There is no doubt jewelers have been hearing more and more about “influencer marketing” over the past few years.
But what exactly is an “influencer” anyway? Can they really help you grow your jewelry retail or online business and reach new audiences?
In episode 3 of the High Level Thinking podcast we sit down with Katherine Perreda, founder & CEO of The Influencer Grapevine – a matchmaking service for brands and influencers.
She gives real-life examples of how influencers have helped her clients and answers all of the questions you’ve been asking!
We’re the first to admit that we’re flawed though, and we realize that our audio quality is not the best in this episode. We are working towards resolving this issue, but in the meantime, we’ve compiled the most important points into this blog in case you’d rather read it than listen to it!
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Episode Transcript – all About Influencer Marketing
What is an Influencer?
Katherine tells us that simply put, an influencer is the modern version of a celebrity endorsement.
However, all influencers aren’t actors and supermodels.
An influencer is just any person with an internet following that people look to for inspiration. This could be a blogger, a YouTuber, a podcaster, or even someone who just has a large Instagram following.
What platforms do Influencers use?
Katherine made it very clear that Influencers are not platform-specific. An influencer may be on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or even their personal website.
Most people notice though, that Instagram seems to be the preferred platform by most influencers. Katherine says that most people prefer Instagram because it is simply the easiest and laziest platform to use.
She also mentions that the addition of Instagram Stories has made the platform even more consumable.
When you click on one story, Instagram automatically keeps playing more stories until you manually stop it, making it pretty easy to get sucked in to.
How do influencers get paid?
You’re probably wondering exactly what these Influencers are wanting in exchange for sharing your brand on their social media.
The answer: It depends.
Since influencer marketing is still pretty new, there is no cookie-cutter answer. Influencers typically have their own rates that they charge.
In some cases, all an Influencer will ask for is a free product to try out. In other cases though, you will be paying big bucks to be featured on an influencer’s social media channels.
Factors like the size of the influencer’s following to the type of deliverable you are asking for will determine the price you will pay.
Katherine even encourages businesses with smaller budgets to get creative with what they can offer the influencer. For example, a brand could send the influencer a product to use in a photoshoot or wear to an event with the agreement that the influencer returns it afterward.
Our Thoughts on Influencer Marketing
Overall, we believe that influencer marketing can be an amazing tool in growing your brand.
We also believe that it is important to approach this strategy with clear goals. Knowing your desired outcome will help you make the right decisions when choosing influencers to work with and what deliverables you should be asking for.
If you would like to learn more about Katherine and The Influencer Grapevine you can find her on Instagram @theinfluencer.grapevine or visit her website www.theinfluencergrapevine.com
