In today's digital age, influencer marketing has become an incredibly popular strategy for brands looking to increase brand awareness, reach new audiences, and ultimately drive sales. However, launching a successful influencer marketing campaign can be a daunting task. There are many factors to consider, from identifying the right influencers to crafting engaging content.

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In this newsletter, I'll provide a comprehensive guide to help you launch a successful, ROI-positive influencer marketing campaign.  I’ll share two mini-case studies from health, wellness & fitness brands + some tactical recommendations to launch your successful influencer marketing campaign.

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What is influencer marketing?

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Before we dive into the details of launching an influencer marketing campaign, let's define what we mean by "influencer marketing." Influencer marketing is the practice of partnering with influencers – individuals who have a strong social media following and can impact the purchasing decisions of their followers - to promote a brand or product. It usually involves compensation of some kind, such as free products or payment for sponsored posts.

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Influencer marketing has become increasingly popular in recent years as social media platforms have grown in popularity. Brands have realized that partnering with influencers can be a highly effective way to reach their target audience and drive sales.

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An advantage of influencer marketing is the ability for brands to utilize the trust influencers have established with their followers. By promoting a product, influencers' recommendations carry weight with their audience, resulting in a greater likelihood of purchase.

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Influencer marketing allows us to “community hunt”

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Partnering with an influencer isn’t just about credibility and using the name, mage & likeness of that influencer.  Just as important, influencer marketing allows brands to reach a highly targeted audience.  By partnering with influencers who have a specific niche or demographic, brands can ensure that their message is reaching the right people.

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Instead of having to build your own audience, or to run expensive paid advertising, partnering with an influencer gives you the opportunity to easily target an established community, with immediate credibility built in being endorsed by their creator.

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This opportunity is also a double-edged sword.

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Finding the right influencer can provide immediate credibility, while partnering with the wrong creator can erode brand trust while also negatively impacting your ability to unlock a new sale.   Brands need to carefully vet potential influencers to ensure that they are a good fit for their brand, that their followers are genuine & that they align with your brands values.  

Another challenge is ensuring that the influencer's content aligns with the brand's values and messaging. Brands need to work closely with influencers to ensure that their content is on-brand and that it effectively promotes the brand or product.

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Despite these challenges, influencer marketing can be a highly effective way for brands to reach their target audience and drive sales. By partnering with the right influencers and creating compelling content, brands can build trust with their audience and ultimately drive revenue.

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A history of successful influencer marketing campaigns in the health, wellness & fitness vertical

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The health, wellness & fitness industry has been particularly successful with influencer marketing.  This vertical has seen a surge in influencer marketing campaigns in recent years, with many of them generating massive growth for their brands. Let's take a look at some successful campaigns in this vertical:

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Gymshark

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Gymshark is a UK-based fitness clothing brand that has built an enviable reputation by partnering with fitness influencers to drive sales. Gymshark's social media channels frequently feature influencers wearing its products, and the brand also regularly collaborates with influencers on new product ranges and launches. This strategy has helped Gymshark to become one of the most recognizable brands in the fitness industry, with a loyal following of fitness enthusiasts who swear by their products.

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So how did they do it?

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Gymshark knows its target audience. Gymshark's success with influencer marketing can be attributed to its ability to identify and partner with the right influencers. The brand has a clear understanding of its target audience and partners with influencers who have a similar following. They choose aspiration athletes, who live a lifestyle that aligns with their brand values.  

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Gymshark makes its influencers feel like a part of the team.  In fact, Gymshark influencers aren’t called influencers, but the brand refers to them as Gymshark athletes.  This approach encourages their athletes to think on a long-term horizon, while encouraging the mindset that they’re a part of a larger mission.

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Gymshark treats its athletes as long-term partners.  By encouraging its influencers to create content that aligns with the brand's values and messaging, with a less defined brief, the content created feels more authentic, driving deeper relationships between the athlete and their community (because consumers don’t want their favorites influencers to disrupt their news feed with inauthentic content).

