influencer marketing solutions showcase - · pdf filewe call our emerge formula™ ......

Influencer Marketing Solutions Showcase

Influencer Marketing Drives Consumer Engagement and ActionAdvertisers partner with RhythmOne to authentically weave their branded stories into the content and social platforms of some of the biggest independent influencers on the web.

We support the entire life cycle of your influencer marketing and branded content initiatives, including:

• Influencer identification, selection and recruitment.

• Branded content creation and program ideation.

• Content distribution, seeding and amplification through Sponsored Blog Posts, Social Amplification programs including video and Rich Media.

• In-depth reporting and analytics across all channels.

On average, marketers who partnered with RhythmOne for Influencer Marketing Programs in 2015 received $11.20 in earned media value for every $1.00 of paid media.

2 RhythmOne Influencer Marketing Solutions Showcase

Covering All Content CategoriesRhythmOne’s talent roster includes thousands of digital media publishers who foster vibrant online communities through sites, blogs and social media.

Our influencers all demonstrate seven key characteristics that ensure success for your campaigns. This set of “ingredients” is what we call our Emerge Formula™ – and it is the bedrock of the results we showcase in this book.

OUR EMERGE FORMULA™

ACCELERATED GROWTHDetermined and sustained audience developments

SOCIAL POWERSignificant and measurable clout on social media

VIRAL DISTRIBUTIONEngaging content that is often shared organically

CONSUMER ENGAGEMENTAudiences that interact with and react to content

CONTENT EXPERTISEKnows his or her focus inside out, no matter the topic

AESTHETICALLY APPEALINGClean, clear and user-friendly design elements

COMMUNIT Y LEADERSRespected as trailblazers within online communities

RhythmOne Influencer Marketing Solutions Showcase 3

KEY STAT Earned Media Value: $18.05

RETAILERS & APPAREL

GapCampaign: Gap styld. by

Objective: Bring “The Art of Dressing Normal” campaign to life.

TARGETMillennials

TALENTTwo high-profile influencers who each have a unique sense of style showcased in what they wear and do.

SOLUTIONEach influencer creatively brought “everyday looks” to life by creating four custom-branded content posts featuring Gap clothing. The posts lived on the respective influencers’ sites and social channels, and they included video, photography and even hand-drawn sketches.

To amplify campaign reach we distributed the custom content within our proprietary Influencer Fixed Footer and Launchpad rich media ad formats. These ad formats gave our in-house team the vehicle to build brand approved ad creative that drove and extended conversations about Gap styld.by among Millennials.

RESULTSGap featured the influencers’ photographs of “everyday looks” both online (on Gap’s styld.by site), in national ad campaigns and in physical retail locations. The media campaign achieved tremendous success, including an earned media value (EMV) of $18.05 for every $1.00 of paid media — a figure that exceeded the average EMV from our 1H 2015 Influencer Benchmark Report by 188%.


KEY STAT • Earned Media

Value: $16.24• Average Social

Engagement Rate: 4.1%

CPG FOOD

Betty CrockerCampaigns: Betty Crocker Cakes & Frosting; Betty Crocker Cookies; Bisquick Easy Meals; Bisquick Make Aheads

Objective: Promote Betty Crocker products and engage consumers through unique recipes.

TARGETMoms aged 25 to 49

TALENT15 influencers for each campaign — 60 in all — including:

SOLUTIONOur influencers creatively brought the Betty Crocker brand to life by highlighting the brand’s products within Sponsored Blog Posts that featured brilliant photography and unique recipes. Influencers produced multiple Blog Posts each flighted for a specific time-period and featuring content that ranged from birthdays and the holidays to easy meals and more.

Through Social Amplification programs across Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter, our influencers extended the reach of their blog posts and drove moms to the “#GetYourBettyOn” hashtag – with a goal of getting moms to share their own favorite Betty Crocker recipes.

RESULTSThe Sponsored Blog Posts drove consumers to engage with Betty Crocker across all social channels integrated within the campaign – delivering an average social engagement rate of 4.1% (exceeding our 2015 benchmark by 120%) and an average earned media value of $16.24 (70% greater than our overall 2014 average).

