Up until 2019, I never realized the people that went online to promote a brand or product had a name, let alone received some type of compensation for it.
Luckily enough for me, through my current role, as an Associate Brand Manager I was able to learn more about influencers hands on. In 2020, I was tasked to execute a retail specific influencer program. Quite frankly, I was a bit nervous knowing this was a huge undertake, as there are several stakeholders involved. From creative agencies, media partners, brand teams, the retailer and we cannot forget the legal department, there are many areas of a business that are required to be engaged to provide feedback/approvals to launch an effective campaign.
To successfully execute this Influencer Marketing program, I needed to plan out a (realistic) timeline. To accomplish this, the best approach was to work backwards, given the various approvals that take place, the lead time is approximately 8-10 weeks. From my experience of managing programs over the years, I know it is always best to give extra time, therefore I went with 10 weeks.
The promotion focused on a specific retailer in the South, the strategy was to use the Halloween timeframe to inspire themed usage occasions and food content to show our brand as the most entertaining, creative treat during the frightening holiday at this retailer.
The biggest challenge was picking the appropriate influencers to represent our brand, in the most authentic way. Deciding factors included the following:
- Demographics
- Did the influencer resonate within the same target audience? This helped to determine which social channels to execute content in-Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok?
- Geographic
- Because we wanted the audience to purchase our brand/product at this specific retailer, the location of the influencer was instrumental when making our selection. They should be in the states, where this retailer has locations.
- Social Presence
- Did these influencers have a robust social presence, but more importantly were they engaging?
- Did they have a large following?
Once the influencers were selected and the approvals were in place, we were ready to roll. We executed the content through Instagram- photos and story posts.
Prior to launch, the agency provided benchmarks to help us understand how our content performed, metrics consisted of the following:
- # of impressions-420,000
- # of photo views: 210,000 views
- # of story views: 210,000 views
We outperformed the benchmarks, in all three indicating this program was a success!
Influencer Marketing has become a widespread marketing approach, 75% of US companies have relied on influencer marketing as of 2018, I can only believe that this number has since increased as more digital channels have evolved.
Regardless of tactic, we as marketers must keep top of mind, the 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place Promotion) and the 4 C’s (Connection, Community, Content and Context) to win at shelf and on line.
References
- Inmar Intelligence
- HBR: Do Influencers Nee to Tell Audiences They’re Getting Paid? Alice Audrezet and Karine Charry
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