Marion Balinoff

One of the BEST pieces of advice when it comes to choosing influencers for your campaign: 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket.' 🪺 Versatility in your mix is essential. Sizes, verticals, sub-verticals.It mitigates risks in the present, and opens up opportunities for the future.When you've got a variety of influencers of different sizes and different verticals or sub-verticals, you can- Drive impact at scale in vetted verticals- Simultaneously test and discover new areas for scalability - Reach and engage with diverse subsets of your target audience- Risk-proof collaborations with bigger creators with a volume of smaller creators with engaged audiencesNaturally 'versatile' doesn't mean you just spread your spend wide...Deeper investments in 'core' verticals are still important, remember data is only reliable when you have a big enough dataset to analyse.I typically put 80% of my budgets into vetted […]

Influencer Marketing spend is set to scale to $13.7B by 2027. But here's what 54.7% of marketers really want in return.➡️ Proven higher ROI compared with other channels.Every year, there's a sweeping statistic suggesting influencer marketing is the future.And yet, every year, there's a *but*.And that is almost always invariably tied to ROI and measurable impact.Yet, for being so adamant on measurable impact, so many teams seem reluctant to buy into best practice.Here's the thing, if you want measurable impact and positive ROI, you need to:- Invest enough to actually move the needle- Factor in the organic traffic & wider funnel impact- Test & iterate enough to figure out your optimal set upIf your processes and fundamental approach to measuring success don't account for the nuanced behavioural impact of influencer marketing, you won't see that 'comparable' ROI, even with the […]

❓ "Can we pay influencers based on the number of installs or sales they generate?" That IS the dream scenario for marketers, isn't it? But there's a difference between affiliates and influencers. Sure, in a marketer's ideal world, influencers would only get paid for the sales or installs they generate. But that wouldn't be the fairest agreement. Creating engaging, on-brand sponsored segments isn't easy. There's often a long-tail and wider funnel impact in influencer marketing. And critically, most conversions from influencer campaigns occur organically. And most creators know that too. Which is why even if you tried, you'd rarely get many influencers agreeing to pure performance-based payment models. But... what if a video you’ve paid a flat fee for underperforms? I get it. It's a valid concern. Especially when you're working towards strict performance goals. 3 ways to mitigate risks […]

📢 Say it with me: Big influencer budgets ≠ Big impact... Here's how you can still make tight influencer marketing budgets work for you: 1️⃣ First, 'tight' shouldn't mean insufficient. You still need to spend enough to see a visible uplift in your organic traffic. 2️⃣ Just testing the waters to scope out the value of the channel?Consider a smaller market with minimal UA spend so you can see an uplift with minimal investment. 3️⃣ Allow time to plan and execute so you can activate micro-influencers at scale. Smaller creators = engaged reach + lower risk. Tough to execute at scale, but great when you're starting out.4️⃣ Try securing CPM-based or hybrid deals with influencersMay be a tough bargain, especially with smaller creators, but it's always worth a shot. It helps keep CPMs in check.A sound strategy is what determines […]

A mistake = failure. And failure = A sign to give up. If this is the mentality within your team, good luck with ever achieving meaningful growth in your craft. In my career, I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside patient managers and colleagues who saw mistakes and missteps as opportunities to learn and grow. Some of my most important learnings in influencer marketing have come in retrospect, after seeing firsthand what not to do.Case in point, I only realised the importance of avoiding seasonal custom influencer assets after a six-figure collaboration nearly fell through due to the influencer wanting to rework and delay the video.Another early lesson? Always cap CPM-based deals.I once negotiated a deal based on $20 CPM without a maximum cap, assuming the video would perform in line with the creator’s usual range (with a maximum of […]

