At Kirkpatrick Creative we pride ourselves in building successful advertising methods based on verifiable data. The biggest complaint we hear from new clients is, “I know only half of my advertising works, I just don’t which half.” That’s why we’ve spent the last few years working hard and running the numbers so that we use ALL of our clients’ budgets on methods and tools that will get them strong results.
One of the innovations we’ve worked with is the notion of “influencer marketing.” In our new book, Influencer Marketing for Agricultural Equipment Dealers we explain this new idea:
“With social media exploding over the last decade, a new type of celebrity has been created. YouTube stars, Instagram personalities, and others have risen to the top, offering their own unique commentary on specific topics – including agricultural practices and products.
These new voices have become so influential, that their approval or rejection of a new product can have a massive effect on that product’s sales. Forward-thinking companies in every industry are working to harness the influence of these voices and spin that influence into positive opinions about their products.”
Therefore, when RhinoAg, an agricultural equipment manufacturer from Illinois, approached us about helping them become more competitive with other shortline equipment manufacturers, we went to work developing an influencer strategy to do just that.
The Kirkpatrick Creative team researched serious agricultural influencers from different backgrounds across YouTube. We negotiated a deal with these select YouTubers to trade RhinoAg products they were interested in and could put to use on their farms, in exchange for demonstration and review videos to be promoted to their subscribers. This is an incredibly simplified explanation of how our program works, but what isn’t complicated is that IT WORKS!
So now you may be thinking:
- “Would anyone really base serious buying decisions off a YouTube video?”
- “Is there any way to prove such a subtle marketing method even works?”
Would anyone really base serious buying decisions off a YouTube Video?
The short answer: OF COURSE!
The long answer is that not all YouTube personalities are created equal. While social media platforms are flush with amateurs and hobbyists creating marginal content – there are also professionals that have been sharpening their messaging and brand for more than a decade (YouTube went live in February of 2005!)
Kirkpatrick Creative worked hard to find and court only the MOST INFLUENTIAL creators in the agricultural market. Our analysts considered statistics like posting frequency; subscriber counts and video views as well as farm size and crop type to ensure our client reached the widest market possible. RhinoAg products have been featured on popular channels like How Farms Work and Wranglerstar among others. Long story short – when our influencers talk, people listen.
Is there any way to prove such a subtle marketing method even works?
We believe there is.
Again by watching the statistics like video views and equipment sales, RhinoAg has seen a serious uptick in interest in their products over the last several months. Much like monitoring the effectiveness of a radio or television ad campaign, it’s all about keeping track of the numbers.
But you really can lose yourself in a sea of spreadsheets. That is why the teams at RhinoAg and Kirkpatrick Creative love to see videos like this in our inbox. The following footage was shot at a RhinoAg dealer in Oklahoma. This is all the proof we need that we’re doing good work for a great company to help hardworking people get more done:
For more information about Kirkpatrick Creative’s influencer marketing methods visit us at ag.kirkpatrickcreative.com or call 866-991-1347 today!