If you take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. If you take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I’ll show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. 

You’re still reading? Red pill it is!

You Need This Guide. Here’s Why.

Matrix references aside, in the world of social media marketing, things change quickly. Really quickly. What works today may be completely outdated by tomorrow. That’s why it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and best practices. And when it comes to Instagram influencer marketing, there’s no better time to start than now.

With so many platforms and options available, it can be tricky to know where to start. That’s why we’ve put together this comprehensive guide to using Instagram as an influencer marketing platform in 2023. By the end of this guide, you’ll know everything you need to get started with Instagram influencer marketing, including how to find the right influencers for your brand and how to measure your campaign’s success.

The Opportunity: Why Instagram Influencer Marketing?

Instagram has over two billion monthly active users, making it one of the most popular social media platforms on Earth. Pretty impressive, right? What’s more, 72 percent of users say their trust in influencers has increased. Meanwhile, trust in brands is on a steady decline. In fact, 66 percent report that influencers are driving factors in what they choose to buy, and 64 percent look to influencers to help them discover new brands and products.

So, does Instagram influencer marketing work? Absolutely! Because Instagram is such a visual platform, it’s perfect for promoting products and services that are visually appealing. And because users can easily like, comment, and share posts with just a few clicks, Instagram also provides an easy way for influencers to connect with their followers and build relationships.

Instagram also offers several features and tools that make it easy for brands to track their influencer campaigns and measure their success. For example, with Instagram Insights, brands can see detailed information about their followers, including age, gender, location, and interests. This data can be used to create more targeted and effective campaigns in the future.

The Strategy: Build A Ridiculously Successful Campaign

Now that you know a little bit more about influencer marketing on Instagram, it’s time to start planning your campaign. When it comes to influencer marketing, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. That’s why we create bespoke campaigns for brands like yours. Here’s how we work our magic.

Determine Your Campaign Goals

Now that you’ve started to uncover the value of having an Instagram influencer marketing strategy, let’s take a look at how we’ll help you get the results you want. Success in influencer marketing starts with having a clear and defined goal. Without a goal, you’ll never be able to measure the success of your campaign.

There are many different goals you could set for your influencer marketing campaign, but this step details all measurable aspects of the campaign. If you know what you want your influencer campaign to do, you can structure it to achieve specific goals.

Ask yourself these questions to help determine the goals of your campaign: What do you want to achieve? Who’s your target audience? What are your expectations? What’s your influencer whitelisting strategy?

Choose Your Target Audience

You may say, “Oh, this is an easy one. We know exactly who our audience is.” Here’s where I encourage you to trust the process. Bear in mind that influencer marketing is a tool that helps you to reach new audiences that you may not have had access to before. To do this, it’s sometimes necessary to think outside the box when it comes to targeting.

For instance, we had a ridiculous amount of success with a campaign for a popular cosmetic brand. Even during one of the most expensive holiday shopping seasons ever, we saw unprecedented results with both interest-based and influencer engagement lookalike audiences. In other words, we were able to expand awareness to a whole new group of potential customers who had never even heard of the brand before — even though the brand is well-known.

Find Your Ideal Influencers

A benchmark report issued by Influencer Marketing Hub affirms the most challenging part of running an IM (influencer marketing) campaign is finding the right influencers. But don’t fret. Our expertise relieves you of the stress of influencer searching and vetting.

Keep in mind that the best influencers are those who have an engaged following of users who are interested in your industry or niche. Generally, the primary goals in working with influencers should be to increase brand awareness and brand reputation. These are followed by building brand community and social media followership. Then increasing customer loyalty and generating revenue are the cherries on top.

To find the right influencers for your brand, consider their expertise in your particular industry. This step is important because you want to make sure they have the knowledge and experience necessary to accurately represent your brand. You should also consider their engagement rate, or the number of likes, comments, and shares, they receive on their posts. Influencers with high engagement rates are more likely to have followers who are interested in their message.

Be Selective When Partnering with Instagram Influencers

Plunging beneath the surface is an essential step in influencer vetting. Demographic factors like age, gender, and socioeconomic status are important to consider when assessing influencer appropriateness for your brand. Additionally, there are performative and behavioral elements that need to be considered. These include previous partnerships, categories of authority, post topics, quality, and frequency. Finally, creative assessments help determine whether the influencer’s storytelling, values, personality, and other attributes are the best fit for your brand.

We know this is an extensive process, and it can be a bit daunting to do all of this on your own. Luckily, we can help you with influencer research, influencer marketing strategy, and influencer outreach using our proprietary influencer marketing platform. This saves you the headache of guesswork and the expense of trial and error.

It’s also important to consider an influencer’s overall reach when choosing who to work with. An influencer with 200,000 followers is not necessarily more valuable than one with 10,000 followers if their engagement levels are low. In fact, 67 percent of marketers choose to work with micro-influencers (those with between 10,000 and 50,000 followers). They often have higher engagement rates than even the most popular celebrities because their followers feel like they have a personal connection with them. The moral of the story is to capitalize on trustworthiness, not just popularity.

The Cost and ROI of Influencer Marketing on Instagram

One of the most common questions we get from brands is, “How much does Instagram influencer marketing cost?” Great question! As with any investment, the amount you spend on influencer marketing should be based on your goals and objectives.

To determine how much to spend, start by identifying what influencer marketing can do for your business. As we’ve discussed, influencer marketing can help to increase brand awareness, improve brand reputation, build brand community, and increase sales. With these objectives in mind, you can begin to determine how much you’re willing to spend on influencer marketing to see a return on your investment.

