Meet Amanda Amar, Senior Director of PR & Social Media with ALDO, as she takes us through some of its most successful Influencer Marketing campaigns ever and how this Canadian brand uses Influencer Marketing to meet consumers with the content they want to see on social platforms and drive traffic and sales
Welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. I'm producer & host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is produced in conjunction with the Retail Council of Canada.
Meet Amanda Amar, Senior Director of PR & Social Media with ALDO, as she takes us through some of its most successful Influencer Marketing campaigns ever and how this Canadian brand uses Influencer Marketing to meet consumers with the content they want to see on social platforms and drive traffic and sales. In a wide-ranging conversation, we cover everything from optimal organizational structures to getting the best out of your social campaigns, choosing the best influencer strategy to meet your needs, and what to think about when your selected social media platform falls under public scrutiny.
About Amanda
A strategic communications leader, with 14 years of Global brand experience in the fashion retail industry, Senior Director of PR & Social Media, Amanda Amar has been with the ALDO Group for nearly 10 years. Amanda is passionate about building and nurturing teams, along with managing and executing data informed, creative and strategic communications plans that have proven to drive results across brand equity, brand sentiment and overall brand health metrics. A leader in the industry, Amanda consistently builds working relationships across internal and external stakeholders to support in crisis communications, content strategy, celebrity, press and influencer relations, consumer engagement and scalable 360 marketing campaigns.
About Michael
Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada and the Bank of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Today's Shopping Choice and Pandora Jewellery.
Michael has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. ReThink Retail has added Michael to their prestigious Top Global Retail Influencers list for 2023 for the third year in a row.
Michael is also the president of Maven Media, producing a network of leading trade podcasts, including Canada's top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail. He produces and co-hosts Remarkable Retail with best-selling author Steve Dennis, now ranked one of the top retail podcasts in the world.
Based in San Francisco, Global eCommerce Leaders podcast explores global cross-border issues and opportunities for eCommerce brands and retailers.
Last but not least, Michael is the producer and host of the "Last Request Barbeque" channel on YouTube, where he cooks meals to die for - and collaborates with top brands as a food and product influencer across North America.
Michael LeBlanc 00:04
Welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. My name is Michael LeBlanc, and I am your host. This podcast is produced in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
Meet Amanda Amar, Senior Director of PR and Social Media with Aldo. As she takes us through some of its most successful influencer marketing campaigns ever, and how this Canadian brand uses influencer marketing to meet customers with the content they want to see in social platforms, and drive traffic and sales. In a wide-ranging conversation, we cover everything from optimal organizational structures to getting the best out of your social campaigns, choosing the best influencer strategy to meet your needs and what to think about when your selected social media platform falls under public scrutiny.
Amanda, welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. How are you doing this afternoon?
Amanda Amar 00:48
I'm doing great. Thanks so much for having me on.
Michael LeBlanc 00:51
Well, it is my pleasure. Where am I finding you today, when I think of Aldo I think of Montreal, is that where you are?
Amanda Amar 00:57
Yes, I'm actually based in Montreal, this is where our head office is as well. Many people don't know Aldo is a Canadian company. So, I'm chilling out in Montreal today.
Michael LeBlanc 01:06
Well, I don't know if you're chilling out, if it's anything like the temperature today here in Toronto, I think,
Amanda Amar 01:11
Sweltering, in other words.
Michael LeBlanc 01:13
You're sweltering out, but you're, you're chilling out in terms of the vibe, listen, you got a really interesting background, got a really interesting job and, and of course, working for a really interesting retailer. So I'm really thrilled to have you on the mic. Let's, let's talk about you a little bit. Tell us a little bit about yourself, your, your background, and what you do for a living.
Amanda Amar 01:30
For sure. Well, thank you so much. I'm actually Senior Director of Global Social Media and Public Relations at Aldo. I've been with the company now, it's going to come, it's coming up to 10 years in November, which is crazy. I've actually always worked in fashion since graduating with a degree in fashion marketing and I joined Aldo Group in 2013 as part of their global division. So that's where we're working with franchise markets in over 100 countries. So, I work directly with all of our franchise partners on all things digital marketing, and I can tell you, I learned a ton. Best practices around the globe are so, so different and it was honestly truly fascinating. After a few years or so I had the opportunity to dive into the brand world and really Aldo’s, owned and operated, PR and social media team, overseeing the strategy for North America as well as the rest of the globe. So, it's been a, it's been a trip, to say the least.
