Choosing Influencers for Client Campaigns

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I feel the need to demystify something about the process of choosing influencers for client campaigns. It may surprise you, but at Everywhere, we do not crowd around a conference table, look at the slate of applicants and pick our personal favorites. We all had our fair share of suffering on behalf of the “populars” during our respective high school years, and even though we can recite the majority of the “Mean Girls” script by heart, we don’t make our choices based on who we’d let sit with us. In fact, which influencer to pick for a campaign is ultimately driven by the client.

So how does it work? Have you ever heard the old saying, “There are two things you never want to see being made: laws in congress and sausages”? Well, it’s about as complicated as that – although as an agency we’ve tried to streamline the system to avoid the messiness.

When we launch a campaign with a client, we review their goals, and identify what success will look like. At Everywhere Agency, we also use a platform we’ve built called InfluencerConnect™ to help us sort and match influencers based on their profiles. Each client has different wants and needs based on their target demographics, so we review their priorities as follows.

  • Theme: What does the influencer blog about? If we’re doing a fashion campaign, sorry, we don’t need food bloggers,(even if your outfits slay on the regular). If we’re doing an entertainment-related campaign, we need to find folks who write and post about that topic on social media frequently.
  • Quality of Content. We read your blogs – not just the front page, but we scour your blogs. We stalk influencers and review their content going back months and months. We have one client that is looking for gorgeous images – they like to repurpose influencer content on their own channels, so we’re really looking a the quality of photography. If it’s a content-heavy post, we’ll pull samples of your writing style to show the client. Most clients have non-competes, so if we’re working for Coca-Cola, but you just did a campaign for Starbucks, you’re out. Some clients are averse to anything overtly religious or political. So, if you’ve mouthed off about the recent political happenings in our country, you’re out. I’m not suggesting influencers censor their content – just be aware that some clients shy away from content that is overly opinionated.

We also look to see if influencers have a natural affinity for the brand. Would you write about the brand even if you were not paid? Does the brand relate to the type of content you share? Our clients are Macy’s, Carter’s, OshKosh, Cox Communications, Mattress Firm, and others. These are products and services you’ll find in everyday American households. When choosing influencers, we look at your content to see whether our brand content is a fit.

  • Audience & Location: If you’re a member of Everywhere Society, you know we often ask, “Where are the majority of your readers based?” We do a ton of hyper-local campaigns for Macy’s. Fantastic for you that you have readers coast to coast and in Canada, but not so great for a location-specific campaign. This is where we can often book influencers with lower numbers because we’re really looking for hyper-local readers.

It also matters where you personally are located – which might not be where your readers are concentrated. When we worked with Orkin, we needed influencers who wrote about entertaining and outdoorsy activities and were based throughout the Southeastern United States. So imagine, when we are reviewing influencers and we have three great candidates based in Miami, somebody is going to have to take the cut because we have to ensure we’re reaching other parts of the region. Typically, reach and audience will be the deciding factors – not who we like best.

  • Platform. What’s your primary platform? For super visual campaigns, we may need an influencer who has amazing Instagram numbers even though his or her blog UMVs are just so-so. We sometimes look at the totality of the platforms where you create content, and other times, we’re really just looking at one specific platform. Last year, we had to source a millennial SnapChat influencer for Cox Communications for a very specific region of the country..
  • Reach. Yes numbers matter, but they aren’t the end-all, be-all. Some clients want us to source celebrity influencers, but that’s the rarity, not the norm. Today, more and more of our clients want to deploy multiple micro influencers for campaigns. So yes, numbers matter but blog UMV’s are no longer the holy grail. Your Instagram or Facebook audience may be just as impressive to a client as your blog readership.
  • Demographic. Some of our client campaigns are focused on a specific demographic: entrepreneurs, baby-boomers sending kids to college, moms of newborns, parents who are raising their children bi-lingual. We narrow down those demographics in our search for influencers.
  • Above & Beyond Influencers. Once we’ve evaluated all these different quantifiable categories, we can consider what we at Everywhere Agency know about you the influencer. We call this the “Above & Beyond Factor.” We love influencers who repeatedly exceed expectations on client campaigns. They don’t just get their links in on time, they create awesome content, they ask questions, and they show true passion for the brand. Yes, many campaigns have bumps in the road that we have to work through, but it’s the working relationship with you that matters at this point.

