How Ridge Scaled to 9-Figures with Influencers
Bootstrapped. Profitable. Scaling fast as hell. Selling men’s accessories…
Today’s playbook: How Ridge scaled to 9-figures in revenue leveraging influencers.
Quick Perspective
Ridge has invested in influencer marketing since 2016. They’ve sponsored and worked with more than 5000 individual influencers and invest 10-20% of revenue into influencers.
Basically, they know influencer marketing.
So, why spend on influencers when you can dump bread into Meta-Monster?
Sean Frank, CEO of Ridge, put it simply:
“People hate Facebook and YouTube ads. But they like the creators they follow”.
So, Who Should You Sponsor?
Why sponsor a new creator?
Ridge taps into the sentiment that the creator’s followers are genuinely invested in seeing their favorite creators secure their first sponsorship deals.
As a result, they willingly support the creator and, in turn, support the Ridge brand.
How Much to Pay?
Sean’s framework is to use what you are spending on other platforms as a reference.
Ridge’s Influencer Content Playbook
Ridge’s influencer content strategy depends on the goal which is two things:
- To drive awareness
- To convert
To drive awareness Ridge leverages integrated sponsored video
This is a 15-second to 1-minute ad in a video where the creator talks about whatever topic, the brand just pays for a spot in the video to get in front of the audience.
To drive conversions Ridge leverages a dedicated sponsored video
This is a stand-alone review or unboxing video discussing the brand and product in detail.
How to Work With Influencers
Ridge’s creative guidelines for creators are simple:
Ridge starts off by doing 3-5 five video deals. If the campaign has proven to be successful, they extend to a 10-15 video deal.
Leveraging Custom Funnels
Ridge creates a dedicated landing page and coupon code for each creator and features the creator’s recommended products on their page.
This makes the view to shopping experience seamless. And gives Ridge a clear view of the performance of its influencer program.
How to Implement:
If you are only getting started with influencer marketing, this is your playbook,
- To get started, Sean recommends reaching out to creators who really like the brand. It doesn’t scale. But as you are still learning, “dance with the people who want to dance with you first”.
- Price is based on what you pay via other marketing mediums. Do a CPM deal, not an affiliate deal.
- Your content strategy depends on your goal. If you want to drive awareness, do an integrated sponsored video; if you want to drive conversion, do a dedicated sponsored video.
- Provide guidelines to creators on what you want to see in the content, but give them creative leeway as they know their audience best.
- Start by doing a 2-3 video deal with creators, and extend to more if they’ve proven themselves.
- Create a dedicated landing page and coupon code for creators. This way you can track performance while also providing a better experience to customers.