Social Amplification via Pinterest was especially effective: Pinterest contributed 58% of total social engagements for one flight, and overall the image-sharing platform delivered more than 65,000 organic “#GetYourBettyOn” interactions.

Betty Crocker was so pleased with the programs results that they incorporated the influencer content into their year-long content media strategy.


RETAILERS & APPAREL

TargetCampaign: Target Shopper

Objective: Educate consumers about and build awareness of Target’s new tools to improve the shopping experience.

TARGETMillennials and Millennial-aged parents

TALENT15 Millennial influencers, including:

SOLUTIONEach of the influencers on the program produced two Sponsored Blog Posts highlighting Target’s theme of “Where There’s Life There’s Target” and promoting the brand’s new shopping services such as the Cartwheel mobile app and online store. Influencers also promoted the “Where There’s Life There’s Target” theme through Social Amplification programs on their other social media platforms.

To extend campaign reach, we also distributed the influencers’ content via our first-party Influencer Fixed Footer, Expandable and Launchpad rich media units. Pre-roll video rounded out the campaign.

RESULTSThe authentic content generated strong reader engagement – and the authentic nature of the content helped deliver an earned media value of $3.11 for every dollar of paid media. Pinterest led the way for Social Amplification programs across social media; its reach alone (8.1 million) accounted for 60% of total social reach.

The aggregated CTR for rich media surpassed the industry benchmark by nearly 8.4x. In particular, the Launchpad delivered a CTR that beat the industry rich media CTR benchmark by more than 36x.


RETAILERS & APPAREL

TargetCampaign: Back-to-School

Objective: Encourage moms to use Target as their one-stop shop for all Back-to-School needs.

TARGETMoms of school-aged children

TALENTTen mom influencers, including:

SOLUTIONThe talent each created a series of Sponsored Blog Posts featuring original, creative Back-to-School ideas focused on specific themes - Buy One, Give One (focusing on their involvement with Kids in Need Foundation); Style Favorites; and Style Tips. Additionally, influencers used their social platforms to further promote their branded content and amplify the reach of the program.

We also used our proprietary Influencer Fixed Footer and Toggle Skin ad formats to further distribute the original branded content across a number of mom focused websites.

RESULTSThe 30 blog posts generated nearly 300 comments – each of which demonstrated positive sentiment towards Target. Social Amplification programs through Facebook (reaching more than 2.5 million users), Pinterest and Twitter drove an earned media value of $9.84 for every dollar of paid media.

Compared to the industry benchmarks for rich media CTRs, the Influencer Fixed Footer and Toggle Skin CTRs beat the average by nearly 22x and 7.5x, respectively.


ELEC TRONICS

CanonCampaign: Canon PIXMA

Objective: Showcase cloud printing in action across Lifestyle, Parenting, Travel, Fashion, Weddings and Beauty content channels.

TARGETMillennials and family makers

TALENT17 influencers who all owned Canon cameras and specialized in at least one of the six content areas outlined in the objective. Talent included:

SOLUTIONOur influencers created 27 Sponsored Blog Posts that authentically promoted the Canon brand, highlighted PIXMA printers and touted the PIXMA cloud mobile app with innovative (and visually stunning) photo examples that reflected the six content channels.

To extend reach and amplify the content of the Sponsored Blog Posts, we employed Social Amplification programs across the influencers’ Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ accounts and used the hashtag “#CanonPIXMA” to track success.

RESULTSBlog readers across the six channels provided nearly 900 comments across the posts and showed vast positive sentiment towards Canon. Based on all interactions taken across the blogs and social media by the target audience (including comments, likes, shares, etc.), the “#CanonPIXMA” campaign generated an earned media value of $2.24 for every dollar of paid media. Instagram in particular contributed to this success with more than 23,500 engagements alone.


RETAILERS & APPAREL

GapCampaign: Gap Miami

Objective: Generate awareness of and buzz around Gap’s Lincoln Road (Miami) store re-opening.