Our InfluencerConnect™ platform helps us weigh what’s important to the client, but we can’t just rely on technology. We read your work, and we provide detailed notes on why we’ve recommended you. We make strong recommendations for influencers who we think will be a great fit, and sometimes we fight for you. But even though we are in your corner, at the end of the day it’s the client’s choice as to which influencers they will use for a campaign.

So, to any influencer who has not “been picked” for a campaign in a long time, it’s not because we don’t love you. We (heart) all our Everywhere Society members – that’s why we invited you to join in the first place! It’s not personal, nor is it the luck of the draw. It’s just complicated and a little bit like making sausages.

How to build an effective social media strategy

How to Build an Effective Social Media Strategy

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One of the most common questions we get after mentioning that we work in social media marketing is, “So, you get to be on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter all day?” There’s a huge misconception that our jobs aren’t valid or strategic. To that notion I say: bah humbug. Social media strategy is critical to succeed as a brand – both online and offline – by connecting all of your overarching marketing initiatives.

To have a successful social media presence, you’ve got to do more than just post messages that seem important or interesting to you. We actually had a client who gave their whole department access to their Facebook page. Over a dozen people were posting all about their different campaigns and initiatives without rhyme or reason. Their VP of Marketing said the page looked like a “dog’s breakfast,” and he was right! Everything was just thrown in there without thinking about how the content related to their overarching marketing and social media goals, let alone without regard for Facebook’s algorithm. We came in and showed them the key factors to a purposeful and effective social media strategy. I’ll share the CliffsNotes with you here!

  1. Goals: What Are You Working Toward? – Building a social media strategy should start with figuring out what your goals are. Are you looking to increase sales, awareness, or site traffic? Different goals determine the different types of posts you put out there and the platforms you’re on. For instance, if you’re a B2B company that’s selling something rather utilitarian to upper-management-type folks, you should likely be focusing on LinkedIn. However, if you’re a consumer products division wanting to increase awareness and sales amongst millennials, Instagram or Snapchat is the place to be!
  2. Voice: Preach to the Choir – Social media is all about having a human voice. Consumers want to feel connected to the company, and a well-developed voice can help accomplish that and build loyalty. If your writing is mechanical or boring, no one will want to engage with you. Thus, we like to have brands define their persona. If your brand was a person and your copywriters had to embody and write like them, who would that be? A beverage company we worked with had a target audience of millennials. They chose Jennifer Lawrence as the persona for their social media voice because she’s irreverent and fun. A healthcare client chose Angelina Jolie because their practice was focused on beauty, health, and doing good in the world. Sometimes the social media voice of a brand is inspired by a hybrid of people. It could even emulate the CEO, as long as said CEO sounds human and personable, of course.
  3. 80/20: Learn to Weigh Priorities – No one wants to follow a page that is purely promotional. Think about it: who wants to subject themselves to more ads than necessary? People follow brands that give them something extra. Whether it’s a behind-the-scenes look at the company or education on the industry (what we like to call “thought leadership”), you’ve got to give your customer more than a sales message. We employ the 80/20 rule in our social media strategy builds– 80% of content is non-promotional, with 20% marketing/sales messages peppered in. Why? If your non-promotional content is engaging and appealing, it’ll make people more interested in your brand!
  4. Content Verticals: The Pillars of Strategy – So, remember when I said a “dog’s breakfast”? That’s what you get when you don’t build content verticals. In other words, you need to identify the types of content that you’ll be posting – without violating the 80/20 rule. For example, if you’re a fun food brand, your content verticals may be recipes, corny food jokes, food porn images, innovative industry/CPG news, food holidays (yes – every day is devoted to some kind of food. My favorite is National Ice Cream Day!), and then product placements.
  5. Quality Content: Werk It – This concept truly embodies the notion of “It’s more than just posting on Facebook.” Quality content necessitates writing that is on-brand and engaging, beautiful imagery that one would like even if they weren’t fans of your brand, and tactics that represent social media best practices, like appropriate usage of hashtags and tagging. You have no idea how many brands under-utilize or misinterpret best practices! The more relevant and creative the content is, the more people will like/comment on it, and the more potential consumers it will reach.
  6. Monitoring and Response: Being Everywhere – Over 40% of customers complaining on social media expect a response within an hour (Convince and Convert, 2015). For social inquiries that go unanswered by a brand, there’s a 15% churn rate in existing customers (Clarabridge, 2016). That’s why it’s critical to find the right monitoring tools and create an appropriate response process as a part of your social media strategy. On top of that, planning how to respond to a plethora of different inquiries ahead of time is critical to immediately answering questions, providing transparency, and not having to route responses through your PR and legal teams – which will definitely put you over that hour-long response timeframe. If you need some more tips on this, check out one of my previous blog posts, 5 Tips for Reputation Management.
  7. Tools: Make Your Life Easier – There are plenty of tools that can make your life easier on social. For instance, platforms like Hootsuite or Buffer, among others, allow you to schedule your social messages ahead of time, leaving you stress-free to complete other tasks in the day. There are also analytical tools both built into the social channels (think Facebook Insights or Twitter Analytics) or provided through third-party software that allow you to analyze your posts and figure out if the strategy you’ve devised is working. By doing A/B testing and comparing results from these resources, you can fine-tune your strategy over time to get the most return on your investment.