I paid $25,000 for an influencer collaboration... but they brought in only $96.89.... and that was 11 months ago. Did that mean we stopped working with Influencers altogether? Absolutely not. The results of singular collaborations are NEVER an accurate sign of the potential of influencer marketing as a whole. In fact, you will have campaigns where 70% of your influencer collaborations may be unprofitable.But there’s 2 key things to remember with that Once you’ve got your ideal set up, even if only 30% of the collaborations are profitable, the returns will usually be enough to meet your overall goals.The unsuccessful collaborations are as important as the successful ones to collect data and flash out your strategic understanding.It is SO important to treat every influencer collaboration and campaign as a learning and data collection opportunity. With each campaign, you need to […]

📣 You don’t need a list of ‘final talent’ to vet an Influencer Marketing agency. Something I’ve seen many brands do: ask for a final list of influencers to see if the agency (or even influencer marketing itself) is worth considering. Quite frankly, that’s a waste of time. For the brand, for the marketing agency, AND for talent managers. A list of ‘final talent’ isn’t something you should be asking for if you’re in an exploratory or discovery phase. Which influencers could be a good fit for your campaign depend on SO many factors- Your Objectives- Your Target Audience- Your Budget - Your Timelines Unless you have these confirmed, it’s impossible to have a FINAL list. You can ask for a sample, or examples of influencers who have worked for close competitors.But take these with a pinch of salt too. […]

When did being in favour of make-goods become a controversial Influencer Marketing take? Look, it’s not about assigning blame for how a collaboration performed. It’s about understanding the stakes. Agreed, it’s slightly different depending on the post type, we know sponsored content on Instagram and TikTok usually tends to underperform compared to regular content. But for an integration on YouTube? I think it’s fair game. To put things into perspective: I’ve paid for a 30-60 second spot in your video. If your video itself draws in 50% lower views compared to your regular content, there needs to be some accountability.Agreed, the brand has its own part to play in making sure the integration itself performs well- Clear but flexible briefs - Feedback communicated on drafts itself And if the wider video performs well, but a sponsored integration itself underperforms, there’s some introspection to be done. But […]

5 brutal truths every influencer marketing agency, consultant, & freelancer needs to hear... 1. Your expertise doesn’t sell itselfHow much you know doesn't matter if you don’t position yourself well, so find your niche, communicate & deliver on a clear USP.2. Many still don’t understand influencer marketingExpect scepticism and questions on Performance vs. branding, ROI, instant measurable impact, scalability.Ensure you're prepared to educate, not just execute campaigns.3. Hard work isn’t enoughEven great campaigns won’t get you rehired unless they’re tied to measurable performance.4. Clients might ignore your advice (and hold you accountable later)You can lead your clients to the best strategy, but you can’t make them follow it.Be prepared to deal with situations diplomatically.5. Reputation is everythingInvest in growing your network and reputation.Attend conferences, actively network, and add value to industry conversations.These will open more doors than any cold outreach ever will.

The 3-step framework I’ve used to scale 100+ Influencer Campaigns profitably 🧩 Phase 1: Gather Knowledge 🛠️ Phase 2: Optimise 🚀 Phase 3: ScaleIt’s a simple yet highly effective approach to making calculated decisions on targeting, creatives, incentives, etc. Start by working with nano and micro influencers, then when you have enough confidence, scale to mid-sized, and eventually, mega-influencers.Each Phase spans a few months (and campaigns), so naturally, each can be broken down into more detailed steps (which I’ve covered in previous posts)But this is a broad overview of the framework I use - and a tried and tested approach to scaling Influencer Campaigns profitably!

🔻 Ever heard of the Influencer Management funnel? ➡ Only about 60% of the influencers you reach out to will respond to your outreach. ➡ Of those, only 42% will be interested. ➡ Of the ones that are, only 63% will be affordable or available. ➡ And ultimately, only 63% of those will go live. This means that only about 10% of all the influencers you initially consider will end up going live. This is usually how the influencer booking process goes. And it's one of the main reasons why I’m always advocating for teams to put aside their preferences and just trust the data. You cannot afford to be picky right from the outset. Availability, affordability, responsiveness - these factors will whittle down your options well before subjective preferences need to come into play.So just ensure the data aligns […]