Spill-the-Tea is a blog series about all things to do with Influencer Marketing. While I’m a Content Creator and Social Media Manager, I try to write these posts from both sides of the story, the creator and the brands they represent. On this edition of spill-the-tea, I’m chatting about WORKING WITH CONTENT CREATORS DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON.
It’s the most magical time of the year for content creators! The time when social media feeds are filled with shiny decor, festive food, shopping adventures, and clinked glasses!
For marketers and brands, this is the time to shine…creating campaigns that will boost sales and brand exposure with the intention of ending the year on a high note!
For many brands, holiday campaigns are long past the creation process as months back, creators were donning their holiday best, creating festive content, and hoping the spirit of the season will shine through when the time arrives months down the road!
Case in point…check out this AMAZING ad by local content creator Mo Handahu and Hershey’s Canada that was created a few months back. It’s a truly beautiful campaign showing how different cultures celebrate the season over silver wrapped kisses!
The holidays are the perfect time to work with content creators as audiences are tuned into what their favourite creators are doing! But also, creators…
- create engaging content
- are cost effective
- help get traffic to your website and socials
- know how to deliver a message
- provide access to a new audience
- and much, much more!
While much content was created months in advance, it’s not too late to work with creators to promote your brand this holiday season! The following are a few ideas!
Invites to Seasonal Events, Drinks & Dinner
One thing influencers LOVE is spending time with one another! Inviting content creators to a holiday play, a seasonal event, or over dinner and drinks will always turn into a great night out with friends, lots of laughter and plenty of social media.
Host a Private Shopping Event
Invite a few creators in for a private shopping night…add food, drink, and a discount or gift card to spend that evening and VOILA…it’s social media magic! Throw in an activity like cookie decorating or jewellery making and things will turn up a notch in no time!
Send a Packaged Gift!
There’s something about watching a package be opened online that people LOVE! Put together a box of goodies from your shop and send them to a local influencer for a little unboxing fun!
Take Part in Holiday Wish Lists
Oprah-approved, wish lists are a fabulous way to get your products in front of more eyes! There are a number of ways to go about this:
- Collaborate with multiple content creators to each show their favourite product from your shop and share those posts on your social media.
- Collaborate with a creator who’s putting together a holiday with list of their favourite things – you’ll find lots of creators doing wish lists over the holidays in various themes (including yours truly!)
- Collaborate with a creator (or a few) to come into your shop and curate a wish list for their audience.
Host a Holiday Giveaway
The holidays are GIVEAWAY PALOOZA time allowing you to get your product in front of more eyes and gain new followers on your social media. Some influencers go so far as to do a 12 Days of Giveaways which is a ton of work on their part! You can do a single giveaway on an influencers social media or even join forces with a few brands to host a larger giveaway! Have a chat with your favourite influencer to see how you can get a giveaway rolling!
Create an Online Advent Calendar
With a 24 day countdown, reach out to a group of creators to help promote 24 of your products or services and just like that, your holiday social media content for the entire month is done!
Share an Exclusive Promo Code
Promo codes can help boost sales but also offer a way for creators to give a little back to their audiences. PLUS, you can track the sales that are coming from those codes!
Collaborate to Give Back!
Work with a creator to promote their favourite charity through the holidays. My personal favourite was a campaign I did with O’Regan’s KIA a number of years back, where they added a bed to their showroom and I spent the day in my pyjamas for a “Jammie Drive”. Folks came from far and wide to bring me pyjamas that were then delivered to a few shelters in need!
How to Work with Influencers?
The first step is to find an influencer that suits your brand (have a peek at your following list on Instagram…they might just be following you already!) Reach out with your idea through email or direct messaging and pitch your thoughts. If you aren’t sure entirely how to pull it together, ask the creator for their ideas – they’re a digital marketer after all and know their audience best!
What’s it Cost?
This is an important question but the answer is ALL OVER THE PLACE!
Events – If you’re inviting a number of influencers to an event, then the payment is typically the event itself – so a night out for dinner & drinks, tickets to a play, etc. Often, the brand will give the influencers a gift card to visit again and sometimes even a gift bag with various treats.
Campaigns – If you’re reaching out to an individual influencer (or a few) to do a specific campaign with specific requirements, then content creators require payment. Each influencer has their own set of rates depending on their following, the time it will take to create the content, and their relationship with the brand.
Giveaways – Believe it or not, these take a lot to manage especially if it’s a 12 day commitment! Again, each influencer will have their own rate depending on their reach and the amount of work that goes into hosting the giveaway.
Wish Lists – If you’re inviting an influencer into your shop to pick products for a wish list, then it’s considered a collaboration and payment is required. If the influencer is hosting the wish list, then some charge and some don’t…it depends on a multitude of factors including if they have advertisements on their site, if they’re growing their audience, if they’re accepting product in exchange for posting, and more…
Sending a Gift/PR Package – Well who doesn’t like gifts! Brands send content creators gifts with the hope that they’ll share in their stories and the payment is the gift itself.
Working with Charities – many influencers will comp or reduce their fees.
Let’s Collaborate!
There’s still a month left to have a ton of holiday fun! Some influencers are winding down and aren’t accepting any further campaigns as their schedules are full… but others have lots of time to show some holiday love!
If you’re looking for an influencer to suit your brand or want a little help putting a campaign together…send me a message and I’ll see if I can connect you with the right person for the job!
Happy Holidays!!!!
PS – Please note…Spill-the-Tea blog posts will return in the New Year as I’ll be busy with influencer work and prepping for the holidays with my family!