It’s strange to think that it wasn’t that long ago that ‘digital first’ became the major buzzword in marketing departments across the world. Budgets shifted from billboards and radio to digital and social media, and since then, many businesses have thrived in this new online landscape. But aspects of the industry are now coming back full circle. After all, today’s consumers create their aspirations online, but live their lives offline. So we’re now naturally starting to see an increase in offline experiences built for online audiences. 

Social media influencers are, logically, being drafted in to help brands bridge the gap between their online and offline campaigns. Lots of great work has been done to create long-term relationships with influencers and their communities on social media, so it makes sense to translate those bonds into real life. The possibilities are endless, from influencer-led product launch events in-store, to behind-the-scenes content telling the story of how products or ingredients have been created. 

Despite the accessibility and versatility of digital content, it still hasn’t come so far as to outright replace the special connections you make at real, physical, offline events. Experiential marketing has grown significantly over the last few years, as audiences increasingly look for genuine, human authenticity in their content, so it's important for brands to be looking at offline strategies wherever possible, and considering where and how they can fit into their objectives. 

But how do you bridge the divide between online and offline influencer activity? As I said, the possibilities are endless, but let’s have a look at some specific models. 

Live events and brand activations

Live events and activations give you a unique opportunity to have valuable facetime with your customers, prospects and leading social influencers, in an exciting, energised environment. They also provide  opportunity for creating lots of really compelling and insightful content. 

Weaving influencer marketing into your live events and activations can really help in achieving the objectives of your event. Asking influencers to talk or perform at your events will allow you to promote them as big-draw speakers or attendees, and harness the power of their audiences for ticket sales. Or simply inviting them to your activation to create content for their enthusiast audiences will easily amplify your promotion and coverage, direct to the people most likely to become long-term advocates. 

Giving influencers this kind of attention will allow you to deliver credible content to wider audiences, increase digital engagement without major production outlay, and deepen your connections with your valuable influencer partners. It’s a win-win for everyone! 

Offline influencer shout-outs 

Adidas had a rather original angle on taking their influencers relationships up a level. For the launch of a new pair of sneakers in 2019, they launched custom billboards across Los Angeles and New York directed at individual influencers, using their Instagram handles to address them. The message was to pick up a pair of the trainers from a specific Adidas store. 

It was certainly a cool and unique idea, and worked well in striking online conversations with their chosen influencers and their followers. It is definitely worth brands experimenting with personalized, offline marketing to adopt and engage audiences by distracting them away from their digital behaviours. 

Behind-the-scenes invitations 

Inviting one - or a group of - influencers to a tour of your business can be really powerful. After all, who doesn’t love going backstage? By documenting their experiences, your invited influencers will help bring their audience to your brand in a much more compelling way than you could achieve by simply gifting them a product in exchange for a social post. 

This strategy also gives you a unique opportunity to tell your brand story in human, values-driven terms, and explain the journey that your products go through to get from your staff to your consumers. Influencers can meet and introduce key members of your team, who can then in turn become faces of your own content, filling out the relationship ecosystem shared by your audiences, your influencers, and you as a brand. 

We work with brands to create high-impact influencer marketing campaigns across all social platforms. We help you to get under the skin of your audiences, understand who and where they are, and collaborate with respected influencers to get your message to them. If you’d like to chat about working together, get in touch.