Personally, my awareness of influencer marketing in social media really took off during my time as the social media manager for Covet Fashion. Our product included high-end brands that included BCBGMAXAZRIA, For Love & Lemons, Rebecca Minkoff, French Connection and Mara Hoffman. I spent a lot of time analyzing their social media strategy.
This was in 2014. Since then, influencer marketing has taken on a life of its own. It’s a massively effective way to branch out and get your product on the radar of new audiences. Let’s take a look at how some of my favorite brands use this strategy on social media!
Victoria’s Secret
If you don’t believe in the power of influencers, take a look at Victoria’s Secret. Their influencer strategy is so ingrained in their overall branding that it extends well beyond social media. Victoria’s Secret is one of the only brands I can think of whose models are known by name to many of their customers.
When people think of Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks and Adriana Lima, they automatically associate them with Victoria’s Secret regardless of how long it’s been since these models have worked with the company. That’s a power of persuasion well beyond any amount of ad spend.
With nearly 43 million followers, Victoria’s Secret is one of the most-followed brands on Instagram. If you take a look at their feed, you’ll see that their models are featured extensively and ALWAYS tagged. Victoria’s Secret encourages its users to know and engage with its spokesmodels.
This image exemplifies how they encourage customers to be on a first-name basis with their models, and even use them to direct traffic directly into their stores.
GoPro
Most consider GoPro cameras to be a must-have for extreme sports enthusiasts, but their marketing efforts are great at proving the versatility of the product. GoPros are for parents, foodies, travelers, hikers, athletes of the professional and amateur varieties, snorkelers, campers, sunbathers, white water rafters, skateboarders, scuba divers…you catch the drift. GoPro cameras are for people who love to live life.
On social media, GoPro reaches into just about every niche for their product you can think of. They come up with custom hashtags for different areas of the business, including my personal favorite, #GoProPet. One of their GoPro ambassadors is @AbbieSurfs – a dog who flies planes, surfs and generally has a more fun life than most people you know.
This approach also keeps their Instagram feed from getting boring – look at the range here! In addition to featuring a hefty range of ambassadors, GoPro also hosts photography contests that encourage users to submit their own content and keeps engagement rates healthy.
Revolve Clothing
Revolve may not be a household name, but their Instagram game is, as the kids say, on fleek.
They keep a roster of top fashion bloggers on deck at all time as influencers, including Rocky Barnes, Aimee Song, Tasha Oakley and Devon Brugman.
Celebrities who’ve been known to cameo in Revolve’s Instagram feed include actress Nicole Richie, plus model Ashley Graham, former Miss USA Olivia Culpo and model/actress Emily Ratajkowski.
Side note: while not related to Revolve clothing, Gap’s brand Piperlime used fashion blogger Julia Engel of Gal Meets Glam to curate outfits from their collection – spawning this article about the cost of purchasing all of her picks. Hello, free publicity!
Tip: don’t be afraid to cross-pollinate between industries
While the strongest argument against collaborating with influencers outside of your direct industry may be that conversion rates will be lower, it can also really help you reach new audiences – so long as overlapping interests DO exist.
Some great examples I’ve seen of this are Karena and Katrina, the fitness superstars behind Tone It Up, taking a Contiki trip to Spain (where they worked out, of course) and Kiersten Rich of The Blonde Abroad flaunting clothing brands such as Wildfox and Forever 21.
Speaking of GoPro, she also did an Instagram account takeover and giveaway contest in partnership with their brand!
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