Exciting changes are happening in influencer marketing, especially in B2B sectors. In a recent episode of the ANA Champions of Growth podcast, which helps CMOs navigate a post-digital world, Shannon O’Shields, VP of Marketing at Rubix Foods, and Megumi Robinson, Head of Services at Belle Communication, shared their insights.
What’s changing in influencer marketing right now?
The most effective influencer campaigns are now being treated like business partnerships. Brands are collaborating with influencers to access audience data and industry insights, which can guide future strategies.
Even B2B companies are now working with creators to co-create products or engage in research and development. Many are admitting they have vastly underutilized influencers thus far.
A key aspect of marketing is understanding target audiences, a skill that influencers excel at. Beyond content creation, influencers possess a deep understanding of their communities, presenting a huge untapped potential to use them as insight generators.
Traditional market research methods are evolving, too, and influencers provide a unique opportunity to gather unbiased and unfiltered data, helping brands more effectively understand the needs and wants of their target audiences.
Shannon pointed out that insights gained from influencer polls, performance data and comment sections can be more valuable and cost-effective than traditional surveys, especially when targeting millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha, who are less likely to participate in conventional research methods.
By leveraging the authentic relationships influencers have with their communities, brands are gaining a deeper understanding of consumer desires early on. This prevents late-stage product mismatches and ensures that they meet consumer expectations from the start.
Struggles in the Influencer Industry: Partner Choice, Compensation
Choosing the right influencer partners and navigating compensation continue to be the industry’s top struggles. Megumi shared Belle’s approach and words of advice.
Partner Choice
Choosing the right influencers is one of the most critical aspects of any campaign. At Belle, partners are chosen using a mix of AI and hand-vetting to evaluate factors such as relevance, reach, resonance and risk. Twenty to thirty other criteria are also assessed, including audience demographics, influencer demographics, engagement rates, sentiment in comment sections and authenticity. Additionally, competitive conflicts and over-sponsorship are evaluated to ensure the best possible outcomes.
Compensation
While the industry wants them, standard or flat fees for influencers aren’t feasible due to various factors. The type and amount of content requested significantly impact fees, with stories and still images generally costing less than videos and reels due to the time and labor involved. Other price considerations include the influencer’s engagement rates, follower counts, exclusivity and usage rights.
Influencer Trends in Action
Shannon and Megumi also talked about the campaign they are currently collaborating on: The NEXT Flavor Network.
The Rubix Foods team identified a critical challenge for its restaurant customers: driving new traffic to their locations, specifically with Gen Z audiences. Rubix knew it needed to do something different to stand out and help its customers get ahead.
Shannon and her team realized the importance of leveraging influencers to reach Gen Z and understand their preferences and purchasing decisions. Together with Belle, they crafted a first-of-its-kind campaign that engaged right-fit creators early on in the process. Rather than using influencers solely for promotional content, they were engaged to gather valuable audience feedback and develop new Rubix products that resonated with Gen Z.
The campaign itself included multiple rounds of content on TikTok and Instagram, a visit to Rubix’s food lab to mix up new sauces, a Flavor Fight activation outside of Lollapalooza and a research report coming out in October 2024.
This approach has allowed Rubix to present data-driven concepts to its customers, enhancing its competitive edge and ensuring its offerings align with the preferences of its audience’s key demographic.
