Was sure influencer marketing was a scam, now I tell startup founders they're wrong about it

I used to roll my eyes every time a founder mentioned paying Instagram folks to push their app. In 2021, a friend's meal kit startup blew $12k on three influencers in Austin and got maybe 40 signups, so I felt fully justified. Then another friend tried it differently last year, sending $500 boxes to 10 micro food bloggers with coupon codes, and that single push brought in more than their entire Facebook ad spend over three months. The difference seemed to be matching the product to people who already made content about that exact problem, not just big follower counts. Has anyone else seen influencer marketing fail, then work when the targeting or the offer changed? What was the tipping point for you?

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rowanw3110d ago

Was the $500 box thing mostly about the smaller creators feeling more real, or was it the exact food niche that did it? I used to think all influencer stuff was a waste, but matching the product to people already talking about that problem makes way more sense than just chasing follower counts.