Michael LeBlanc 02:33
Well, let me, let me ask you some about your role. So I know some part of the business is franchise, I used to be part of Pandora jewelry, for example and we had franchisees and we had, I did a not dissimilar role from yours running the marketing for the, for the country, and we had different types of, types of marketing, we had it for our franchisee partners, and then we did it for our owned and operated stores. Do you have purview over both or you, do you provide assets for the franchisees to use or talk a little about the mechanics of your job?
Amanda Amar 03:01
Of course. That's a great question. So yeah, we're owned and operated in North America. So, we're at the head office, we're sending out all of the strategies, you know, content, et cetera, for our partners, but then we're really adapting it in the market based on those best practices. So, we really depend on our franchise partners to be like our eyes and ears on the ground. So, it's a super collaborative effort. They're the ones that are actually implementing live in market, but we're the ones that are working with them on all their plans, their strategies, whether that's, you know, influencer marketing, social posting brand campaigns, product across the board, truly. Yeah, we're, that's the way that we work with them and we have agencies in each one of these markets that we're also working with to adopt all of our strategies. So, our big thing is, you know, act global, but think local.
Michael LeBlanc 03:59
Yeah. Right on. So, I would imagine that, you know, it's a wonderful synergy, right, because you learn a lot, and probably, you know, the folks in the different markets learn a lot so you can have opportunities to get together to teach each other, either online or wherever and have a summit and what's going on and what works.
Amanda Amar 04:15
Oh yeah, for sure, we have many, many annual meetings with all of our partners where we all come together and it's, it's a great opportunity for us just to learn live from one another and what's happening.
Michael LeBlanc 04:27
You know, the listeners may or may not know, I think certainly those in Canada would know about Aldo and its Quebec roots, but we have listeners tuning in from around the world and they might know the brand, but probably or may not know the, the scope and scale and there's been lots of changes over the years. So, let's bring us up to speed. Tell us about the scope and scale of the business you've outlined a bit of the structure but say more, you know, how many stores, what's going on and what's new, bring us all up to speed.
Amanda Amar 04:54
For sure. So, we're actually celebrating our 50th year this year, which is really exciting. The company started in 1972, our founder, Aldo Bensadoun who we refer lovingly to as Mr. B. He still works actively within the company. On a day-to-day basis, he's really involved with the product, and creative, super passionate about the business.
Michael LeBlanc 05:22
And the industry, right, I mean, he funded the, the university, the retail school at McGill. Yeah.
Amanda Amar 05:29
Yeah, huge passion project for him and something he's really a big proponent of education and saw a gap. So, he definitely wanted to kind of be able to continue that legacy and, you know, the youth of today to be able to kind of take that on and learn about the business, something he's still deeply passionate about. So, we're very lucky to still have him around day to day, he's got a wealth of knowledge. He's honestly a fascinating human being.
Michael LeBlanc 05:54
Yeah.
Amanda Amar 05:55
So, he actually set out something that really attracted me and always stands out to me about the company. He set out to create what he says is an ideal society. He said, ‘you know, I want to, you know, create a business, but I want to make sure that there's really strong pillars.’ So, he set out the pillars of love, respect and integrity and that can sound a tad fluffy, but truly, I can't even tell you like how much this is woven into every fiber of the company, whether it's with respect to our product, our people, the planet, or Aldo crew, community like it is just through and through. So, it's really incredible, especially for a business as large as Aldo. We're still owned and operated and, you know, 50 years in business as a privately owned organization.
Michael LeBlanc 06:45
Right on.
Amanda Amar 06:46
So, to give you an idea in terms of size and scale, we currently operate over 1200 stores in 110 countries, and we have some pretty aggressive growth plans for global expansion this year. So, it's, it's definitely a large-scale business. Aside from expanding our brick-and-mortar business, ecomm- platforms throughout the globe, we've, you know, in recent years, especially put a massive emphasis on growing our online community. So, for example, you know, in 2020 we were among the first retail brands to launch a hashtag challenge on TikTok, it made TikTok history at the time, we had over 5 billion views and 2 million entries, which was just incredible and this really comes from a desire, we are all customer obsessed, but with a recent added brand focus on consumer insights. So that's something we lean super heavily into. Our main mission is really just to be better and just to truly understand what sets us apart. Why consumers should choose Aldo in their shopping journey, and how do we capture their attention.