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Gymshark repurposes its athlete content everywhere.  As a brand, Gymshark isn’t paying for one-off posts - they’re building relationships that power their entire marketing strategy.  For the athlete - it provides a bigger stage, helping them grow their brand with more exposure.  The content becomes significantly cheaper for the brand than hiring models to run shoots.  For the customer - it brings them authentic content from creators they trust (and in many ways - look/feel more like them than a traditional fitness model)

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Renaissance Periodization

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Renaissance Periodization is a nutrition coaching company that has utilized an influencer strategy to achieve significant growth. Instead of leveraging high-profile celebrities, they have built their entire growth strategy around leveraging case studies of real-people, leveraging their success stories to validate their product and build massive social capital.

So how did they do it?

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Renaissance Periodization has built social sharing directly into their app, while also focusing massively on community building.  its through these communities that Renaissance Periodization (RP) has been able to identify and empower nano-influencers to tell the story of their product, serve as liasons to other customers and to fuel their entire marketing ecosystem.

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These customers, turned influencers, help to build trust and credibility for the brand, which is essential in the health and wellness industry.

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Renaissance Periodization's success with influencer marketing can be attributed to its ability to provide a platform for their customers to share their wins.

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Renaissance Periodization has built a massive Facebook group, designed to connect customers & to provide a platform for “wanna-be” influencers within their existing community.  Outside of consistently communicating with, and educating, their 200,000+ community members - they offer quarterly promotions, virtually cheer on their members with support and have created additional social channels to highlight their best member successes.

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Renaissance Periodization ultimately has taken the best content from their community & has created a highly popular Instagram page @rp_transformations, that is full of member-submitted photos.  With nearly 7,000 customer-submitted photos & nearly 150,000 followers, Renaissance Periodization is a master at using community building & nano-influencers to build massive credibility for their brand.

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Renaissance Periodization also leverages contests, including their popular “New Year Challenge” to engage customers & to build more high-level success stories with their brand.  By partnering with other weight loss companies, the organization is able to reach a new audience & help build a platform to build new “influencers” within their existing, growing community.

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Gymshark & Renaissance Periodization are two very different examples of health & fitness brands that are using influencer marketing to grow their businesses.  

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Why am I sharing these two examples?  Most startups don’t have the capital to hire mega-celebrity influencers.  If you have the budget, hiring a Kardashian to promote your product might work.  But the reality is that this approach doesn’t work for most.  Instead, I recommend leveraging the approach that Gymshark + Renaissance Periodization use - seed your products to the right individuals + find ways to integrate these individuals across all your marketing channels.  

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Find opportunities to build a platform & build long-term, meaningful relationships with the individuals you are entrusting to grow your brand.

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Step One: Identify the Right Influencers for Your Target Audience

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Launching a successful influencer marketing campaign can be a game-changer for your brand. But how do you identify the right influencers for your target audience? The following factors should be considered:

1. Relevance: Ensuring the influencer's content aligns with your brand is crucial. The influencer's values, interests, and niche should align with your brand's image and values. For instance, if your brand is all about fitness and wellness, partnering with an influencer who creates content about fashion may not be the best fit.
2. Audience: The influencer's audience should align with your target audience. You can evaluate this by looking at the demographics of the influencer's followers. For example, if your brand targets millennials, partnering with an influencer whose followers are mostly baby boomers may not be effective.
3. One of the largest challenges in the fitness space is that an influencer's audience may not directly reflect the creator's values & affinity for fitness.  For instance, you will find that many female fitness creators have large male audiences, following them for general appearance reasons, versus following them for fitness advice.
4. In working with large-scale influencers, one of my clients was fortunate to work with Michael Phelps.  While they were initially excited for the opportunity, later on they found out that less than 10% of Phelps audience actually swam competitively - making his audience aligned with the general population (and not strategically aligned to a swimming niche).
5. Engagement: The engagement rate is a crucial metric to consider when evaluating an influencer. An influencer with a high engagement rate means their followers actively engage with their content. This engagement could be in the form of likes, comments, shares, or saves. High engagement rates indicate that the influencer's followers trust and value their opinion.

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It is essential to note that the best influencers for your campaign may not necessarily have the most significant following. Micro-influencers, with smaller but highly engaged followings, can be just as effective for many campaigns. Micro-influencers are often more affordable and can provide a more targeted audience for your brand. If you’re saving money on the fee by working with a micro-influencer, you can easily make up for lack of reach by reinvesting a portion of that savings in paid advertising, guaranteeing a certain reach against your target audience.

