Ep. 16 Influencer Marketing with Jennifer Sinski of Giant Noise

Hi there folks! Creatives Meet Business is an event and podcast series based out of Austin, Texas for creatives of ALL disciplines to get from zero to one in thinking of themselves as business owners (in the creative sector). This episode features Jennifer Sinski with Giant Noise. She joined us in December during our event on PR. As you'll find out, she leaves no stone unturned when it comes to Influencer Marketing. Topics range from what an influencer is, what pay to play is, how to engage with an influencer from a brand perspective and much, MUCH more. If influencer marketing confused you before this episode, you'll walk away with a spring in your step and a better vocabulary for chatting about all things influencer. Because there's so so much that's exciting about this episode - let's hop in and hear what Jennifer has to say! 0:00 to 1:26 - Ashland Opening Remarks and Intro of Jennifer Sinski 1:28 to 1:48 - Introduction of self, Giant Noise and discussion topic 1:56 to 2:38 - Defines Influencer Owns own platform (blog, Facebook page, YouTube), not a traditional media outlet and produces their own content. Looked to as tastemaker / leader in their area 2:39 to 4:47 - Interacting with influencers and Pay to Play Influencers are willing to promote a service or product in exchange for an experience or product Restaurant example - dining experience for Instagram post Pay to Play - Influencer will provide a media kit as well as cost for a post 4:48 to 8:19 - How to Identify Influencers Depends on industry Food - look up hashtags, what's being tagged and who is tagging them Search through location or services  Instagram blocks APIs of a lot of 3rd party apps  Look at Follow Page Content that your friends like, people around you are liking Hashtag research Top content being engaged with, that content creator is someone you might consider being on the influencer level Having a second means of communication - a blog, YouTube or other platform is a plus Micro influencer - anyone under 20K followers on Instagram (not exclusive to Instagram, there are other platforms that should be considered) 8:20 to 8:54 - Negotiating with an Influencer Be clear about your expectations and what you're getting With Pay to Play - Have a Contract! Include: how many times they'll post, the copy of the post, when it'll be posted by, how they'll get paid, have them send a W-9 Don't just have a one email interaction or send product blindly, it won't come back to you 8:55 to 10:14 - Identifying Fake Followers You can buy followers 100,000 followers with 100 likes or zero comments aren't good odds that they have real followers Services that comment on photos for you doesn't translate to event attendance or product purchases Services let you select demographic and it'll make comments like "This is everything" or "Thumbs up"  Follow / Unfollow - following a person in the hopes they follow you back, then unfollowing them Understand how Influencers have built their audience. If you are wanting to work with them, will this audience help you do what you want them to do 10:15 to 12:00 - Influencer PR Strategy Goes hand in hand with a traditional PR strategy. Just like you would do a media alert or press release, you'd pitch an influencer but tailor it to them Expectation isn't that they will write about it. In outreach, offer opportunities for photographing and more Influencer outreach is same type of interaction as press outreach Done on every level, not just locally Mommy blogging is a big market 12:01 to 12:58 - How People Become Influencers Some buy followers, for others it just happens How to deal with it? Honesty with audience is key! Attend media events Attend free events Sponsored posts are an option Influencer Marketing helps brands reach their target demographic directly 12:59 to 13:17 - Who Works with Influencers? Ad Agencies and PR firms are in the middle, both share in this space  Some ad agencies have targeted themselves as only working with influencers 13:18 to 14:31 - Ashland Closing Remarks More PR to come! If you're in Austin, check out CreativeTribes If you like what you hear, share the podcast with your friends, rate and review. To stay in the loop - follow us on Twitter, Facebook or subscribe to the newsletter. We'll be sticking around the world of PR for a few more weeks and have some pros that we can't wait to introduce you to. We're so excited about future episodes on: timelines, making sure your story is compelling for press, leveraging events as part of your PR strategy and much more. Stay tuned! Thanks! Ashland, Creatives Meet Business