Determine Your Campaign Type

The kind of campaign you choose will determine your influencer marketing budget and ultimately your ROI. For example, a product review campaign will require a different budget than an influencer-led event. There are three main kinds of campaigns to choose from: brand awareness, content-focused, or click-focused.

Brand Awareness Campaigns

Brand awareness campaigns are great for new brands and those looking to launch a new product, rebrand, or re-establish industry value and position. These types of campaigns make new consumers aware of your brand so you can grow your reach. Giveaways and social media takeovers are examples of this kind of campaign.

Content-Focused Campaigns

Content-focused campaigns are the way to go when you’re looking to reuse influencer-generated content across your branded channels. If your goals include creating scroll-stopping ads, this is likely the campaign type for you. Measured social media posts are an example of this kind of campaign. 

Click-Focused Campaigns

Click-focused campaigns are the ideal option when the goal is to increase site traffic, grow a mailing list, retarget offerings, or grow sales. Sponsored blog posts, reviews, and affiliate marketing are some post examples you’ll find in these campaigns.

Track Your ROI

Now comes the fun part: tracking your campaign’s ROI. As you know, influencer marketing is a data-backed science aimed at converting engagement into leads. So, to accurately track your influencer marketing ROI, you’ll need to set up some tracking infrastructure. This allows for optimal results as you track and measure the effectiveness of your influencer campaign.

Of course, this means absolutely nothing without a complete understanding of the things we’ve discussed in this guide so far. That explains why upward of 80 percent of marketers have tried influencer marketing, but  25 percent of them have seen a zero percent ROI. Making sure that you avoid influencer marketing mistakes, have a clear strategy, and use influencers that are the best match for your brand is essential to influencer marketing success. Luckily, that’s our bread and butter.

Focus on Your KPIs

The key to influencer marketing success is to track your most important KPIs (key performance insights). These are the backbone of any influencer program and indicate whether an influencer is effective in meeting your business goals. So it’s important to have a good understanding of which ones you should track before launching a campaign. To make things easy for you, we’ve listed the metrics you can expect to see in our reporting, as well as how they map to your business goals.

Important influencer marketing KPIs for brand awareness, click-focused, and content-focused campaigns include:

Awareness: Reach, impressions, and social media mentions. This measures how many people lay their eyes on your content.

Engagement: This counts how many times people stop what they’re doing to interact with your content. This could be anything from a like, comment, or even share.

Followers: This number measures the growth of your audience.

Views: This value indicates the number of people who have watched your video content for at least 3 seconds.

Link Clicks or Swipes: This metric gathers data on the number of times a prospect used one of your links to get more information about your brand or to access your product from a different platform or website.

Promo and Discount Codes: These allow you to measure how effective influencer-generated content is in getting people to make a purchase from your brand by tracking how many times consumers viewed and acted on your brand’s offer.

Instagram Influencers Who Are Crushin’ It

Finding the perfect Instagram influencer for your brand is one of the influencer marketing tips that can make or break your campaign. Our proprietary SaaS influencer matching platform is the perfect tool to find influencers that will help you reach your business goals. We’ve done the heavy lifting for you. The perfect influencers are now at your fingertips in seconds using various search criteria including location, industry, engagement rate, followers, and much more.

There are tons of influencers who can be an asset to your brand. Here are a few examples of influencers who are absolutely crushing it right now:

Nataldee

Natalie (@Nataldee) is an influencer and content creator known for her vibrant, body-positive feed. She loves to romanticize her life, and she makes sure her followers feel like they’re on this journey with her as she welcomes them to her fairytale. Her content is engaging, aspirational, and absolutely breathtaking, which is why she’s amassed a sizable following across social media platforms.

me_and_my_butts

Cat (@me_and_my_butts) Buttigieg’s children Clementine, Felix, and Robin are her biggest muses! The four, five, and seven-year-olds are the stars of her content as they go about their daily lives and explore the world around them. From enjoying hot cocoa at the dining table to celebrating birthdays, Cat’s content is relatable, heartwarming, and hilarious. These pint-sized fashion icons from down under are sure to put a smile on your face and inspiration in your heart!

TheGroomerGal

Lindsey Dowling (@thegroomergal) is a dog lover, dog handler, and Master Creative Groomer. She owns two pet grooming salons and is frequently featured in professional dog shows. On her feed, this nano-influencer often posts videos and photos of her beloved fur friends being groomed in her salons as well as tips on the best pet-safe grooming products. 

Frequently posing with the best-in-show, her passion for animals is evident in her work, and she has used her influencer platform to educate others on the importance of mindfulness and appreciating a pet’s true nature. If you’re a dog-focused brand, Lindsey may be the influencer for you.

As you can see, influencers come in all shapes and sizes with a wide range of interests, backgrounds, and styles. It’s important to remember that influencer marketing is all about finding the right fit for your brand. This is a vitally important process, and it shouldn’t be left to chance or trial and error.

Time to Dive Into Instagram Influencer Marketing

The Shelf is the influencer marketing agency for forward-thinking brands. We take a holistic and data-driven approach to influencer marketing, and we are dedicated to helping our clients achieve their business goals, and defeat the Agent Smiths of the marketing world. Booking a strategy session and getting started has never been easier.