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When identifying the right influencers, it is crucial to look beyond the numbers and focus on their values, interests, and engagement rates. By partnering with the right influencer, your brand can reach a wider audience and build trust and credibility with potential customers.

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Establishing Clear Objectives and Goals

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Before launching an influencer marketing campaign, it's important to establish clear objectives and goals. These goals should be specific, measurable, and aligned with your overall marketing strategy. By doing so, you can ensure that your influencer marketing efforts are not only effective but also efficient in achieving your desired outcomes.

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One of the key objectives of influencer marketing is to increase brand awareness among specific target audiences. This is particularly important for businesses that are looking to expand their reach and attract new customers. By partnering with influencers who have a strong following among your target audience, you can increase your brand's visibility and generate interest in your products or services.

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Another important goal of influencer marketing is to drive website traffic and conversions. This is especially relevant for businesses that are looking to increase their online sales and revenue. By collaborating with influencers who have a strong online presence, you can drive traffic to your website and increase the likelihood of conversions.

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Finally, influencer marketing can also help businesses grow their social media following. This is particularly important for businesses that are looking to build a strong online community and engage with their customers on a regular basis. By partnering with influencers who have a large and engaged social media following, you can increase your own social media presence and build a loyal following of your own.

• Other potential goals of influencer marketing might include:
• Generating user-generated content
• Increasing brand loyalty and advocacy
• Launching a new product or service
• Building relationships with influencers and industry leaders

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Regardless of your specific goals, it's important to remember that influencer marketing is a long-term strategy that requires careful planning and execution. By taking the time to establish clear objectives and goals, you can ensure that your influencer marketing efforts are not only effective but also sustainable and scalable over time.

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Crafting Engaging Content for Your Campaign

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Once you've identified the right influencers and established your campaign objectives, it's time to start crafting engaging content. Keep in mind that the most successful influencer campaigns are those that feel authentic and organic. Work with your influencers to develop content that aligns with their personal brand and resonates with their followers.

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One effective way to create engaging content is by leveraging the power of storytelling. People love stories, especially those that are relatable and emotionally resonant. Consider working with your influencers to develop stories that highlight your brand's values and mission, and that will connect with their followers on a deeper level.

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Another way to create engaging content is by incorporating humor and entertainment value. People love to be entertained, and humor is a great way to capture their attention and keep them engaged. Consider developing humorous skits, parodies, or memes that align with your brand's messaging and that will resonate with your influencers' followers.

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It's important to be clear with your influencers about the goals and objectives of your campaign, but also give them creative freedom to develop content that will truly engage their audience. Encourage them to experiment with different formats, such as videos, photos, and written content, to see what resonates best with their followers.

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Remember, the key to crafting engaging content is to put yourself in your audience's shoes. Think about what would capture their attention and what would motivate them to take action. By working closely with your influencers and leveraging their creativity and expertise, you can create content that will truly resonate with your target audience and drive the success of your campaign.

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Choosing the Right Platforms to Reach Your Audience

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When it comes to influencer marketing, choosing the right platforms to launch your campaign is crucial for success. While Instagram and YouTube are popular platforms for influencer marketing, it's important to consider where your target audience is most active.

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For example, if your target audience is predominantly younger, you may want to consider platforms like Snapchat and TikTok which are extremely popular among Gen Z. On the other hand, if your target audience is more professional, LinkedIn may be a better platform to focus on.

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It's also important to consider the type of content that performs well on each platform. Instagram is great for visually appealing content such as photos and short videos, while YouTube is ideal for longer-form video content. Twitter is great for short, snappy messages and real-time updates, while Snapchat is perfect for behind-the-scenes glimpses and raw, unfiltered content.

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When selecting influencers for your campaign, it's important to consider the platforms where they have the most impact. An influencer with a large following on Instagram may not necessarily be effective on YouTube or Twitter. Take the time to research each influencer's platform-specific engagement rates and audience demographics to ensure they align with your campaign goals.

