Influencer marketing has tons of room for creativity, which makes it one of the most unique forms of marketing today. Brands that employ influencers strategically can knock their campaigns right out of the park and into the laps of their target demographic.
One recent influencer marketing trend is brands' partnering with bloggers and social influencers that don't fall within their industry. Venturing outside of your normal space can open up your product to a completely untapped market.
That's where the magic happens.
To that end, we've also noticed a shift with bloggers moving away from focusing on one subject matter and letting their readers in on all the things they love.
When doing influencer marketing, the hardest thing to nail is finding the right bloggers for your brand. Doing so forces you to take a good hard look at what your product is and who's in the market to buy it. For example, if you're selling boxed undies, do you really need to enlist underwear-specific bloggers (if these even exist)? No, everyone wears underwear (with the exception of that one percent of commandos out there).
This article is all about those adventurous brands that have ventured into to uncharted territory.
We've compiled a roundup of five favorite examples:
1. Blue Apron
Blue Apron delivers fresh ingredients paired with stellar recipes right to your doorstep... kind of like a personal trainer for your cooking.
After doing some investigating, we're really impressed with Blue Apron's approach to influencer marketing. Rather than targeting only foodie blogs, Blue Apron partnered up with lifestyle blogs.
Blogger Emily Henderson, in particular, impressed us with a curated article featuring the foodie subscription service. Blue Apron's flank steak and beet salad inspired the rich burgundy tones in her winter rustic tablescape, making for a beautiful, color-coordinated article.
First, Henderson shows off her perfectly cooked Blue Apron dish, followed by step-by-step instructions revealing how to recreate this warm and sexy design in your own home, on a budget. She even gives her first 100 followers with two free meals.
We like this article, not only for its clever spin on presenting the dish but also because by tying in Blue Apron, the blogger shows how her readers can also use the service. That makes it entirely applicable and well targeted to her readers.
2. Biore
In a world of Prada, Marc Jacobs, and Kate Spade, Biore had the ingenious idea to reach out to high-fashion tastemakers to sell its drugstore brand to the elite.
Blogger Barefoot Blonde created a beautiful sponsored article highlighting Biore's #stripwithbiore contest.She cleverly lets her audience in on a few of her favorite "cold day" things, and one of those things just happens to be Biore strips. Barefoot Blonde then explains a contest the company is running: Simply snap a picture of yourself with your Biore strip of choice, post on Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag, #stripwithbiore and you've been entered to win a trip to LA and a chance to walk the red carpet with Brittany Snow.
This sponsored article took a stab at changing perceptions of its drugstore product by partnering up with a blogger who tends to gravitate towards expensive digs. The company then used her to promote its stylish and glamorous contest. These efforts are transformational for altering brand perceptions. Moreover, the blogger wearing Lululemon in a stylish house only adds to a more polished and elite aesthetic, leaving readers in awe of Barefoot Blonde + Biore, commonly known as B cubed.
3. Bark Box
One of our (and our company pooch, Toggle's) favorite subscription services is Bark Box. Every month, the company sends a box in the mail with perfectly selected bits and bobs, such as tasty treats, grooming products, and nifty gadgets, for one's dog.
One would expect the brand to be targeting pet or maybe even mommy bloggers. But these days, a girl's favorite accessory is not her three-carat diamond studs, it's her lovable, abnormally small dog that can fit into the palm of her hand (or her Prada tote).
Aware of this new "accessory," Bark Box reached out to lifestyle bloggers just as crazy about their pet doggies as we are about ours. Moreover, Bark Box executed myriad creative giveaways and partnerships.
Our favorite, hands down, is the sponsored article with Lauren Conrad.
Instead of merely gifting readers with a percentage off the subscription with a blogger-specific code, Bark Box partnered with Lauren to give back to tons of homeless pups out there. In spirit of Adopt A Shelter Dog Month, Lauren gifted her Instagram fans with an extra month added to their subscription. In addition to this, Bark Box would send a free box to some of the canines down at the Downey animal shelter. Free stuff plus doing a good deed? It doesn't get much sweeter than that.
4. Nike
Getting sweaty, hiking the rough terrain, and lounging around in sweaty leggings and sports bras doesn't exactly scream high fashion. Fitness in general seems the opposite of glamour. However, being fit is very much in style.
With that in mind, Nike set out to stake its fashion claim with trendy lifestyle bloggers rather than fitness fanatics and health junkies.
Nike's collaborations reveal how stylish activewear can be. For example, The Blonde Salad mixes and matches activewear in a completely chic new way and I-AM STYLE-ISH praises its new Nike App. By aggregating different influencers in a variety of ways, Nike spreads its different goals across multiple platforms.
Instead of fully focusing on just the app or the activewear, Nike fully saturates its influencer market with everything and anything Nike, upping the chances to get their influencers' readers on the path to conversion.
5. Williams-Sonoma
Williams-Sonoma, a brand known for its gourmet kitchenware and home furnishings, is not exactly the first brand that comes to mind when we think "fashion blogger."
Having said that, Williams-Sonoma definitely appeals to a very specific type of person. It could be argued that this demographic might be the one found reading at expensive digs besides kitchenware.
With that idea in mind, Williams-Sonoma paired up with Rachel from Pink Peonies who showcased a beautiful Williams-Sonoma throw, a lovable pooch, and shots of herself curled up in her favorite JCrews. This type of article paints a picture of not only a type of lifestyle but one that her readers want or already do lead. This is an excellent example of taking everyday objects (like a throw) and giving that object some backbone by creating a story behind it.
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So, what do these five brands all have in common?
They have a little creativity and thought beyond what they're selling and focused more on who uses their product. These successful brands thought strategically about who their target demo is and what kind of bloggers attract those customers.
What the brands discovered was that you don't have to be a beauty blogger to appreciate good skincare products or be a pet blogger to go gaga over dog toys.
The bottom line is that as long as the blogger shares the same demographic as yours, you're on the right path to getting in front of your customers, no matter what your product is.