TARGETPersons aged 18-34 in Miami

TALENT10 Miami-based fashion bloggers, including:

SOLUTIONThe 10 influencers attended the retailer’s grand re-opening event of the Miami store location and wrote two Sponsored Blog Posts that showcased the store itself, all kinds of outfits featuring Gap clothing and more. The talent also highlighted customizable tote bags with pre-printed imagery from Gap’s Miami Instagram partners.

In addition, we ran Social Amplification programs across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Twitter and Google+ to drive reach, awareness and interactions with the campaign hashtag “#HelloLincolnRoad.”

RESULTSThe 20 Sponsored Blog Posts along with our Social Amplification programs generated more than 430 consumer comments that showed positive sentiment toward the new Gap store on Lincoln Road and appreciation of the influencer’s reviews. Instagram alone drove nearly 13,000 likes and 305 consumer comments. In addition, Gap selected The Fashion Poet as one of their highlighted Miami Instagram partners.

All of this success contributed to more than 406,000 organic exposures and delivered an earned media value of $3.38 for every dollar of paid media.


BATH, BODY, SKIN & BEAUT Y

Burt’s BeesCampaign: Burt’s Bees Brightening

Objective: Build awareness and consideration of Burt’s Bees Brightening Face Care Line.

TARGETWomen aged 25-49; health and beauty “sleuths”

TALENT17 influencers in the health and beauty space, including:

SOLUTIONEach influencer wrote a Sponsored Blog Post (which included photos, imagery and/or video) that covered one of three themes provided by the client: “Model Story,” “Power of Nature” and “Brightening.” Each theme used the hashtag “#NaturesRetoucher.”

Our influencers further extended reach of the branded content via Social Amplification programs across their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ properties.

RESULTSThe “#NaturesRetoucher” campaign generated a total social reach of more than 1.8 million consumers (including blog readership): Instagram in particular was successful - generating nearly 4,000 likes and 65 comments. Overall, the campaign delivered an earned media value of $2.52 for every dollar of paid media.


KEY STAT • Earned Media

Value: $4.75• Social

Engagement Rate: 16%+

FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS

McDonald’sCampaign: McDonald’s Happy Meals

Objective: Promote McDonald’s Happy Meals around back-to-school time.

TARGETMoms of children aged 6 to 10 in specific Northeast DMAs

TALENT18 mom bloggers who reside in the specific DMAs, including:

SOLUTIONOur influencers shared their back-to-school survival tips within Sponsored Blog Posts highlighting how the McDonald’s Happy Meal is the perfect option for families looking for simple lunches and dinners for their kids during busy times. To drive further engagement, the bloggers promoted a giveaway (a $25 Arch Card) by encouraging readers to share their own back-to-school tips to enter to win the prize.

The talent also promoted the branded content and giveaway via Social Amplification programs (and used the hashtag “#McDGoesB2S”) across their Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram accounts.

RESULTSThe 23 Sponsored Blog Posts generated nearly 2,300 comments from engaged readers. Across all social channels, the “#McDGoesB2S” program garnered more than 405,000 exposures and generated nearly 65,000 interactions (comments, Tweets, likes, etc.) – all which resulted in a social engagement rate of more than 16%. The success of the posts and promotion on social media helped drive an earned media value of $4.75 for every dollar of paid media.


SHOES

ReebokCampaign: Reebok SkyScape

Objective: Promote Reebok SkyScape as the everyday casual shoe for active women on the go.

TARGETFitness-driven women aged 25-34

TALENT20 influencers in the young women’s lifestyle space, including:

SOLUTIONThe 20 influencers received a pair of SkyScapes from Reebok to experience the shoe’s comfort and style firsthand. Each influencer then wrote a Sponsored Blog Post that showcased the lightweight and stylish features of the shoe, and promoted a $120 Reebok.com giveaway to solicit comments from the target consumer.

To further drive reach and engagement, we ran Social Amplification programs to promote the campaign across the influencers’ Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ channels using the hashtag “#StyleNeverStops.”

