Is your business unsure about influencer marketing campaign strategies and their effectiveness? Do you have a campaign but don’t know if you’re measuring ROI correctly? Influencer marketing is an effective campaign method that uses real people to represent brands. Here’s how influencer marketing worked for Tier10’s dealer associations.
What Is Influencer Marketing?
HubSpot found that 81 percent of consumers close traditional ads and pop-ups, and 90 percent use ad blockers. What’s more, only 3 percent of people account for 90 percent of market impact online. Leveraging the power of influencers helps businesses expand their reach. Hence, the need for influencer marketing which uses real people to promote products, breaking from traditional advertising, where brands represent themselves.
You’ve probably seen influencer marketing in ads featuring celebrities, but influencer marketing doesn’t stop there. There is a robust mix of macro-influencers, micro-influencers, celebrities, brand ambassadors and advocates to meet specific marketing objectives. With over $1.4 trillion in millennial spending power, it’s important to deliver meaningful connections and influencers offer authentic experiences, breaking from traditional brand control.
How Influencer Marketing Works
Tier10 developed the “Life Is Better” campaign series to connect its Honda dealer associations with Honda owners and local businesses that share the same core beliefs and values of the brand. With in-market data, Tier10 built detailed customer profiles for each model in the Honda lineup and then identified local businesses and locations that aligned with the model.
Building Trust and Adding Value
Influencer marketing isn’t a new concept. Tech, business, automotive and beauty brands use influencers to increase purchasing power and reach difficult demographics. It gains trust and admiration from targeted audiences and is one the reasons Tier10 carefully selected their influencers for its “Life Is Better” campaign.
Tier10’s “Life Is Better” Campaign
When developing the “Life is Better” campaign, Scott Rodgers, Tier10’s chief creative officer and co-founder said, “Realizing the growth rate and influence they derive from their following, we’ve taken the initiative and identified influencers and business owners within our Honda markets and have featured them in our ‘Life Is Better’ commercials for the Northwest Honda Dealers and the Northern Ohio Honda Dealers.”
Northwest Honda Dealers Influencers
Marcus Harvey with Portland Gear. Harvey started a Portland t-shirt business and turned his social media following into a brand based on hometown pride.
Nate Snell with Pip’s Original Doughnut + Pacific Latitudes. Snell built Pip’s from the ground up and is known for the best chai and made-to-order mini doughnuts. Snell is also the vocalist and guitarist for the band Pacific Latitudes.
Matt Higgins with Coava Coffee. Higgins started Coava in his garage in 2008. He studied agriculture, farm practices, and sustainable business after making the decision to start his own coffee company “where he could roast and prepare coffees that would be exciting for professional baristas and inviting to everyday drinkers.
Rachel Helling. Helling is a Portland-local and new mom. After being well-received in the “Life is Better” campaign, she now shares her experiences on her YouTube channel and Instagram account.
Northern Ohio Honda Dealers’ Influencers
Howard Parr with the Akron Civic Theatre. Parr has 30-years of experience in arts and entertainment and his leadership makes him a well-received influencer.
Lauren Bozich and Marianne Carroll with White Flower Cake Shoppe. Bozich and Carroll opened their own business, participated in a Food Network Challenge and WE’s Amazing Wedding Cakes, and have a global following.
Glen Infante with I Love the Hype (iLTHY). Infante is well-known in the Cleveland music scene. The talented designer has a massive following as he’s designed for Machine Gun Kelly, Kid Cudi, and other celebs.
Brian Polen with Vertical Runner of Wooster. Polen, well-known in the running community, opened his own successful running store and runner’s club.
As Rodgers points out, “Social media influencers are one of the fastest-growing methods to connect with and acquire consumers today. As the new voice for word-of-mouth advertising, they are the next generation of marketing.” So how can you use influencer marketing?
How to Measure ROI with Influencer Marketing
Campaign strategies like Tier10’s can increase ROI by 11 times that of traditional ads. Cost-per-engagement (CPE) can be measured in video views and likes, but to clearly gauge content performance, metrics are used to measure conversion rates.
To measure ROI:
- Have specific goals: Instead of “increase brand awareness,” try “increase social media 30 percent.”
- Install tracking pixels: Ask influencers to use tracking pixels to monitor traffic.
- Use social media: Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest help with influencer traffic.
- Offer coupon codes: Give influencers specific promo codes to track purchases.
- Use email campaigns: Email campaigns (EDMs) that feature influencers help with click-through-to-purchase rates.
- Use Comment-to-Buy in Instagram: This determines which influencers get the most buzz.
- Add links in YouTube videos: To measure video ROI, add links specific to influencers.
How to Develop an Influencer Marketing Campaign
Targeted influencer marketing campaigns include:
- Planning Strategies: Carefully considering campaign goals
- Influencer Selection: Google searches, database site scraping, connecting with an influencer’s network and real-time marketplace information
- Campaign Collaboration/Workflows: Creating buzz-worthy content
- Monitoring Key Metrics: Collecting and analyzing data to calculate ROI
- Optimizing Distribution: Having content strategies to share influencer content in testimonials, TV, print ads or quotes
For effective ads, the first thing to know and understand is your audience demographics. Consider brand awareness and how you will get consumers to try products and increase social media awareness and sales. This can be measured through key performance indicators (KPIs). Successful influencer marketing requires strategic campaigns to track influencer ROI.
Coupled with a team of content strategists and influencer marketing, Tier10 provided the expertise, technology, and data for the Northwest and Northern Ohio Honda Dealers to succeed.