You’ve made it through his entire guide — so you’re looking to take your influencer marketing to the next level. We’ve got you. Connect with The Shelf today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lira Stone | Effective, Magnetic Strategist

For over a decade, my focus has been ensuring that professionals stay ahead of the curve in the most time-efficient, task-prioritized, and stress-free manner possible. My extensive experience has equipped me with the knowledge to design a concise, company-culture-relevant, methodical approach to internet sales and marketing.

The post 2023 Guide To How Instagram Influencer Marketing Works appeared first on The Shelf Full-Service Influencer Marketing.

The reason: Consumers no longer purchase from brands – they invest in them. 

And like the savvy investors they are, they want to use products from brands they resonate with. So, you have two options:

1. Study your customers and represent them in all of your ads and marketing

2. Collaborate with influencers your audience already knows and trusts 

One can take many months to see results, and the other drives traffic and sales in days or weeks. But we’re not talking influencers in the realm of a Kardashian or Minaj.

We’re referring to nano-influencer marketing. Not sure what this is or if it’s for your brand? Then continue reading.  

What are nano-influencers (and how many followers do they have)?

Nano influencers are the smallest of the bunch in terms of followers – with 1,000 – 5,000 followers. These are the niche influencers with sacred communities built upon trust and authenticity.  Depending on who you ask, nano-influencers can include social media users with as few as 100 followers and as many as 10,000 followers.

You can find them across all platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok (to name a few). Plus, they exist across all industries, from health and beauty to tech and travel. 

And apparently, nano-influencer collaborations are on the rise (even in B2B). A report from Influencer Marketing Hub shows 52% of brands are working with up to 10 influencers. Another 22% are partnering with between 10 and 50 influencers. 

Source

Something must be working if businesses invest this much in nano-influencer marketing. 

Nano-influencers are not to be confused with micro-influencers, who are also smaller than the traditional influencer but have 5,000 – 50,000 followers. It’s a small distinction – but a powerful one. 

6 reasons why you should work with nano-influencers

Your goal is to sell your products to buyers. And nano-influencers are the gateway to consumers’ hearts (and pockets). 

That’s because people trust people. And unlike macro-influencers, nano-influencers feel more authentic and trustworthy. When they promote a product, 9 times out of 10, it’s because they stand firmly behind the brand and its cause. Here’s a look at the other benefits of nano-influencer marketing. 

1. Nano-influencers are everyday people

Mentioned it already, but it’s worth hammering the nail on the head again. These are hard-working people with families, goals, and careers outside of social media. 

So, followers don’t view them as walking and talking social media ads. And most importantly, they’re authentic. You won’t find a feed filled with promotional content. But when the occasional product-related content appears, it’s a mix of praise and disapproval. 

It’s like getting advice from a family member or best friend. And that’s what makes an influencer collab with a nano-influencer is so effective. 

2. Nano-influencers have high engagement rates

Can’t toot the horn of the nano-influencer without mentioning their exceptional engagement rates. After all, this is what you want to see on brand-related posts. 

These folks built their social media network authentically by starting conversations, engaging with others’ posts, and offering value to their tight-knit community. 

This is easier to do since they have a smaller circle to manage and can reply to comments in a timely manner. In turn, this increases engagement from followers (and potential followers). 

And we’re not just talking likes, shares, and basic comments. But meaningful engagement, such as conversation, deep interest, and tagging folks in posts.

3. Nano-influencers are easy on the pockets

Not only do nano-influencers increase your visibility and sales, but they do it at a reasonable cost. Their rates are substantially lower since they don’t tout a large following. Some will even just do it in exchange for your free product. 

That’s not to say they aren’t worth a fair rate for the work they put in to connecting your brand with their highly-engaged audience. So, it’s best to pay for all nano-influencer partnerships. 

But how much do nano-influencers cost? Well, that depends on several factors (covered more in-depth below). However, you can expect to spend several hundred dollars. 

4. Nano-influencers are personable and enthusiastic

When a nano-influencer enters a partnership with a brand, they’re ecstatic (especially if you’re one of their first gigs). And it shows through the posts they create. 

The posts may not be as “professional” as a macro influencer’s, but they’ll be creative and genuine. The project isn’t “just another business engagement” like larger influencers who live and breathe influencer marketing. 

And whatever they produce will work for their audience, which is ultimately what you’re trying to tap into. Let their platforms be their portfolio. With a little research on your end, you’ll be able to tell the quality of what they typically produce, whether for a brand or not.

5. Nano-influencers are super niche 

Filling your network with generalist influencers – not a good idea. This makes the content they create less relevant to your brand and their audience. In other words, no eyeballs, clicks, or purchases for you. 

But nano-influencers are super niche, making connecting with audiences relevant to your brand and product easier. This is critical to prevent wasting money on little to no engagement with your content. 

And with the increase of influencers in general, you’ll be sure to find a nano-influencer that is perfect for your brand.

6. Fast content production

You can forget about getting your content published fast when you work with a macro-influencer. In some cases, you’ll have to wait months to have your post ready for the public or pay big bucks to have it done sooner.

But that’s not typically the case with nano-influencers. Most can have your post ready for publishing within days of receiving your product (depending on their work schedule, of course) or for a small fee if they are really busy. 

How much do nano-influencers cost?

Nano-influencers are typically affordable for small businesses and brands. You can expect to pay anywhere from $100 to several hundred dollars for a post. On Instagram, nano-influencers typically cost between $10 to $100 per post. 