RESULTSThe combination of Sponsored Blog Posts and Social Amplification programs generated more than 5,800 social engagements (Tweets, likes, pins, etc.) among the target audience and garnered more 22,000 contest entries. All in, the campaign delivered Reebok an earned media value of $2.67 for every dollar of paid media.



Macy’sCampaign: Benefit Cosmetics They’re Real! Push-Up Liner

Objective: Drive product awareness

TARGETMillennial women interested in beauty and fashion

TALENTEight beauty and fashion influencers, including:

SOLUTIONOur influencers authored Sponsored Blog Posts promoting Benefit Cosmetics’ partnership with Macy’s and the launch of their new product – They’re Real! Push-Up Liner. To engage the target audience further and drive product awareness, the influencers created tutorials (including photos) on how to best use the liner. Social Amplification programs extended the branded content campaign across the talents’ social media handles using the hashtag “#NMBenefit.”

Influencers also gave away a full-size sample of the eye liner and They’re Real! remover. To enter, readers were encouraged to comment or post/re-pin influencer’s photos on Instagram and Pinterest.

RESULTSOur influencers generated nearly 650 comments across the Sponsored Blog Posts and social amplifications, showing vast positive sentiment towards Macy’s and the product. Our efforts delivered an earned media value of $3.59 for every dollar of paid media.


TOYS & GAME

LEGOCampaign: LEGO Duplo

Objective: Build buzz and holiday purchase intent for LEGO Duplo play sets

TARGETMoms of children aged 1 to 4

TALENT15 mom bloggers, including:

SOLUTIONOur influential mom bloggers each received a Duplo play set geared specifically for their child(ren)’s age and gender. In turn, our talent produced 15 Sponsored Blog Posts—each a couple of weeks before the holidays—that authentically and creatively showcased their children playing with LEGO products.

For additional engagement, each influencer encouraged commenting and/or sharing by giving away a $50 LEGO Store gift card—and to drive campaign reach, we ran Social Amplification programs across the influencers’ Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ profiles.

To extend reach even further, we also distributed the influencers’ content via our first-party Influencer Fixed Footer on desktops, tablets and smartphones.

RESULTSThe extremely personalized and authentic Sponsored Blog Post content, empowered by the LEGO Store giveaway and Social Amplification programs, drove an earned media value of $9.46 for every dollar of paid media.

The Influencer Fixed Footer performed exceptionally well and delivered an overall click-through rate that beat the industry rich media CTR benchmark by 74.5x.


KEY STAT Pinterest Earned 47% of Total Social Reach

HOME & GARDEN

Benjamin MooreCampaign: Benjamin Moore Design by What Matters

Objective: Drive awareness and promote Benjamin Moore’s new website and their Design By What Matters paint color selection tool

TARGETAffluent homeowners interested in home décor

TALENTTwo influencers in the home decorating and interior design space:

SOLUTIONThe influencers themselves took the Design By What Matters (#DBWM) quiz to find their paint color inspiration – and then via Sponsored Blog Posts promoted the quiz and shared their step-by-step process of choosing colors with the tool. For their posts’ content, each influencer created a Benjamin Moore-inspired room and shared before and after pictures of the renovation. Social Amplification programs further amplified the branded content across social media.

RESULTSWith a total Social Reach of nearly 400,000 consumers, the highly-targeted campaign successfully leveraged image-based social media – including Pinterest, which accounted for nearly one-half of the total reach – to promote Benjamin Moore.


KEY STATS • Earned Media

Value: $5.04• 24x+ better CTR

performance (vs. rich media benchmark)

CPG FOOD

ApplegateCampaign: Applegate HALF TIME Lunches for Kids

Objective: Encourage product trial and amplify brand messaging during back-to-school timing

TARGETMoms of children aged 5 to 10 and who have made organic food purchases

TALENT23 health-conscious moms with school-aged children, including:

SOLUTIONThe 23 influencers each received a HALF TIME lunch kit to enjoy with her kid(s) and one to giveaway to a reader through a contest promoted within their Sponsored Blog Posts. Each influencer created highly visual posts showing off the product and lunch kit.

