Do you know Pepsi was the first American product to enter the Russian market? The story began in the 1950s after the death of Stalin. After the power struggle, Nikita Khrushchev emerged victoriously. Determined to reform the country and improve the lives of the population, the communist leader hosted the first ever American National Exhibition in Moscow in the summer of 1959.
Giant American companies like Sears, IBM, Kodak and Whirlpool were quick to sign up and be a part of the exhibition. Out of the 450 companies at the exhibition, one brand stood out and won the hearts and taste buds of Russia — Pepsi.
How did they do it? Pepsi took advantage of the now-trending marketing strategy: influencer marketing.
How Pepsi Played the Influencer Game
It was all the idea of Donald Kendall, head of Pepsi’s International Division. Before the exhibition began, Kendall approached then vice president, Richard Nixon, and asked him if he could help get a Pepsi into the hands of Nikita Khrushchev.
Nixon agreed and after the famous Kitchen Debate, he ushered Khrushchev into a refreshment booth filled with nothing but Pepsi. Khrushchev liked it and encouraged everyone to try it. From that day, July 24, 1959, until the collapse of the USSR, Pepsi became a household name in Russia and to this day, the communist nation remains as Pepsi’s largest market outside the United States.
That’s the power of influencer marketing.
What is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses on using key industry leaders (the influencers) to drive your brand into a larger market. Instead of marketing directly to a large group of consumers, influencer marketing requires you to pay, hire, or inspire influencers to get the word out for you. This type of marketing is very effective because your audience is already well-targeted and most of the people see influencers as people with authority and with whom they can trust.
Different Types of Influencers
Influencer marketing is not just limited to social media or bloggers. Below are the 8 different types of influencers you can tap for your business.
- Celebrities
- Journalists
- Thought Leaders
- Bloggers
- YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram “sensations”
- Charities
- Industry Experts
- Analysts
4 Key Questions to Ask when Finding the Right Influencer for Your Business
There are a lot of influencers out there — especially on social media. And you don’t need a vice president to get in touch with them. In most cases, all you have to do is message an influencer directly and discuss how they can help boost your brand awareness and generate sales.
The real challenge is finding the right influencer for your brand. Here are some questions to ask:
1. Is their content relevant to my business?
It’s so easy to get swayed by a blogger’s number of unique monthly visitors or an Instagram influencer’s number of followers. While stats are important, these should not get in the way of the most important factor you should consider when choosing a brand influencer for your business — RELEVANCE.
Does the influencer’s content align with your brand’s message? Just because an Instagrammer influencer posts photos of food in her profile, this doesn’t necessarily mean she is a good fit for your organic products.
Relevance is important and knowing your brand’s purpose (or, its ‘why’) can help enormously in finding the right influencer.
2. Are their readers or followers engaged?
Some influencers out there have fake or paid followings. So what’s the best way to filter out these frauds? Engagement. Do readers share, comment, or respond? How many of the readers are new? How many are returning?
How readers interact with the content and how often they return are good indicators of how engaged and valuable an influencer’s audience is.
Engagement is the new ‘impressions’. It matters as much, if not more than someone’s reach. – Kristy Sammis
3. Do they publish frequently?
There is a direct correlation between how frequent an influencer posts new content, their website traffic and their number of loyal followers. It takes multiple exposures before a consumer not only feels they can trust a brand, but also start to consider the product or service. This is why it’s important to know whether an influencer’s average return visitors are high or not.
Online influencers who constantly publish high-quality content often too have more loyalty from its readership compared to those who don’t.
4. Are they authentic?
How will you know if an influencer is authentic and not just in it for the money? Counter-intuitive as it may sound, many people find bloggers with a small sponsored content ratio to be more authentic and trusted compared to bloggers who constantly spill out sponsored posts. Why? It’s because these influencers make sure that the products or services they endorse are in line with their own purpose and values.
Authentic brand influencers often promote a product using personal stories that include the genuine use or mentions of the product or service, instead of straight up reviewing them. Stories are more compelling and engaging. And they tend to get more shares and comments.
In conclusion, let me share these wise words from Philip Sheldrake, Co-founder of Digital Life:
The first thing to consider in any influencer marketing campaign is understanding why your organisation exists, and what it is trying to achieve. Absent this, and you’ve yet to influence yourself, let alone others.
Everything — the products you make, the services you offer, marketing decisions, hiring strategies, etc. — hinge on your company’s PURPOSE. Don’t know it yet? Read this post or get in touch with us and we’ll explain how.