Dear Brands, Brand Owners and Entrepreneurs,
This one's for you,
Ever wanted to know where P.H.I. fits into your campaign? Or why you might need us?
If you think EVERYONE can just “do” influencer marketing, and get it right... then we would love to explain why this is not always the case...
In no particular order, here are 10 Biggest Mistakes Brands Make When working directly with Influencers in South Africa.
Without a clear strategy or objective for your influencer marketing campaign...you may not see the results that you were wanting. Your objective might be reach and awareness, brand trust and credibility or drive website traffic (based on what your goals for your brand are). We develop a strategy, concept, mechanics and deliverables - tailored to meet that objective, the success of which is measured against predefined and agreed KPIs...
We are a team of strategically creative professionals and always deliver a single-minded, effective campaign, custom-built for the best chance of success - whatever you believe that to be.
Working with the wrong influencers can have a negative effect on your campaign. There are many things to consider when choosing the right people for your brand. Making sure they align with the brand's mission and vision is the most important thing when it comes to having an authentic and effective campaign. At P.H.I; we ensure that we match the type of person with your brand's ideal target persona/ target market, in order to ensure that your brand is being showcased to an audience that’s most likely to convert.
At P.H.I; brand and influencer match making is what we do best and it’s the reason our clients keep coming back for more.
An influencer with a high following may seem attractive; but if their audience is not based in South Africa or if they have fake followers you could be paying them to reach the wrong audiences (and that is just a waste of money). Trust us when we say that there are A LOT of accounts with fake followers and lots of brands that make this mistake.
At P.H.I; we ensure to vet all of our influencers and make sure they have a certain percentage of their audience in South Africa, as well as no fake followers, BEFORE we even put them forward to brands. Another reason why the backend statistics are so important, and something that we at P.H.I. pride ourselves with. When you work with influencers that TRULY appeal to your target market...incredible things can happen.
Gone are the days where people work for free...yes, sometimes, with regards to trade exchanges, this is up to the influencer. But just like you would pay for a print ad or a magazine article about your brand you are essentially paying for your brand/product to be spoken about online.
At P.H.I;, trade exchanges are not our preferred way of working: Valuing an influencers' worth and the worth they will bring to your campaign is of the utmost importance, because respect and value works both ways: You do good by them, they will do great by you :)
If you are a South African brand looking to reach a South African audience, it is incredibly important to make sure that the influencers followers are from South Africa.
At P.H.I; this is the first step in our vetting and match making process.
When an influencer is speaking about your specific product or service online… It is really important that the brand really engages with that content online. Commenting, re-sharing, responding and just showing love in general to an influencer, that is showing your brand love, can really take a piece of content to a whole new level.
Here at P.H.I. We ensure that our clients are constantly reminded of the influencer posting schedule in order to have a two way conversation, with both the brand and an influencer, once a campaign is live.
Without clear boundaries (what an influencer should or should not be doing), like working with competitor brands during the campaign, a campaign could essentially not meet your objectives.
Here at P.H.I. we ensure that image and copy direction is clearly defined upfront, so that everyone is aligned with what the overall objective is.
Without tracking and reporting on a campaign how do you know if it is successful? You can never just assume...
Here at P.H.I. We put a huge emphasis on tracking and reporting in order to show our clients a return on investment. After all, it is all about the reach, impressions, engagements and conversions. What better way to see these statistics in real time and watch your brand grow?!
From day one we’ve always believed in QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. Jeopardizing quality by wanting quantity will not show the ideal outcome of the campaign that you originally wanted. Using quality imagery and Art Direction that aligns with the brand ensures a consistent look and feel across multi-media platforms and reiterates your brand story and what your brand is all about.
At P.H.I; we always want to do what’s best for your brand. Influencers are there to enhance your story and bring trust and credibility to new audiences - you don’t want to muddy the waters or have confusing narratives - sometimes less really is more.
Total followers is certainly not the “be all and end all”. It is a total myth and you do not need to work with the biggest influencer to reach your goals. You need to work with the RIGHT people. Engagement rates and audience demographics are the most important things to consider when it comes to influencer marketing.
At P.H.I. We focus on using influencers with high engagement rates as this organically puts brand names out there, which ultimately makes the most difference in the brands growth.
As you can see there are a lot of things to consider before even reaching out to work with an influencer. Here at P.H.I. We specialise in Influencer Marketing, ensuring the above 10 processes are in place before we even build a custom concept and proposal for a brand.
Whether you have run an influencer campaign on your own before and unfortunately were not able to see your return on investment or if you’ve never done it, but want to: We are here to help you every step of the way. From strategy, concept, sourcing, vetting, profiling, contacting and briefing, tracking and reporting...this is what we do. If you have never worked with us before and would like to get in touch, even just for a chat, we look forward to hearing from you. It may seem overwhelming, it may seem complex and it may seem like you don't have time, but you will not regret it. We know people and we know people damn well. We use our expertise to drive storytelling and creative excellence in all of our campaigns, all to get you the results you never thought possible.
Please submit a brand form via our website; whether it be for gueslisting, product drops, campaign collaborations...or if you just want to book a call to discuss and understand more about what we can do for YOUR brand, we are here for you.
