Digital Influencers are all the craze in marketing. Back then, big brands started to tap into the influencer market by hiring online stars with millions of followers, asking them to pose with their products or go to their events and post it on their social media account. It was effective, but they didn’t come cheap. So when the smaller companies wanted in on the action, they didn’t reach out to the big influencers. They reached out to micro-influencers who only had thousands of following, but was able to convince their followers to follow, interact and buy.

This was when the real influencer marketing was born. It wasn’t about who could offer the biggest bucks to the biggest stars. It was finally about reaching out to your audience who had following, allowing them to try your stuff, and asking for real honest reviews.

The Basics of Influencer Marketing

Some of the typical content rolled out are:

• Event attendance
• Product testing photos and videos
• Unboxing videos
• Video or blog reviews
• Information campaign blogs
• Advocacies (which is pretty rare)

And you can get all that for just a small chunk of your marketing budget.

What??? You mean it’s not free?

Of course not. Remember that influencer marketing is a “marketing strategy”. No marketing is free. You always invest either in product or for a small fee. However, compared to other marketing strategies, it’s preferred by companies because their audience see their influencers’ content as authentic and honest. And that’s what makes it valuable.

How it’s Done Here in Davao City

Ever Bilena’s Cebu and Davao Marketing Event

The most typical way influencers are hired and utilized in Davao is through events like product launches, store openings, or other momentous occasions for local and national businesses. The last event I attended was for Ever Bilena’s nationwide promotion of their make-up line.

They held an event at Marco Polo Davao where they had some talks, food, and fun games where you could win some freebies. The theme and dress code was Fiesta Davao, where all beauty influencers donned Filipino inspired clothing. To boost their products even more, there were booths where you could try their make-up, and professional photographers who would take your photos. Their official hashtag for all posts was #EBBeautyFiestaDavao.

Their event was great. They had a lot of content from the influencers. They also had a lot of content to give the same influencers from their shoot, which was a great strategy.

They also opted not to require a number of posts to be rolled out. We’ll get to that later.

#NewYouAtSM’s Beauty Campaign

This is an unboxing I did for #NewYouATSM. They were promoting their beauty products, as well as their make-over contest where the winner gets 15,000 pesos worth of shopping money.

So this one wasn’t an on-site event. They got my contact details and then sent me a box of goodies! This box contained all these products I could try, some gift certificates, and the instructions on postings. The instructions provided:

• A range of dates indicating when to post
• what to post
• and where to post them

These instructions may go both ways. Influencers may either love it, or hate the restriction. Personally, I prefer this type of arrangement because everything is black and white. I knew what I had to deliver, and when to deliver them.

They had someone checking on the posts if I was able to deliver on what was required.

Please note that they did allow some flexibility. They had a ton of products, and I was allowed to choose which ones I wanted to post about. Most influencers would never share something they don’t like or don’t believe in, and if they’re willing to, it may cause some problems in the future with their credibility.

#PLSSaveMe Campaign by Globe GCash

Most Influencer campaigns are very visual, but some digital influencer campaigns come in a variety of mediums.

The #PLSSaveMe Campaign by Globe GCash is a nationwide information campaign that shared stories about money mismanagement or wrong investment decisions. They needed stories all over the Philippines including Davao, which was where I stepped in.

I asked, but at the time of writing, I wasn’t informed of who the sponsor company was. To reassure me, I was told it was a financial company, and that I was no way required to promote them. And so, to avoid any bias when writing, they wouldn’t disclose who the sponsor for the posts was. The entire point of the blog was just to let Filipinos know that we should talk about money, and investment, and the mistakes we’ve done in this area.

They required 4 different stories in exchange for an amount for my efforts. Similar to the SM Campaign, they had to check on the content, and confirm delivery before payment was made. This one was done via e-mail.

You can find my posts about it below:

• The Investment Race #PLSAVEME
• How Shopee and Lazada Almost Ruined My Life #PLSSAVEME
• Living Paycheck to Paycheck #PLSSAVEME
• Should You Take on Loans to Travel #YOLO #PLSSAVEME

There you have three different examples of Influencer marketing campaigns.

So here comes the the question…

Can You Launch Your Own Influencer Campaign For Your Own Business?

You sure can!

If you have enough time and you’e willing to put in the effort, nothing’s stopping you from launching an influencer campaign for your own business.

Need advice or help for your influencer campaign? Just ask me!

Hit me up in the contact page or on the comments below.