The Influencer Edition: ChapStick

Gone are the days of watching infomercials and ordering kitchen pans at 3:00 a.m. These days, it’s all about influence and social media. The larger the number of followers and engagement a user has on a social platform, like Instagram, the more likely it is that a brand will consider paying these users, “influencers,” to promote their products.

According to Amine Rahal from Forbes, “market analysts predict that the influencer marketing industry will be worth north of $15 billion by 2022, a rise from $8 billion in 2019.”

The rise in influencers is largely thanks to the rise in social media giants like Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat and TikTok. In any one single moment of a day, billions of people are on any number of these sites browsing news feeds, shopping or uploading content. In an effort to meet the consumers where they are, companies are shelling out big bucks to hire users to advertise their products.

In a 2018 study, more than 85% of marketers and advertising agencies used influencer marketing as part of their overall strategy. While there are plenty of users who consider themselves “influencers,” there isn’t exactly a black and white definition. For that reason, it’s critical that brands do extensive research on influencers and who will best need their needs.

For example, Katy Perry patterning with the ChapStick brand may be a very strategic decision. Perry, known for one of your early hit songs “I Kissed A Girl,” references cherry chapstick. While there are a number of companies that make lip balm — there’s only one ChapStick brand which has become a household name.

When you think of the buyer persona for cherry ChapStick, women and girls of all ages come to mind. Perry’s songs generally appeal to women and that song specifically is about women.

According to SpeakRJ, a website that breaks down popular social media accounts, Katy Perry’s Instagram content receives an average of 616,000 likes and an average of 4,000 comments. The website predicts that Perry’s account is likely to grow by more than 70,000 new followers per day. Her current follower count is nearly 130 million.

By comparison, ChapStick’s Instagram comes in at 117,000 followers with roughly six original posts per month. These posts average anywhere from 10 to 100 comments per post. Strategically speaking, Perry’s fan base and subsequent social media following could not only help drive ChapStick sales but increase their social media following and presence.

The ChapStick brand was invented in 1912 and continues to be a common household name when referring to lip balm. It’s high time their social media presence echo that sentiment.

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References:

Rahal, A. (2020, January 10). Is Influencer Marketing Worth It. Forbes. Forbes.com. https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2020/01/10/is-influencer-marketing-worth-it-in-2020/?sh=39a1b6b831c5

Kucey, R. (2019, June 14). The Anatomy of A Perfect Influencer Partnership. Better Marketing. BetterMarketing.Pub. https://bettermarketing.pub/the-anatomy-of-a-perfect-influencer-partnership-eb3d6c3376ad