Dear Brands, Brand Owners and Entrepreneurs,
This one's for you,
Ever wanted to know where P.H.I. fits into your campaign? Or why you might need us?
If you think EVERYONE can just “do” influencer marketing, and get it right... then we would love to explain why this is not always the case...
In no particular order, here are 10 Biggest Mistakes Brands Make When working directly with Influencers in South Africa.
Without a clear strategy or objective for your influencer marketing campaign...you may not see the results that you were wanting. Your objective might be reach and awareness, brand trust and credibility or drive website traffic (based on what your goals for your brand are). We develop a strategy, concept, mechanics and deliverables - tailored to meet that objective, the success of which is measured against predefined and agreed KPIs...
We are a team of strategically creative professionals and always deliver a single-minded, effective campaign, custom-built for the best chance of success - whatever you believe that to be.
Working with the wrong influencers can have a negative effect on your campaign. There are many things to consider when choosing the right people for your brand. Making sure they align with the brand's mission and vision is the most important thing when it comes to having an authentic and effective campaign. At P.H.I; we ensure that we match the type of person with your brand's ideal target persona/ target market, in order to ensure that your brand is being showcased to an audience that’s most likely to convert.
At P.H.I; brand and influencer match making is what we do best and it’s the reason our clients keep coming back for more.
An influencer with a high following may seem attractive; but if their audience is not based in South Africa or if they have fake followers you could be paying them to reach the wrong audiences (and that is just a waste of money). Trust us when we say that there are A LOT of accounts with fake followers and lots of brands that make this mistake.
At P.H.I; we ensure to vet all of our influencers and make sure they have a certain percentage of their audience in South Africa, as well as no fake followers, BEFORE we even put them forward to brands. Another reason why the backend statistics are so important, and something that we at P.H.I. pride ourselves with. When you work with influencers that TRULY appeal to your target market...incredible things can happen.
Gone are the days where people work for free...yes, sometimes, with regards to trade exchanges, this is up to the influencer. But just like you would pay for a print ad or a magazine article about your brand you are essentially paying for your brand/product to be spoken about online.
At P.H.I;, trade exchanges are not our preferred way of working: Valuing an influencers' worth and the worth they will bring to your campaign is of the utmost importance, because respect and value works both ways: You do good by them, they will do great by you :)
If you are a South African brand looking to reach a South African audience, it is incredibly important to make sure that the influencers followers are from South Africa.
At P.H.I; this is the first step in our vetting and match making process.
When an influencer is speaking about your specific product or service online… It is really important that the brand really engages with that content online. Commenting, re-sharing, responding and just showing love in general to an influencer, that is showing your brand love, can really take a piece of content to a whole new level.
Here at P.H.I. We ensure that our clients are constantly reminded of the influencer posting schedule in order to have a two way conversation, with both the brand and an influencer, once a campaign is live.
Without clear boundaries (what an influencer should or should not be doing), like working with competitor brands during the campaign, a campaign could essentially not meet your objectives.
Here at P.H.I. we ensure that image and copy direction is clearly defined upfront, so that everyone is aligned with what the overall objective is.
Without tracking and reporting on a campaign how do you know if it is successful? You can never just assume...
Here at P.H.I. We put a huge emphasis on tracking and reporting in order to show our clients a return on investment. After all, it is all about the reach, impressions, engagements and conversions. What better way to see these statistics in real time and watch your brand grow?!
From day one we’ve always believed in QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. Jeopardizing quality by wanting quantity will not show the ideal outcome of the campaign that you originally wanted. Using quality imagery and Art Direction that aligns with the brand ensures a consistent look and feel across multi-media platforms and reiterates your brand story and what your brand is all about.
At P.H.I; we always want to do what’s best for your brand. Influencers are there to enhance your story and bring trust and credibility to new audiences - you don’t want to muddy the waters or have confusing narratives - sometimes less really is more.
Total followers is certainly not the “be all and end all”. It is a total myth and you do not need to work with the biggest influencer to reach your goals. You need to work with the RIGHT people. Engagement rates and audience demographics are the most important things to consider when it comes to influencer marketing.
At P.H.I. We focus on using influencers with high engagement rates as this organically puts brand names out there, which ultimately makes the most difference in the brands growth.
As you can see there are a lot of things to consider before even reaching out to work with an influencer. Here at P.H.I. We specialise in Influencer Marketing, ensuring the above 10 processes are in place before we even build a custom concept and proposal for a brand.
Whether you have run an influencer campaign on your own before and unfortunately were not able to see your return on investment or if you’ve never done it, but want to: We are here to help you every step of the way. From strategy, concept, sourcing, vetting, profiling, contacting and briefing, tracking and reporting...this is what we do. If you have never worked with us before and would like to get in touch, even just for a chat, we look forward to hearing from you. It may seem overwhelming, it may seem complex and it may seem like you don't have time, but you will not regret it. We know people and we know people damn well. We use our expertise to drive storytelling and creative excellence in all of our campaigns, all to get you the results you never thought possible.
Please submit a brand form via our website; whether it be for gueslisting, product drops, campaign collaborations...or if you just want to book a call to discuss and understand more about what we can do for YOUR brand, we are here for you.
We’d love to hear from you. For any enquiries, questions or conversations, feel free to contact us.
