Inside Influencer Marketing: Interview with Chayce From This Blemished Life
Blog » Inside Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing has become an engaging and creative way for businesses to market their services and products. It’s a great way to reach a niche group, in a more fun and authentic way.
Oftentimes, businesses see the ROI with this type of marketing but may not realize the amount of time, creative energy, planning and content development that goes on behind the scenes to set up a sponsored post. As well, may not realize the love and passion that is put into building a platform that connects one person to a global community.
Here’s an inside look at how Chayce, a Calgary-based influencer, collaborates and communicates with her audience and business clients.
Introducing the beautiful, talented and eco friendly Chayce from This Blemished Life!
How did you get into being an influencer?
“When I was on maternity leave with my daughter, I decided to start blogging. I’ve always had a passion for writing and I wanted to find a hobby. I wasn’t overly sure what I was doing but I knew Instagram was a great way to grow traffic.
My blog (and Instagram) started out as a mom blog but it’s since grown into a zero waste parenting blog. I started getting interested in the zero waste lifestyle when I started cloth diapering my daughter. The cloth diaper community on Instagram and Facebook really helped me realize how wasteful my lifestyle was. I saw that there was a huge interest in cloth diapers on social media, so I started blogging and posting about them on my accounts. I never planned to be an Instagram influencer, but as my passion for the planet, childcare and blogging grew, so did my audience.”
What type of businesses do you work with?
“I work with all types of eco conscious businesses. My first collaboration was with a cloth diaper company. I have now worked with furniture companies, beauty companies, toy companies and many others.
I started out with product exchanges and moved more into paid collaborations. This of course depends on the product being offered. If I believe the product is of value to me and my audience, I gladly take them on. My favorite part about working with companies is expanding my connections and really getting to know the people behind the scenes.”
Take us through what it takes to put one promotional post together.
“Most of the time, companies reach out to me for a collaboration, sometimes I reach out to companies that I want to work with. Contracts can be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.I’ve noticed that my audience is more likely to buy or show an interest in a product or service if I work with a company multiple times.
Here’s my process for creating an Instagram post!
Once the collaboration has been agreed upon, I wait for the product (if there is a product to arrive).
Photoshoots usually take me anywhere from 1 to 2 hours once I have the inspiration for the photo. I edit the photos and match them up with my Instagram or blog posts.
Next, I start working on creating Instagram stories. I use apps like Canva and Unfold to create a series of attractive images and captions that I feel my audience would be interested in.
I research which hashtags are relevant to the post and which hashtags I believe will get me the most views. Then I post on my Instagram feed. To stay relevant on Instagram, I spend around 1 hour each day engaging with my followers.
After I post, I spend at least 20 minutes engaging on posts that have used the same hashtags as me. This helps get my post noticed. I then have to engage with the comments on my post.”
What do you enjoy most about building your online community?
“Definitely the connections and friendships I’ve made. It’s been really great talking to people from all parts of the world and getting to know them. I learn so much from my community. My audience and all the friends I have made on my social accounts have really inspired me to keep going. My favorite part is hearing each person’s perspective on certain topics. It’s really eye opening and has helped me grow as a person and as an influencer.”
In your opinion, what are three benefits influencer marketing can have as a promotional tool for businesses?
“Easy access to a trusting audience in your niche. People spend a lot of time on their social accounts and end up developing friendships and trust with the influencers they follow. Working with the right influencer will get your name out to your desired audience without any extra steps.
It builds a connection with those in your niche. Working with Influencers in your niche helps you develop relationships with them. Relationships can lead to more collaborations and opportunities for both the influencers and the business
Boosts your SEO. Having Influencers link to your site from their site is a great boost to your SEO. Backlinks show the search engine that your site is worth linking to therefore giving you higher visibility in searches.”
Where do you eventually want to take this? Any goals or exciting projects coming up?
“I would love for this to be my full-time job. It’s definitely something I am passionate about. Right now, I am working on a zero waste calendar to help those looking to get started with a low waste lifestyle. I would love to create either an eco friendly preschool curriculum or monthly subscription box filled with eco friendly crafts for kids.”
If you’re interested in joining Chayce’s journey, follow her on Pinterest, Instagram or read more on her blog.