Michael LeBlanc 07:57
Yeah, very important. Now you also operate under a couple of banners, right? Call its-, Call It Spring is your banner as well, right?
Amanda Amar 08:03
Yeah. So that's our sister brand under Aldo Group and we have Globo as well, which is just in Canada, yeah.
Michael LeBlanc 08:09
Globo, yeah, yeah and I think you now, I think I saw I got some information that you guys were doing some, some product, you got a bit of a wholesale division, right, you also make product for-
Amanda Amar 08:19
Yeah, pretty, a pretty big one, actually, it's expanding. I mean, we've just signed some really exciting new brands, you know, we produce product for-, we sell in wholesale opportunities. So, you know, with 50 years of footwear experience, we're truly like, and designing and crafting in house, which most people don't know, you know, has really allowed us to kind of become footwear experts. So, we're super happy to be able to partner with various other brands and help bring that perspective to life through product.
Michael LeBlanc 08:49
And now it's a pretty crowded category, footwear. What would you say makes the business remarkable, I mean, you, you've outlined a few things, the philosophy behind the business, the execution is always spot on, you've got in house design, but you know, as a consumer walking into one of your stores, they don't know that background, how do they experience that to say I want to, you know, this the place I want to come from my fashion and my footwear. How do you, how would you, how would you think of that, in terms of, you know, when you're talking to someone about why Aldo is so great. There's a bunch of reasons why it's great to work there, but,
Amanda Amar 09:24
Yeah.
Michael LeBlanc 09:24
What would you say is the reason why they should be considered, you should be considered a remarkable retailer?
Amanda Amar 09:30
Yeah, I mean, that's, that's a wonderful question. I think that really comes down to our customer obsession, like I was speaking about before. You know, I think the beautiful thing about Aldo being around for 50 years is that we've continuously evolved with the customer and especially in recent years since the pandemic like things have been flipped on their head. People are not wanting the same things they want-, wanted. So really staying in tune with those consumer insights and having our eyes and ears on round that way. Like let them tell us they're Our boss at the end of the day, they have to tell us what it is that they want.
Amanda Amar 10:03
So, I think one of the biggest things in terms of product, especially, you know, overwhelmingly we've seen that, and this is across the globe. This isn't just in North America that what our customer wants from us is style without sacrificing comfort. You know, the days of wearing, you know, heels at the club where your feet are like jammed up afterwards, those days are done. Nobody's going to do that anymore, especially since the pandemic. Gen Z is not willing to do that, which like, good for them.
So, this is really what led us to the development and integration of our amazing Pillow Walk technology. This was something that was developed behind the scenes for years and years before we came to market with it to really perfect it. We're still continuously learning, adapting, but I'm really excited to tease actually that we plan to launch an expansion of our Pillow Walk technology across a much wider array of our footwear categories in Fall '23 and beyond. So, this has really been kind of our secret sauce, something we're rallying behind and we're seeing incredible feedback from, from customers across the globe.
Michael LeBlanc 11:09
Yeah, and we're here to talk. I guess our conversation was spurred by a particular campaign supporting that, that execution. I want to get to that in a minute, but I have one more question kind of narrowing the lens about execution because I know a lot of retailers some retailers may have the resources Aldo does, some they don't, some they have more, but everybody's thinking about, you know, when I'm with clients, and they ask how much should I spend on influencer marketing and social, I'm like, I don't know what your budget is, but double it, is always like kind of standard response.
Amanda Amar 11:35
Quadruple, yeah.
Michael LeBlanc 11:36
Yeah, you're right, start it, start it at double, but then we get into deeper conversations about how the team is built and so we talked about things like do you have storytellers or performance marketers, do you have, you know, functional experts by channel somebody who really knows Insta really well, or YouTube Shorts or do you have it, you know, horizontally, I'm an expert on social media, how do you get into expert on short form video versus storytelling. Like, how do you, how do you think about it and share a bit of how you, you go about structuring, size, of course, and resources, if you've got 20 people, you can get a bit deeper, but how do you approach it?
Amanda Amar 12:11
So, you'll actually be surprised to know within our team at the head office, and we're the ones that are really setting out kind of the strategy, you know, bulk of the content or any extended content that's coming through, it's actually a team of four plus myself, might surprise you, but-
Michael LeBlanc 12:27
You get a lot done when you work 24 hours a day, I guess.
