Discovery
When considering different influencer marketing companies, we recommend taking a closer look at each company's process. As part of our strategy consulting for startups and previous to beginning any work in the influencer marketing space, our team will go through a discovery process in which we aim to understand the goals, internal workings, and budget of the client. In this process, we will provide education on influencer marketing as a whole and aim to answer all client questions on our approach. This discovery process is crucial for all influencer marketing companies to ensure that they are able to make strategic and specific campaign recommendations.
Campaign Recommendations
Based on everything learned and discussed in the discovery process, we will make recommendations as to any necessary preparation that is needed before the kickoff of the campaign, as well as the overall approach to who is being reached out to, at what volume, whether we recommend seeding or paid partnerships, etc. Based on these recommendations clients will receive a detailed budget as to the costs of each potential part of the campaign. As part of our recommendations, Startr Co. will also provide clients with an idea of anticipated deliverables and key performance indicators to measure the success of the campaign.
Influencer Campaign Prep
To generate the best results, Startr Co. may recommend certain tactics or work to be done prior to the commencement of the actual influencer campaign. This work will ensure that all outreach done later on yields the greatest possible results. Examples of prep work that may be recommended prior to the start of influencer outreach include: creation of a creative brand brief, a social media audit, the creation of influencer mailer boxes, kits or swag to increase the potential for seeding results, etc. Depending on the client preference, this work can be conducted by Startr Co. or in-house by the brand team themselves.
Client-Specific Research, Vetting, & List Creation
With all of the right information at hand and alignment on campaign goals and objectives, Startr Co. will commence work in researching, vetting, and compiling a list of on-brand, prospective influencer partners for clients. Based on the scope of work, our team will consistently deliver lists throughout the duration of the campaign for client feedback and approval. Lists will be fine-tuned on an ongoing basis based on actual results and feedback from previous influencers, and our team will remain flexible in recommending new or different strategies for list creation as the campaign progresses.
Custom Influencer Outreach
Once lists have been approved by the client, Startr Co. commences outreach with custom messaging for each potential influencer partner based on their content/reach. Our team may reach out to and follow up with influencers multiple times to explore product seeding, one-off paid content, and larger content partnerships, based on the individual influencer and client needs. This process usually results in a narrowing down of the influencer pool from the original list to those who are most interested in working with the client.
Paid Programming Negotiation
Should there be budget for paid programming, Startr Co. will lead and oversee the negotiation of all fees and deliverables. Deliverables from a paid partnership can include: inclusion of key messaging, appropriate social media tags, volume/frequency of posts, content rights/usage, etc. Our team will work on behalf of the client to negotiate the best possible rate and will document all agreed-upon deliverables in a deal memo that gets signed by both parties.
Influencer Seeding
In the case that the client is looking for organic/unpaid influencer relations, Startr Co. will explore opportunities for product seeding with individuals who have on-brand audiences and content. While organic seeding comes without the guarantee of deliverables seen in a paid campaign, this kind of influencer work can yield some of the most high impact, authentic content.
Optimization
A hugely important part of PR for startups, Startr Co. will constantly look to optimize all work by evaluating, comparing, and contrasting results as the campaign progresses. We will assess how various types of posts perform as opposed to others, evaluate the effectiveness of different types of influencers and will also note any other insights that can help in making the campaign more effective. Additionally, we will also advise clients on how to maximize the results/content produced by influencers for maximum impact across marketing overall.
