Copy this "Barbell Strategy" for influencer marketing most successful brands are using

When you're starting an influencer program, it's common to ask yourself if you should go with big influencers, mid-sized ones, or smaller niche ones.

Let me tell you something, if you pick just one of these... you'll likely not see the best performance (or fail!).

What if I told you there's a little-known strategy in influencer marketing that flips the odds in your favor? 🤔

"Heads, you win. Tails, you don't lose!"

I'm calling this the Barbell strategy of influencer marketing. (inspired by Taleb)

The Influencer marketing Barbell seeks to engage with influencers at the extreme ends of the price and audience-size spectrum. It involves partnering with only two kinds of influencers:

Nano-influencers: Smaller creators with an audience smaller than 20k people. They might bring in fewer but consistent visitors & customers to your store in exchange for a free product, commissions, or a small fee.

Whale-influencers: Bigger creators, usually with an audience of 1M or more. They might help your product go viral and give an instant boost of awareness.

The Barbell strategy is called that because the effort and investment are entirely concentrated on two sides, just like a barbell. The idea is to limit risk and make space for an unlimited upside. It avoids micro-influencers who involve average risk and also average returns. This is key, don't mess around in the middle -- go extreme!

Start with a 90-10 strategy. Put 90% of your time and money into nano-influencers and 10% into whales.

Eventually make this 80-20.

Having partnerships with multiple smaller creators will also serve as a credibility check for whales to work with you. Eg: A creator with 1M subscribers will consider your brand more legit if you already have 40 nanoinfluencers in the same niche working with you.

TL;DR:
Don't partner with mid-sized creators to get average results. Build a community of small creators and huge whale influencers to get the best returns.