An athlete once told me: If you want to improve your skills, play against someone better than you. This goes for anything – surround yourself with people that can teach you, and learn to give back to others. It’s for this very reason, my constant desire to connect, learn and improve, that pushes me to:

• Attend existing networking and meetup groups,
• Volunteer my time with the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade as Vice-Chair
• And even lead me to create my own Young Professionals Event Series on Personal Development and Healthy Habits!
  
  Read about My Events, Summer recap here and Fall recap here: https://poymeetsworld.com/category/lifestyle/my-personal-development-events/

What is the Vancity Business Babes Meetup Group?

I’m super grateful that my friend Sarah (who attended and supported all of my events!) suggested I go to some of the Vancity Business Babes Meetups! At the Summer Networking event, I met these fun ladies 🙂

I also met Mindy, a fellow bodybuilding competitor! We’ve been in touch ever since, and she invited me to the event on Influencer Marketing. See the pattern?

• Say yes to event invitations!
• Being open to new connections!
• Follow up and stay engaged!

Vancouver has so many great events and it’s impossible to attend all of them. So I’ve decided to share my recap of an event held in November on Influencer Marketing.

Shout out to Dani, Nancy and Sydnee of Vancity Business Babes for organizing this and curating speakers!

The Event Description:

Join us for a light breakfast, coffee and tea, great connection and an inspiring and informative workshop.

Speakers:

Ally Pintucci– (@allypintucci)

Chanel Pel– (@chanelpel + @aglassofstyle )

Ana Douglas- (@msanadouglas)

Influencer marketing is a form of marketing in which focus is placed on influential people rather than the target market as a whole. It identifies the individuals that have influence over potential buyers, and orients marketing activities around these influencers.

Bring ALL of your questions about Influencer marketing and have them answered!

(Photo cred: @littlemohrphoto )

Influencer Marketing: Event Recap

I went to Brainstation downtown where my IG friends Mindy and Krissy saved me a seat. Grabbed some delicious Nutmeg nut mylk and then sat down to hear the panel. Dani helped to moderate the session before opening up the questions.

(Photo cred: @littlemohrphoto )

What are some ways to describe Influencer Marketing?

• Word of mouth
• When you don’t even realize its marketing
• Paid advertising channel
• You trust someone that you follow

 

What is the difference between a brand ambassador or influencer?

• Some paths include: influencer (paid product, exchange of product) then offer an ambassador program
• Product and exchange for posting

 

Share some experiences:

When companies DM promo codes – it’s not cool to spam and send 20% (eg. off $500 shoes !)
(Editor side note: I’ve gotten plenty of these IG DM’s where fashion companies say something along the lines of – I’d love to collaborate! But first, here’s a link to buy our products…)

 

What can an Influencer campaign look like?

• Blog post
• Instagram
• Photoshoot
• At Clearly: 1.5 month of planning

 

What is a proper way to reach out to influencers and to brands?

1. You can reach out via agency, find a way to connect – Know what’s your why?
2. State why you would love to team up – eg. love your brand, love what you do
3. 1 pager, media kit, website
4. Why are you different?
5. My media kit includes everything about me, why you want to work with me and numbers, such as $500/post

(Photo cred: @littlemohrphoto )

How do you know what to charge?

It depends, is it a post with a flat lay and a quick product shot? Or is it a scenario where I pay my friends for an entire day shoot?
This can result in 3000 photos where I only post 2 and then give the rest to brand.

I create content, I don’t do a quick post .
Think about your workflow – How does this work for you?
Can’t pay your bills with $30 makeup?
I need to stay true to my branding

Think about the compensation breakdown – Receiving product is not enough

Understand your workflow – and respect the work that goes into it.
Recognize that someone will always do it for free.

In kind – value for both Eg. Hairdresser – work trade

Build partnerships

If you are just starting out as influencer, how to begin?

• Read their stuff
• Building relationship with brand
• We are 10x more likely to work with someone who posts about us
• If you pitch to brand, you should already be following them!
• Figure out what your mission and values are
• Focus on quality IG
• Have a channel that you can own and do well
• Have a Media package 

  One (personal) Rule of Thumb:

• I’m looking through a feed and then I close my eyes.
  Show me 4 photos? 
  I know your content, I can pick it apart from other accounts.

As an influencer, how do you stay authentic?

• Stick to your guns, stick to your values
• Know when to say sorry this doesn’t fit
• Maybe you don’t want to promote promo codes
• Think if you can you find a way for this product to fit into your feed

(Photo cred: @littlemohrphoto )

Other comments; growing a community and building partnerships:

• Find people in same realm
• “Let’s shoot together, keep the raws, edit to your style”
• Post consistently

What does success look like?

• Algorithms on instagram are changing quickly
• Businesses need to pay to play – Sponsored posts
• Used to have 16% engagement, now 2-10% is considered good – eg. 20-200 on 1000 followers.
  

That’s me chatting with IG friends Mindy, Krissy and Ariana!

Final words and my takeways

 

It was super informative to hear from the experienced panel on what influencer marketing was and learn about trends!

I may not have thousands of followers on IG, but I’m pleased to hear how many of the values and sentiments the panel shared, resonated with my own values.

On staying authentic when finding brands you align with – 100% this! I loved the part the panel shared about being true to yourself, and not plastering your feed with ads, but rather, building relationships and sticking to your guns! Recently I’ve been posting about the local, healthy meal delivery company, 2 Guys with Knives and I’m proud of the fact that my household has been ordering their food over 1 year and can really speak to their quality! I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with them to photograph their food and blend our common goals – I’m passionate about creating new, beautiful content while also nourishing my body with gluten-free, nutrient-dense foods as part of my upcoming bodybuilding prep!

Read more about my food photography here: https://poymeetsworld.com/2-guys-knives-local-healthy-meal-prep-delivery/

To learn more about this event, check out their online recap over here: https://www.businessbabescollective.com/onlineresources/influencer-marketing-video
View their Facebook page to join the community (and this is where I got the photos from their events 🙂 https://www.facebook.com/VanCityBusinessBabes/

I’m super thankful that they selected me as their IG contest winner for their following event on Passion to Profit! I’ll post that recap shortly.

My friend Sarah who I mentioned introduced me to Vancity Business Babes has recently started a new Meetup group for women in Vancouver to hang out: https://www.meetup.com/Vancity-Gal-Pals/

 

Let me know in the comments what you think, or connect with me on IG: @poymeetsworld!