September 16, 2015 9:34 am
Published by Kirsty Sharman
This blog post was originally written by Ruan Fourie.
We pride ourselves on having influencers as part of Webfluential that go the extra mile. All influencers are not the same, and we love it when our influencers create great content for a job.
Anna-Belle Mulder recently did a job for Castle Lite Lime, and she created awesome content, that would suit her audience.
Anna-Belle was originally asked to share a branded video on her Instagram profile, but she suggested that she rather create her own video, as that will suit her audience better. The video she created was great, and it got a lot of positive feedback from her audience. That is a win for Anna-Belle, and also for Castle Lite Lime.
We grabbed Anna-Belle recently to ask her a few questions about the campaign and her experience on creating great sponsored content. You can read all she said below, but one piece that stood out was the following, as it is something that can help make any influencer marketing campaign successful:
"Let influencers create their own content, or help them create unique content that actually means something." (Click here to tweet this quote)
Why did you decide to create your own content for the campaign?
As a blogger and photographer my reputation is built on my personal opinion, feelings and outlook. That's what makes influencers so important to brands and advertising agencies.
Instagram accounts aren't billboards for brands to just slap an advert on they are curated pieces of opinions and endorsements, and communities respect that. If I'm not creating my own content whats the point of my blog or social media accounts. If I hadn't gone out the way to actually try the product I wouldn't be offering a truthful endorsement on the product. I wanted to show my followers that I really did enjoy the product...enough to make me dance around!
We know it takes considerable time to create good content, how long did the process take you from concept to sharing it on your channels?
I'll be honest the easier route would have been for me to post the video provided. I would have saved myself an entire afternoon of dancing. Seriously though in total it took about five hours, but I don't think that that's too much time if it provides my community with some genuine content that they wouldn't find in the pages of a magazine. I think it also provides great value to the brand too and brands in general by helping them realize what works within the social media space and what doesn't.
How did your audience respond to the content?
My audience responded extremely well to the content and I stand to be corrected but the video gained almost three times more engagement than any of the other videos that were posted as part of the same campaign. I genuinely think my community was happy to see just how much fun I was having with the product.
Can you give us some tips for brands when creating content with influencers?
Influencers are important because they offer an 'in' into a captured market. To really gain that markets trust you have to become one of the girls...or boys. As traditional marketing becomes less popular and social media and influencer camapigns become more popular its important to remember that you are in the consumers space...and the same goes for influencers.
People want authentic, creative and unique content and it's your job (both brands and influencers) to give it to them.
- All bloggers are not created equal. Don't approach campaigns with a blanket approach. Use the influencers personality and community to your advantage. Tailor your campaigns to target specific markets through a range of different influencers.
- Blogs, Instagram accounts and Facebook pages are not billboards so stop treating them like they are. The same advert that is sitting on a billboard along William Nicol cannot be used as a social media post. Let influencers create their own content or help them create unique content that actually means something. Never forget that people love seeing people so don't forget to add a human touch.
Nobody knows your audience better than you
The reason marketers want to work with influencers is because influencers have a very unique type of relationship with their audience. Influencers know their audience better than anyone else, and thus they can create great content that works specifically for their audience. By working with influencers that create great content that is specifically for their audience, an Influencer Marketing campaign can be one of the most powerful marketing channels at a brand's disposal.
Are you an influencer that know his audience better than anyone else? Do you create awesome content for your audience? Hit the button below and apply to become a Webfluential Influencer right now.
