Influencer Orchestration Network™

Using Influencer Marketing for a Successful Product Launch

The product launch of Star Wars: Battlefront included influencer marketing with social media stars alongside traditional celebrity endorsements.

By @erburgess

Electronic Arts’ splashy debut of the much-anticipated Star Wars: Battlefront included elements of an influencer marketing campaign alongside traditional media buys. The game’s first week of sales is ongoing in the U.S. but it’s topping charts around the world and the social media campaign to raise awareness about the new game included a combination of celebrity endorsements designed to hit the largest audience possible and social media influencers used to target more specific demographics.

While EA partnering with a mainstream actress like Anna Kendrick (who also appeared in a TV commercial for the game) or John Boyega (who’s actually in the movie) added to general word-of-mouth, EA also made sure it reached its target audience through social media influencers that have built credibility and trust with their audience.

While the Pitch Perfect star is surely loved by fans, Kendrick isn’t likely to earn much trust from gamers if she were to post a review of the game. Instead, EA also worked with known gaming experts like @MatPatGT and @GameOverGreggy who have credibility with gamers based on previous reviews, playthrough videos and knowledge of the industry. As a result, the engagement with MatPat’s audience has different but equal value to EA’s effort to promote the game to a cross-section of potential buyers.

Influencers Make Marketing More Personal

We know that 70 percent of people would rather learn about a product through content than traditional advertising but whether audiences connect with that content is still an issue. Influencers naturally make more personal content because their normal process is to create content that appeals to the audiences that have found them through shared connections. As a result, influencers are more inclined to create content that will have a personal feel that can help their fans and followers better connect with a product.

That doesn’t mean every influencer is right for every product and brand. If brands fail to target and effectively communicate with potential influencers, it can lead to a negative reaction, especially for one-off promotions. These kind of deals can lead to influencers feeling that their authenticity and relationship with their audience is being threatened. One only needs to think back to last month’s freakout by Essena O’Neill to recall that influencer marketing only works when brands find social media creators that truly share an affinity for their products.

Although no influencer marketing campaign can guarantee positive results, finding the ideal Brand Soulmate for a product launch can help significantly increase the chance of targeted audiences getting positive messages from social media creators who truly love your product.