Written by Hoozu CEO, Natalie Giddings.
Influencer Marketing is undoubtedly growing in Australia as the country becomes a key player within the global industry. See Aus + NZ being designated trial countries for Meta Verified recently. I’ve taken some time to look at the handful of brands leading this growth as true champions of epic Influencer Marketing. What do their strategies have in common? What is the secret to success they’ve all unlocked?
Bondi Sands, HelloFresh, Koh, Emma sleep, Mermade Hair; all DTC brands who became Australian household names remarkably quickly. How? By harnessing the power of Influencers through strategies that really really worked. These guys have discovered the formula for immense growth success. So, what is the hack? What do their strategies all have in common?
One thing for certain, is that none of these players have been tentative in their engagement of the Influencer channel – there has been no nervous dipping of the toes, receding and then dipping again. All 5 of these brands took a leap of (educated, considered) faith. Trusting the numbers, (61% of consumers trust influencer recommendations, compared to 38% who trust brand-produced content. – Key Influencer Marketing Statistics, Influencer Marketing Hub), along with our human nature to trust in word-of-mouth, these brands went in all guns blazing. The ‘risk’ has absolutely paid off for each and every one of them, big time.
Whilst each brand has a slightly different strategy, they all have one one driving factor in common. I believe this to be the secret they’ve unlocked. The key for epic Influencer Marketing success, is to harness it for the eruption of hype. Whilst small, one-off campaign activations might feel safer and produce an educational effect; maybe even a small spike in sales – large scale, long-term programs feel scarier but can have a far more vast impact. As with anything, the higher the risk, the higher the reward.
By commissioning large numbers of Australia’s best talent to talk about their brand, these players have managed to create an ongoing buzz around themselves. A large buzz produces a trend; a trend forms a hype and a hype creates FOMO. This fear of missing out drives consumers to join the numbers of Creators they follow and admire by also buying into that brand.
The Influencer Marketing secret these 5 brands understood was that it had to be all or nothing. So it might as well be all!
I noted that each of these guys had nuanced strategies. Bondi Sands are the OG heroes of brand growth through Influencers. They were, arguably, the first to trust the power of Creators to raise awareness of who Bondi Sands were; to spread the word of product launches through iconic events (see flying a bunch of Aussie influencers from Melbourne to Sydney on a private jet to introduce the One Hour Express Tan to market); and to build the hype through huge names locally and internationally (hello Kylie Jenner).
Others like HelloFresh and Emma Sleep have acknowledged this OG success story and taken it a step further, developing Influencers into a conversion channel. Tiered programs engaging micro; macro and mega influencers across various platforms already build a huge, buzzing hype effect. Engaging UTM links, discount codes and CTAs; optimising through trial and error; building long-term partnerships/ambassadorships – these additional tactics suddenly make the Influencer channel a lucrative as well as exposing ploy.
So what is the secret to epic Influencer Marketing that these 5 champions have unlocked? Be open and excited by the risks. Go big or go home. Be willing to put significant budget on the line, which could either flop or sky-rocket your brand. Beyond that, take risks to optimise – when it comes to Influencer Marketing, trial & error is your best friend.
Are you excited by this opportunity for mega-growth, but unsure on how to start? Get in touch with us, here at Hoozu, today. We can totally help you develop and implement a strategy of epic success.