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Ultimately, the key to a successful influencer campaign is selecting the right platforms and influencers that resonate with your target audience. By doing so, you'll be able to effectively reach and engage your audience, driving brand awareness and sales.

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Setting a Reasonable Budget for Your Campaign

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When it comes to running an influencer campaign, setting a budget is crucial to ensure that you can achieve your goals without overspending. The first step in setting a budget is to determine how much you can afford to spend on your campaign.

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One important factor to consider when setting your budget is the cost of working with each influencer. Influencers can charge a wide range of rates depending on their following, engagement rate, and niche. Some influencers may be willing to work for free products or a lower fee, while others may require a higher investment.

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Another expense to consider is any additional costs associated with your campaign. For example, if you plan to host a product giveaway, you'll need to factor in the cost of the prizes and shipping. If you plan to create sponsored content, you'll need to budget for the cost of production and any necessary equipment.

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It's important to be realistic about what you can afford, but don't be afraid to invest in quality influencers. Remember, the most effective influencers might have higher rates, but can lead to a higher ROI in the long run. Consider the potential impact that each influencer could have on your brand and weigh that against their cost.

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When setting your budget, it's also essential to leave some room for unexpected expenses. Influencer campaigns can be unpredictable, and you never know when you might need to spend a little extra to make your campaign a success.

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Ultimately, setting a reasonable budget for your influencer campaign requires careful planning and consideration. By evaluating your goals, expenses, and potential ROI, you can create a budget that sets your campaign up for success.

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Maximizing Long-Term Benefits of Your Influencer Campaign

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An influencer campaign can significantly increase brand awareness, reach new audiences, and drive sales. However, the benefits of an influencer campaign can continue once the campaign is over. By taking a few key steps, you can continue to generate ROI long after the campaign has ended.

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Ask Influencers to Continue Promoting Your Brand

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One way to maximize the long-term benefits of your influencer campaign is to ask your influencers to continue promoting your brand or product even after the campaign has officially ended. This can be done through sponsored posts, affiliate marketing, or even just by continuing to engage with your brand on social media.

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When asking influencers to continue promoting your brand, you must be clear about what you're asking for and what you're willing to offer in return. Some influencers may be happy to continue promoting your brand for free, while others may require additional compensation.

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Repurpose Content for Other Marketing Channels

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Another way to extend the life of your influencer campaign is to repurpose content created during the campaign for other marketing channels. For example, you might take photos or videos your influencers created and use them in your email marketing campaigns or product landing pages.

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Repurposing content in this way not only helps to extend the life of the campaign but it also allows you to reach new audiences who may have yet to see the content during the original campaign.

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White-label UGC content from Influencers in Paid Channels

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This is essentially another version of the previous recommendation - but something every brand should be doing (and deserves its newsletter).

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You 100% should be using all of your UGC content to fuel your paid advertising across Meta (Facebook/Instagram), Youtube, TikTok, Pinterest & Twitter.  This strategy has yielded 40% better results than traditional ad campaigns & should NOT require a massive amount of work.

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However, this does NOT mean you should blindly put advertising dollars behind unedited influencer content.  Your ads will still need a strong hook, an appropriate CTA, removing “the millennial pause,” and proper editing to fit within each ad platform.

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Stay in Touch with Influencers

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Finally, staying in touch with your influencers is essential even after the campaign has ended. You can continue collaborating on future campaigns and promotions by maintaining a relationship with your influencers.

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Staying in touch can be as simple as sending a quick email to check in or tagging them in social media posts. By keeping the lines of communication open, you can continue to benefit from the relationships you've built with your influencers long after the campaign.

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In conclusion, while an influencer campaign can be a great way to generate buzz and drive sales in the short term, it's also essential to think about the long-term benefits. By asking influencers to continue promoting your brand, repurposing content for other marketing channels, and staying in touch with your influencers, you can continue to generate ROI long after the campaign has ended.

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Conclusion

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Launching a successful influencer marketing campaign requires careful planning and execution. By identifying the right influencers for your target audience, establishing clear objectives, crafting engaging content, and selecting the right platforms, you can create an effective influencer campaign that drives ROI and achieves your marketing objectives. Remember to continue to maximize the benefits of your influencer campaign long after the initial promotion has ended.

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