Love is in the Air … Our 8 Favorite Millennial and Couple Influencers for Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day used to be a simple holiday. If you were in a relationship, you’d pick up some flowers or maybe some chocolate and go out for an nice dinner. But we know by now that millennials aren’t here to follow tradition; instead they follow influencers. Influencers have shown us that the younger generations would rather take a trip than get a diamond necklace. Or make some avocado toast rather than get a box of Russell Stovers. And leave it to millennials to take a Parks and Rec episode about “Galentine’s Day” and turn it into a national holiday of their own. Influencers have the power to show their audience all the ways you can spend this holiday. It’s not just for jewelry companies and fancy local restaurants. And, it’s definitely for more than just traditional couples. Valentine’s Day is for everyone, and no matter what you’re selling, there is an influencer out there to celebrate your brand this February 14th.

Here are some of our favorite accounts to check out for Valentine’s Day…

New Darlings

Robert and Christina are the adorable couple behind the New Darlings blog. This husband and wife duo are based in Phoenix and it’s not hard to see why they are well on their way to half a million followers on Instagram. Besides showing off their beautiful home and hip style, they also tackle some serious topics on their blog about growing up, their relationship, and soon becoming parents to their first little one!

VancityWild

Perhaps no Instagram account gives you more #FamilyGoals than Vancity Wild. Brie and Reuben prove there is no excuse not to live an adventurous life, even after becoming parents! This Vancouver based family of 3 explore all over the west coast in their van and document all the beautiful places along the way, giving us some serious travel envy!

Matthew Schueller

Matthew is a travel photographer exploring the world with his husband, Michael Lindsay, (who also has an popular and engaging Instagram account). Whether they are feeding elephants in Thailand or backpacking in Copenhagen, Matthew and Michael give you some serious travel goals AND couple goals. Besides their exciting travel adventures, we also got to see them get married in a beautiful ceremony this past year!

Hermela

A life and style influencer, Hermela has made a name for herself in the beauty community on Instagram and YouTube where she talks about everything from hair, travel, fitness, and fashion. But, she is also inspiring others through her relationship with her husband. These newlyweds get real about marrying young, their previous long distance relationship, and being each other’s best friends.

Morgan Yates

Of course, we couldn’t forget to give you some Galentine’s Day inspiration on the list. We love to see an account focused on positive female friendships and women supporting other women! Morgan’s account will have you wanting to call up your girlfriends for a happy hour or a mini weekend getaway! On top of that, she is also a successful beauty and style influencer and will give you all the Valentine’s Day fashion inspo you need!

Karli Buckley

Karli is a lifestyle influencer based in Northern California. Her page focuses on health, fitness, travel, and, most importantly, her relationship with her wife, Emily. Together, on their blog, Karli and Emily talk about their favorite places to go, staying healthy, and relationship advice. Most importantly, these two use their platform to inspire others and work towards equality in the LGBTQ community.


Massy Arias

There isn’t anything to NOT be inspired by on Massy’s page. She is a wife, mother, boss, and fitness and health expert, and she succeeds at it all! Her positive messages about physical and mental health as well as her beautiful family are just a few reasons she has grown to have 2.5 million Instagram followers. And whether they are working out at the gym, or going out at night, she and her husband Stefan are our ultimate #CoupleGoals.

Mariefeandjakesnow

One of the most popular #TravelCouples on Instagram, Marie and Jake capture some of the most stunning pictures in the most amazing places around the world.  It’s not hard to get lost scrolling through their adventures, mostly due to their incredible photography and signature editing style. The breathtaking views sure do help too!

Time to Up Your Game

Valentine’s Day has officially moved on to mean more than flowers and chocolates. Whether it’s fitness, travel to remote locations, or including all kinds of relationships, brands need to up their game to win a few seconds of screen time with Millennials. Unsure how to message to Millennials? Choose the right influencers and let them do it for you.

About MATTR

MATTR is the only full-service influencer marketing provider with detailed audience insights from PersonaMesh™. We go beyond demographics into psychographics such as values and interests so that your influencer campaigns align with your campaign targets.




How to Have a Successful Influencer Campaign With a Niche Target

Want to know one of my favorite things about influencer marketing? I love the way it levels the playing field for niche brands who still want to make a big impact. With the introduction of social media, marketers everywhere have benefitted from the fact they’re now able to have a stronger connection with their target markets. They could see what locations they were in, how they were interacting with each other, and who was influencing them. But perhaps no marketers benefit from this more than those with very niche targets. Whether those targets were data scientists in the midwest or cannabis influencers in northern California, finally niche brands got a glance into the hidden spaces their audiences existed in and how they could finally reach them.

More importantly, now that influencer marketing has taken over the game, brands with niche targets are rejoicing at the fact that they know how and where to reach their audiences, right there in their own space. Influencer marketing seems to be the perfect solution for these brands to reach this specific group of people in a successful and authentic way. But, before you can run a successful influencer campaign, you need influencers. Aftertall, finding people in your niche is one thing, finding INFLUENCERS in that niche is a whole other thing.

