Have you seen or participated in innovative influencer marketing campaigns?

Influencer marketing isn't just about hiring someone popular to say, "Buy this!" It's a nuanced form of social media marketing that taps into the influencer's community to foster growth in your own brand's following. The influencer becomes a conduit between what a brand offers and what the community is interested in. It's not just about reach; it's about relevance and engagement.

Influencer marketing in the early stages was a highly impactful way to convert sales online due to reduced friction points, digital personalities acting as a "spokesperson" and being able to get in front of people at a lower price than traditional marketing avenues. As the industry has evolved, it has shifted more towards brand awareness. Less creators convert but its more about the visibility among a sea of ads. Creators became independent creative marketing agencies doing all the work from concept to product, talent casting and distribution. It's a turn-key solution for those that can't or don't want to source 20 different services for 1 ad, but instead, hire 1.

It's easy to think that influencer marketing is just about paying a content creator to promote a product or brand, but it's more than that. Influencer marketing is the art of associating a creator and personality who possess actual influence (which is not granted to just anyone who creates content) and producing talking points, b-roll footage, and a call to action that is appealing to their audience. This requires a more psychological approach to marketing because simply paying someone with a ton of views, comments, and likes to talk about a product does not always lead to a successful campaign. It's important to identify the people who watch the creator you want to work with and thoroughly research them before launching the campaign.

Finding the right influencer is like dating; you're looking for someone who shares your values, speaks your language, and is genuinely interested in you—or in this case, your brand. Don't just look at follower numbers; look at engagement rates, the quality of interactions, and how aligned their content is with your brand ethos. Platforms like AspireIQ and Upfluence can help, but don't underestimate the power of good old-fashioned networking. Sometimes a warm introduction can set the stage for a more authentic collaboration.

Innovation in influencer marketing often comes from co-creation. For instance, I saw a campaign where a fitness brand and influencers co-hosted live workout sessions on Instagram. They even brought in a nutritionist and a mental health expert in subsequent sessions. This multi-dimensional approach not only showcased the product but also added value to the followers' lives. Another campaign used geo-tagging creatively; influencers would visit lesser-known but beautiful spots in a city, promoting local tourism and a new line of outdoor gear simultaneously.

Metrics are your compass; they guide you towards your end goals. While impressions and clicks are good starters, what you really want to measure are conversions and customer lifetime value (CLV). Use UTM parameters in your URLs to track performance directly. Also, consider qualitative metrics like brand sentiment and customer testimonials. Sometimes the comments section can give you insights that numbers can't.

Post-campaign, hold a debrief session with your influencers. Ask them what they think went well and what could be improved. They're the ones who executed the campaign, after all. Their insights could be invaluable. Also, keep an eye on what competitors are doing. Not to copy, but to differentiate. Your next campaign should not only be better than your last but also different from what others are doing.

Think outside the box. What I believe makes influencer marketing so special is that there are infinite and creative ways to collaborate with content creators, and we have only scratched the surface. One of the most creative and enjoyable campaigns I worked on involved a professional Smash Bros. player battling fans online on a Twitch stream while disguised as a robot (as a VTuber) through Unreal Engine. Another popular streamer challenged him live to a match after raiding the stream, in front of over 10,000 concurrent viewers. It was a live, WWE-like match on the fly, which set records on Twitch and had fighting game fans talking about it for weeks. Yes, with influencer marketing, anything is possible, and that's why I love it.