The EventBuzz podcast
The EventBuzz podcast
#53 - Building an influencer marketing strategy for events
Is influencer marketing right for your event? Don't know where to start? What influencer is right for your brand? On this episode, our guest is an expert on all things influencer and brand marketing strategies, Katrina Xavier; founder of Blitz Marketing.
Savannah (Purplepass):
The movement of social media influencers has grown exponentially over the past years, with nearly every brand adopting some form of influencer marketing as part of their brand strategy. Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Katrina Xavier, founder and CEO of Blitz Marketing, a full service digital agency that focuses on influencer marketing. Katrina started her career in crisis communications, and press for several high profile government members before leaving the public sector to start her marketing agency. On this episode, we will be discussing of course influencer marketing, best practices for building a brand, as well as using influencers to promote your events.
Hi Katrina, how are you doing this morning? Thanks again, for coming on to our show.
Katrina Xavier:
Thank you for having me. Glad to be here.
Savannah:
Yeah. In the beginning, I kind of gave listeners a brief overview about you and where you're at. But I was wondering if you can kind of also do a little intro to yourself in case I miss something.
Katrina:
Absolutely. So my name is Katrina. And I have I currently I own a influencer marketing agency. And we specialize in brand activations and influencer marketing across North America. And then before that, I was working in politics. So very different, but both very communication based. And that's where I am at.
Savannah:
And I was told to you that you transitioned in the beginning, from politics to yoga.
Katrina:
I did, Eat Pray Love. Journey. I never know who wants to hear that one. But yeah, I went on the yoga train, and then found myself because I think the idea of politics is so draining after a little bit, and I was in it, I was in the thick of it for about seven years. And then I just needed to find a little bit of my own personal brand identity. And then I did that through spirituality yoga.
Savannah:
Yeah, I love yoga. I love the practice. So I mean, that sounds great. I understand that transition.
Katrina:
It's crazy how hard it is to just breathe.
Savannah:
Oh, my gosh, yes. And it's so important, so important. So...
Katrina:
It fuels you on so many levels that you wouldn't realize. It's something that we take for granted. And I'm super grateful that I have it as a practice in my life.
Savannah:
Yes. Okay. Well, of course, today, I wanted to talk to you about influencer marketing, because that is what you specialize in. And I think one of the bigger questions is for influencer marketing, is there a place for it in the event space in promoting events? Do you think events should kind of tap into this type of marketing strategy?
Katrina:
So there's two pieces when it comes to an event, there's, if you're going to do it in the long run and do it multiple times, then yes, influencer marketing is a huge piece. Especially for example, if you are doing an event, and you're gonna run it again next year, all of that content that influences like produce in real time until you sell into the next event. And that we find with clients does really well. And then another piece is ticket sales with using influencers. So you lobby them in a large space, um, to help convert the event. Convert for the event, and the public does the rest.
Savannah:
Yeah, and I think the thing when you kind of hear the term influencer, it's often you think of, you know, social media, you think of them promoting brands, holding those products, stuff like that. So when it comes to events, I can see how some people might not understand really how you would take that type of influencer and take away maybe the products and turn that into promoting event types. So do you have any tip...
Katrina:
Influencers. are promoting a lifestyle. And so it's really architecting, depending on what your event is, you have to find the arch ype that their audience would represent, that would be your audience as well. So making sure you're finding influencers, for example, if you're running a home and garden event, then you're gonna want to find outdoor influencers or lifestyle influencers that have a beautiful garden and have been interacting with people or if you're running a nightclub event, don't go and get someone who doesn't create content around that, because their audience wouldn't match.
Savannah:
Yeah, and I think a good example of that is probably at least the event I think of is like Burning Man, right? Following people that are really into Burning Man, because they have such a it's a really specific event. It's a really specific thing you're into and they usually have followers that are going to be in that type of lifestyle as well. So I think that's a good tip when you said it's more promoting the lifestyle. So then when you think of events, I'm I guess your event would have to be really well branded and would have, you know, portraying a lifestyle to kind of have the influencer marketing work with it would you say?
Katrina:
I would say it's a mix. So if it's just generic ticket sales for an event, then you need to find conversion, heavy affiliate framework influencers, there's different categories for each one. Also, if you're doing a localized event, then you need to double check and maybe partner with nano creators whose audiences are a little bit more geo structured. And then also, if you're running like a Burning Man, then you want to then go into the category of like, who is this specific audience? Where are they located? And how can you create this like idealistic buzz around it? Oftentimes with a Burning Man, it's once an influencer attends Burning Man, then the next year, people are going to want to go to Burning Man, because they saw their favorite influencer going and Burning Man. You're creating that association of people like me do this.
Savannah:
Yeah. So would you say for someone that's kind of interested in using this sort of marketing strategy working and looking for an influencer - What is their starting point? Would it be kind of defining their own target market and who they're trying to reach out to first and I'm looking for someone that kind of matches up?