Having a successful influencer campaign with a niche target is possible, but here are some things to keep in mind before running one…

It is Going to Take Time

The open range of social media is a great place to find and target to your niche audience. Influencers at this point can seem like there’s a dime a dozen – there’s tons of fashionistas, and mommy and travel influencers on social media. But what about the influencers you need? Where are those blogging about horoscopes or science professors blogging about curriculums? If you’re searching for a needle in a haystack … it’s going to take time. Although Instagram is a huge space, you aren’t always going to find an abundance of every influencer niche in any specific area of the country, especially not ones with good credibility and acceptable engagement. And keep in mind, the more niche you are, just like the more hyperlocal you are, the more time you need to give yourself to find the right people. So don’t be surprised if your search takes more than a few days or even more than a few weeks to find the perfect influencers for your niche.

The more specific you get, the harder it will be

Searching for the right influencer can be tedious and frustrating, and it is possible that the perfect person you have in mind isn’t out there. Consider opening up your search to some secondary choices. Look to new platforms like Twitter or Linkedin for influencers. Maybe if you are searching in small town, look to influencers in a big city nearby, chances are many of their followers live in that town closeby. Don’t go looking for some big celeb in your space, look to micro, or maybe even nano influencers. Those with 500-5k followers that can authentically and passionately represent your brand. Chances are their engagement is higher than most celebrities anyway. The more barriers you put on your search, the more impossible it will appear to become.

It is Going to Cost You

To find the right people it will cost you. The time and energy it takes to find the right people for a niche campaign can be exhausting. Once you find someone with a voice in your space, remember, often times they are not professional influencers, especially if they are micro or nano. Response times could be slow and campaign drop out rates can be high. Are you sure they will even be interested? Have you made sure they’re credible and that they haven’t previously bought followers or likes? Searching and vetting influencers for niche campaigns is arguably the most difficult part and to get it done right and see results, you have to be willing to make an investment. If you’re short on time or team members, this may be a point where it will really pay off to work with an influencer marketing vendor who can help ease these search headaches.

It Will Be Worth it

The good thing is when you do find the right influencer, you are more than likely going to truly connect with your target. We’ve talked about how you sometimes see a disconnect with influencers and their audiences, however, the more niche, mico, and hyperlocal you get, the more that disconnect fades away. If you are a micro Disney influencer then that is most likely the interest of your followers. And if you are a food influencer that reviews restaurants in a small city in New Jersey, then that is where most of your following will be too. The nicheness of your target might be a pain in the beginning, but once your campaign is running you are setting yourself up to find some genuine real engagement. And isn’t that what influencer marketing is all about?

Conclusion

So don’t give up, no matter how niche, there are ways to make a successful influencer campaign. You can always look to companies like Mattr, who are here to make it easier for you by doing that heavy lifting. As long as you prepare for the cost and give yourself enough time, creating a successful influencer campaign with a niche target is possible and can be very worth your while.

5 Ways to Make Influencers Work for You in 2019

Influencer Marketing has officially landed as the fastest growing segment of consumer marketing. Instagram alone accounts for billions of influencer dollars per year. So it’s time to take it seriously (seriously)! Our clients always ask for two things: 1) How do I get more engagement for less budget? And, 2) How can we expand our market?

Here are five resolutions we feel you should stick to this year to ensure you get the most out of your influencer campaigns:

  1. Determine the solution that’s best for your brand. Your influencer budgets should be growing – how can you best optimize your spend? Are you ready for DIY or do you still benefit from a white glove experience?

Related: Which Type of Influencer Solution is Right For You?

  1. Measure Your Campaigns by engagements instead of impressions/followers. Influencers are not billboards or display ads and you should expect them to deliver more than potential eyeballs on content about your brand – I’m talking likes, shares, clicks, etc . You need to get the data on who’s actually providing you value and leverage that person or persona of influencer.

Related: The End of the Great Impression

  1. Rely on Audience Data. This could be your number one tip for getting more, and better, engagement. You choose audience for digital and social ads – why not influencer? Most influencer vendors provide detailed audience data including how valid the audience is and whether or not they’ve been “bought.” Take it a step further and start asking that the influencer’s audience is aligned to your brand’s target market’s demographics and psychographics.

Related: The Disconnect Between Influencers and Their Audiences

 

  1. Focus a campaign on millennials. Millennials are now spending more money on consumer goods than their parents. And they are the most influenceable consumer group with cash to spend. Think your product is not a good fit for a millennial? The potential ROI might make you want to reconsider.

Related: Best Millennial Influencers for Back-to-College Campaigns

 

 

  1. Work with Dads. As with millennials, you’d be surprised at the purchasing power of dads nowadays. At Mattr, our clients are leveraging dads for products that have always been aimed at women. Cooking, fashion, kids, you name it. Get with the now and add a dad to your next campaign!

Related: Best Dads to Follow on Instagram

 

 

 

 

Following these tips will drive engagement up as well as introduce new consumers to your brand. As much as anything, however, you’ll need to get more with less budget in the coming years so think seriously about DIY if you’re running more than a few campaigns per month.