Instagram is not synonymous with influencer marketing
The practice of influencer marketing goes way beyond social media. Sure, it’s inclusive of what’s trending on Instagram or the latest life-changing beauty hack on YouTube — that’s simply not all that is to the practice. At its core, amplification and influencer marketing are about an honest endorsement from a trusted voice or authority.
Go back to middle school for a brief moment or even to the last cocktail party attended.
There is always that person in the room who exudes it.
They’re the person who picks up on the best music before it goes mainstream, the first to wear what will become the coveted shirt or bag and knows about the next best product, service or offering long before they’re culturally ubiquitous.
Those individuals are Everyday Influencers.
What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing is the art of leveraging endorsements from movers and shakers of a specific industry or niche. Brands organically inspire and often contract these individuals to publicly advocate for their product or service…wait for it…influencing the sphere they’ve worked hard to build.
Influencer marketing is a valuable form of marketing because you can’t buy influence — it has to be earned. Influence comes from a place of trust in which the following — whether on any social media outlet or in the physical world — knows that any recommendation from this trusted resource is valuable and valid.
Strategically speaking, influencer marketing targets a like-minded, qualified constituency via amplification from a known recommender (the everyday influencer). Instead of marketing products or solutions via traditional methods, engaging with the right influencers can essentially sell the product on the brand’s behalf to a targeted and loyal audience.
The magic of influencer marketing is in its sustainability. Through leveraging the power of influencers, an organic group of advocates is formed, leading to ongoing brand momentum.
A brief retrospective of influencer marketing
Influencer marketing started long before Instagram and bot-backed social media “stars” like the subjects of the documentary film “Fake Famous.” It is the oldest form of marketing there is. The craft — and it is a craft and job like any other — is being sold short when associated exclusively with Instagram.
Since the beginning of time, there have always been individuals known for being in the know carrying social currency, also known as clout.
These are the people who have a recommendation for the right fix for whatever their community is seeking — the best place to get brunch in any city, a hotel recommendation and what they should do if they need {fill in the blank}.
Everyday influencers inform their network of a myriad of items from Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse to movements such as Nearby/Keep Oakland Alive and that San Francisco is hosting a series of concerts this summer illuminated by candlelight and performed by live musicians in some of the most iconic venues in the city.
Does the name Hush Puppies mean anything? They are an old school brand of brushed-suede shoes available in a variety of styles. Previously in style in the ‘50s, 40 years later they were piled high in stacks or on the racks of small-town outlets. Then something happened. It’s what is now known as ‘viral’ and social media was nowhere in sight during that time period.
It was the 90’s and a group of hipsters in Manhattan started wearing them.
Soon, the shoes were selling out in vintage stores, becoming a hit in the underground scene. Prominent stylists took note and began including the once outdated, newly reinvigorated shoes in fashion shows and collections.
Before long, the shoes went from decidedly uncool to a mainstream wardrobe staple.
Whether a Malcolm Gladwell fan or foe, the concept remains in his examination around this phenomenon.
In his first book “The Tipping Point,” Malcolm Gladwell deconstructs the series of events that turned Hush Puppies from obsolete to the latest obsession: “Those first few kids, whoever they were, weren’t deliberately trying to promote Hush Puppies. They were wearing them precisely because no one else would wear them. Then the fad spread to two designers, who used the shoes to peddle something else – high fashion. The shoes were an incidental touch. No one was trying to make Hush Puppies a trend. Yet, somehow, that’s exactly what happened.”
Instagram may be responsible for creating a platform that enables Everyday Influencers to build personas and amplify their message further than ever before possible, however the concept of influential cultural arbiters is far from unique to a modern day mechanism and social media.
From the unsuspecting lover and liver of life, hipsters of varying locales, cocktail party conversationalists and niche Instagrammers and YouTubers, influencers have the power to cultivate and harness powerful cultural movements.
Influencer marketing isn’t new or fluffy. It’s offensive to the discipline to call it a trend or worse dismiss its value with a scoff and eye roll. This historic form of marketing will continue to evolve and leave its fingerprints all over major movements — whether well-known or on the down low. For as long as there is procreation and life, there will be people who stand out and create a new norm.
How to create a successful influencer marketing campaign
Because this is 2021, we’re going to skip explaining why brands should work with everyday tastemakers and deploy influencer marketing as an integral part of amplification included in the strategic marketing plan.
Influencer marketing is backed by stats of success. Quantitatively and qualitatively, the benefits are clear.
