Influencer Marketing: An Encouraging Way to Create Ad Campaigns
Is influencer marketing really considered marketing? Many will say it’s not, that it’s just pretty faces behind well-managed accounts that happen to get free goods and services. From the consumers perspective, this is all true. The influencer somehow managed to shape his or her appearance to become the dream they think everyone wants, and that many followers make them believe they want. Which is scary… But, when you see it from the marketing point of view, the one almost nobody understands, where the marketing department at the company analyzes how beneficial it would be to send free gifts to 5–10 influencers as a campaign instead of spending money on traditional media. Let’s just say, IT F*&#$!@ WORKS!
Throughout the months of September and October, Protex Puerto Rico decided to gather some micro influencers to launch their “Protect Every Moment” digital campaign exclusively on Instagram. Amongst the six influencers chosen, was Leoner Gabriel, a fashion and pet influencer with over 13.5K followers. As a micro influencer, he provides the brand with a higher chance to fully engage with most of his followers. “This group is getting a lot of attention from brands because they have a large, trusting audience and can’t get enough of your brand. They’re relevant to brand conversation…” This line from Mark Schaefer truly depicts why Protex Puerto Rico decided on Leoner Gabriel, rather than on a macro influencer.
After evaluating the type of content and personality that Leoner Gabriel puts out to the world, I do think he was a great candidate for Protex Puerto Rico. The brand personality is very casual, but at the same time pays attention to detail and is strict on its “Kills 99.9% of germs” claim.
“Influencer marketing today is so volatile and fast-paced that it’s easy for brands to miss the mark on the ideal influencer-brand pairing. When we were thinking of the strategy behind this campaign (early March 2020) we wanted real people talking about a real issue. Washing your hands is a must if we, as a society wanted (and still want) to achieve any kind of improvement on the situation. We looked for people who shared their day to day naturally on their platforms and that including a “wash your hands with this product” message looked flawlessly and not forced, both for the benefit of the influencer and for the brand. [Source: Kiara Hernández & Desireé Arroyo, founders of It’s Prisma PR, a Public Relations Agency based in Puerto Rico]
Leoner Gabriel is a small business owner. His brand BLEUCCO sells jewelry, t-shirts, stickers, pins, eco products and face masks. So, I would say his brand identity pairs very well with Protex Puerto Rico.
For his paid partnership with Protex Puerto Rico, Leoner Gabriel posted twice on Instagram. Both of them involve his dog, Blue. His followers love Blue since he is very present in Leoner’s feed. That is why including his dog in a campaign about washing your hands to protect your best moments was a key factor. In one of his posts, he mentions that his happiest moments are when he is around his big baby, referring to his dog, but that those moments could easily be ruined without proper hand washing and protection. He is creating awareness about washing hands, therefore he is educating his audience and promoting Protex Puerto Rico in the same post. Most of the time influencers try to be subtle to try and not damage their feed, so yes, his posts were very subtle because he did not ask any of his followers to buy Protex with a discount code or another sort of call to action related to buying.
Most micro influencers have about 2–4% engagement with their audience. According to the Phlanx calculator, Leoner Gabriel engages on a 2.77% rate with his followers. Both of his posts for Protex Puerto Rico have about 600+ likes and 3–4 comments. All the comments are either about his dog or emojis.
“Influencers are more than influencers. They are perceived as experts and friends…” This line from the book Marketing Rebellion hits the nail on the head. This people have worked tirelessly to create the perfect Instagram aesthetic and the dream life, so why not trust someone that is putting everything out there so easily? This is where humanity meets digital marketing. Even if we are trained to act like robots, consumers need some tender love and care. Reading pop-up ads, emails, talking to chatbots, will not always make the sale, there is no warmness in that. Influencer marketing gives the consumer that last push of realness and confidence needed to make the purchase. I mean, if they use it why can’t you?
References:
Schaefer, M. (2019) Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Company Wins. 1st Edition.
