Influencer Marketing Is Big Business But Not in Small Markets
Have you paid someone to post about you or say something about your products or services? If not, you may be missing a powerful way to get attention and swing public opinion your way.
Most of us probably thought Crocs had seen its day of fame and fortune, but the brand has been teaming up with stars to roll out new celebrity-approved footware. Rapper Bad Bunny’s glow in the dark Crocs sold out in minutes. The Bieber crocs sold out in 90 minutes. KFC crocs sold out in 2.5 hours.
Just the hint of Bieber-Croc collab on Instagram sent Crocs’ stock shares soaring 13% on one day and crashed the Crocs website. The Instagram post was liked more than 670,000 times. Crocs sold for $60 but were nearly double that on eBay as you can see above.
So you don’t have Justin Bieber in your market, but you do have many people who have broad followings on social media. Look to those people for not only endorsements, but also look for general interest from new markets, public relations value, expanded storylines and opportunities beyond media.
Crocs found influencer marketing increases sales. The perfect shoe for a pandemic.
Mark Mathis III is chief creative & strategy officer, partner and cofounder of AMPERAGE Marketing & Fundraising.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.