This month, we're shining a spotlight on one of the hottest new marketing strategies on the scene—influencer marketing! Thinking of trying to leverage this 21.1 billion-dollar industry to spread the word about your product? We've got a case study to get your creative juices flowing.

Kicking off with some authenticity

When it comes to social media, authenticity is key to building trust and driving organic content consumption. In a recent TikTok from Tenacious D, the seasoned rock duo showed us all the power of "keeping it real" by putting on a show for viewers from the comfort of their living room. 

The pair sang the Brittany Spears pop hit, Hit Me Baby One More Time. There was no branding. There was no promo. There was definitely no hair and makeup. A simple caption, "Tenacious B! 🐼".

For those of us who don't follow the Kung Fu Panda dynasty, this was just another video on TikTok of Jack Black doing what he does best.

After we shared the TikTok with every Jack Black-loving friend we had...

Bam! The Jack Black Kung Fu Panda 4 Hit Me Baby One More Time music video debuted on Instagram. Ohhhhh, he got us good! We were loving the Brittany cross-over, we were jamming in our Fire Phoenix t-shirts, but this was a promo!

The results of this well-timed campaign were 4,647,077 likes on the TikTok video and 2,253,962 likes on the Instagram video. The authentic video got higher engagement than the promo (as we would expect because on social authenticity is king). 

The Tenacious D and Kung Fu Panda collaboration was a true lesson in the art of timing and authenticity. The Kung Fu Panda campaign successfully leveraged their celebrity power leading up to the big premiere, which skyrocketed their Instagram launch success.

 If you are ready to launch your first influencer campaign, here are a few things to consider:

• Check out your influencer's engagement metrics before you begin to make sure you are comfortable with average engagement.

• Calculate engagement rate:

  • Total Followers/ (Average Post Comments + Average Post Likes)

• Leverage an authentic pre-launch like Jack Black for exponential gains.

• Develop a strong tie-in between your authentic content and your promo launch. Make sure both the influencer, brand, and any other KOLs have a coordinated launch schedule. 
  

An Influencer Campaign That Went Out in a "Blaze" of...Well...Not Glory

Here's an example of a collab that could have been great but went up in smoke. Outdoor experts from Solo Stove learned that not every collaboration is a good one when they took a page from the influencer handbook. Their recent Super Bowl campaign with Snoop Dogg didn't ignite the fire for the backyard fire pit they hoped for. Social media followers were shocked to learn that the seasoned rapper would be "giving up smoke" only to learn that he was actually referencing Solo Stove's state-of-the-art backyard smokeless fire pit. 

Get it...smokeless? Right, nobody else did either. The tie back to the brand was loose at best. There were even people that came out in support of Snoop Dogg's lifestyle change and pledged to join him. Maybe this one was a little too authentic and didn't have that "ah ha they got me!" brand tie in that Solo Stove was looking for. Woops.

 Here are a few things to avoid in your next influencer marketing campaign:

• Don't Forget your Audience: Make sure you do your research before starting an influencer collaboration. Not every influencer will align with the needs of your audience and that's okay. 

• Don't Kill the Creativity:  Creativity is second nature to many influencers. Avoid micromanaging or exercising too much creative control during the process to ensure the best quality of work. 

• Don't Overlook MicroInfluencers: Micro- and nano-influencers are the best-kept secret of influencer marketing strategy. Though smaller in size, the often rank higher when it comes to engagement and authenticity. 
  

One More for Consideration...

The Miami-based company Rap Snacks created its own niche in the snack industry by leveraging authentic hip-hop culture and brand partnerships with household names like Snoop Dogg and Master P to attract potential customers.

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