At Everywhere Agency, we combine all of these critical success factors and more into a strategic social media playbook that guides teams in their content creation and community management. Still feel like you have more to learn when it comes to conquering the beast of social media? Reach out to us, and we’ll find a way to help.

Micro-Influencers for Meaningful Results

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The newest trend in digital marketing is the use of influencers. Common perception is that an influencer is someone with millions of followers, but contrary to popular belief, an influencer can be someone with only a few hundred readers who are hyper-local and regularly engage with their content.

An often-overlooked group and potentially the key to leveraging influencers to your advantage is to use what’s called a micro-influencer. These influencers focus on different types of content specialties and reach target audiences of every thinkable niche. Micro-influencers have smaller followings but a much more relevant voice in their community. This tactic prioritizes quality over quantity – thus earning more valuable engagement, which will likely convert to sales.

According to Nielsen, a staggering 84% of consumers trust the recommendations of friends more than traditional advertising. In other words, they’re more likely to purchase what their favorite Instagram fashionista is wearing as opposed to Blake Lively. It’s a concept of relatability. Utilizing a group of carefully selected micro-influencers who strike a chord with your target demographic can – and often will – bring your brand more awareness than one post from a celebrity.

Ever wonder why influencer marketing campaigns work for others but not you? Maybe it’s a matter of your approach. Micro-influencer strategies aren’t one-size fits all – every campaign should be tailored to the specific goals of your brand.

When working with micro-influencers, the first trick is to think about the audience you want to reach. Do you need to get your brand in front of fitness fanatics in Columbus, Ohio? Working with health-oriented bloggers who have a substantial and loyal local following in that area is going to be your best bet.

Next, you need to be sure that the content they naturally create relates to the content you’d like to sponsor. Having a micro-influencer is only effective if their voice and perspective aligns with your brand. Choosing the right micro-influencer can help you achieve significant results AND connect you with genuine brand enthusiasts.

At Everywhere Agency, we are constantly running hyper-local campaigns for Macy’s. It’s our job to find influencers in specific locations to encourage their readers to attend in-store events. Depending on the event, we look for influencers who write content that relates to what’s going on and have a substantial amount of readers located close to each individual store. While a blogger with a huge nationwide audience seems attractive, they won’t reach the very niche, targeted demographic we are trying to hit.

Micro-influencers offer authenticity and a tailored approach for the brands that work with them. At a fraction of the cost, their engaged followers and unique perspectives make micro-influencers a dominant resource for marketers. These influencers are dedicated to their audiences and the content they put up on their blog. Nearly any brand can find a micro-influencer who aligns with their specific audience. Consumers today are craving a more authentic connection to brands – and you can give them that experience by collaborating with micro-influencers.