Along with the posts, an Influencer Fixed Footer with video featuring the HALF TIME lunch kit ran to promote increased awareness and brand engagement. We also enabled Social Amplification programs across the influencers’ social accounts to drive campaign amplification.

RESULTSThe Sponsored Blog Posts and Social Amplification programs drove more than 9,000 interactions across blog comments and social media. More than 650 of those engagements were contest entries proving that readers were very interested in trying the HALF TIME products.

The CTR for the Influencer Fixed Footer surpassed industry rich media CTR benchmark by more than 24x.

All in, the campaign delivered an earned media value of $5.04 for every dollar of paid media.


KEY STAT 140+ Instagram “Likes” per Second


Paul MitchellCampaign: Paul Mitchell Ultimate Color Repair

Objective: Highlight Paul Mitchell products in a unique and authentic way

TARGETWomen aged 18 to 44

TALENTTwo of our fashion forward influencers:

SOLUTIONPaul Mitchell’s Editorial Director, Lucie Doughty, traveled to both of the influencers’ homes to respectively color and style their hair. Our talent then shared their experiences and results of using Paul Mitchell Ultimate Color Repair over a four-month period with Sponsored Blog Posts and Social Amplification programs across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest to showcase long-lasting color.

RESULTSSea of Shoes and Viva Luxury’s followers demonstrated intense engagement with the campaign. One Instagram post in particular, by Viva Luxury, earned more than 2,000 likes in the first 14 seconds of posting – a rate of 140+ likes per second. With a total Social Reach of nearly 2.3 million consumers, the branded content campaign also generated a substantial lift in Paul Mitchell’s own social media following. The client also used the imagery created by our influencers on the Paul Mitchell website and social outlets to promote Ultimate Color Repair.


TOURIST DESTINATIONS & TRAVEL

Experience ColumbusCampaign: Experience Columbus

Objective: Drive awareness of Columbus as a unique and vibrant city offering a variety of culinary and cultural experiences

TARGET(1) Young professionals aged 21 to 34; (2) moms aged 25-54 who plan family travel

TALENTFive influencers from Columbus’ “feeder” markets who produce culinary, arts, culture, fashion, or parenting content.

SOLUTIONEach influencer traveled to Columbus and through two Sponsored Blog Posts exposed their respective audiences to the wide variety of unique experiences the city had to offer. Social Amplification programs further drove campaign amplification and engagement across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest with the hashtags “#ExpCols” and “#CbusFoodScene”.

RESULTSWith a total Social Reach of more than 1 million, the campaign successfully highlighted all that Columbus has to offer in the minds of consumers and delivered an earned media value $1.92 for every dollar of paid media.


SHOES

Payless ShoeSourceCampaign: Evergreen (Four Campaigns)

Objective: Use brand ambassadors to help drive in-store traffic and sales across four campaigns over an eight-month period

TARGETBudget-conscious moms and fashionistas

TALENT15 mom and frugal fashion influencers, including:

SOLUTIONFor each of the campaigns—Fall Comfort; Holiday Doorbusters (Black Friday and Cyber Monday); Christian Siriano for Payless; Easter Casual—our 15 “brand ambassador” produced a Sponsored Blog Posts with highly stylized images that showcased Payless’ shoes, attire and accessories. We used Social Amplification programs on all campaigns; and influencers, specifically for the Fall Comfort campaign, augmented their posts with “#StyleMeetsComfort” Pinterest Boards.

To extend campaign reach, we also distributed the influencers’ content via our first-party Influencer Fixed Footer and Launchpad rich media units.

RESULTSThe Fall Comfort campaign delivered a total Social Reach of 3.6+ million (Pinterest alone reached 1.4+ million followers); the “#PaylessDoorBusters” Holiday campaign delivered a total Social Reach of 3.8+ million (including nearly 1.3 million Twitter followers); the “#CSirianoforPayless” had a total Social Reach of nearly 3.3 million (including 1.2 million Pinterest interactions); and the Easter campaign reached nearly 3.9 million in total Social Reach.

