best marketing newsletters<\/a> by Buffer. <\/p>\nLesson 1: Everyone is a creator.<\/h2>\n
\u201cIn today\u2019s day and age, everyone is a creator. Even if you don\u2019t call yourself that,\u201d says Lindsey Gamble.<\/p>\n
Whenever you\u2019re makin\u2019 a Bluesky post or TikTok short on something you care about, you\u2019re creating content. And when that content finds someone else who cares, it creates a community.<\/p>\n
And, even if that group is small or extremely niche, the parasocial relationship between creator and community cultivates a trust that can quickly turn audience members into customers. <\/strong><\/p>\nCase in point, when I worked for a CPAP vendor, we saw double-digit returns working with a sleep apnea influencer. Talk about hyperspecific, right?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t always have to be the person with the biggest followership. You just want to work with people that believe in your brand.\u201d<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s the beauty of this lesson: If everyone is a creator, that means there\u2019s a creator for every industry.<\/strong> Even the really boring or weird ones.<\/p>\nLesson 2: There\u2019s power in someone else\u2019s voice.<\/h2>\n
Influencer marketing works for the same reason word-of-mouth is so effective.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all about social proof. What people say about you is more important than what you say about yourself as a brand. <\/strong>Any voice besides yourself is going to be powerful.\u201d<\/p>\nBut, like word-of-mouth, influencer marketing only works when it feels \u2014 you guessed it \u2014 authentic<\/em>.<\/p>\n\u201cYou wouldn’t hire a plumber and then tell them what to do, right? You might tell them where the bathroom is, but they fix the problem because they have the skills and expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, don\u2019t treat the creator like what Gamble calls a \u201cdigital billboard,\u201d asking them to simply parrot your existing message.<\/p>\n
To plan a truly effective creator campaign, he advises starting with your pain points. For example, is there an audience you\u2019re failing to connect with? Is your social presence on a certain platform lacking? Consider how that need could be addressed from the outside, then approach a content creator to create something entirely new<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\u201cYou work with that creator because they have a value that you don’t have as a brand or as an individual. Sometimes it’s the audience, right? More times than not, it’s their voice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lesson 3: Work your way up.<\/h2>\n
Chances are good that you don\u2019t have the budget to nab MrBeast for your next campaign. That doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t benefit from creator marketing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can start small and build up,\u201d Gamble says. \u201cI always recommend running a couple of campaigns that are brand awareness [at first].\u201d<\/p>\n
After contracting with a creator, your first step should be to create a brief that outlines both your goals and your success metrics. After the content is made, analyze how it aligns with the brief.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo that two or three times [to make] benchmarks, and then figure out what didn\u2019t work and what you can build on top of.\u201d<\/p>\n
The idea is to build a roadmap toward working with a broader portfolio of creators that address a variety of business needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou might have this idea of the type of creator you want to work with, but a better start is tapping into different creators that help you get to different audiences.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\nLingering Questions<\/h2>\nTHIS WEEK’S QUESTION<\/h3>\n
“What’s one marketing habit or best practice you think we should collectively leave behind, and what would you replace it with?” \u2014 Al Iverson, Industry research and community engagement lead, Valimail; deliverability consultant and publisher, Spam Resource<\/span><\/p>\n