FTC Guidelines for Influencer Marketing

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There is a fair amount of panic these days about FTC guidelines, mostly driven by a handful of celebrities (like the Kardashians) who neglected to disclose the fact that they received financial compensation in exchange for social shares.

The FTC has even cracked down on major brands like Lord & Taylor for flagrantly defying the rules. To remind you, last year, the retailer paid 50 fashion influencers several thousand dollars each to post a picture, all wearing a flouncy paisley dress. It might have seemed random – but it wasn’t. They were compensated to post the picture, and as such, they should have let their followers know that this post was inspired by the love of money, rather than the love of paisley dresses.

Flouting of the rules gets negative media attention, including a recent front-page story in the New York Times, and causes major heartburn for legal teams at big brands – leaving them fretting over whether their influencer campaigns are compliant. So, how do you know if your influencer marketing team is following FTC Guidelines? Well, it helps if you understand both the ambiguities of said guidelines AND the explicit rules.

The philosophy behind the FTC guidelines is fairly straightforward. Any influencer who receives a product or compensation in exchange for a social share or blog post must disclose to their readers in a way that is clear, conspicuous, and unambiguous. Some marketers seem confused because there are no hard and fast rules. Mary K. Engle, the FTC’s associate director for advertising practices, explained to the New York Times, “We’re not prescriptive … but it has to be unambiguous.”

I understand the angst this causes rule-followers who want to have a hard and fast decree, so I’ll share a few more clues straight from the mouth of Mary Engle of the FTC, like this one: “The disclosure has to be placed in such a way that the consumer is not going to miss it.”

Imagine the average reader scrolling through his or her Facebook newsfeed. What will stop them dead in their tracks and clearly and unambiguously alert them that this post is sponsored by a brand? The word “ad” seems pretty obvious to me. Put a hashtag in front of it, and you’ve officially joined the ranks of paid influencers.

Some social media stars try to get fancy and use all sorts of catchphrases and clues as a workaround to the guidelines. Favorites include #spon, #collab, and #Co. Spon sounds like something a fish does, and collab makes me think you’re just super collaborative. Co? What does that mean? You’re starting a company?

Mary Engle seems to agree, “We’re seeing disclosures that are ambiguous, given the context of the culture of these platforms,” she said in PRWeek, “…#Ad and #sponsored is fine, but not #Spon and #Sp or #Collab or #co.” So, there you have it, straight out of the mouth of the FTC, #Spon, #Sp, #Collab, and #Co don’t make the grade.

Any agency or brand running influencer campaigns needs to be well versed in the guidelines. If they find them to be ambiguous, I suggest heading over to the nonprofit, Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA). WOMMA has been a devoted resource and the ethical guide to our industry since 2004. Here’s a link to their social media disclosure guidelines.

While the FTC may not provide a play-by-play for every scenario, it’s not that hard to stop and ask, “Is it clear? Is it unambiguous, and is the disclosure placed in such a way that the consumer is not going to miss it?”

Finally, when in doubt, always remember that #ad is ironclad!

How to Get Paid Blogging for Brands

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So, you recently started blogging to express your point of view and passion for writing. That’s great! Of course, you’re probably wondering, “How do I make money from this thing?” The good news is bloggers and influencers – people with impressive social followings – have become one of the most sought after marketing tactics in recent years.

There are plenty of paid blogging opportunities out there – the trick is finding them. It’s important that you know how to make yourself attractive to potential brand partners so you, too, can ride the lucrative wave of influencer marketing.

