hims & hers is a multi-specialty telehealth platform that permits entry to therapies for a broad vary circumstances, together with these associated to sexual well being, hair loss, dermatology, psychological well being and first care.
Much like different organizations within the shopper house, hims & hers has discovered that influencer advertising is a profitable strategy to join with their audience. Whereas the model has discovered success with one-off partnerships, it not too long ago shifted in direction of an “always-on” technique the place influencers function ambassadors and voices for the model.
Within the article beneath, Bette Ann Fialkov, head of leisure and tradition at hims & hers, shares 4 components which can be key to a profitable always-on influencer advertising technique. Earlier than her position at hims & hers, Bette Ann has had a protracted profession in influencer advertising (14 years!) the place she’s held positions at Google, Lyft, and extra.
Use information to seek out influencers that align together with your model
“Discovering the fitting influencer to associate with is very vital when constructing an always-on technique. At hims & hers we found that whereas viewers measurement could also be vital, figuring out shared missions and objectives are the true key to discovering good influencer companions. Plenty of manufacturers are simply follower counts, viewers demographics, and engagement charges, however you could go one stage deeper to seek out the genuine story.” — Bette Ann Fialkov, head of leisure and tradition at hims & hers
That being mentioned, discovering influencers who’re aligned together with your mission and objectives is trickier than simply glancing at a follower depend. So how do you do it?
Search via previous content material utilizing related key phrases. A dependable strategy to discover aligned influencers is by looking out via previous content material for related subjects, missions, or themes. That is particularly vital in case your model is relating a subject that’s delicate or requires a excessive stage of authenticity.
For instance, in 2020 hims & hers wished to launch a marketing campaign for its minoxidil hair loss product. Nevertheless, it felt that it was crucial to discover a strategy to promote its product whereas additionally destigmatizing the dialog round hair loss. The model carried out some analysis utilizing hair loss phrases, and finally found that J.Lo had skilled hair loss. By partnering together with her, they had been in a position to carry an impactful and genuine story to life!
Faucet into your community. In case your search isn’t turning up something, examine in together with your community — in any case, influencer advertising is all about relationships! Ask the brokers, entrepreneurs, and others in your trade community in the event that they know an influencer who’s passionate or concerned about your mission/theme. Chances are you’ll even discover somebody who already has a robust affinity together with your model.
Don’t depend on one sort of influencer – purpose for range
“Influencer advertising is exclusive as a result of it presents nuance and specificity. Influencers typically straight relate to their followers, which opens up the door for manufacturers to achieve their total buyer base — not only one persona.” — Bette Ann Fialkov, head of leisure and tradition at hims & hers
In accordance with Fialkov, it’s vital to develop a multi-tiered strategy to influencer discovery and partnerships. Don’t simply associate with influencers who’ve huge followings, however embrace decrease tiers (nanos, micros, mids) in your roster as properly.
The rationale for that is two-fold: First, small influencers are impactful. Actually, in Traackr’s new Influencer Advertising Impression Report, information reveals that nano and micro influencers are posting extra and seeing improved outcomes this 12 months.
Second, small influencers will help amplify campaigns with huge influencers! For instance, throughout her time at Lyft, Fialkov and her crew launched a model marketing campaign with LeBron James. The aim was to have a star (LeBron) because the face of the marketing campaign, with micro and macro influencers concerned to bolster consciousness. In accordance with Fialkov, LeBron was profitable in creating the preliminary splash for the marketing campaign, and the small influencers (who shared comparable messaging and content material) helped proceed the momentum and create a very viral second.
After all, range means way more than simply having broad tier protection. It’s vital to have influencers from all completely different life levels, conditions, and backgrounds! Not solely does this help with inclusive illustration, it ensures that all of your prospects can relate with somebody.
Fialkov’s tip for successfully sourcing various influencers comes right down to understanding the worth of your product. As she places it, “there are numerous tales that tie right into a product, so begin with a holistic understanding of why a buyer would care. When you establish these components you’ll uncover simply what number of tales and views there are to share.”
Arrange a system for paying influencers pretty
“In at this time’s age, being an influencer is a enterprise. Since this can be a full time job for lots of people, I actually suppose the times of bartering are gone. If you need good relationships and good worth, pay your influencers pretty!” — Bette Ann Fialkov, head of leisure and tradition at hims & hers
Whereas bartering could also be a factor of the previous, it doesn’t imply it’s important to come to the dialog unprepared or with a clean checkbook. Listed here are three issues you are able to do to make sure you compensating pretty whereas respecting your funds:
Present worth via merchandise or experiences. Whereas influencer gifting/product seeding continues to be a legitimate technique, it doesn’t really assure you any content material. That being mentioned, some manufacturers which have excessive worth merchandise do ask influencers to decide to posting earlier than sending them product. But when your model is on the inexpensive facet, contemplate producing an thrilling occasion influencers can attend that comes with your merchandise. The extra artistic and precious it’s to the influencers, the extra doubtless it’s you’ll get them to publish.
Floor presents in information. To make influencer compensation results-oriented and clear, strategy it with a performance-based compensation technique. This implies transferring away from paying influencers purely on viewers measurement, to a mannequin that rewards influencers’ affect in your model. A easy approach to do that can be to evaluate every influencer’s common engagement and video view fee after which run price per engagement (CPE) and price per video view (CPV) analyses.
Pre-negotiate your charges. One hidden price of influencer advertising is the conversion of influencer content material to digital advertisements. Most manufacturers pay influencers for sponsored social posts, however don’t suppose via the price of using that content material elsewhere. In accordance with Fialkov, hims & hers avoids this difficulty by together with a pre-negotiated fee for digital advert content material of their influencer contracts. That approach in the event that they find yourself changing a sponsored social publish into an advert they already know the price.
Don’t power your influencers right into a mildew
“You might be partnering with influencers to faucet into their artistic genius, so making an attempt to suit them right into a ‘branded mildew’ by no means works. They received’t be joyful, and also you received’t see the complete energy of their work.” — Bette Ann Fialkov, head of leisure and tradition at hims & hers
As a model with a transparent imaginative and prescient, it may be straightforward to slip into micromanaging the artistic and manufacturing course of. Nevertheless, Fialkov suggests combating that urge and taking a step again. It’s not essentially that you may’t present any enter, it simply comes right down to when and the way you present it.
For instance, Fialkov’s crew at hims & hers has discovered that the setup and inventive briefs for a marketing campaign are crucial. Of their briefs, the crew avoids dictating the precise content material they anticipate and as a substitute present key phrases which can be vital to their messaging. After they’ve had time to think about the temporary, their influencers then stroll the crew via what they plan on creating. This offers the crew a possibility to provide suggestions earlier than manufacturing even begins. This has not solely helped them be extra aligned with their influencers, it has really lowered the quantity of edits they should present, and saved them time!
Conclusion
Ultimately, there isn’t any single path to success in influencer advertising. The precise components that works for one model, is probably not profitable for an additional. As an alternative, the very best influencer advertising packages — just like the one which hims & hers constructed — come from agile and complex groups that embrace creativity, drive selections with information, and make the most of buyer data to create tailored methods. If you wish to keep updated on the superb work that the hims & hers crew is doing, comply with them on TikTok or Instagram at @hers and @hims!