The CTRs for the rich media units – in particular for the Fall Comfort campaign – surpassed industry benchmarks: by 7.5x for the Influencer Fixed Footer, and by 25x for the Launchpad.

Across the board, the four campaigns delivered an average earned media value of $3.46 for every dollar of paid media—and Payless highlighted the influencer-created content and imagery on their own social media profiles and blog.


GROCERS & SUPERMARKETS

Whole FoodsCampaign: Whole Foods Boston South End

Objective: Promote and drive visits to the new South End Ink Block location

TARGETAdults aged 25-54 in Boston’s South End with a skew towards women

TALENT10 Boston based influencers, including:

SOLUTIONLocal influencers attended a “sneak peek” event hosted by Whole Foods to preview their new South End store. In addition to Sponsored Blog Posts, the influencers posted live social updates/posts while in-store to show off all of the unique store finds and offerings.

We further drove branded content reach and impact through Social Amplification programs across the influencers’ social platforms, and the influencers also each promoted a $50 Whole Foods giveaway.

RESULTSUsing the hashtag “#WFMSouthEnd”, Influencers posted more than 200 times across their blog and social media platforms. Readers engaged the most with blog posts, contributing more than 1,000 comments—Pinterest came in a close second with more than 800 engagements.

All of this success contributed to a campaign earned media value of $15.22 for every dollar of paid media.


ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

FreixenetCampaign: Freixenet Cava

Objective: Increase product awareness and showcase Freixenet as the premier fun and creative wedding beverage with sparkle.

TARGETBrides, brides-to-be, bridesmaids and/or anyone helping brides plan wedding celebrations

TALENTEight wedding, event planning and lifestyle influencers, including:

SOLUTIONThe influencers created a series of wedding journey-themed Sponsored Blog Posts, from custom cocktail ideas to wedding favors, and bridesmaid celebration ideas – all with the goal of showing their readers how to use the beverage in a festive, sophisticated, fun and “sparkling” way.

To drive further engagement, we ran Social Amplification programs across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest and used the campaign hashtag “#AllLoveSparkles.”

RESULTSThrough 15 blog posts and 119 social posts (nearly half of which were on Pinterest), the beautiful image-heavy content earned above average engagement – Instagram alone drove more than 8,000 “likes” and comments – and all-in delivered an earned media value of $28.31 for every dollar of paid media.


Influencers Are Our CurrencyInfluencer Marketing by nature is the modern word-of-mouth. Advertisers who run Influencer Markering campaigns know this — and they leverage the trust and authenticity that influencers inherently bring to the table. Consumers trust this authenticity and are impacted by the influencers they follow.

For brands, there is no more effective place to engage with consumers than a trusted environment.

FIND YOUR OWN SUCCESSDiscover what RhythmOne’s Influencer Marketing Programs can do for your branded content initiatives – visit RhythmOne.com for more information today.

40 RhythmOne Influencer Marketing Solutions Showcase

About RhythmOneRhythmOne enriches consumer experiences online by enabling access to content anytime, anywhere. To this end, we connect audiences with premium content and advertising across the web and mobile devices.

We work with advertisers, publishers and content providers to provide value through:

• Fully integrated advertising solutions, spanning desktop and mobile video, rich media, display, social and native formats.

• Cross-screen targeting – following audiences as they migrate across devices.

• Massive reach, delivered through our owned and operated channels, and quality distribution partners.

• Video content distribution that enhances web experiences for publishers and consumers.

Our aim is to streamline the campaign planning experience, making it a more consolidated and efficient process. By understanding the target audience, the advertising goal, and the spend amount, we can collaborate with brands to optimize the campaign and maximize ROI by using the appropriate formats across the appropriate screens.

RhythmOne.com Copyright © 2015 RhythmOne. All rights reserved.

The information and specifications in this document may be subject to change. Company and/or product names not held by RhythmOne may be registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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