Influencer Marketing for Purpose-Driven Campaigns
The advent of social media has opened up doors for users with a large social following to become 'influencers' for brands who want to reach a diverse audience. The influencer marketing space has grown tremendously over the last few years, with the latest reports quoting a staggering $21.1 billion value.
These trends are backed by studies that show a higher audience trust in influencers and about 10x more ROI over traditional advertising.
There are several benefits for brands to partner with such influencers including:
- Increased Brand Awareness: The vast numbers of social followers present brands with a perfect platform to reach new audiences and spread their wings.
- Credibility and Trust: With a highly engaged and trusting audience, influencers have the power to portray a brand or a service positively. This validates the brand's value and in turn, builds trust among the audience.
- Budget-Friendly: Influencer marketing is for organisations of all sizes. Utilising the different types of influencers (micro, meso, macro), an organisation could generate anywhere between 6.5x - 11x ROI on their efforts.
Purpose-Driven Influencers
In the last few decades, the world has become more aware of the different challenges in society from discrimination and inequality to climate crisis. This shift in priorities has been welcomed and adopted by influencers across various industries, especially in the post-COVID era. Going forward, users will engage more with influencers who have an authentic purpose that drives their content, communications, and partnerships.
The sports industry is blessed with numerous global icons who are best positioned to champion a cause that they align with. Even the non-athletes who have partnered with sports brands to spread a meaningful message are influencers in their own right.
Important Considerations
Engaging Content
Measure and Track
- Partnering with the Right Influencer
The collaboration between a sports club or brand and an influencer should be authentic. Aligning the values before selecting an influencer will save both parties the money and effort needed to run impactful campaigns.
A factor to consider is the social cause being addressed. Carefully research the influencers based on the type of content they post, their passion for the social cause, engagement rates and influence within the community.
Nike's collaboration with Colin Kaepernick is a great example of this value fit. Not only did Nike's sales skyrocket with this ad, but an important message about racial discrimination and inequality was communicated. - Creating Engaging Content
Utilising influencer reach on social media platforms is a game of creativity and imagination. The goal should be to come up with unique content pieces that keep the target audience engaged. This could include interviews, competitions, and behind-the-scenes to keep things fresh.
Clubs and brands should leverage all available social media platforms including their own and their athlete's accounts. It is important to get a grasp of the unique features, popular content types, and audience demographics on each platform to tailor the message for maximising impact.
Adidas implemented some of these strategies during COVID lockdowns to keep their audience engaged and improve their well-being. They brought together everyone on their roster from top athletes to influencers to keep people active both mentally and physically. - Measuring and Tracking the Campaigns
Identifying and setting goals at the beginning of an influencer partnership lays the foundation for better tracking later on. Include purpose-driven KPIs on top of the standard engagement metrics to form a holistic set of benchmarking tools. These could include Net Promoter Scores, Sentiment Analysis, Retention Rates, Quality of Service metrics etc.
Best Purpose-Driven Influencer Campaigns
Black Crows
As a ski brand with concern for the environment, Black Crows partnered with the Bye Bye Plastic Life Foundation to mark Earth Day.
The campaign featured influencer artists supporting the cause.
The campaign did not have global icons as its ambassadors but even the audience reach of Blondish (357k Instagram followers) and KOL Kajsa Larsson (101k Instagram followers) opened new demographics for the company.
Nike's Play Inside, Play for the World
Nike released a campaign to emphasise the need for social distancing during COVID. Their creative tagline aimed to inspire people to follow safety protocols in a bid to tackle the virus.
"If you ever dreamed of playing for millions around the world, now is your chance. Play inside, play for the world" - Nike
The campaign was supported and amplified by its global influencer athlete roster. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Tiger Woods, and Carli Lyod posted and echoed the same message across their social media platforms.
Leveraging influencers for purpose-driven campaigns is a contemporary marketing strategy with immense potential. The shift towards purpose in influencer collaborations, particularly in the sports industry, is notable.
It's crucial to align values and create engaging, unique content for maximum impact. Tracking campaigns with purpose-driven KPIs is essential, as highlighted by successful campaigns like Nike's collaboration with Colin Kaepernick.
This approach holds promise for brands aspiring to make a meaningful societal impact through influencer partnerships.
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