But what you’ll spend depends on several factors, including:

• The social media platform of choice 
• Type of content they’re creating (e.g. static post versus video)
• Number of posts they must create
• Agency fees (if you’re working with one)
• The amount of effort required (Do they have to travel to a local pool to show off your swimsuit?)
• Influencer’s reach (the closer to 5,000, the higher the rate)
• Amount of engagement (high engagement = more pay)
• Industry expertise (expect to pay higher for fitness influencers vs. health enthusiasts)
• Influencer’s demand (the sought after will cost more)
• Exclusivity (if you want them all to yourself, you’ll have to pay a pretty penny)

So, keep this in mind while searching for a nano-influencer to work with. 

And speaking of which…

How do you find nano-influencers?

If you’re on social media networks, then you’re already a step closer to finding nano-influencers. But locating the perfect one for your brand is another story. 

There are several methods brands use to find relevant social media influencers for marketing campaigns. For instance, you can follow industry hashtags, search for published industry authors or bloggers, or use influencer marketplaces like The Shelf. (The latter speeds up the process by recommending a list of influencers that fit your criteria.)

iHeartRaves, for example, uses relevant hashtags to find influencers to collaborate with:

“We usually find a lot of nano-influencers in our tagged images on Instagram. If we see that a customer has potential as an influencer, we will often send them products in exchange for creating more content.” – Brandon Chopp, Digital Manager at iHeartRaves

How do you find the right nano-influencer?

There are 8 questions to consider before selecting a nano-influencer:

1. Are they relevant to your audience and niche?
2. Do they have consistent (quality) engagement with loyal followers?
3. Are their followers good quality? 
4. Is the quality of their content high?
5. Do they consistently post content?
6. What is their follower count?
7. Do they have good reach?
8. Does their content have a mix of promotional and personal posts?

The best way to answer these questions is to analyze their social media profiles. For instance, to calculate their engagement rate, you divide the number of likes, comments, and shares with the number of followers they have. Ideally, you want to hit between 2% and 3%, but higher is even better. 

Formula: Number of Engagement / Number of Followers = Engagement Rate

Then, you can review some of their followers’ profiles. Are they a real person (not a bot)? And do they show interest in your industry? Do the same for the influencer – check all of their social profiles to see what they discuss. 

This gives a well-rounded view of what they represent and who they target. This also ensures they’re not fake influencers with fake audiences. waht is

Here’s what Brandon Chopp does to find the best nano-influencer for campaigns:

“First, their content has to be of good enough quality that we would want to repost it. Next, we look at their engagement. We generally like to work with influencers that get at least 1,000 likes per photo, regardless of how many followers they have. That said, we do make exceptions if their content is great and we think they have potential.” – Brandon Chopp

Here’s an example of a post from a nano-influencer iHeartRaves collaborated with recently:

Source

Influencer marketing platform vs. influencer marketing agency vs. doing it all yourself

As you’re searching for nano-influencers, you’ll come across three options: 

1. Doing it on your own
2. Working with an agency
3. Signing up to an influencer marketing platform

The first will eat up most of your time and resources, and won’t guarantee results. Hiring an influencer marketing agency is a good option to delegate the creation and execution of your nano-influencer campaigns. And if you use one with a built-in influencer marketing platform – even better. 

For instance, The Shelf is a done-for-you influencer marketing agency that boasts a platform packed with different types of influencers. You can browse through influencers and select those you want to work with. Plus, you can monitor your campaigns in real-time via the dashboard. 

Since agencies already have influencer relationships, it’s quicker to get the ball rolling with your influencer marketing campaigns. And they have dozens of campaigns under their belt, ensuring you generate a nice return on investment. 

How to use nano-influencers in your marketing

You found a nano-influencer you like. Now what? Here are several tips to improve your chances of generating favorable results:

• Develop an influencer marketing strategy with clear goals and expected outcomes
• Use software to monitor key insights from each campaign (and to see what’s working)
• Use relevant existing and branded hashtags to drive visibility and recognition
• Publish content at the right times (use audience analytics to see when their target audience is most active)
• Choose the right type of content (e.g. Stories are best to demonstrate a product)
• Reuse their user-generated content in other channels and content (blogs, emails, social media, etc.)
• Pay nano-influencers a fair rate to show you value their collaboration

In the end, nano-influencer marketing is a partnership. So, get them involved in planning the campaigns to ensure the content and promotions resonate with your brand and their audience. 

An example of a brand using a nano-influencer comes from one of The Shelf’s influencer marketing campaigns for The Smile Generation (a photography brand). 

Nano-influencer, Ilda, did a family photoshoot and used it as a backdrop for Instagram and blog content. She created heartwarming words about what makes her family smile (clever), and how important their smiles are. 

The Bottom Line: You can use nano-influencers to build your brand.

When you need to connect with your target audience authentically, nano-influencer marketing is the way to go. It positions your products in front of potential customers using the people they know and trust. 

It’s an underrated strategy, but it’s quickly gaining steam among businesses and marketers. 

There are millions of aspiring nano-influencers out there, and more are popping up every day. So, there’s plenty to go around. But don’t wait too long, or they may get snatched up into exclusive deals. 

Ready to get started with nano-influencers? Sign up for a demo with The Shelf today.

The post The Everything Guide to Partnering with Nano-Influencers appeared first on The Shelf Full-Service Influencer Marketing.

With summer in full swing, it’s the perfect time to create and launch a summer influencer marketing plan that you can roll into the back-to-school / fall shopping season.