Amanda Amar 12:30
We actually have a ton of additional support, which I'll get into and how we structure that, so it makes the most sense for us being such a global business. We're constantly, I mean, there's always new channels and platforms and algorithms to learn about, but we're constantly learning. So, my goal is really for everybody in the team to have that full sort of scope, even though there might be certain people that are managing kind of maybe more of one channel than another, but there's, it's just more about tiering and layers and how we're kind of operating in that sense.
Amanda Amar 13:03
So, with that, we work hand in hand with cross functional teams across the Aldo brand. So, whether it's paid media support brand commercialization to help amplify even through the social media landscape, or influencer landscape. So that's a big piece of the pie, but also, we're super fortunate to be well supported by extended partners and agencies, who serve as true extensions of our team and that's so important to have those eyes and ears on the ground. So, for example, or external, you know, North American PR agencies, Jingle PR and Azione.
Michael LeBlanc 13:39
Wonderful people, wonderful people, by the way, doing wonderful work.
Amanda Amar 13:43
They are, for sure, we're very lucky, we're very fortunate. So, they've been incredible partners. We also work with MediaCom, our media agency, who helped develop and run all of our paid media campaigns. So, whether that's on social or, or to extended platforms and also, we worked directly hand in hand with an agency in Los Angeles called Pepper and they work with us on all things influencer and extended creative content, they're absolutely phenomenal.
Amanda Amar 14:14
And then outside of that, with each one of our global franchise partners, they have their own local agencies. So, whether that's a social media, PR, digital marketing, so we're, you know, hopping on calls with them, but also relying on our partners to, you know, facilitate and, and push out all of our plans across the globe. So, we really are well supported and that's the structure that we felt was best for us. You know, we couldn't have a team of 30 in house, but you know, we'd all be operating from one place. We really love to have that, that perspective all over the world.
Michael LeBlanc 14:47
Fantastic. Kind of for-, a lot of force multipliers. Sounds great. Well, let's, let's talk about this campaign. Let's get some numbers on the board. You did a TikTok campaign for Pillow Walk, and you had what were clearly some exceptional numbers. So, tell us all about it.
Amanda Amar 15:00
For sure. So, in terms of the numbers, we were, you know, we just recently kind of got all the stats back, just in terms of how it stacks up against benchmarks on the platform. So, we're really excited about our video completion rate, which, you know, obviously shows that engagement and interest was 785% above the benchmark on the platform, which was super exciting for us conversion rate was 35%, above benchmark, click through rate 68%, 55 million impressions. And then, in terms of our conversions, we saw a 15% increase, lift in behavioral visit rate. So, coming out of the platform on to, either within in-store or onto our website and what was super, super exciting was a 355% above benchmark conversion rate on the platform.
Michael LeBlanc 15:55
Great.
Amanda Amar 15:56
So-
Michael LeBlanc 15:56
When you say conversion rate, you mean conversion to sales?
Amanda Amar 15:59
Yes.
Michael LeBlanc 16:00
Fantastic. Now, how do you measure that, I get, I get how you would measure that online, I got, I get so many questions, how you would measure that online, talk about how you would measure that when folks go in and buy in the store, speak to that a little bit?
Amanda Amar 16:13
Yeah, so we work with our partners at TikTok. They also have agencies and partners that they're using to help monitor all of this. So it's really about a test group, that they'll put forward, following the campaign to say, hey, did you X, Y, Z, did you end up visiting in store based on this ad, did you, you know, what was your next step after viewing this content, and there's a number of studies and surveys that they'll kind of send out to this large test group. So that's, it's called a brand lift study, and this is what is able to give us all this incredible data.
Michael LeBlanc 16:47
Alright, so impressive metrics, by any metric, I guess you could say, by any measure and I'm kind of curious, though, take me, you know, we're talking about one kind of campaign, one platform, but take us back to the genesis of the campaign, you know, when, how do you determine what marketing tax is going to be used from, from your perspective, your social media, where to social media role-, What role does social media play, are there agencies involved, I think you've, you've talked that you've got agency, agency partners, and the platform's themselves? And how do you set up goals and objectives? just unpack some of that, that stuff so we can all get our arms better around how to approach opportunities, like the one that the, you, you just, you know, did amazing on?
