Influence Peddling: Inside the Platform Connecting CPG Brands With Micro Influencers

As digital tools help to democratize ecommerce for brands both large and small, why can’t influencer marketing be part of that conversation, too?

That’s the question being posed by minisocial, one of the tech platforms seeking to seamlessly pair brands with like-minded micro influencers – creators with under 100,000 followers – to produce on-demand User-Generated Content (UGC) that quickly increases brands’ return on investment.

With a staggering 30,000 new CPG products launched annually, it can be difficult for emerging brands to attract the attention of their target audience. Partnering with influencers can offer businesses the ability to stand out from the crowd.

However, there are many factors to consider when forging these partnerships – including who the brand’s target demographic is, how to maintain consistency of brand voice and the authenticity of the created content.

Whereas brands choosing to forge these relationships on their own may find themselves having to micromanage every detail, minisocial uses a comprehensive project brief submitted by clients to hand-pick micro influencer creators from a database and “manage all the nitty gritty” from creator communication to asset delivery.

What is Minisocial?

Founded in 2018 by Kirsten Baumberger and her husband Austin Rogers – both of whom have backgrounds in marketing – minisocial’s platform uses a two-pronged approach that generates the same reach as traditional influencer activation while creating a library full of licensed photo or video assets.

In 2020, the company brought in $115,000 in a pre-seed raise led by Hustle Fund but since then, Baumberger says there has been no need for additional investment.

To date, she estimates minisocial has worked with 1,000 different CPG brands spanning the food and beverage, health and wellness and lifestyle industries. The platform currently works with roughly 100 brands per month.

Notable clients in the food and beverage space include Olipop prebiotic soda, Magic Spoon high-protein cereal, Once Upon a Farm cold-pressed baby food and Sunwink bubbly tonic, among others.

Olipop partnered with minisocial to showcase its unique flavors with “first sip” videos of people trying the soda for the first time. By activating a cohort of 25 creators with a cumulative following of 148,000 followers, minisocial helped the brand generate 65+ fully licensed UGC assets and posts with an earned media value of $4,600.

Elsewhere, Once Upon a Farm went to minisocial seeking content with authentic consumers sharing where the products are available. The campaign, which included 50 micro influencers, produced over 45 assets with an EMV of over $6,900.

“For us, our growth has been pretty linear and organic. We get a lot of referrals and we do a lot of advertising in newsletters,” said Baumberger. “That tends to work really well for us and attracts brands.”

How Does it Work?

Brands looking to work with minisocial first enter a “brief builder” – located on the company’s website – to describe their brand, explain what kind of content they are seeking and provide reference materials.

Then, minisocial scouts the best-fitting talent from its database of over 10,000 micro influencer creators across the appropriate social media channels. Creators are sent samples of the respective brand’s products before deciding whether the project is a good fit for them.

According to Baumberger, the company works with micro influencers rather than mainstream influencers with massive followings for two reasons: it’s more cost-effective for startups and emerging brands and micro influencers’ audiences are often more engaged with the content.

“[Micro influencers’] content feels more authentic. It feels like less of an ad when you’re scrolling through your feed,” she said.

To reach as many brands as possible, minisocial’s campaigns start at $2,000 for 25 creators with a cumulative following of 100,000 to 250,000. The assets of each project are covered by the company’s “mini license,” which allows brands to use the content across social, web and print without expiring usage rights.

The social media platform chosen for the campaigns is dependent on each brand’s unique requirements. However, going into the new year, Baumberger said she has observed a rise in demand for TikTok content, as traffic can easily be driven to the social media outlet’s ecommerce feature, TikTok Shop.

According to Influencer Marketing Hub’s 2023 State of the Industry report, Instagram yields the highest ROI for influencer marketing, while TikTok generates the highest levels of engagement between influencers and audience members. Additionally, the report found that influencer marketing has grown into a $21.1 billion industry, a 29% year-over-year increase.

Other companies in the influencer brokerage space include Grin, Brandwatch’s Influencer Marketing Software, Upfluence and LTK. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, Grin – which has partnered with well-known ecommerce brands like The Hershey Co, Liquid I.V., G Fuel and Nutpods – ranked as the top creator management platform.

“It’s really about leaning into [whichever platform] you feel is working,” said Baumberger. “If you feel a platform is working really well for you, you should just pour gasoline on the fire. It’s a lot easier to double down on something than to spread yourself too thin.”