How do marketing agencies use models and influencers?
Georgina was delighted to be invited to talk to the students at Modelhood last week. She gave a presentation about marketing careers and offered insights into what marketing agencies are looking for in influencers and models.
For any budding models or influencers out there, we wanted to share our tips here, so you can understand influencer marketing from the brand and agency point of view. Read on for tips on how to deal with agencies and brands, plus dos and don’ts, if you want to build a positive relationship with marketing agencies and brands.
Let’s start with an introduction to influencer marketing.
What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing is a type of marketing where you send your product to an influencer, or you invite them to try your product or services and come to your premises. The idea is that they will review it, wear it, or interact with it in some way and then post about it on their social channels.
Their loyal followers want to know what they are doing and follow in their footsteps, they also trust that person to give them real feedback, so take recommendations better from them, than a brand.
The most common products for influencer marketing are things such as beauty products, games, clothes and any type of electronics, but there are lots of different niche influencers which different brands can use to expand their reach and awareness of their product or service.
Why do brands use influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing can be part of the digital marketing and PR strategy, to grow the brand online, expand the reach, generate interest and excitement around the brand and generate some beautiful images and engaging content. Brands are wanting to piggy back on the power and influence of that channel and reach their followers in an engaging way.
We have undertaken influencer marketing for a hotel, a beauty brand, an optical brand and are currently using it for a luxury hair salon in Marbella, called Salon Maher.
We use it as part of our PR strategy and also include invites to “influential” people in our community, who may not be strong on social, but move a lot of people and have a great reputation.
The key is to have a win-win situation between the brand and the influencer.
How do marketing agencies select influencers?
When we start an influencer marketing campaign, we search online to create a list of influencers we want to approach.
We would be looking for influencers that have the same target market that the brand we’re representing does and/or shares the brand values or look, or is influential in the local market close to our clients’ business.
We tend to search in our local area, for strong Instagram, YouTube or TikTok accounts, in the right sector, or niche for our clients.
We look at influencers with a decent number of followers and good interaction, with the right look for that brand.
Important – You don’t need to have millions of followers to appeal to a marketing agency, micro-influencers can be really powerful, especially in a defined niche, or small geographic area.
We would consider anyone over around 5000 followers on Instagram, as long as they have plenty of followers locally, good genuine interaction and we liked their content.
Don’t get obsessed with follower numbers! It is often vanity metrics. It’s better to focus on developing a smaller but more engaged following.
How do marketing agencies interact with influencers?
We would reach out to those influencers via their social media channels with an offer – usually a freebie, and also conditions about what we’re looking for in return for their consideration.
If they accept the offer, we would arrange to mail the product or invite them to visit the client.
We are always very clear about the number of stories or posts we require and will give guidance for any specific output such as tags and hashtags we want including.
There are only a few situations when we’d pay an influencer, so if you’re expecting to pay the bills through brand collaborations, you’ll need to build a huge following. For income, look to YouTube, as you’re paid direct and enjoy the freebies for collabs when you’re starting out, only asking for a fee when you’re big and influential and really know that you can offer a good return on investment for a brand.
Dos and Don’ts of dealing with a marketing agency as an influencer
It’s important as an influencer, that you respect the agency and the brand and build relationships with them. These can be very beneficial moving forwards and great for your career. So here are a few things we love and hate when dealing with influencers.
DO
- Respond in a timely manner with feedback
- Accept the terms and conditions, or come back with other suggestions that you would be happy with
- Be appreciative of the offer
- Provide details such as mailing addresses promptly
- Be as flexible as possible with arranging an appointment or visit
- Know your stuff about the brand and make sure that you share the correct details
- Tag the company
- Produce quality photos and videos
- Ask for more information if you’re not sure
- Offer to show the content to the marketing agency prior to publication
- Inform the agency when you will be publishing the content and make sure you do
DON’T
- Only offer temporary content such as stories
- Fail to comply with the agreed terms
- Be a diva
- Make mistakes with tags or the details of the products
- Try to charge large amounts or ask for lots of freebies when you only have a small (or fake) following
- Produce low quality, unprofessional content
- Take ages to produce and publish the content and leave the agency hanging
When do agencies need models?
When agencies work with brands on campaigns for their products or services, they will often need models. They can need them for –
- Social media content
- Images and videos for advertising campaigns, brochures or promotional materials, including their website
- Fashion shoots for catalogues, or magazines, or billboards
- Fashion shows
- Events – to be present to pose for photos with guests, give out gifts, or bouquets, or give out promotional materials at trade shows or special events
What are agencies and brands looking for in a model?
They will be looking for a model which –
- Embodies the brand in some way
- Looks fantastic and has a look which is aligned to the brand image
- Is reliable, easy to work with and has a good attitude
- Is polite and friendly and is a hard worker
- Have strong social media presence
What marketing agencies do not want!
Marketing campaigns are usually on a tight deadline and shoots and events have a very clear goal. Brands and agencies hate models who –
- Are not reliable and cancel at the last minute
- Arrive late
- Are inflexible with what they are prepared to do
- Are rude or moody
- Have a bad attitude
- Think they are better than the campaign
- Become associated with negative things, such as drinking or drug taking, or become notorious in the media in some way. This reflects badly on the brand.
Important – Make yourself as popular as possible with the marketing agency and the brand to maximise future opportunities.
How to get ahead!
When you’re just starting out you need to be proactive and work hard to get as many opportunities as possible, make connections and build your personal brand to have the best chance of becoming a successful influencer and model. Here are our suggestions –
- Keep developing your portfolio.
- Grow your personal brand on social media to have a strong profile and be found by marketing agencies and brands and to set you apart from other models.
- Volunteer to take part in fashion shows in the local community or to help local brands with shoots to grow your network and open yourself up to opportunities.
- Follow and interact with your favourite brands and tag them in quality shots of you wearing their clothes on social – you never know who is looking.
- Consider joining an agency which doesn’t only book models for shoots, but also books promotional girls for events and shows – this can be a less competitive way of starting to get work experience and make contacts in the industry.
- Contact marketing agencies and brands you like and let them know that you’re open to partnerships and influencer marketing collaborations, and that you are also available for modelling jobs.
Influencer marketing and PR experts
Shaw Marketing is here to help brands with influencer marketing, social media management and PR on the Costa del Sol, to grow their reach, reputation and create awareness online and offline.
Georgina Shaw is also available to give presentations, talks, run workshops and provide marketing training sessions for businesses and schools. Topics include marketing, social media, PR and public speaking.
Please contact us to find out more.