Amanda Amar 17:28
Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, of course. So, our goal with the global Aldo Pillow Walk campaign was really to boost awareness, but also to drive Tryon for our new product launch, we really just wanted feet in shoes so that everybody could feel it for themselves. So, we really implemented this strategy using brand lead assets to own the upper funnel objective and that was really to drive awareness. So that's our, our Hero campaign and then the creator assets were really used to drive heightened engagement and conversions.
Amanda Amar 18:01
So for the actual creative, we used a diverse combination throughout the platform and this is really a strategy that one can use to embody a best practice. It's called scaling with creative. Okay, so this approach really allows brands to create a range of unique ads that can be tailored to different audiences with different marketing objectives throughout that funnel. So, the Hero campaign videos actually inspired, and this is probably one of the first times we've done this in such a heavy way. It was truly inspired from TikToks key trends and transitions. So, we're really tapped into the use of like CGI effects, trending sounds, visual cues that have just been super performant for us on these platforms and with video content in the recent past. So, we tap into so many key learnings content performance insights, knowing that even Hero content really needs to be crafted in a way now that feels native to where consumers are ultimately spending the majority of their time consuming this
Michael LeBlanc 19:05
Talk about how you chose I guess it's a little self-evident, the answer to my question, how you chose TikTok I mean, it's probably one of many vehicles you know, doubt use and its popularity is hard to, hard to deny in terms of the minutes watched and all those things but you know, the format, short form video format works in multiple formats, multiple platforms was the big push on TikTok because of its popularity, or what, what was the thinking there?
Amanda Amar 19:31
So, we've had a lot of success on the platform. I think what we love about it as well as really that, like, democratic virality that the platform allows for, you know, anybody can, like, make an amazing piece of content, they don't have to have a massive following and it can blow up just because it's, you know, super engaging. We also love how it's you know, it's just a little bit more of that Lo-Fi really relevant sort of approach to content. Were like the days of that super over glossy over curated content, we're seeing that you've been shifting through other platforms as well like Instagram, right.
Amanda Amar 20:04
So that's something that really resonated to us, and as well, like Gen Z is a big target of ours. Obviously, Gen Z loves this platform as well as millennials, as well. I myself spend far too much time on it, but it was really just, it wasn't even just about TikTok, it was really just about video content. We're seeing the video content and because it is.
Michael LeBlanc 20:24
Short form, particularly short form video.
Amanda Amar 20:26
Short form like, 10 seconds is kind of the sweet spot.
Michael LeBlanc 20:30
Ten seconds, ten seconds.
Amanda Amar 20:32
Ten seconds is really the sweet spot. Yeah, nine to ten.
Michael LeBlanc 20:34
Do you think when you're, when you're starting out as a marketer, you'd have to communicate what you had to communicate in 10 seconds? Like-
Amanda Amar 20:39
No, and it's definitely been a challenge, I can tell you, especially even for our Hero campaign videos. I mean, they used to be, back in the day they could be up to like a minute and a half and now we've managed to get them down to 15 second and 30 second spots. It's like how do you communicate everything you need to communicate in such a short, a short time. So that's where this creator content kind of comes in and cushions that message. So the way that we're kind of strategically placing how they're going to receive each piece of content, whether it's, you know, starting with the Hero, and then following up with and retargeting with some of this creator content, that's really been how we've managed to like, consistently kind of ensure that they're taken through that, every level of the funnel, and that it's engaging storytelling for viewers.
Michael LeBlanc 21:22
So interesting. Now, now behind every wildly successful campaign is a few that didn't go the way that they were planned. What, what, what learnings did you bring to this campaign that you said, you know, here's three things that we thought would work that didn't and, and any, any insight on that for us?
Amanda Amar 21:39
Yeah, I think, you know, we've been testing and learning really, for a number of years now, on the platforms, and they continue to change and evolve. So, we're really, spend a lot of time and looking at like week by week even, what's performing, why. But it's also been great to have partners within the platforms themselves. So, at TikTok, their client solution team is amazing at being like, okay, this type of content right now is it, so for example, breaking the fourth wall content where you have the creator speaking directly to their audience, that is huge right now, it's, it seems to be across the board, no matter what the topic, one of the top performing pieces.
