?The bigger, the better? mentality has traditionally been indicative of a successful advertising or marketing campaign. This had led to the long-held belief that only the brands that shell out for celebrity endorsements or the most popular YouTube sensations are the ones that get remembered and drive the best results.
However, many brands are now opting to work with smaller, up-and-coming social media stars to reach more targeted audiences in a meaningful way and at a fraction of the cost?a strategy that has proven to be extremely successful and has called into question whether ?the bigger, the better? still holds true.
For instance, compare the recent experiences of two brands that used the Grapevine platform to connect with influencers. A luxury beauty brand chose to work with only three YouTube stars, all with large followings and expensive rates. Meanwhile, a drug-store retailer chose to retain 19 rising stars to promote its products. Both organizations had a comparable budget, but the drugstore retailer?s campaign ended up outperforming the luxury beauty brand?s by a landslide with more than 41 percent more views, 76 percent more clicks and a cost per click of $7 less. While there are many factors that contribute to the success of an influencer campaign, these contrasting approaches demonstrate that smaller can be better. This is why, when it comes to influencer marketing, choosing several influencers with a smaller following can deliver far more value and better res...