For many consumers, summer is about relaxing a bit and taking time off. That means lounging out in the sun (while simultaneously hiding from the heat), lazing around the pool, heading out for road trips, and making the rounds at festivals. Lots and lots of festivals.

For marketers, this sort of universal downtime provides a unique opportunity to get in front of people who are still pretty busy, but feeling far less mentally congested.

Summer Marketing  Opportunities Abound

If you think about it, the 90 or so days that make up summer vacation are packed with holidays, summer traditions, summer tendencies, and warm-weather products that provide ample opportunity for you to give your brand awareness and your sales a boost.

The unofficial start of summer kicks off on Memorial Day, nearly a month before summer  actually begins, and unofficially ends on Labor Day, two to three weeks before the official end of summer. Here are the highlights.

OPPORTUNITY: BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPING

When the lazy days of summer finally do arrive, with it comes the second biggest retail event of the year – back-to-school shopping. I know. I know. Don’t mention summer fun and back-to-school shopping in the same cyber-breath. We’re probably all programmed to separate the two in our minds.

Still, by the time Independence Day rolls around, 24 percent of parents have already begun shopping for the new school year. By the end of July, that number will more than double to 57 percent of parents.

 

I won’t go too much into the back-to-school numbers because we did that in Parts One and Two of this series (The 2018 Influencer Marketing Guide), and also here and here.

Suffice it to say, with annual back-to-school sales hovering somewhere in the ballpark of $83 billion on everything from pencils and clothes, to gadgets and dorm furniture, there’s probably a slot in there somewhere for your product.

OPPORTUNITIES: SUMMER HOLIDAYS

Memorial Day

• The average consumer spends $486 Memorial Day weekend. (Source: Adweek)
• Memorial Day weekend is a major travel holiday for consumers. Memorial Day travel in 2018 was estimated to be 41.5 million people, despite a 22 percent rise in the price of motor fuel. (Source: AAA)
• Apparel stores, department stores and electronic stores were the top retail destinations for Memorial Day weekend shopping. (Source: Adweek)
• In 2016 travelers spent $12 billion over the long holiday weekend. (Source: Money, Inc.)

Father’s Day

• Father’s Day is a global holiday.
• Father’s Day spending was expected to reach $15.3 billion in the U.S. in 2018. (Source: NRF)
• 3 in 4 Americans celebrate Father’s Day. (Source: Fundivo)
• Millennials tend to spend more on their dads, spending around $188 per person for the holiday. (Source: National Retail Federation)
• Fewer than 15 percent of dads want that tie – or any apparel at all – for Father’s Day.
• For variety and idea inspiration, nearly 40 percent of shoppers will head to the nearest department store for Father’s Day.

Source: NRF

Independence Day

• Last year’s big, juicy post on Fourth of July stats makes Independence Day a big deal for the more than 200 million Americans who celebrate it. (Source: The Shelf)
• 2017 was a record-breaking year for Fourth of July spending at $7.1 billion. (Source: NRF)
• Most celebrants (about 2 in 3) will be heading to a barbecue to eat on one of the nation’s biggest food holidays. (Source: CNBC)
• Americans will eat 150 million hot dogs for the Fourth. (Source: WalletHub)
• Sweet Baby Ray’s is the big winner when it comes to barbecue sauces, accounting for nearly one-third of all barbecue sauce sales. (Source: Statista)
• Top-selling non-food products include barbecue grills, mosquito repellent, consumer fireworks, American flags, display fireworks and apparel.

Labor Day

• Labor Day is ranked the third most-liked holiday in the U.S., right after Christmas and Memorial Day. In fact, 3 of the top 5 holidays are summer holidays that we talked about in this section. (Source: WalletHub)
• More than 35 million people will hit the roads for Labor Day weekend travel. (Source: ABC News)
• Labor Day spending is a mixed bag. While actual spending on Labor Day festivities totals around $60, the average shopper is going to spend about $100 more that weekend on back-to-school items like school supplies, 28 percent; clothes, 22 percent; and electronics, 18 percent. (Source: McNutt & Partners)

OPPORTUNITY: SUMMER FUN & TRADITIONS

I came across the Fun Summer Activities Checklist from Real Simple listing 50 things people tend to save for the summer months. It was the kind of list that brings back fun memories, served with a side of alarm as you wonder how long it’s been since you were carefree and fun-loving.

Here’s a partial list of 24 activities I thought were particularly summery.

According to the National Recreation and Park Association, many of these activities really are summer favorites across generations:

• 55 percent of those surveyed named having a picnic/barbeque as a favorite activity
• 49 percent said going for a walk or a hike was their favorite thing to do
• 40 percent named a trip to the beach as their favorite summer activity

Other popular summer activities include exploring nature, attending festivals, going to the pool, camping, working out, water activities, and playing sports.

OPPORTUNITY: FILM AND ENTERTAINMENT

The summer blockbuster has become a tradition all over the world. Despite the dip in box office sales last year (what was with that summer lineup??), upping your theatre (and drive-in) attendance during the warmer months is a summer tradition.

Since Will Smith starred in Independence Day, I have been a HUGE fan of the summer blockbusters. I start my summer viewing frenzy with whatever piece of artistry is birthed out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the end of April or beginning of May. 

This year is looking good. The die-hard action junkie I am, I have my heart absolutely set on seeing Tom Cruise, Angela Bassett, Henry Cavill, and Alec Baldwin in Mission Impossible 6: Fallout  on July 27, 2018. No kids on this one. Just me and Ethan Hunt, kicking butt and taking names. 