How to work with influencers
From your savvy San Francisco branding agency who’s done it many times before
1. Pinpoint target influencers.
To succeed in influencer marketing, a solid graph on the audience, knowing and understanding them inside and out is key. It goes way beyond demographics moving into how and where they spend time, what they value, previous brand-sponsored partnerships, who they listen to, trust and how they share that with their network.
This is critical for identifying potential influencer partners.
This is your opportunity to unapologetically scroll and dive deep into the social media rabbit hole.
Pay attention to all of the content the influencer post and ensure you’re aligned with it. Are you comfortable with influencers who…share political messages, use slang to convey a point, show skin, put people on blast, always toe the line and therefore never really take a clear stance. Ask yourself all of these questions and more.
Pro-tip: If you want 25 influencers promoting your brand, put 35 – 50 on your target list. It’s guaranteed somebodies/somethings will fall through, whether it’s ghosting, a family emergency or a discrepancy with creative alignment.
2. Vet and secure your target list.
Once the target list is created, it’s time to connect and screen potential candidates to validate the below, learn more freestyle-wise and get a litmus test of the chemistry and collaborative nature of the potential partnership.
BOLO (Be on the lookout for)
> Reach
> Average engagement rate
> Previous brand partnerships
> Grid appeal
If the initial exploratory conversation goes well and everything aligns, send a stylized parcel with a detailed brand book. This is critical for two reasons. First, an aesthetically appealing parcel makes for great unboxing content and can often score extra posts. Secondly, the influencer needs to be a real adopter and advocate of the offering.
If the influencer doesn’t have a genuine love for how and what the brand is highlighting, the engagement most likely will not bear the desired results.
3. Set ground rules.
Once the list of influencers is secured, set clear guardrails for the relationship. All expectations and rules need to be clear and directly communicated up front. Share with the influencer the brand lingo, style guide, do’s and don’ts. This needs to be carefully and thoughtfully curated to avoid any mishaps to keep the message on-brand.
In the agreement, determine how many posts will be created and when and on what outlet they will be posted (tip: you want permanent posts). Be sure to implement a system whereby regular access to insights are available for transparency, accuracy and accountability.
All assets and documents are customized to each respective brand and corresponding goals.
4. Let the influencers do their thing.
Once agreements are made and the influencer has tested and fallen in love with the brand’s offering, let them do what they do best: create amazing content their followers love to consume. This includes aligning up front that the brand reviews and approves every post before it goes live. When partnering with MKMCreative, we assume this responsibility.
This is the brand’s opportunity to take a step back and allow someone else to take the reins for a moment. This is also the moment to appreciate the amazing results that come about when ownership of the brand has been anointed to the influencer.
The beauty of amplification marketing is that influencers are able to make brands their own in a way that resonates with their followers. It’s really quite incredible to witness each individual’s creative interpretation and take on the product, service or offering — freedom within framework, creative within confines.
Friendly reminder: the brand asked for this and while it might be mildly uncomfortable for a moment — ride it out — if the preference is to have full control and company scripted messaging, choose another form of marketing that allows absolute say and control. Remember, approval is baked into the process. However, the goal is not to change the content curated by the influencer, it’s to catch almost oopsies.
When brands engage in influencer partnerships, they are putting it in the hands of a trusted authority. What they do with it is nothing short of magic.
5. Evaluate success.
After the posts have gone live, dig into the data to evaluate what worked best and what fell flat. Integrate the insights to guide and uplevel the next influencer marketing campaign.
Sparkly nugget: Pay attention to micro-influencers. They have smaller audiences which tends to lead to qualified followers that deliver powerful engagement. Remember, the Everyday part of Influencer, fame and large followings do not guarantee consumer adoption.
Kick off your influencer marketing campaign
Influencer marketing is methodical, plan-driven and requires significant amounts of coordination and strategy. The moment a brand launches a piece of it is owned by everyone who interacts with it in some way. That’s why so much careful consideration and planning is necessary and the reason we endorse partnering with an experienced brand marketing agency for influencer engagements. Companies who have done it on their own, do amazing work. As it’s our full-time gig and area of expertise, we tend to get different results and find some clients hesitant and turned off because the internal efforts did not deliver the anticipated results. It’s always a good time for a redo, especially with the right partner.
Ready to embark in the big, wide world of influencer marketing? Our team at MKMCreative has been harnessing the power of influencer marketing for decades and can handle the details, strategy, creative deployment, metrics and retrospective.
Hit us up to talk about your influencer marketing goals. We can make marketing magic happen. When you purchase or gift The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse or get something from Keep Oakland Alive, be sure to remember and share, you heard it here first!