Katrina:
Yes. So always look for your avatar, when you're building anything, whether it's a business or an event, you have to look at who are you marketing to, and who would be your perfect spokesperson of that, like to that crowd, you wouldn't want someone that doesn't align with them to speak to them. So just finding that perfect alignment piece comes from being super clear with your communication as to who you actually want.
And be likely to buy from you. Because sometimes when you think you know, something, it's not actually who your client ends up being. So really doing that work is important.
Savannah:
And so your agency, if someone, because this might be a lot for someone, you guys, obviously help them partner with these influencers that work for them, or how does that work working with you guys?
Katrina:
Yeah. So for us, we're unique in the sense that we don't exclusively have partnerships with influencers, we have a collective that we have access to. And so depending on what your brand needs, we make sure that we source exactly what you need, instead of just having a specific roster that we have to sell to the client.
Savannah:
Gotcha, that makes sense. And then another thing I wanted to ask you on the other side of the spectrum, is for influencers. What advice would you give someone who is trying to become an influencer and get into that space?
Katrina:
So the cliche statement is be authentic, but in that it's building your audience, for what you are actually passionate about, because people can see through it if you're just doing fashion, because you want to make fashion sales, but you're not actually interested in it. If you are passionate about yoga, do yoga content, like find a niche that you're very passionate about and you do in your daily life anyway. And don't do it for the money, do it because you're passionate about it, because the money will come.
Savannah:
Yes. And I think like you said, you can totally tell when certain accounts are just there for the branding, the money or just you can tell like their posts are, are scheduled and just not, you know what I mean? It's, it's more of a business.
Katrina:
It's contrived. And whereas we all have an influencer, that we all look up to, or we like, feel like we're their best friend. But it's because that alignment piece is there and like doing what they're truly like, love all day, every day, even if they weren't paid to do it.
Savannah:
Yeah, sorry. And another thing too, with influencers, I feel like is they also focus on their following count. Right, which is important, but I think sometimes it's, it's, I don't know, I, I think you don't need to have, you know, 100k followers to be an influencer all the time.
Katrina:
So there are two pieces to that there's really like, following numbers don't matter. It's your engagement that really matters in this day and age, because everyone seemed past that now. When we were all first starting on social media, it was a oh my god, you need like 10,000 followers to get the swipe up, link. Now you can have it as a nano creator, we've kind of gotten past all of that. And then the other piece is finding the platform that best serves you because if you're not growing on one platform, know that there is a different platform that would work better for you and and convert better for you.
We have people who have converted on TikTok better than Instagram or Instagram better than TikTok depending on where their audience really lives. And if you're offering value, people will convert on it.
Savannah:
So is there a time or an audience type where you wouldn't suggest this type of marketing strategy? I know you kind of mentioned that.
Katrina:
Yeah, it's a combination. Because at the end of the day, when you're using this as a marketing strategy, you're using it because you're trying to convince a certain pool of people to buy from you. And so now with social media, it's hitting every demographic point. And there's so many different platforms that can be used and influencers on those platforms can be used to sell it to your demographic, no matter what it is, yeah.
That's the only way this doesn't work is a it's not aligned, like you're going for a consumer base that is not on the platform that you're choosing, or you're going for a consumer base that isn't aligned with the input for the YouTube thing.
Savannah:
Yeah, there are, it's crazy the amount of platforms we have, and they just continue to grow. When you're an influencer, do you think it's better to kind of focus on one platform and getting engagement on one platform or spreading yourself across different ones?
Katrina:
You always have one home platform, but integrating yourself and like spreading yourself out to different platforms, when you're ready. Like, you don't want to take on too many platforms. When the from the get go. You want to focus on one building an organic, authentic following and then add in one more platform, for example, doing starting off with Instagram and saying hey, to your followers that you've built and like community that you've built, saying, hey, I just launched a YouTube channel, I would love it if you went, came and followed me there. So you take your audience with you to other platforms, but build it in one first, because otherwise, you're gonna exhaust yourself.
Savannah:
Yeah. And would you mention that same advice for when it comes to marketing, your events, or even just your brand is having a solid platform first, and then taking your audience with you? Would that be the same thing for building a brand.
Katrina:
So with building a brand, have one platform, yes, but then use influencers and other platforms to help you grow. So for example, if you need a lot of views to boom, for example, you want someone to know about an event that's happening locally within the next three weeks, then you would go to a higher engagement platform like TikTok, where it's just view based. If you're trying to sell tickets in like, let's say you have three months to do it, then go to Instagram, because then you can have the swipe up links and then drive the traffic that way. And and then YouTube for long form content from the event itself.
Savannah:
And I'm just curious, because there's, again, a lot of platforms to work with, for you personally, is there a platform that you prefer the most.
