Photo credit: Instagrammer @pursuit (https://www.instagram.com/pursuit/)
We recently wrote about why influencer marketing has become so important over the past couple years. Although it is a fairly recent trend, we are seeing brands succeed with this new marketing tactic. Here are five brands that have found success with influencers:
Kate Spade
Kate Spade took to Pinterest influencers for its campaign. The chosen influencers were instructed to put together a board with the theme “Saturday Is.” They not only generated beautiful content and color inspiration for the designer, but they reached 1.2 million followers collectively.
Downy
Downy took a creative approach for its campaign. The brand used soft, fabric-like sculptures to capture everyday situations. They brought influencers in by using the hashtag #SoftSide to talk about what the brand meant to them. The campaign resulted in a five-point increase in brand favorability and social media engagement doubled.
Gap
Gap wanted to take the concept of a fashion blog that lives on the company site. Gap created Styld.by, a website full of outfits and inspiration created by influencers. These influencers were not limited to bloggers and social media users with large followings. The reason why the site was so successful was due to the highly interactive and authentic feeling of the posts.
Boxed Water
In Boxed Water’s campaign, the brand combined social cause and influencer marketing. As an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, for every Instagram post that promoted Boxed Water with the hashtag #ReTree, the organization promised to plant two trees in national forests. Boxed Water partnered with social influencers to spread the word. Nearly 74,000 trees were planted as a result of the campaign.
Johnnie Walker
Johnnie Walker wanted to capitalize on the concept of having experiences and enjoying life in the present. The Instagram strategy involved partnering with influencers with a “sense of adventure.” Selected influencers traveled to Milan, Scotland and Shanghai and took pictures related to the brand to share on social. The Johnnie Walker Instagram account gained 2,000 fans in the first two weeks.
Conducting an influencer marketing campaign can feel daunting if you’ve never done it before. Here are are three tips to get the ball rolling on your next influencer marketing strategy.
Do your research
It’s important to find the influencer that will best connect you with your target audience. Oftentimes, this may not be the account with the highest amount of followers. Take the time to understand the influencers you align with best, as well as their following. The thought that goes into selecting influencers should be comparable to that of a specially-crafted media list.
Personalize your outreach
Oftentimes influencers get many requests for marketing partnerships. The more you personalize your pitch, the more authentic you come across. It’s important in these situations to build relationships and rapport to further enhance your partnership.
Understand the work influencers put in
Whether the influencers you are working with are bloggers, vloggers or have a large audience on social media, respect the amount of work that goes into their posts. Oftentimes influencers spend hours reviewing your product and compiling a thoughtful reflection. Understand that quality may take time.
Be flexible/Work together
Influencers know their audience the best. Allow them to offer up ideas or help collaborate. Sponsorships often sound the most authentic when the influencer is using his or her own tone and voice. Give the influencers your expectations but continue to allow them to make your campaign their own.
Follow up
Thank them for their work and maintain a relationship in case future opportunities arise.