Working with many top brands around the world, we’re fortunate to help and gain insight on effective and unique influencer marketing strategies proven to drive brand engagement, awareness and revenue.
So, I am setting out to learn from others creating a buzz on social. I will be interviewing top marketing gurus who understand the power of influencer marketing and how to leverage it to see drastic impacts on engagement and revenue. So lets get started.
Today, I interviewed Colby Bair, NordicTrack Community Manager at Icon Health and Fitness, to get his take on successful influencer strategies across social media platforms such as YouTube.
25 years ago, a craze swept through American households by vigorous television marketing campaigns. The NordicTrack was introduced. I’m sure you can remember it. The visual storytelling by 2 wooden skis on a track in a smooth gliding motion — giving you a feeling similar to cross-country skiing, only in the comfort of your living room. Since then, NordicTrack has successfully expanded into other home fitness equipment, such as their touted line of treadmills, but still maintains their same flair.
As a brand that prepares all levels of athletes to “get ready for adventure,” NordicTrack wants to appeal to many types of consumers.
Historically, NordicTrack’s main influencer and face of the brand were celebrity trainers, such as Jillian Michaels. For the most part they still use celebrity influencers, but they are evaluating a new strategy to empower everyday people as brand ambassadors to match specific personas. This could even mean a persona that is not your typical fitness enthusiast to appeal to new markets.
During our insightful conversation, Colby shared the importance of being adamant at pioneering new approaches and channels to look for beneficial partnerships, instead of doing the same thing over and over. Always keep innovating.
So move over television, there’s another successful marketing channel in town for NordicTrack — the power of YouTube. Consumers engage heavily on YouTube and NordicTrack knows that first hand. In fact, 82% of teen internet users in the U.S. use YouTube, and 85% of online adults consider themselves regular YouTube visitors.
I am going to share a recent YouTube influencer marketing strategy that NordicTrack used to take their content viral. And it was very successful. And keep in mind that with viral marketing, it is crucial to not just monitor views. Smart marketers also monitor long term impact.
First, NordicTrack set up over 40 treadmills. They then invited professional dancers, local dancers, and 12 YouTube influencers including: Ellie and Jared, Logan Butler, Casey Lavere, Sexy Sax Man, Samika, URBANOGcom, The Lavigne Life, Jordan Burt, Spankie Valentine, The Nive Nulls, Aubrey Kaye, and Mora Sky to create a fitness inspired, music video, viral sensation.
This resulted in the World’s Largest Treadmill Dance Ever followed by over 3.7 million views and still counting! The goal of the brand was to show consumers that fitness can be fun and entertaining. And their influencers delivered! Colby attributes the success of the video to the word of mouth marketing generated by numerous vloggers (that’s video bloggers to us newbies).
Soon after the World’s Largest Treadmill Dance was published, a trend caught on that was far greater than just a fun video on YouTube. People began posting their own videos of choreographed treadmill dance acts on YouTube, Facebook, Vine, and Instagram — sparking more innovative ideas to utilize treadmills while still having fun.
One video created by Carson Dean sparked so much buzz, Ellen Degeneres featured him on her talk show.
This type of influence is not always quantifiable in revenue, however it’s worth it’s weight in gold for brand engagement and loyalty. As a result, NordicTrack always keeps their eyes and ears open for partnerships they can leverage across social to speak to target audiences in an authentic way.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: Influencer Marketing Success on YouTube, a Fireside Chat with NordicTrack
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