The Curious Case of Curated Business
Growing your social presence is perhaps one of the biggest hurdles many brands face when looking to expand their reach on platforms like Instagram. We've seen how fake likes were once a tool used to leverage a brand's clout and how that subsequently backfired for many, if not at least yielded less than what they had originally intended.
How then can brands leverage influencers to grow their presence? The famous and business savvy family the Kardashians demonstrated recently in a fascinating campaign. In this blog post, Hollywood Branded examines how brands can leverage influencer marketing with the Kardashians to grow their following and increase awareness.
Why Followers Matter Now More Than Ever
I can tell you how difficult it can be to grow a brand's social presence as I was a social media manager in a previous life before transitioning into the world of branded content. Having a strong and relevant social presence can actually be very complicated - involving a thorough understanding of social metrics (more importantly - how to increase them!) as well as an eye for aesthetics and a way with words.
For this reason it is now common practice for many brands to have en entire team dedicated to perfecting a brand's social presence. Smaller brands with smaller budgets typically only need one person to serve this role, which in light of every factor listed previously often results in the social media manager acting as its own mini-marketing department.
Let's say your social presence includes visually appealing content, clever written content and a firm understanding of your audience and what appeals to them. That should be enough, right? Well, unfortunately not. As every platform is flooded with millions of users, making your brand stick out enough to land you on a relevant Instagram user's "Discovery" page will still be quite a feat. But because social media is such a key factor in not only your brand's ability to engage with its audience, it also represents your brand and is often the first thing people will check to learn more about it.
If your page only has 50 likes or less and you want to establish yourself as being a large business looking to compete with the big dogs, this can be a real hurdle. Thus getting more followers with more likes is crucial. But all of this leads to the big question of this blog post - HOW do you do that?
Enter The Kardashians
Love `em or hate `em, the Kardashians are one of the biggest names in Hollywood, but specifically on social media. With followings in the millions, the exposure of a social post from any member of the family can work miracles for brand awareness and recognition. Naturally it is also very expensive. In fact, we previously wrote an entire blog post about the value of a social post from Kim Kardashian. That post is almost two years old now but when written, it cost over 250k just to be featured in one post. Safe to say you're definitely looking at a much higher figure as Kim's presence has all but decreased as a household name.
Known for "breaking the internet" and maintaining high relevance in the public eye, the Kardashians have a history of capitalizing on the value of their social presence. Throughout the course of the last year, the family has collectively been involved in one of the most fascinating social campaigns yet!
One by one, each member of the family has been a part of a social campaign to build the following of brands as they have each participated in a social contest. With the incentive to win expensive name brand products and ten thousand dollars, the Kardashians have each posted a contest instructing their followers to do the following: Go to @curatedbusinesses and follow every account it follows. This includes up to about 70 accounts during each campaign. Yes, that is a lot of users you're asking people to follow but given the combination of the cash prize in addition to thousands of dollars of name brand merchandise.
Additionally, the contest also requires users to stay fully engaged with Jenner's post as it requires a comment that gets the user focused on Luis Vuitton. Now her followers have not only seen an enticing photo of their brand, they're being asked to engage directly with it and spend time thinking about why they want it. This reinforces to the followers that they want the product and they become even more likely to purchase. Thus this marketing ploy truly is genius, as it effectively co-promotes so many brands simultaneously.
Given that the Kardashians exude a lifestyle of luxury that draws in such a high following, it's no surprise that many of them actually will commit to following all 70 accounts and commenting why they want the bags.
It's pretty genius when you think about it. With coveted prizes as the incentive, the campaign drives the MILLIONS of users to the social profiles of brands looking to expand their reach. Even more interesting is the way the campaigns are designed - they are VERY short lived. Recently the matriarch of the family, Kris Jenner participated in the campaign and her post was archived just three days later. We know this was a deliberate choice on Curated Businesses' part because they announced it on their own account that it was archived per their terms and conditions.
This campaign is so effective because as social media continues to crack down on fake likes and penalize accounts proven to be paying for them, this social push inflates a brand's presence by bringing real, actual users their way. Not only that - this method is getting a gargantuan number of users viewing and following these accounts. Getting people to look at your content is half the battle and finding a way to get an entire unit of some of the biggest influencers in the world to promote your brand is truly a dream come true. In a campaign like this, it doesn't even matter if the Kardashians aren't a perfect match for your brand since their reach is so high, you're guaranteed to get a massive return on an investment like this. Granted there is the fact that your brand will receive a massive influx of followers and then experience a sizable decline after the contest ends. But even still, your brand awareness will go through the roof regardless and a lot of the people directed to your account won't remember to immediately unfollow it.
Influencer marketing continues to be one of the most important efforts for brands and understanding how to leverage them for your brand will be fundamental to staying relevant in a world with trends changing faster than I can write this blog.
Further Reading
Want to learn more about the ways that influencers like the Kardashians have changed the game of brand marketing? Check out these other blog posts we've written!
- Brand Guide To Kourtney Kardashian Instagram Posts
- How Much Kim Kardashian Charges For An Instagram Post
- The Kardashians Social Media Blunder And The FTC
- 6 Ways To Market Your Brand Like a Kardashian
- Celebrities Using Their Own Platforms To Build Their Brands
Are you interested in learning more on how your brand can work with celebrities and social media influencers? Enroll now in our Influencer Marketing School to become a pro on the subject!