Here are 6 steps to making sure your blog is set up for sponsored content opportunities:

  1. Pick a topic you’re fond of: Once you’ve decided on an overarching topic for your blog, you’ll have a better understanding of what types of collaborations will be a genuine fit for your site. Brands are looking for influencers with a specific audience of readers that aligns with their demographic. For example, a brand will most likely not reach out to a fashion blogger about home improvement. They’re more likely to go with someone whose voice is clearly defined than someone who writes about every random thing that crosses their mind.
  2. Make your social channels easy to find: If you’re claiming to be an influencer, you’ll need to prove it! Having your social media channels on your homepage makes it that much easier for marketers to see what kind of content you produce across different platforms and how your audience connects with you. As an influencer marketing manager, I work with bloggers everyday here at Everywhere and can tell you firsthand that if I can’t easily find your social media channels, you’ve already lost my attention. The more ways you can be found, the more opportunities you’ll have for sponsored posts.
  1. Show Your Strengths: Having an established audience is definitely a key factor to securing brand collaborations. Building your following takes time, but you should know that UMVs (unique monthly visitors, for those new to the blogging party) are not the end-all, be-all when it comes to brand partnership. Have a dedicated Twitter following that retweets your every thought? Do all of your beautifully photographed Instagram posts get great engagement? Draw attention to what you do best.
  1. Answer your emails: I can’t stress this step enough. If you’re not constantly checking your emails, how will you ever know which brands are reaching out? Once you’ve engaged in a conversation, keep on top of it! Campaign timelines are often tight, and if you aren’t responsive, then we’ll be forced to move on to our next choice. This happens far too often. If you’re serious about making money from blogging, you need to be serious about keeping your inbox in check.
  1. Get face time with brands: There are plenty of conferences you can attend where brands are lined up and eager to meet influencers. Make sure you bring your business card and smile. It’s also import that you initiate conversations with brand representatives. This is your chance to tell them about your blog, why it matters, and where you see opportunities to collaborate. Think of this more as a connection opportunity – not a sales call.
  1. Join networks and foster relationships: Networks like Everywhere Society offer one-stop shops for getting paid. We corral all our brand opportunities and share them with influencers via email a couple of times each month. Each influencer network has relationships with different brands, so it makes sense to join several networks. At Everywhere, we pride ourselves on the relationships we’ve fostered with many of the influencers we’ve met and worked with. In fact, these relationships are sometimes the extra “push” for a blogger to be selected for certain campaigns! Take any chance you can to meet new people and make new friends – especially those that can prove to be mutually beneficial.

There are so many perks to blogging – the ability to share your story and connect with people around the world, for one – but getting paid is always a perk! If you position your blog properly, there’s no doubt that opportunities will come your way. Just remember, find a topic where your passion lies, be accessible, and put yourself out there!

Super Powers of Messaging Apps

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Social Media Messaging Apps appear to be a meek and mild application, but once you tap into their powers, they transform into the strong and mighty. Before you turn in your capes and discount this medium, listen up! Brands, big and small, are employing the power of messaging apps to reach its intended audience. This strategy has proven to be a critical resource, especially within the e-commerce realm that, with the slightest touch of a button, can almost telepathically relay key messaging to 100 percent of its audience within a few minutes, often resulting in higher conversion rates.

Why should brands venture into the somewhat unfamiliar abyss of messaging apps? That answer lies in the stats that suggest this approach can actually work in converting messages into sales. According to Pew Research Center:

  • Consumers between the ages of 17-31 spend more than three hours a day on their cell phones
  • 63 percent of consumers between the ages of 18-34 are active mobile users
  • 79 percent of all mobile users engage with brands via their devices

Aside from being ultra cool and innovative, messaging apps provide bold and fearless brands the tremendous opportunity of touching its core audience without being too salesy. Brands can seamlessly integrate key messages without in-app disruptions. It can also provide valuable content, encourage conversation and promote deals significant to its bottom line.

For brands wanting more personal online engagement that no foe can defeat, we’ve uncovered four premier messaging apps that allow these brands to connect with users in an organic way, no matter where they are:

