Softway Solutions is an interactive marketing and technology company based in Houston, Texas. The document discusses influencer marketing, defining it as leveraging social media influencers who have broad reach over specific demographics. It provides tips for finding the right influencers, such as partnering with someone knowledgeable about the social media platforms. The risks and benefits of influencer marketing are outlined, and strategies are presented for managing influencers successfully, such as giving them creative freedom and treating them as partners. Finally, two case studies of influencer marketing campaigns are briefly described.

1. W H O W E AR E
Softway Solutions is an interactive marketing and
technology company based out of Houston, Texas.
W H O W E AR E
Frank Danna – Co-Founder of Parabox Creative and
Senior Director of Brand Strategy at Softway Solutions
Mike Metzler - Business Development Director at
Softway Solutions

2. I N F L U E N C E R M AR K E T I N G
W H O W E AR E
We define influencer marketing as leveraging
specific platform users that have broad reach over
defined demographics. Social influencers are
considered experts in their field, and know their
audience intuitively.

3. I T ’ S N O T AB O U T H AV I N G A L O T O F F O L L O W E R S
W H O W E AR E
Influence is driven by expertise and credibility on
subject matter and the relationship between the
influencer and his or her followers.

4. W H O W E AR E
Influencer marketing
experience

5. PAR T N E R W I T H S O C I AL M E D I A I N F L U E N C E R S
W H O W E AR E
Benefits
• Helps you build your network quickly
• Amplifies your reach, instant engagement
• Solidifies your authenticity with your targeted
demographic. Millennials’ B.S. meters go off
very quickly.
• Measure reach and sentiment (loops, likes,
views, etc.)
• Cost effective

6. PAR T N E R W I T H S O C I AL M E D I A I N F L U E N C E R S
W H O W E AR E
Risks
• Hard to identify concrete ROI
• Unknowledgeable about subject matter you
are trying to promote
• Unpredictable
• Can be unprofessional, causing delays
• Personal opinion/bias risk

7. F I N D I N G T H E R I G H T I N F L U E N C E R S
W H O W E AR E
• Partner or seek advice from
someone you trust who knows the
platform
• Finding the right influencer is less
about doing research and more
about being in tune with the platform
• It’s easy to find people with lots of
followers, it is much tougher to know
if those are the type of people you
want promoting your cause or brand

8. M I T I G AT I N G R I S K S
W H O W E AR E
• Ask for a proposal, and create a contract. You
can tell a lot about how professional someone is
going to be by going through this process.
• Give yourself EXTRA time.
• Partner with someone who is intimately involved
with the networks you are trying to leverage. They
will know who to trust, who has a history, and who
works with which brands.

9. Managing Influencers
How to achieve a successful influencer relationship

10. G I V E C R E AT I V E F R E E D O M
W H O W E AR E
• The influencer knows their audience best
• Let them interpret the brief in their own way
• “Influence” is their business, if it seems “phony” and
inauthentic, it could hurt them and you
• If you are worried that their style will clash with your
messaging, don’t use them. If their style doesn’t
work, their audience probably won’t either.

11. T R E AT I N F L U E N C E R S AS PAR T N E R S
W H O W E AR E
• Treating your social media influencers as
partners means giving them proper attention.
• Partnership yields a deeper commitment to the
brand and overall message.
• Make sure you have the resources dedicated to
answering influencer questions before and during
your campaign, and following up with them after
the program has finished.

12. K N O W W H AT Y O U AR E AS K I N G
W H O W E AR E
Lay out all terms in the agreement clearly so it’s
not misinterpreted:
• Should they re-Vine the content? For how long?
• Should they post the content from their account?
Will they keep it up forever?
• Should they tell people to follow your account? How
will they do this? (Twitter, Snapchat, etc.)
• How will the shout out be structured?

13. Case Studies

14. TAR G E T – AL L N AT U R A L TAG
W H O W E AR E
• Objective: Increase Vine following and increase Brand
Awareness
• Concept: Using the Red Target ball, tag and send the ball to
other Viners to create one long, interconnected story.
• 1.8 Million loops across 25 Vine influencers

15. S AM S U N G – 1 2 D AY S O F V I N E M AS
• Objective: Increase
awareness for the
Samsung Galaxy going into
Christmas
• Concept: Have 12 stop
motion Vine influencers
recreate the 12 Days of
Christmas using stop
motion