s Fuqua School of Business for her MBA. They have since moved back, and Armstrong is now a member of Durham startup hub American Underground.
Armstrong, who has 18 years of digital marketing experience, also runs the social media marketing agency Socialty Pro. In the past few years, he has accumulated over 750,000 followers on Tik Tok, posting about SEO and social media marketing. He has posted more than 2,500 videos that led to tripling Socialty Pro’s revenue, and has posted thousands more videos on his clients’ social media accounts.
Armstrong utilized the repeatable process that he developed for creating content for clients, and combined it with AI to create Syllaby. The platform’s features include:
- Finding a topic your audience is curious about through SEO
- Writing a script using AI
- Creating a digital twin or avatar that looks and sounds like a real person
- Scheduling the video on your content calendar
Syllaby is also working on adding more features, such as video editing and directly posting to social media.
The subscription-based platform—for $49 per month—has 1,600 active users, while Syllaby has also provided 10,000 free trials thus far. It also has an established affiliate program with 2,000 affiliates.
It is primarily used by service-based businesses, particularly small or corporate businesses with many individual agents. Armstrong said their two main industries are behavioral health and real estate.
There are a few competitors that provide similar tools and features, he said, such as Synthesia, which creates custom digital avatars, and ChatGPT, which can generate scripts using AI.
But, there is nobody that quite does it like their platform.
“I think what differentiates us is it’s not just a suite of tools,” he said. “It’s a process. We walk you through the actual process of creating a successful video marketing campaign built on 18 years of experience working with hundreds of businesses.”
By the end of the year, Armstrong said they hope to raise funding and earn over $1 million ARR in their first year.
His mentor and business partner Dr. Ehsan Gharadjedaghi serves as Syllaby’s COO and CFO, and Anand Butani is the startup’s CTO.
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