  1. Facebook Messenger – With more than 900 million active users worldwide, this messenger reaches more than 44 percent of users between the ages of 18-34. As a result of the success of this app, the company is now having conversations about adding ads for higher conversion. Hyatt Hotels Corporation is a noted pioneer when it comes to using FB Messenger for customer service. It allows for real-time communication with its users, and will eventually evolve to allow its customers to book and share information securely.
  2. WhatsApp – 900 million individuals use this app monthly, with India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa having the most active users. C&J Clark America, Inc. (“Clarks”) is known to target a more mature demographic and is using the app to pursue millennials. Its use of interactive chats and interactive documentary offer truly relatable content that’s attractive to its social media savvy sweet spot.
  3. WeChat – The amount of usage for this app is astounding! More than 650 million individuals use this app monthly worldwide, with China drawing more than 570 million individual users per day! The greatest asset of this app is that it allows ads, and is quite adaptable for brands wanting to discover new and clever ways of touting its benefits. Coca-Cola encouraged the “WeChat Lifestyle” by engaging users in Hong Kong to “take a break” from work via a follow of its account that’s replete with games and product offers.
  4. YikYak – The advantage of this app is that it allows the brand to control the conversation, and is location based, which allows its users to connect within their own community. The discussion threads are often pretty humorous, with pure and unrefined chatter. Chipotle garnered quite a few chuckles when the question was posed: “Want to break up with my ex, where should I do it?” The answer? “Chipotle, after you break up, she can sleep on a full stomach.” Ha!

The mighty heroes of the messenger app world have been revealed, and they are here to elevate brands to galactic status. Want to reach who you want? Want to reach 100 percent of the audience? Want to be read within a few minutes? Want a higher conversion rate? Tap on a messenger app to answer the call. After all, it’s truth, justice and the American way of apps!

Successful Twitter Chats 101

Twitter Chats in 6 Easy Steps

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Hosting Twitter Chats is an incredibly successful way to engage a large audience and present your brand as a thought leader in the industry. Twitter chats are best used as conversations around a certain idea or topic with a unique hashtag. Coupled with an influencer marketing campaign, chats can seriously deliver on the ROI factor. The best part? They’re open to the public and a fun, inviting way to spread your message!

So, how do you throw a successful Twitter Chat (also sometimes called Twitter Party)?

  1. Preparation – Before you ever host a Twitter Chat, you’ll want to know what to expect. It’s incredibly beneficial to participate in a few Twitter chats prior to hosting your own. You can get accustomed to the flow, banter, and guidelines all in one shamelessly fun hour! Not sure what you want to chat about? AdWeek posted an awesome listing of all the possible Twitter chats you can participate in. There’s a Twitter chat for nearly every topic known to mankind.
  2. Choose Your Topic, Hashtag, and Time – Once you’ve participated in a few Twitter Chats, you’ll notice that they are all about specific events or topics. You’ll want to choose a topic that is really engaging and not super sales-y. Nobody wants to spend an hour online with you if you are selling, so find a topic that relates to your campaign but not entirely focused on the sales aspect of your campaign. Next? Choose a hashtag. Keep it simple, memorable and relevant. And finally, pick a great time! Look at your ideal audience. What’a a time you know they’re typically available.
  3. Have Something to Offer – Offering some sort of prize during the Twitter Party will definitiely increase the number of people who participate. Prizes encourages participants to be more engaged in the conversation, thus generating a larger reach for your message. The trick is to offer a prize in the middle of the chat and announce the winners at the end – ensuring that your audience will sit tight for the length of the party. It helps to promote the fact that you’re giving items away before the chat starts too! Wondering about the prizes? Gift cards are always a great idea.
  4. Choose a Host or Co-Host – How can you have a party without a host? And picking the right host or hostess, why that’s what makes a great event!!! As DJ Khaled would say, this is a “MAJOR key” to success. Obviously, your co-host should be some type of influencer. Maybe they’re already working on the campaign with you and have a large following or maybe they’re someone you hand select because of the engagement from their Twitter followers. Either way, the host is there to bring in more people and help to spread the word before the chat. Having a popular host or co-host makes for a great party and ensures lots of people will show up!!
  5. Promote, Promote, Promote – Now that you’ve planned and coordinated your Twitter Party, you need to get people to show up! Promoted tweets, Facebook posts, or Instagrams – anything works! Create an Eventbrite and have the tweeters RSVP, so you can send courteous reminders leading up to the chat. Be sure to ask for their Twitter handle in the RSVP process to do just that! Another helpful tip for promoting your Twitter Chat is to create graphics for your co-host and other influencers to share. Images get noticed more often than text or link posts and garner the best engagement!
  6. Tracking Your Success – This is the last and final step, you had a great event, now brag about it! There are lots of resources for tracking the success of a Twitter party, at Everywhere, we like to use Tracx to monitor the social components to our campaigns. You can get insightful data such as engagement rate, unique participants, keywords, and overall impressions. More than that, you can get audience breakdown – like their gender or where the participants live. Check it out if you’re looking for a way to analyze your Twitter chat or want to track specific influencers for a campaign!

