The Influence of Influencer Marketing
You can’t scroll through your Instagram feed without spotting at least one sponsored ad that some company paid some celebrity some exorbitant amount to post. Whether it’s Kylie Jenner posing in lingerie to promote hair vitamins or former Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin trying to convince you to take a taste of her favorite Teami Tea, the trend of influencer marketing has taken digital media by storm. While attempting to leverage the status of celebrities and influencers for sales can have disastrous results, like in the case of the Ja Rule-promoted Fyre Festival, brands like Smile Direct Club are doing an excellent job of forming authentic relationships that instill trust with consumers.
In their recent video campaign, Smile Direct Club partners with NBA All-Star Draymond Green, who is candid about his dental struggles and desire for straighter teeth. “A smile is a first impression,” Green says to close out the ad, touching on how integral a smile is to how we’re perceived by others. The Nashville-based company is offering a way to improve that first impression — and how people are seen by those around them. Smile Direct Club understands the value that consumers place on their personal appearance and the company is attempting to add value to the brand by capitalizing on consumer vanity and the celebrity of a well-known athlete such as Green.
According to a report published by Grand View Research, the cosmetic dentistry industry is expected to eclipse the $27.95 billion mark by 2024. One report suggests that much of this growth is attributable to the millennial population, stating “Since much of their social interaction with others — many they have never met — is through social media and other forms of digital communications,” they place greater emphasis on creating an online persona or image that will be well received by others. The article further explains that “The proliferation of selfies and other digital images of themselves that supports their online image has driven the desire to have an attractive smile.” Considering humans’ predisposition to vanity and the sheer amount of time we spend being influenced by the notifications and likes that appear on our phones (particularly when we post selfies), it’s no surprise that cosmetic dentistry is proving to be a very lucrative industry.
Where Smile Direct Club’s influencer strategy differs from the Flat Tummy Teas of the world is the authenticity of the celebrity partnership. We all know that Green is being paid to appear in the Smile Direct Club campaign, but it’s obvious that he actually uses their product. When one sees Jenner or Palin being compensated to promote a product they probably don’t even use themselves, it evokes distrust towards the brand in the minds of many consumers. Often, brands fail to consider that consumers are more informed than ever and that they’re usually aware of when they’re viewing sponsored content. For many consumers, seeing a post that omits the proper FTC disclosure makes them feel as if a brand is intentionally being dishonest. In this instance, Green began using the company’s product in 2016, as indicated by this tweet. His mother even responded, hoping that Green would be more diligent the second time around in his pursuit for a more attractive smile.
Despite the origins of Green and Smile Direct Club’s relationship dating back to 2016, the spot featuring Green first appeared on the company’s YouTube channel only 2 months ago. The company announced their partnership with Green on this Instagram post, dating back to 2016, but the basketball star hasn’t appeared on the company’s Instagram feed since. Although the company made a brilliant choice for their partnership, they’ve done a poor job executing the campaign. Believing that one post from an influencer will be enough to boost engagement and drive sales is a common misconception that many brands have. In actuality, a marketer should secure at least three promoted posts to ensure that consumers have seen the advertisement multiple times. It takes multiple instances of a consumer seeing an ad before they will actually acknowledge it, and even more instances before they will feel inclined to make a purchase. Instead of supplementing the original ad with user-generated content from Green that could be repurposed and added to their own social media channels, Smile Direct Club chose to repost the exact same video to YouTube, this time with a different title. The first video, posted roughly 2 months ago, has garnered nearly 150K views to date, while the repost has roughly only 800 views in the month since it was posted.
To put it bluntly, this campaign is struggling due to a poor marketing strategy. The general rule of thumb is that if you have a celebrity influencer, you use them AS MUCH as humanly possible. The spot with Draymond Green doesn’t even appear on the company’s Instagram page. That is mind boggling! Instead, the company reserves their Instagram posts for a wide array of diverse, non-celebrity customers. This is an interesting marketing strategy in and of itself; however those features could have benefited from the halo marketing associated with Green’s video spot. In hindsight, Smile Direct Club could have benefited from additional assets from their celebrity influencer. User-generated content shot on Green’s iPhone would match the style of their other customer success stories and would have added an even greater level of authenticity. Additionally, paying for highly targeted, sponsored in-feed Instagram ads would ensure that the video advertisement was viewed by consumers a sufficient number of times to have an impact on sales and revenue.
Due to the emergence of social media, people have the ability to receive constant updates regarding their favorite influencers and celebrities. At the touch of a button, you can receive information on who they’re dating, what they’re wearing, and any projects they’re working on. Brands are using this familiarity to engender trust, as well as capitalizing on widespread admiration for these celebrities. You may not be able to sing like John Legend or look like Chrissy Teigen, but you can use Google Remote like they do. You can’t play basketball like Draymond Green, but you can use the same product he did for straighter teeth. Influencer marketing can be a highly effective strategy, but it requires a strategic and authentic partnership. Smile Direct Club did a great job of this by including Green’s mother throughout the campaign. Her presence also helped to expand the market for potential customers, making Smile Direct not just a product for adults considering braces for themselves, but also connecting with parents making the choice for their kids. All of this adds up to a feeling of accessibility, both for Green himself as well as for the product.
By forming authentic brand/celebrity partnerships, companies can benefit from the consumer belief that the use of their product will in essence give them greater accessibility to their favorite celebrity. People are obsessed with their favorite celebrities and influencers, and often mimic their every move, from the clothes they wear to the toothpaste they’re using for a whiter smile. We live in a society where people are quick to follow trends and imitate the actions of anyone who is perceived to be more influential than themselves. If companies want to capitalize on the trend of influencer marketing in the digital landscape, they must be sure to follow Smile Direct Club’s lead in forming authentic partnerships with brand ambassadors. However, given the challenges many companies have had identifying a proper message and messenger, partnering with an agency like Whisper Mob can ensure that the campaign is a success.
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