At Progress, the word influencer comes up every day, both in Amsterdam and Antwerp. Using ambassadors to get people talking about you is an age-old practice, but social media and online influencers have given it new life. That is hardly surprising: businesses are keen to build relationships with people who like their products or services, influence an online audience and can inspire that audience to buy.
Proactively maintaining media relationships remains one of our core responsibilities. Journalists continue to be key influencers in reaching audiences through the media. Yet the boundaries of PR have expanded in recent years. As the digital world becomes increasingly intertwined with PR, we are more often in direct contact with online influencers and their followers. Our clients want to connect with them too. But how?
Approaching an online influencer in three steps
First, we discuss who the client wants to reach. What exactly do they want to tell that audience? Above all, what can the audience do with the message? A message that does not fit its audience is frustrating for the audience, the influencer sharing it and ultimately the company behind it.
Once we have defined the message, we examine the influencer’s expertise and audience, just as we would when approaching media contacts. What is their speciality? What do they blog, Instagram, vlog or Snapchat about? More importantly, who do they speak with and for? Is there a connection with the company’s vision, service or product? We use monitoring tools to map this out and select the influencers best suited to the client’s needs at that moment.
That does not always mean choosing a celebrity with the most followers. Micro-influencers, who focus on a niche through a subject they are passionate about, can be interesting too. As my colleague Charise recently explained in a blog post, genuine interest and authenticity that followers can feel are essential to conversion and engagement.
Then it is our job as PR consultants to approach the influencer personally and effectively. A tailored approach helps us provide the right information. News does not mean the same thing to every influencer and their fanbase. We explore what works and discuss different ideas and concepts with the influencer.
B-Brave for Microsoft
The results can be excellent, as shown by a Microsoft awareness campaign we developed with the popular boyband B-Brave. Every year, Microsoft runs campaigns to raise awareness of safe internet use. Our analysis showed that these activities struggled to reach young people aged 12 to 18. We therefore developed a campaign built around both internet safety and B-Brave.
The band had a strong personal motivation to take part without payment. They had previously been victims of identity theft: a paedophile had posed as a band member, approached girls and arranged to meet them. The new Microsoft campaign aimed to make young people aware of the risks of sharing personal information online.
Together with B-Brave, we staged a prank. One band member posted a selfie on Instagram and Snapchat, apparently failing to notice that another member’s phone number was visible in the background. In fact, the number belonged to the campaign team. The prank went viral: fans called the number thousands of times and sent tens of thousands of WhatsApp messages. The campaign achieved a total reach of 30 million, became a trending topic on Twitter and generated almost 100,000 YouTube views. The big reveal on a national radio station attracted both national and international publicity.
The Granzier family for FRITZ!
Online influencers also proved effective ambassadors for Wi-Fi specialist FRITZ! in its #Sayhitothebestwifi campaign. Product specifications are not always the most appealing way to talk to consumers about Wi-Fi: people simply want it to work. We therefore wanted to create a recognisable situation. Many people experience poor Wi-Fi, especially when several devices are being used. Online influencers experience the same thing and can show how to solve it.
We partnered with the Granzier family, a family of vloggers. In one vlog, father Stefan played a prank on son Tuur and mother Audrey. He configured the FRITZ!Box router so that Tuur’s iPad had no Wi-Fi and Audrey could not watch Netflix, while every other device stayed connected. Their reactions were hilarious when they discovered that Wi-Fi was not working on their devices.
The prank showed how essential Wi-Fi has become to many Dutch people, as well as how to optimise a network and protect children from excessive or inappropriate internet use. This prank also went viral: the video generated more than 350,000 views and thousands of likes and comments.
Both examples show that access to the right influencer, the influencer’s affinity with the product and a strong relationship with their fanbase all matter to a campaign’s success. Curious about how your organisation could include influencers in its PR strategy? We would be happy to help find the right match. Contact our PR agency in Amsterdam or Antwerp.
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