Amanda Amar 22:16
So, we knew that we had to kind of prioritize that. We also know that transitions, especially when you're trying to communicate a fashion message is a great way for us to be able to show all the different styles that we have, but also tapping into sort of just the unique way and like that's a quick way too, to in 10 seconds, you were asking how do you show, you know, kind of different styles and breadth in your collection and 10 seconds will transitions are great, a great way to do that. So, it's these learnings have come along just with us looking at what's performed well for us, but also relying on our partners to kind of give us the-
Michael LeBlanc 22:52
Best practices and-
Amanda Amar 22:54
The best practices and just kind of what's trending at the moment.
Michael LeBlanc 22:58
Well, let's, let's talk a little bit about the elephant in the room, every social media, not every social media platform, but many have their day in the negative sun. TikTok being, TikTok being no different, in other words. So TikToks had some controversy around it, and continues to, I mean, if your work for the government, you can watch TikTok. So, I don't want to dwell on that part of it, but I want to get inside your thinking around when these things happen in the platforms, do you start to think differently about how you use different platforms when you know, people aren't talking so favorably about your, you know, your chosen media?
Amanda Amar 23:33
Yeah, I mean, that's a wonderful question and obviously, when many of us kind of scratch our heads on I say, and like, listen, this isn't the first time we've seen this. First and foremost, we want to be in step with our customer engaging with them in the way that they most appreciate. It's really about having the right con-, like the right content on the right platforms. So, we know that the online world can be fickle. Changes are constant, even massive ones as it pertains to platform usage, relevant content types, algorithms above and beyond these issues that you're speaking about.
Amanda Amar 24:08
At the end of the day, what we've learned is it's imperative to keep our finger on the pulse and remain super agile, you know, you have to develop a diverse platform portfolio of where customers want to see you. So, we're not just putting all of our eggs in one basket, and this allows us to just better shift strategies and adapt to any changes in the landscape. At the time that we had launched the last Pillow Walk campaign that was, you know, there were some questions of, of a ban in the US and this is as we were like getting ready and gearing up and if we had to we were going to shift to another platform in terms of our social strategy, we still had incredible content and we were still working with creators that are truly hybrid between the platform's. It's just about, like, clicking, making sure that you're on top of the news, understanding what's going on, and really paying attention to what is the consumer saying and where do they want to be.
Michael LeBlanc 24:58
Let's, the last couple of questions. Three key lessons for the retailers listening, your whole, this whole interview has actually been a masterclass. So, it's a little bit of a cheat to kind of boil it down to three key lessons, but how do you craft a successful influencer campaign using the media, you did. What are the three key things you've just got to get, right?
Amanda Amar 25:18
Only three?
Michael LeBlanc 25:19
Yeah, I know, I know, it's a bit of a cheat, right, but you know, it could be a dozen but, but if you don't get these three, right, doesn't matter how many of the other ones you get, right, I mean, I don't know.
Amanda Amar 25:28
Well, man, narrowing down to three. Okay. Well, I'd say I mean, first and foremost, you have to determine the objective of the campaign, is it awareness, is it conversion, is it consideration. Where are you hitting the most, and it can be a bit of a fringe, right, like, it can be awareness, but you also want to drive trial, but you have to understand how you're selecting your media and that's also going to inform who you're selecting and the content strategy behind it, right. You know, obviously, you have to determine the regionality, the brand fit, brand value alignment and selecting the talent that you're going to be working with. We always say this, we don't work with jerks.
Amanda Amar 26:07
There's so many incredible creators out there that we have incredible relationships with. So, you know, and then we're continuing to forge those relationships with new and emerging talent. So that's super important. So that tiering really comes from, you know, determining one is, what's your objective, who are you working with, and then I would say the content briefs are so important. With, especially, when it's specific to like a product campaign message, you have to brief in the talent, but you also have to allow creators to do their thing.
Michael LeBlanc 26:07
Right, right.
Amanda Amar 26:42
And you're selecting them based on the content that they're, they're producing and I'd say the number one thing you want to do is look at what's been their top performing content, use that as part of their brief, that it's really true to them and their audience, and their audience is going to appreciate it that much more, because it feels that much more authentic. So, you know, for example, if somebody's most of their content is Get-Ready-With-Mes, well, that's what you're going to tap into somebody else might be a bit more humor based, but you really have to hand select who you're working with, based on what is performant for them as well.
Michael LeBlanc 27:17
I guess that's the nuance of a light touch, uninformed light touch. I don't know how to better put it right. In other words, you choose them for a reason. You don't want to, you're not there to craft what they do, you, you want them to just talk about what you're talking about in their way, right. That's what is-
Amanda Amar 27:34
Exactly.