Our personal collection of Incredibles 2 action figures pulled out of Happy Meals. Missing from this pic are another Mr. Incredible, Dash, Violet, and Edna. Seriously. My kids love those red boxes… sometimes they even eat the actual Happy Meal. Geez…this is $40 in action figures. Now, I know how my parents felt…

Coincidentally, July 27th is also the day Dwayne Johnson’s new movie, Skyscraper hits theatres in China, pushing past the traditional Hollywood Blackout in which Chinese theatres only show domestic films during the summer months.

My family’s summer blockbuster is Incredibles 2. I’m also thinking my toddler – who is also an action junkie – will enjoy Antman and the Wasp, which looks promising. We’ll see.

As of this writing, Incredibles 2 already has $500 billion in global ticket sales, driven in part by smart (and pervasive) marketing like these cross-promoted sponsored posts from influencer and Disney Partner, Brittany @clumpsofmascara.

This Instagram post of tech-savvy, super hero clothing designer Edna outfitting her, is both clever and funny.

“NO CAPES!”

The video was cute and funny. I watched it twice in about 1 minute, then immediately followed @clumpsofmascara before moving on to check out her other platforms.

Here’s her growing YouTube channel, Clumps of Mascara, which currently has 11K followers.

She cross-promoted Incredibles 2 on her Pinterest account, which has 14K followers…

…. By noting that her husband looks a lot like Frozone. (He does, doesn’t he?)

And again she promoted the film on her Twitter page, which has 11.8K followers.

OPPORTUNITY: THE KIDS ARE HOME

The kids are home from school. From the tiniest Generation Alpha baby to college upperclassmen who are pushing the outer limits of Generation Z, the kids are home. When the kids aren’t obsessed with balancing school work and extra curricular activities, with their physical and virtual lives (huge responsibility, as most brands can attest), it leaves room for you to get in there and see what they’re talking about and how you can help.

Born between approximately 1997 and 2010 (some estimates extend that period to 2016). The members of Generation Z make up a quarter of the US population. By 2020, Gen Z could account for up to 40 percent of all consumers, according to Fast Company. Most of them are still young enough to get an allowance, the sum total of which comes to about $44 billion a year.

The oldest Gen Alphas are only in the second grade by now, but 81 percent of parents say their Gen Alpha kids either watch videos or play games on electronic devices every single day. Gen Z and their Gen Alpha younger siblings have some sway over how their Millennial and Gen X parents spend the $600 billion they control, chiming in on everything from breakfast foods to which family homes to buy.

That Time we Saw @ChytheGreatest Out Shopping

Case in Point: I’m searching for a dance studio for my daughter, who studies modern dance. Of course, by “searching”, I just mean it’s on my to do list and I keep remembering it’s there. Recently, my daughter and I were out grocery shopping when she gasped, took a step back, and whispered, “Oh, my God. That’s Chy the Greatest (@ChytheGreatest).”

A tall, lean teenager with fuchsia hair was in the store, standing not far from us.

“Ok. I’ll introduce you,” I said.

No. I don’t know Chy the Greatest, but I do know a scared daughter when I see one, and I was going to bridge the gap. I grabbed my daughter’s hand. She twisted and turned, and begged me not to introduce her. Then she got loose from my grasp and she disappeared, leaving me talking to Chy by myself.

#Shrug

Here’s the point I’m making: Somewhere in my interaction with my daughter, I found out Chy the Greatest has more than a million followers across social, lives in our old neighborhood, and she is a dancer – a good one.

My daughter takes dance very seriously, so I trust her judgment on who’s a good dancer. I also found out where the Instagram mega influencer attends dance school.

Great. Problem solved. I can check finding a dance studio off my To Do list.

Coincidentally, I noticed several people trailing not far behind her as she walked through the store, including my daughter.

OPPORTUNITY: SUMMER BEAUTY PRODUCTS

Summer beauty products are a big deal. Beyond the mosquito repellent and the SPF 50 sunblock, most consumers who use beauty products know there’s a big difference between what you put on your skin during the summer verses what you wear during the winter.

In a survey of English-speaking, UK-based women, 15 percent of respondents named specific skincare or body care products they consider a requirement for their summer beauty regimen. Another 11 percent identified eye makeup specifically as the thing they could not and would not forego during the summer months. Only eight percent of respondents didn’t have favorite products that they considered summer beauty must-haves. Just eight percent.

Popular beauty vloggers such as Judy Travis (on Instagram @itsjudytime),  Audrie Storme (on Instagram @audriestorme) and “Over 40 Beauty” blogger Stephaniemarie.7 (on Instagram @stephaniemarie.7) have joined the thousands of visual creators, makeup artists, and beauty bloggers who have posts and videos specifically geared toward summer beauty products.

Another group of beauty products fall into the category of what Vogue refers to as athleisure beauty products. They include products like mattifying moisturizers, melt-proof eyeliner, makeup setters, and other beauty products that you can wear during your workout like “Gym Makeup Fail” video from Huda Kattan that she posted to IGTV a day or two after it launched at the end of June. You can see that in our post on IGTV here.

OPPORTUNITY: EXPERIENCES

Experiences and travel are huge during the summer months. Last years, 80 percent of Americans were planning a road trip, even if they weren’t planning an official vacation. If you’re gonna go, summertime is the time to do it. Whatever “it” may be.