So there you have it! The beauty in Twitter Chats is that the structure is completely up to you! Twitter chats are really a way for your brand to make new friends. Even before your chat is over, you will have formed new relationships, gained more followers, and expanded your exposure.

Tweet me your tips, questions, or just to say hello, @_LynzeeJay!

5 Social Media Resolutions for 2016

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Everyone sets New Year’s Resolutions, but why not social media resolutions? What are you looking to change up in the New Year? Here are five resolutions I’m going to tackle. What about you?

  1. In 2016, I want to organize my Pinterest Boards. Specifically, my “Food Ideas” board is out of control. My board is a maze of food delights with no clear way in and no clear way out. I have party ideas, dinner entrees, lists of crock-pot recipes, snacks, and more all in one place – great in theory, terrible in practice. I can’t find anything I’m looking for! What I really need instead of one all encompassing board is separate boards for each category of food. Once I tackle that, I can begin to think about reorganizing the rest of my boards. Hello, home section!
  2. Because the early use of SnapChat was to share those personal, disappearing stories, I limited my followers to friends. So my next resolution is to follow non-friends! I’m thinking more thought leaders, publications and celebrities. First up on my “to follow list”: DJ Khaled (more exciting jet ski rides, I hope!), Mike Platco (an amazing SnapChat content creator), and Mic (more millennial focused news, why not?). Any more suggestions? Tweet me!
  3. With SnapChat being as popular as it was in 2015, as well as the fact that it’s my favorite platform, I’m going to devote another resolution to it. I need to watch more of the Discovery section. I totally underutilized this part of the platform. Every once in a while when I’m bored, I tap for some interesting content and each time I wonder why I don’t do it more often. From learning about world topics to DIY tips to recipes and more, I feel like it’s helping me learn and become more well versed about a variety of trending topics and news.
  4. Twitter has really gotten a bad rap in 2015, but I’m not ready to abandon this pithy platform. In 2016, I’m going to up my Twitter game by participating in more trending hashtags. I’m a fan of the @Midnight #HashtagWars, which are always trending and that I always seem to overlook. Specifically I missed out on awesome ones like #FailedApps or #FoodComedians. I think joining trending hashtags will make me feel more part of the conversation and a new community. Chatting and social media do go hand in hand. That’s why we’re there, right?
  5. And lastly, I vow to be more consistent on Instagram. Instagram seems to scream “sporadic” or “when you’re in the mood.” Also, because I’m a purist, the very nature of the platform makes me only want to post beautiful and quality photos. This year, I’m hoping to plan ahead more so that my posts can stay at the quality my followers expect, but are rolled out on a more consistent basis.

So what are your social media resolutions? Share them with me in the comments or by tweeting me at @linacracy!

Lynzee Jablonka & Leticia Barr Tech Savvy Mama

Successful Influencer Marketing

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successful influencer marketing

Do you remember going to camp over summer and then keeping in touch with your new friends via snail mail? I would sit and wait for the mail to come to see what my friends from across the country were up to. It was the start of my career in influencer marketing, and I had no idea! Flash forward 15 years (has it really been that long??) to traveling to blogging conferences like BlogHer or Mom2.0 – now I’m an emailing, Tweeting and Facebook messaging machine.

Have I mentioned that I’m the self-proclaimed Queen of Influencer Marketing here at Everywhere Agency? You see, I treat bloggers as I once treated my friends from summer camp. They’re my modern day pen pals. The key to success in any form of influencer relations is just that – a relationship. On any given day, I’m telling my life story to at least three new friends from Everywhere Society, our community of bloggers and influencers. What a typical marketer would call an influencer, I have the pleasure of calling a friend.

