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Digital Marketing Strategy and The Rise of The Micro-Influencer

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Influencers are very much a part of almost any company’s marketing strategy in this day and age. Social media stars with massive digital followings, these people and personalities drive conversion with one post of an Instagram picture and have become integral to the way fashion brands communicate with audiences.

Up until now, utilizing influencer strategy has been a numbers game—align yourself with the person with the largest following to reap results and reach. Noticeably, though, there has been a shift in the way they are being used towards strategies that focus on the qualitative, rather than the quantitative, aspects of social media influence. 

Enter the age of the micro-influencer.

More and more, brands are turning to people with far less numbers of followerssometimes even as low as 8,000to help them share their messages.

In return, a brand receives intangible benefits like authenticity, a unique point of view, deeper storytelling and the potential of reaching a more tailored audience.

This works in tandem with shifting consumer perspectives, particularly those of Generation Z who grew up with devices in their hands, where people are tired of highly edited and airbrushed worlds of social media and reality tv stars. Craving a connection to more authentic experiences, we are seeing that audiences are increasingly attracted to these smaller-scale digital personalities.

BREAKING NEW GROUND

Leading the pack in micro-influencer strategy is the company that’s turned the sock industry on its head, Stance Socks. Stance transformed a dull necessity into something fresh, cool and exciting through unique designs, quality, durability and a compelling brand story.

“We select our collaborators based on the story they have to tell,” says Candy Harris , Executive Vice President of the women’s division at the California-based company. “It’s not about numbers or their popularity, it’s about how we can take the best of what we have to offer and combine it with their unique point of view.”

In line with counter culture and yet at the same time the official sock of the NBA, Stance lives at the cross section of independent sensibility and mass-market appeal. While the pop star Rihanna is their main spokesperson, exemplifying this cross section with her devil-may-care attitude, the company makes a significant investment into a host of micro-influencers to promote their brand story via their Punks and Poets campaign.

From golf announcer David Feherty to supermodel-in-the-making Cheyenne Tozzi, the campaign gives space to authentic voices in a sea of noise.

They've put such faith in these voices that Stance just yesterday launched a new brand category on the back of a Punks and Poets collaborator.

Writer and essayist best known for her work discussing art and theory, Stephanie La Cava was tapped to create a collection of socks and hosiery dubbed SLC x Stance.

Made in Italy and comprised of thigh-highs, knee socks and ankle socks the collection features details of silk ribbon, see-through panels and sexy lace designs. The sock company even describes SLC x Stance on their website as their “sexiest collection ever.”

With higher price points to reflect a higher-end product, a pair of thigh-high stockings from the SLC x Stance collection will run you $56, compared to $28 for the ones created in collaboration with Rihanna.

La Cava, who has roughly 15,000 Instagram followers, does not consider herself an influencer in the traditional sense and admits she had to consider if a clothing collaboration could potentially affect her position as a serious writer.

“Collaborations aren’t my wheelhouse, I’m not a designer,” La Cava says. “But what is my job and what isn’t off limits and is storytelling, and that was what this has allowed me to play with.” Realizing the project was more about creating a narrative than dipping into design, SLC x Stance was born. The collection is pegged to a story by the writer of an art student living in Paris (where the campaign was shot), with the imagery and execution of the product range playing out the themes of innocence and eroticism.

“We had never worked with a writer before and as the collaboration came to life we thought her ability to weave an imaginative narrative was a fresh way to bring a collection to market,” says Harris.

It also helped that the cornerstone accessories of La Cava’s personal style are, not surprisingly, socks and stockings. She also takes cues from 90’s youth culture which continues to influence the writer today. “For me what was exciting about this were the subcultures I’m interested in, the skate and surf scene, subcultures that Stance represents,” she says.

INPUTS AND OUTPUTS

“Every marketing initiative, depending on the objective will shift, that means that a type of influencer a brand works with will also shift,” says Karen Robinovitz. Robinovitz is the co-founder of The Digital Brand Architects, a digital agency representing some of the most recognized influencers in the world.

“Sometimes the shift calls for deep penetration with a small audience and sometimes it calls for high conversion with a large audience,” she enthuses. “And the micro-influencers aren’t necessarily cheaper just because their audience is smaller, they know they are bringing something else to the table.”

Leading to the question of ROI.

“We take a long-term view on ROI with collaborations like this and we take many things into consideration when measuring it, a lot of which isn’t necessarily hard data,” adds Harris. “Sometimes a hyper focus on ROI kills good companies because they start doing only the things that they can absolutely measure.  There are a lot of intangibles and outcomes with someone like Stephanie that can’t, and frankly shouldn’t, be put into a spreadsheet.”

Ultimately, companies like Stance and micro-influencers like La Cava tap into the modern consumer’s desire to be part of something unique in a world where content is fleeting.

Luxury today is unique when it's about discovery,” La Cava concludes. “When it becomes something that’s knowing and sly and that you are a part of, you become a part of something that's different.”