2019 may not be over yet, but for marketers, your brain is already in 2020 and planning is in full swing. So as you plan for the new year, we want to take a look back at all of the important influencer marketing lessons we learned this year and what we can take into 2020 to make it the most successful and impactful one yet.
There might’ve been nothing we dove into more this year than pharma and its relationship with influencer marketing. The most important thing we learned is, yes, you can successfully run an influencer campaign for a pharma brand. But you have to prepare for it. Know that it will take time, patience, and a lot more regulation.
The more campaigns you do, the more you learn what helps and what doesn’t and the more you learn to get creative with your budget and how far you can stretch it to maximize engagement. It’s like DIY for your own campaigns. There are many small hacks you can do to help your engagement for each campaign without spending more.
Influencer campaigns don’t need to all look the exact same. Most brands are participating in influencer campaigns in one way or another and it’s important to stand out in a market that can become oversaturated. Learning to be more creative with your campaigns and be ahead of the game is the best way to do that, and there is no better time to start than in a fresh new year.
To use an agency or to not? You can argue back and forth all day if an agency is worth it, but the results speak for themselves. This year we have learned what all an agency can do to relieve the stress of influencer campaigns, to troubleshoot those unexpected issues, and to help stretch your budget to put out the most impactful campaigns yet. Why not let the experts do the heavy lifting?
It is easy to associate influencers and Instagram and to believe that they always go hand in hand. It makes the idea of anything going wrong with Instagram terrifying to those wanting to try influencer marketing. But the truth is, influencers have always been around. And when you do get creative, you will find that influencers can and will survive past any social media.
We love to give you a list of great influencers. Whether it’s travel, beauty, family, or millennials. But in the past year we have seen dad influencers grow tremendously and it’s no wonder that our dad blogs are some of the most popular blogs we put out there. High engagement, trusted, and not over-saturated, dad influencers can be the answer to what your brand needs to succeed in the influencer space.
So, maybe your product isn’t sexy. Maybe it is more of a taboo subject or even embarrassing to discuss. Who better to normalize and openly discuss these types of products than influencers? Those that are ahead of trends, who are professionals at making things cool? Whether it’s birth control or toilet paper, influencers can bring that conversation straight to their audiences and help you better connect.
It’s a very sought after career to be an influencer. It’s no wonder that people will go the distance to prove how influential they are. But just because they have that “look” at first glance, doesn’t mean they are the right fit for you. We learned this year about all of the secrets of buying followers, buying engagement, even faking social posts to seem more legit. It’s important in any future campaign to vet your influencers and check for red flags.
Conclusion
Whether it was fun learnings like how to leverage great dad influencers or more serious lessons about what all goes into successful pharma campaigns, 2019 was an important year for the growth of the influencer marketing industry and we hope each piece of content we put out helps you to go into 2020 with the confidence to run your best campaigns yet.
The year is 2004. You wait patiently in front of the TV for that new scooter commercial to come on Nickelodeon so you can show your parents exactly what you want for Christmas. Meanwhile, your mom flips the channel to see the latest Great Wolf Lodge commercial trying to decide where the fam should travel for the holiday. But, gone are the days of scripts and actors showing you the coolest hotel destinations or circling the latest toys in catalogs. Social media, and specifically influencers, have changed many things in our consumer lives. Especially the way we do the holidays, and it’s time for all brands to notice.
Gifts
Perhaps the most obvious are the gifts that are making our wish lists. We are spending more time on social media than watching television or reading the paper or listening to the radio. And even if it is subconscious, your Christmas list is probably made up of things you have seen scrolling through Instagram. If you ask most Gen Zs what they are asking for for the holidays they will probably direct you to a James Charles video of his latest makeup palettes or maybe something from a former Bachelor contestant’s new clothing line. Word of mouth marketing is generating twice as many sales as direct advertising and people’s purchasing decisions are coming from those they trust, and content creators are high on the that list.
Travel
The holidays are one of the most popular times to take vacations. Did you know that searches to travel to Thailand grew by 158% after the Kardashians visited there back in 2014? Celebs and influencers online have a huge say in the hottest travel destinations. Children can have a huge say in a family’s travels, and 50% of Gen Z take their travel suggestions from destinations they find through Instagram. We are discovering new and exciting places around the world through travel influencers and many of them are dedicated to showing you the best times to visit, how to do it on a budget, and even how to travel with a family. What better way to become your own travel agent then to take tips from some experts?