Katrina:
So it's, for me, it's a little seasonal. It depends on happening in the market and when it's happening, and also what the algorithms are doing at any time. Just because we're so dialed into what's happening at every minute of the day. As an influencer on the backend, like I've built my own following, I love YouTube, because I like the content where I can specify, like, really orchestrate something and create and spend a lot of time in creating it, which is something I prefer a bit more. But every creator has a platform that they prefer.
Savannah:
Yeah, so then do you also like more video platforms like TikTok, as well?
Katrina:
Yes, of course, like, and also Instagram right now, if you're not just posting rails, you're doing something wrong right now. Because photos are not getting the same engagement that rails are anyway.
Savannah:
Yeah, that's true. I feel like video has really boomed. I mean, I personally also enjoy video, it's so much more engaging. And you can you learn, you can see more and get like YouTube, I prefer that too. Because you can tell a whole story and how you want to tell it and yeah.
Katrina:
You get deeper into it, which, which showcases the person and there's less room for BS when you have longer form content like that.
Savannah:
Yes. And same with live streaming, I think because it's more raw and real people really enjoy those.
Katrina:
If you want to cultivate an art, like an authentic audience go live. It's the most magical thing that happens when you actually go back and forth with people and communicate and build that true tribe tribe.
Savannah:
And now to switch gears for a second because of your story of switching careers. I wanted to see if you had any advice you could share when it comes to people that want to change careers, and a completely different direction.
Katrina:
Ask someone who's in the career that you want to go into and surround yourself with as much information as possible. When I was leaving Politics, Politics was all I had known. And I also did my degree in politics and economics. And so I was quite insecure with that that change. But in that timeframe, I filled it with conferences, people networking, everything I could possibly find and that's how I found digital marketing, which I would never have found otherwise.
Savannah:
Yeah, and then I also find too that's when video is so helpful, like YouTube is littered with people doing job Reviews.
Katrina:
It's so cool, you can actually look up anything like anything for your into you can find it on there. And it's amazing. It's equally draining because you see so many people doing so many things and you're like, it's so far away. But at the same time, it's everything you want is great there.
Savannah:
Yeah, even like the day in the life of someone doing a certain career, those are so interesting. And really helpful, because you could see like, the raw truth of what they're doing, depending on how much
Katrina:
You have to be ok with the good and the bad of career is that you're going into? Or not everything is sunshine and lollipops. But there's a different thing where it's like, you're kind of crazy, like, are you okay with the negatives of what that career entails? Because then that that's perfect for you, then.
Savannah:
Yeah, so for people listening that want to kind of hone in on this type of marketing strategy, and maybe feel a little overwhelmed and might want to work with you guys? Where do they start? Do they
hop onto our website,
Katrina:
Just pop onto our website, blitzmarketing.co or messages, message me on Instagram, anytime happy to help navigate that discussion and see whether this is a good fit for them, or what would be a good fit. We also do a little bit of consulting as well, where we just help brands navigate whether they actually need a certain type of marketing or not.
Savannah:
Yeah, because marketing is there's so so much I never realized until I got into this career, I'm like, it's just so much. And now you see things in you, you recognize what's going on, they're like emails, and you recognize the different patterns of what these other marketers are doing. It's really cool. But it's, it can be so overwhelming for people that are, are not, they don't specialize in it, they're just trying to plan an event, or get the word out. And they you know.
Katrina:
It can be quite debilitating, because you're like, there's 1000 things to do. And you can actually end up spending so much money in the wrong direction. And unfortunately, the industry is so quick to sell people into things because that's just the nature of it. And you can't be in marketing if you're not good at selling. And so it's just navigating that and realizing, okay, what do you actually want? What's your end goal? And then working backwards, it's like what the pieces are in the ever changing landscape that you need to employ to work for you.
Savannah:
Yeah, yeah, that's where I think consulting to that's always smart to kind of do that first. So to see if you even...
Katrina:
Because we tell people all the time, maybe influencer marketing isn't what you need. But what you need is actually this or organic frameworks or something a little bit more in alignment, email marketing, or ads, like whatever it is, we iron it out, and also give them examples of exactly what they can run with.
Savannah:
Yeah, that's super helpful. So but yeah
Katrina:
Kind of like paint by numbers.
Savannah:
Yes. Honestly, I would need that I'm so visual, and I just would need someone to sit down and be like, Hey, this is this. So.
Katrina:
It makes life easier
Savannah:
So much easier. But Awesome. Thank you again, so much for talking to me. And is there anything else you would like to add before we jump off?
Katrina:
If you are jumping careers - Do it like it was the best decision I ever made in my life.
Savannah:
Yeah, again, because you will. I think you'll always also wonder if you're already wondering, you know what I mean? And you don't do it, you'll always wonder.
Katrina:
It's like one foot in one foot out. Might as well jump out try it. You can always go back to the status quo.
Savannah:
Exactly. Yeah. 100% Cool. So thank you so much for talking to me today. I really appreciate it and I know our audience will too.