We team up with influencers and its really hit and miss. Its also really hard to judge whether or not the marketing is working (in our experience).
We have had MAJOR success from teaming up and a few flops.
One influencer we teamed up with went SUPER viral and we had a line up out the door and people waiting over an hour and a half just to get in the door. Our Friday/Saturday sales went from being around $2k in food to over $10k in food and we just couldnt keep up. Like all viral stories, sales died down after a few months, but that one video propelled us and we are now one of the best and most popular burger restaurants in Vancouver.
Sadly, her video was either removed or she deleted it and we arent sure why. The video had over 1.5m views/plays and had 800k likes on instagram. Her video is still up on tiktok though.
With that major boost in revenue we were able to give our staff healthy bonuses (which we already do every 3 months), increased staff wage, and we were able to upgrade our flattop to a mush higher quality one.
We have been chasing that high ever since and havent been able to reach anything like it. Which is why we have the assumption that influencer marketing is VERY hit or miss.
We tend to reach out to influencers through IG and offer a free meal and games. We do have a few stipulations in order to partner up, like them adding "paid promotion" at the bottom of the text. That is a legal requirement in Canada, and we also dont want to give the impression that this is just someone coming into the store and filming. We do treat them like we treat everyone else so they have a true and authentic experience and I think that is key. You have to treat them as though they are just a regular customer, either wise what they post is not going to be a true experience for everyone else and it will only lead to your paying customers being let down.
If you havent partnered with influencers in the past and are a little scared, we hear you, we were too, but give it a chance and you never know. If I were to give you a little piece of advice, dont look at the follower count, look at the engagement level - How many views their content gets, how many comments, how many likes, those are your true indicators. If an influencer has a million followers but their videos are only getting 300 likes, you dont want to partner with them.
Oh also DO NOT GIVE AWAY THE FARM FOR AN INFLUENCER! Stand your ground, make your expectations clear right from the start and always ask them to add you as a collaborator and if you can use the video for your own marketing.