Festivities
Have you seen Pinterest during the holidays? It’s like an influencer dream. Well, you shouldn’t underestimate its power. In fact, nine in ten pinterest users use their pins to plan purchase decisions. Recipe developers, homemakers, even party planners on social media have a huge influence over the way we are decorating, planning, and cooking during the holiday season. They encourage their audiences to step up their game when it comes to Christmas decor or the Thanksgiving meal spread. And remember, millennials began the tradition of ditching the traditional, so there are so many opportunities to leverage influencers to seamlessly work your brand into a new and fun holiday tradition.
Conclusion
Influencers predict trends, which is what makes them so powerful. Whether that trend is a new holiday meal, an exciting winter escape for the family, or the latest fashion pieces and tech gadgets to give as gifts, they are the greatest experts to turn to when predicting the holiday trends. Influencer marketing has stolen Christmas and helps dictate the way we are celebrating every year, making it one of the most important seasons for influencer campaigns, no matter your brand.
About Mattr
MATTR, leaders in influencer campaigns for highly regulated industries, is the only full-service influencer marketing provider with detailed audience insights from PersonaMesh™. We go beyond demographics into psychographics such as values and interests so that your influencer campaigns align with your campaign targets.
It’s safe to say now that “influencer marketing” is no longer a new term. Most likely if you are a marketer, no matter your brand, you have not only heard of influencer marketing, but are finding more and more ways to implement influencers into your social planning. Influencer marketing has come a long way in the past years, but the truth is, we have a long way to go. Since most other advertising mediums have been around for decades longer, they have found more ways to get creative in their space. Who says influencer marketing can’t be the same way?
Brands Getting More Involved
This might sound contradictory to past blogs we’ve written, but there are actually ways brands can get more involved with influencers without crossing the influencer’s creative boundaries. One of the best examples of this might come from one of the largest YouTubers, David Dobrik and his partnership with SeatGeek. They go beyond just having David discuss what the app does and how it works. They have found a way to work seamlessly with his content to incorporate themselves into his videos, and surprisingly, not even in an annoying product placement type of way. They have helped him give his friends tickets to world series, to MMA fights, even helping him purchase cars for those in need. Their giving nature through this influencer has not only helped their awareness spread to millions and millions of people, but they have also made a name for their brand as a giving and charitable organization. SeatGeek has found a way to be a huge part of these videos online through heartwarming and impactful stories.
Becoming More Interactive
As we mentioned in a previous blog, influencer marketing is not synonymous with Instagram. In fact, it’s not synonymous with any social platform. Influencers have evolved from the idea of “word-of-mouth marketing” and when you look at influencer marketing in that light, many other doors start to open. Another way of utilizing influencers is through experiential marketing. It is a way for influencers and your brand to engage with your audience through personal interactions, in real-time. You can help a few micro influencers host house parties, or maybe have some hyper-local influencers show up to a new local store opening, or even having a large macro influencer at some pop-up shops or live events. The possibilities are endless to gain real world engagement, instead of a simple ‘like’.
The only risk through house parties and live events to showcase your product or service is that you do have to let go of more control. The conversations are open and honest so you have to trust your influencers and your product. But your audience will take notice of the effort and the authenticity of personal interactions like these. And that authenticity is what made influencers so impactful from the beginning.
Conclusion
We’ve said it time and time again: the beauty to being in a young space like influencer marketing is that there really are no rules. There are so many opportunities to be creative with your brand when it comes to influencers and there is no reason influencer marketing cannot expand its creativity just as every other type of marketing. The sky’s the limit and goes beyond just a simple in-feed Instagram post and caption. Now, we aren’t saying this doesn’t still work. But in a space that is becoming more and more saturated, now is the time to start getting more creative with your influencer planning before you just become another post to scroll through for viewers.
About Mattr
MATTR, leaders in influencer campaigns for highly regulated industries, is the only full-service influencer marketing provider with detailed audience insights from PersonaMesh™. We go beyond demographics into psychographics such as values and interests so that your influencer campaigns align with your campaign targets.
