TrendsVC PRO 0081 – Influencer Marketing

Why It Matters
Influencer marketing helps brands build awareness and find customers.

 Problem
Brands need to break through noise.

Solution
Influencer Marketing transfers trust and attention from influencers to brands.

 Players
Examples

Beats by Dre • Musician-promoted headphones.
HubSpot Podcast Network • Supports several B2B podcasts.
Notion Ambassadors • Supports creators such as Marie Poulin.
Brycent • Promotes play and earn games such as Axie Infinity.
YG • Featured Ledger in a recent music video.
Audible Creator Program • A referral program for influencers.
HiSmile • $40 million brand built by working with influencers such as Kylie Jenner.
Fenty Beauty • Cosmetics brand by Rhianna.
Tools

SparkToro • Find websites that your audience visits.
Social Blade • Get stats from YouTube, Twitch, Instagram and more.
Semrush • SEO tools.
InfluenceKit • Influencer campaign data.
BuzzStream • Outreach tool for link building.
Platforms

Upfluence • Find creators to work with.
Grin • Helps ecommerce companies manage partnerships.
Influence.co • Professional network for creators.
The Room • Platform for matching brands and influencers.

Predictions
Influencers will launch their own products. Opting for equity over one-time fees.
Supa sold $1,000,000+ of makeup in 90 minutes using Instagram.
MrBeast launched 1,000+ cloud kitchens in North America and Europe.
Kat Norton made $100,000+ in a day from her Excel course using TikTok.
Native advertising will grow as audiences learn to sense and skip ads. Influencers are incorporating products into storytelling. Sharing favorite books instead of simply mentioning Audible.
B2B companies will embrace influencer marketing.
HubSpot has a podcast network.
Notion has an ambassador program.
ConvertKit has The Art of Newsletters.
Virtual Influencers will play a bigger role in influencer marketing. Miquela formed brand deals with Talfar, Calvin Klein and Prada.

 Opportunities
Do guest posts, podcasts and keynotes. Borrow trust from established entities. Podcast hosts extend trust and share their audiences. Many Trends Pro Members found Trends.vc through my Indie Hackers interview with Courtland Allen.
Use influencer marketing to land clients for your service.
Delverise built a new landing page for Trends.vc and we made a video testimonial.
Red Antler leverages success with top DTC brands to land new clients.
Offer services to influencers and brands.
Rel Brands helps creators incubate and launch products.
The Outloud Group helps B2C brands build relationships with influencers.
Justin Moore helps influencers find brands to work with and negotiate deals.
Steve Stoute brokers deals with artists and brands such as Reebok and McDonald’s.
Turn your influence into equity. Dan Runcie says, “Selling music can make you a millionaire but it won’t make you a billionaire.”
Dr. Dre co-founded and sold Beats by Dre to Apple.
Kanye worked with Adidas to build YEEZY.
Rhianna founded Fenty Beauty.

 Risks
Reputation Risk • You are commingling brands. Embarrassing actions on either side can destroy trust on the other. Be careful who you work with.
Bad Fits • Does the relationship feel real? Has the influencer mentioned the brand organically?

 Key Lessons
Find out the brand’s goals. Do they want conversions or awareness? Use this to craft and price offers.
Influencer marketing is the force that powers music features, book testimonials and stock recommendations.

 Hot Take
Celebrities and influencers are not the same. Celebrities are well-known people. Influencers influence decisions. They often overlap. But not always.

 Haters
“It’s influence marketing. Not influencer marketing.”
Sure. Non-personal brands have influence as well.“This is less effective for B2B companies.”
We’ve seen examples from Notion, HubSpot and ConvertKit.

 Links
Who should I talk to about influencer marketing? • The tweet behind this report.
The Power of Mimetic Desire • Our drive to mimic is the force behind influencer marketing.
The Transformation of Commerce • A look a live commerce.

 Related Reports
The Creator Economy • Sponsorships are a source of revenue for creators.
Personal Brands • More insights on personal branding.
Referral Programs • A scalable way to work with influencers.
Audience-First Products • On building an audience before a product.
Angel Investing • Influencers are becoming investors. Investors are becoming influencers.

 Thanks
Thanks Stewart Townsend, Justin Moore, Jordan Divecha, Brad Hoos, Alex Llull, Kaleigh Moore, Ashwin, Shayla Price, Breno Ferreira, Andrew Holliday, Kevin Lloyd and Yarty Kim. We had a great time jamming on this report.

What else?
Trends PRO #0081 — Influencer Marketing has more insights.

What you’ll get:

20 Examples (150% More)
10 Tools (100% More)
10 Platforms (150% More)
10 Predictions (150% More)
9 Opportunities (125% More)
5 Risks (150% More)
4 Key Lessons (100% More)
2 Hot Takes (100% More)
10 Links (233% More)
10-minu