How do I do that? It’s simple, really.

  1. I go to different conferences and meet as many people as I can on a personal level BEFORE I start talking to them on a professional level. I know that Leticia is a self-made farmer straight out of Maryland (how are your Chickens, btw?!) and that D.J. has the funniest High School vendetta story ever (I’d love to share, but it’s not blog appropriate).
  2. I become friends with them on social networks. Any influencer who is a member of Everywhere Society has the option to follow me on Twitter/Instagram or friend me on Facebook. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve commented on Jewel’s vacation photos to show my pure jealousy or liked a photo of Claudia’s OOTD – she really is the most trendy Latina I know!
  3. My emails to bloggers are full of banter and “lol’s” rather than boring business jargon. I genuinely want to know how they’re doing and wish them a “Happy Birthday!” whenever I can! Sure, I get done what needs to be done, but I’m always excited when Adanna tells me to “stay cool.”

It may seem daunting to have 3,000+ best friends, but I’ll be the first to tell you that it’s rewarding in more ways than one! As a people-person by nature, I try to incorporate those traits into my daily life and the results are my many, many successfully completed campaigns.

Tweet me at @_LynzeeJay with your favorite pen pal story, conference memory, or just say hello — I’d love to hear from you!!

Influencer Marketing Campaigns – A Quasi “How To” Manual

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At our agency, we’ve been in the blogger relations business since we opened our doors six years ago. We live, breathe and drink influencer marketing, but I’m still uneasy with the notion of building a manual for “how to reach out to bloggers.” Not because I think we have some secret formula when it comes to influencer outreach; the challenge is that blogger relations is more about the relationship and less about the process. Relationships are built organically, over time. There’s no manual for building camaraderie and trust. That said, there are some basic guidelines I can offer up that may help demystify what we take into account when activating influencer marketing campaigns.

  1. Find a common denominator between your product or brand and the blogger. Far too often, we hear of brands sending out pitch emails to a huge list of bloggers often on BCC, with no personalization, fo an influencer marketing campaign. Spoiler alert: this tactic will not get you results. It will get you straight into the delete folder. Take time to read each blog you are pitching, see when and where the blogger may have written about a similar subject, and make the connection.
  2. Today’s “blogger” really is an “influencer”. Their influence extends far beyond their blog. We go beyond the blog to review their full suite of social channels and digital footprint. You may learn they have a different content strategy on Pinterest or Twitter than they do on their blog. When pitching, think about their entire eco-system of social activity and how your product or brand might be served on their social channels.
  3. A blogger has a name. It’s not “Dear Blogger” and certainly not “Dear Mommy Blogger.” Imagine how you’d respond if you got an email that read, “Dear PR Hack,” or, ‘Hey you, marketing maven.” I can’t imagine you’d respond positively, so don’t be surprised if your “Dear Blogger” email is met with no response. I wish I did not have to offer this advice in 2015, but I still do. Use the blogger’s actual name when reaching out to them, and yes, you can find their name in the “About” section of their site.
  4. Take the time between campaigns to listen. How do you do that? Go to a blogging conference, read a blog, follow an interesting blogger on Twitter, or even friend them on Facebook. Despite commonly held beliefs, most bloggers aren’t living in their basements, alone at their computer waiting for you to send them a pitch. They have lives, they write, they volunteer, they exercise, and they write some more. The truly great bloggers don’t do sponsored post after sponsored post. They have opinions and it’s worth getting to know something about them.
  5. Focus on the relations and less on the sponsorship part of the equation. Back when I was a PR professional, I had some good solid relationships with a few reporters. I’d take the time to chat with them even when I didn’t have a story to pitch. Those key relationships held me in good steed when I did have a story and no idea how to get it into the media. If the only time you reach out to a blogger is when you are selling, you’ll be sold up the river when you really need their help.

I know everyone out there really does want to crack the crack the “blogger relations” nut. I understand why! Bloggers are influential. They’ve built a platform and complimentary social channels where they share their message. Brands who can build a relationship with a blogger have the opportunity to create rich third party content and successful influencer marketing campaigns. Get the relationship piece right and then you’ll get real results.