I’m just going to pull a few stats from this holiday post on selling travel experiences that we did last year on U.S. travel trends:

Families still travel together. In fact, more than one-third of Americans planned a family vacation for 2017, according to AAA. And 79 percent of them were planning road trips by car. Where were they going?

Multi-generational trips have seen an unprecedented increase in popularity over the last few years. Adult children are creating experiences as a way to show appreciation to their parents and grandparents. Children are getting the chance to spend time with their extended family, and possibly the rare opportunity to see mom and dad in a more playful, relatable way.

People are looking for the thrill, the excitement, and the fantasy theme parks deliver. And let’s face it, visiting a place like Universal Studios, Legoland, one of the Disney Attractions, or even a great local carnival makes for great stories and fantastic social media fodder.

The top 10 amusement park chains in the world attract nearly a half billion visitors a year. Walt Disney Attractions get 150 million visitors annually and generate $16.16 billion. Thirty percent of U.S. adults consider family-friendliness to be a non-negotiable trait of a vacation destination.

For Millennials, experiences often trump consumer goods when it comes time to spend money. According to the National Retail Federation’s Spring Consumer View, 40 percent of Millennial parents are more likely to pay a premium for experiences, rather than collecting stuff. Forty-four percent of Millennial parents bring their children along on vacation with them, and forty-three percent of Millennials would prefer to rent or lease an item like clothes, jewelry or cars over paying to own it.

This shift in parental priorities has made a space for companies like Winnie, an online community that helps parents find family-friendly events and activities and Baby2Family, an online community that helps parents connect and share photos in a closed community, and recommends products based on user reviews

Babierge and Babies Getaway allow parents to rent high-quality baby equipment for home and travel. So, the problem of constantly upgrading baby gear, and the challenge of transporting all the necessary baby equipment when  you go on vacation are effectively solved.

Of course, there are some things you can do at any time that just seem to be better when it’s warm. Americans now spend $52.8 billion a year eating out at bars and restaurants, and $52.5 billion on groceries. Full-service restaurants have their busiest times from July to August.

Another segment of the food service industry that performs best during the warmer months are food trucks. In 2016, there were nearly 5,000 food trucks in the U.S., employing about 14,000 people. While they are a staple in college towns and cities with warmer climates, most people will see even more food trucks (we have carnival food trucks that pop up here) during the warmer months.

It’s not surprising that California has the highest share of food trucks, OR that Millennials are the biggest eaters when it comes to food trucks. Fifty-four percent of diners between the ages of 35 – 44 are likely to buy a meal at a food truck. While far fewer older Gen Xers and Boomers (30 percent) were likely to to patronize food trucks.

OPPORTUNITY: B2B

The final opportunity I want to mention is B2B opportunities. The summertime slowdown that enables CEOS and other stakeholders to go on vacation is also one of the most popular times for businesses to do a little retooling, specifically in regard to their digital footprint.

Your 9-Step Summer Marketing Plan

Now I’ve run down a list of potentially-lucrative opportunities when people are spending more money, let’s get right to your summer-fall influencer marketing plan.

#1 FIGURE OUT YOUR GOAL

Influencer marketing campaigns have specific goals, and typically each campaign is designed to produce at least two of the following:

• Brand awareness
• Sales growth
• Product placement
• Boost in follower count
• Product reviews
• User-generated content
• App downloads
• Video views
• Website traffic
• SEO boosts

One reason so many companies find it hard to measure ROI with influencer marketing is because they don’t do the proper planning at the onset. By identifying the goals you want to accomplish before you ever start building the campaign, you know what to measure during, and at the close of, your campaign.
 

#2 DEFINE YOUR TIMELINE

Do you know a well-planned influencer campaign takes anywhere from 10 to 16 weeks to get going? Consider this post your laundry list of the things to do before, during and after your campaign.
 

#3 ALLOCATE A SOLID BUDGET

Your goals, timeline and the resources you allocate to accomplish your goals within that time have to work together. Those three are also THE KEY FACTORS in determining what strategies will work best during your campaign.
 

#4 DEVELOP YOUR CAMPAIGN STRATEGY

I know. You may have thought the strategy part happens AFTER you hire influencers. After all, isn’t that what they’re there for?

That’s a negative, Hoss.

Your campaign strategy is the time when you determine:

• Your message
• The platforms you need to use
• Which types of influencers you think are best-suited to deliver your message, and
• The actions you want your audience to take with each campaign

#5 RESEARCH AND SELECT INFLUENCERS

If there’s any one step that brands seem to have the most difficulty completing it’s this one, and you’ll see why as we dissect this step.

Selecting an influencer is easy. Researching an influencer to find one who can make your campaign a success is the tough part.

You’re probably aware you need to verify more than just follower numbers, blog traffic, and engagement numbers. So, what are those other important traits – the minimum traits you need to assess – before partnering with an influencer? The Shelf platform allows brands to use 30 targeting signals during the influencer selection process.

I recently wrote a detailed post on evaluating influencers for Social Media Today that you can find here. In the post, I discuss the five metrics you can use to evaluate influencers . These are: 

• Organic follower growth – To ensure followers are real, engaged and offer the potential for you to garner future sales
• Content on all social platforms – To determine the verticals in which an influencer actually wields influence
• Audience demographics – To figure out where your two audiences overlap and market specifically to those people
• Brand affinity – To understand where your influencer and his / her followers actually show
• Product analysis – To get a better idea of how much they spend when they shop

Sentiment

One more signal I’d add to that list is sentiment.

