
Ask HN: Does social media influencer marketing work? - debt
Has anyone on here used social media influencers to hawk an app to their users? What was your level of success?
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JenMalmberg
I haven't used social media influencers to promote an app specifically, but I
know and have worked with different influencers in the past. You're greatest
ROI will most likely come from influencers that reach the specific demographic
you are targeting, or one that is very similar.

If you want to go this route, make sure to work with people who can show you
clear metrics of their influence - I think it goes without saying, but many
people with a massive amount of followers have purchased a lot of them to look
more influential than than they are. A huge following with very low engagement
is worthless. Anyone worth working with should be keeping track of metrics
already.

I would also recommend working with influencers who are personally excited
about your product. I think it comes through (unless they are crazy-good at
copywriting) when influencers promote stuff just because they are being paid
vs when they genuinely love the product.

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kerningcultures
We haven't tried it, but I know it's really successful in the Middle East. For
instance in Dubai it's really effective, especially to reach younger Emiratis.
There's really no other way to reach that target demographic without going
through the influencers they're paying attention to. I haven't seen the same
necessity in the United States, so I think it depends who you're trying to
target.

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kristinaatsocu
Agreed. You want to have a very specific and highlighted approach. I'm running
a micro-influencer targeting beta with a new software, if you want to dive
into this a bit more. We've been testing with a few new apps and seeing
success but like tcsf said you have to have really specific targets.

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Gustomaximus
Seen good and bad experiences. As a generalisation I would avoid the more
commercial pay-to-play options and cultivate relationships where sharing
information/swag benefits said social influencer audience. If you're going to
do a straight purchase of eyeballs you may as well do this on open-ad market
where rates tend to be at less of a premium.

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tcsf
Anecdotal, but I regularly purchase apps and services that influencers post
about. The influencers that come to mind for apps specifically (iOS even more
specifically) are John Gruber / Daring Fireball, Loren Brichter, Louie Mantia,
Marco Arment...

I think the secret to great success is knowing your own target audience really
really well, so that you choose the right influencer for max ROI.

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pryelluw
Yes. It works very well. But, its not for every product. Can also be expensive
if done wrong.

For apps, its very important that you try a group of smaller influencers
first. Cheaper and will provide good insights into what a bigger influencer
might bring in. Start small.

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ruairidhwm
We're building an Influencer bidding platform at BrandFox.io just now. Happy
to have a chat about it all if you want? Ping me an email at
ruairidh[AT]brandfox[DOT]io.

:)