Michael LeBlanc 27:35
Is going to most resonate with, with your audience. A quick follow up question and I guess-, I talked to this, to a lot of brands who, you know, the big, big influencers, hey, they come along with a big bill, right. So micro influencers, are you down with micro influencers, like I like at some point, it becomes hard to manage, I guess, like too many, but what, what does scale look like, what's your advice around scale?
Amanda Amar 27:58
That's an amazing question. I love this question. So I think at all tiers of the pyramid, let's say if we want to, like, chop it up into three, you have your like, celebrity level talent, you've got your kind of mid-tier, and then you've got your, your more micro. At every tier, there's a benefit in working with talent, you know, and again, this comes down to your objective, if it's mostly awareness, you're gonna go a little heavier tier, and maybe you'll have less talent to work with. You know, and it really depends on your budgets as well. If you don't have budgets for those top tier influencers, that's okay, you can work with somebody that's kind of more in that mid-macro or lower tier, we're going to generate incredible content, and then you're just boosting it so that you're still getting that reach in that application.
Michael LeBlanc 28:43
But let's say you've got $1 and your budget and your choices, spend that entire dollar, with one big, powerful influencer that, you know, fits with your brand versus a lot of influencers, all of which you choose, because they're good. Would you, would, what choice, well it's a bit of an artificial choice, but, but what would be your thinking on that?
Amanda Amar 29:02
No, that's a good question. I would say more than anything. For us. It's about who's performed for us in the past and we've seen that performance and viral-ity, especially on platforms like TikTok, like we were saying that democratic virality it's like sometimes we can work with somebody who's only got a few thousand followers, but they produce something that just resonated so well with the customer base. So it's really I would say more about past performance, if you only have that $1 Typically what we'll try to do is always, you know, bring in some talent that we've worked with in past and then infuse some new blood and try to see what that mixes and kind of keep data on, you know, who performed in what way, you know, some are going to drive more of a conversion messaging, some of them drive more of just a great storytelling and brand resonance.
Amanda Amar 29:51
So, it really depends on that objective, and I know that's a bit of a vague answer. You wanted something very specific. If I had to say I'd probably say like that mid-level is going-, you're gonna kind of strike a bit of the balance of the two, but obviously, it's great to have some of those heavy hitters that are just like, they have such a clout and such an impact with their audience where they have a bit of a cult following where their, their followers are gonna follow them wherever they go, right. So, there's something really incredible about that.
Michael LeBlanc 30:20
I mean, it's also a bit of an artificial construct, so it's fair for you to kind of pick a, pick the middle. Alright, so if people want to get in touch with you, are LinkedIn person if they want to follow and, and learn more about your campaigns, what's the, what's the best way to get in touch?
Amanda Amar 30:34
Yeah, I am definitely on LinkedIn, but for Aldo, a little shameless plug. Yeah, easiest way to follow along.
Michael LeBlanc 30:40
Yeah, drop some links, drop some links. Yeah.
Amanda Amar 30:44
Aldo shoes on all social media platforms. Give us a follow, come see what we're doing. We've got some really cool stuff coming up this summer and this fall as well. So, stay tuned. We've got some exciting stuff coming.
Michael LeBlanc 30:57
Well, Amanda, thanks so much for joining me on The Voice of Retail podcasts been a real treat to hear your firsthand experience and I think a lot of retail marketers appreciate your, your insights and wisdom and willing to share with us on the pod and I wish you continued success and I look forward to future campaigns and I'll put all the links in the show notes so folks can follow along and, and watch the best practices unfold from, from you and the team. So once again, thanks for being on the pod.
Amanda Amar 31:26
Thank you so much. This was a, this was a blast. Thank you.
Michael LeBlanc 31:30
Thanks for tuning into this episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven't already, be sure and follow on your favorite podcast platform so new episodes will lend automatically each week and be sure to check out my other retail industry media properties Remarkable Retail podcast with Steve Dennis, and the Global E-commerce Leaders podcast. Last but not least, if you're into barbecue, check out my YouTube BBQ show, Last Request Barbecue, with new episodes each and every week.
I'm your host Michael LeBlanc, consumer growth consultant, president of ME LeBlanc & Company Inc, Maven Media and keynote speaker. If you're looking for more content or want to chat, follow me on LinkedIn or visit my website meleblanc.co.
Safe travels everyone.
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