Influencer sentiment reflects the influencer’s attitude toward different things, but in particular the vertical in which he or she is most active and influential.

Consider two mommy bloggers I follow whose popular Instagram accounts are made up largely of mom stuff.

The first blog is MommyWeek.com, authored by Atlanta mommy blogger Ashley, an award-winning mom blogger and owner of the @mommyweek Instagram account.

On Instagram, Miss Ashley’s content (that’s what I’d call her down here in Atlanta – it would sound weird to just call her Ashley out of nowhere) focuses on homelife, homeschooling (roadschooling), self-care, beauty and work/life/family balance, and includes sponsored content.

Her Instagram feed is filled with rows and rows of bright, pretty pictures of the Mom, Dad and the Kids in different scenarios at home and around Atlanta.

The flip side is I LOVE Sammiches and Psych Meds (Instagram at @sammichespsychmeds). The Instagram feed is filled with memes, quote cards, and truths about motherhood – many of which no mom really wants to admit out loud. The content @sammichespsychmeds is curated content – it’s an aggregate of mom-related posts from all over the web, and the blog has multiple contributors.

Sammiches and Psych Meds appeals to moms like me who can laugh at clever things, even if it’s at the expense of my own Insta-perfect image. Like @Mommyweek, the Instagram posts on @SammichesPsychMeds get great engagement, too.

I think this content is hilarious and spot-on. I happen to be a mommy blogger who doesn’t love traditional mommy blogs. I’d take this feed of smarty pants mom stuff over thousands of others any day.

Most campaigns will require more than one influencer doing one post. An old stats says people only see 30 percent of what goes through their feed. After the last few adjustments to news feed algorithms of Facebook and Instagram, and the overall growth of social media, you can bet the average social media users sees a lot less than 30 percent of the content that goes through their feed. 

Audience sentiment reflects the way in which followers respond to the content being posted, both with actions and the types of comments being left. A great example of this can be found in Julie Wampler’s content. Julie Wampler (on Instagram @tablefortwoblog) authors the Table for Two Blog and has a healthy following of about 17.5K people.

A cursory review of her posts and engagement reveasl something powerful – her followers genuinely like her.

Just a little background – Wampler’s blog is one-part lifestyle and one-part food blog. That’s normal. A few years ago, a trend emerged that pushed a lot of niche influencers to create lifestyle content as well. We wrote about the rise of the lifestyle blogger when the trend first became a thing in this article.

Wampler’s Instagram feed is full of AMAZING food photography, like this post that generated nearly 400 Likes (more than two percent engagement).

The recipe for these dirty chai brownies can be found on the blog, but notice, if you will, the comments for the post. Each comment gets a response from @tablefortwo. There are two brands mentioned – #mywilliamssonoma and @ceremonycoffee. Not only that, but some of her followers have tagged people in their own network.

The post below from Wampler isn’t about food at all, but about a skincare product a friend recommended to her to treat eczema and other skin issues. It’s not a sponsored post. As of this writing, the post has garnered 465 Likes.

Again, notice the comments – there are 100 of them. Lots of her followers tagged other people in the comments who they thought should know about the product as well. And again, Wampler consistently responded to the comments she received.

#6 GET A SIGNED CONTRACT

Every partnership needs a clearly-defined list of expectations, whether that list is “love, honor and cherish” or “produce one 600-word blog post and one 90-second video”. Your contract serves to protect your company and your influencers from losses that result from misunderstandings or non-compliance.

So,  you want to make sure you have a mutually-beneficial written agreement in place detailing:

• The purpose of the campaign
• The goals of the campaign
• The timeline of the campaign
• The type of content to be produced
• The quantity of the content to be produced
• Flexibility in editing, optimizing, and tweaking content
• The ownership and future use of the content created
• Payment amounts and dates

And after that’s done, verify with your influencers one final time the content they are creating for your campaign.

#7 SHIP PRODUCTS

Ship products well ahead of when the campaign should actually go live to give your influencers enough time to receive, test, and rave about your products in whatever way they have agreed to do so.

#8 LAUNCH

With everything else in place, you can roll out your campaign with the confidence that you’ve done everything you can to ensure your summer influencer marketing campaign is properly structured, and tailor-made to help you reach your business goals. That’s the whole point o influencer marketing, after all.

#9 CONTINUALLY OPTIMIZE

You give your summer marketing campaign the greatest chance of success when you monitor and actively do what you can to optimize the campaign while it’s running.

Effective marketing is not now, nor has it ever been a set-it-and-forget-it tool. If we could set and forget marketing campaigns, fast food joints would have stopped making new ads decades ago.

And fries. They wouldn’t keep changing their fries.

At The Shelf, we run what we like to call “Always On” campaigns. We monitor influencer campaigns knowing that as they run and the audience begins to engage, we will see ways to make them even more effective, more successful.

By monitoring campaigns, you will begin to see what people are responding to and how you can tweak your campaigns to get greater reach, more followers, and better engagement.

The Wrap-Up

There’s still time to launch a FANTASTIC summer / fall influencer marketing campaign. Running a successful influencer campaign is about gathering data and creating a plan for the best ways to leverage the data you have to get in front of your target audience. You can re-work this basic strategy so it better suits your business goals.

Of course, if you need help with your summer influencer campaign, we do influencer marketing better than anyone else.

The post A 9-Step Fall Influencer Marketing Plan appeared first on The Shelf Full-Service Influencer Marketing.