What is Influencer Marketing?

“People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories, and magic.” – Seth Godin

As a full-service digital and media consultancy, Pence Media Group provides clients with the necessary tools to succeed in the marketing and media landscape. One form of marketing that has taken off in recent years is the practice of Influencer Marketing. Influencer Marketing allows brands to share information with a target audience that has confidence in the endorsements of the influencers they follow. Considering consumers are more likely to listen to people they admire and feel connected to, influencers can sell experiences, products, and more to followers who trust an influencer’s endorsement.

At PMG, we believe influencer collaborations are an ideal and creative way to get your business in front of a target audience. We work with influencers to create compelling campaigns and manage those campaigns to ensure maximum audience reach while adhering to our client’s brand. When working with PMG on Influencer Marketing efforts, clients can expect three separate areas in which we will assist their business: Influencer Outreach, Campaign Management, and Paid Partnerships.

Influencer Outreach

Upon engaging in a client’s Influencer Marketing initiative, our team first strategically analyzes our community of local influencers. We critically evaluate which influencers best showcase brand affinity with the client in question during this process. Once a thorough and targeted list is developed, PMG team members reach out to the influencers individually. In our initial outreach message, we aim to include any interesting or exciting information regarding the client’s event, collaboration opportunity, or discount we are offering on behalf of our client. It is important to remember that influencers are people, too. Therefore, PMG works hard to create genuine, authentic, and personal relationships with our influencer partners.

Recently, our client Sugar Factory utilized our Influencer Outreach service for its Indianapolis grand opening event. As a result of our detailed research and intentional outreach efforts, the total VIP guest follower reach was more than 1.2 million followers– and that’s only counting Instagram! 

PMG continues to provide Influencer Marketing support for Sugar Factory Indianapolis by reaching out to influencers and encouraging them to visit the restaurant for special events or promotions. 

Guests enjoy Sugar Factory’s grand opening night and VIP’s such as IndyCar driver Connor Daly came out to celebrate.

Campaign Management

Once an influencer has agreed to work with our client, PMG provides general content and timeline guidelines for their partnership with the brand. Influencer campaign management looks drastically different based upon the client’s objectives. Campaign deliverables can involve anything from individual sponsor content to product collaborations and event appearances. When tasked with managing an influencer campaign, our team members craft detailed documents that track each influencer and the content they share about our client. This process allows us to showcase and leverage influencers’ outreach for our clients and their brand. 

Campaign management is currently underway for PMG client MashCraft Brewing. Our team reaches out to influencers whose primary audience is similar to MashCraft’s target clientele. Managing influencers who visit MashCraft involves planning outreach around certain national holidays, special events, or promotions. PMG tracks the influencers who visit the restaurant to showcase to the MashCraft team the correspondence between the influencer’s content and increased brand exposure. 

Photos Courtesy of: @sierrainthecity  @travelingfoodieguyde @didieatsindy

Paid Partnerships

As mentioned above, one specific form of campaign management our PMG team can execute for businesses is paid sponsorships.  If your business chooses to go this route, it’s important to work closely with the influencer or their agency to ensure a reasonable agreement regarding the influencer’s content deliverables and the goals of the partnership. Paid sponsorships can include anything from discount codes to giveaways. 

An example of product collaboration is a past paid holiday gift box collaboration between influencer Beth Chappo and PMG client Something Splendid. When Something Splendid collaborated with Beth, she was able to curate her own signature “Girls Night In” gift box available on their website that included her favorite items from Something Splendid’s online store. She then promoted her signature gift box on her social media channels. The cross-promotion drove box sales and traction to Something Splendid’s website as Beth’s followers were excited about the content she shared. PMG developed and oversaw the parameters of the paid partnership and worked to ensure the concept was authentic to Beth’s brand and aligned with the objectives of the client.

Influencer, Beth Chappo created a custom holiday box by collaborating with Something Splendid.

#Consideritdone with PMG in 2022 

If you or your business is in search of excellent Influencer Marketing services, we can help. Pence Media Group utilizes our extensive network to your advantage so that your business gets in front of the right set of eyes. Our sincere influencer relationships paired with our strategic outreach process can help your brand garner the attention it deserves through the power of influence. Consider it done.