7 for all Mankind/Splendid

As the Social Media Manager for both 7 For All Mankind and Splendid, Shelby Jacobs’s job of working with influencers proved to be time-consuming and tedious across the two brands. As a result, Shelby was on the hunt for tools that would make influencer management more efficient.

Shelby first tested several influencer marketing databases and platforms that promised to streamline her influencer sourcing, management, and tracking process, but she was disappointed when they fell short. Shelby found that none of the tools that she tested met all of her needs simultaneously and she was not saving the amount of time and energy that she had hoped to.

Sourcing influencers through Instagram’s native search tool is time-consuming. And after connecting with influencers, Shelby ended up managing multiple email threads which made it difficult to quickly track campaign details and approvals. Paying influencers added to the drawn-out collaboration process, involving multiple departments and extended processing times. Shelby was also tasked with reporting influencer’s sales and performance data and struggled to find a one-stop reporting solution.

Shelby turned to influencer marketing platforms that promised to streamline her process. However, after vetting several different companies, she found that no tool allowed her to do everything she needed to fully run and track her influencer program. She still had to rely on manual, time-consuming tasks—until she found Aspire.

Sourcing Influencers

Shelby’s main focus when choosing influencers for her campaign roster is their alignment with each brand’s aesthetic. She avoids working with influencers purely based on vanity metrics, like follower count. Aspire Search allows brands to see a snapshot of each influencer’s content without leaving the platform. This way, Shelby can discover influencers whose content has the look and feel she needs. Finding influencers who are on-brand increases the authenticity of the content and provides Shelby with high-quality content that she can repurpose on social media and the 7 For All Mankind and Splendid websites, as well as other marketing assets such as email campaigns.

Managing Influencers

Shelby finds that speaking directly with influencers is the fastest and most effective way to manage influencer collaborations. Aspire Manage allows Shelby and her team to message multiple micro-influencers at once, eliminating multiple email threads with each influencer.

Aspire Manage also allows brands to track product shipments. When sending products to influencers, Shelby can enter the tracking information into the platform so that influencers are automatically updated with shipment information and can quickly find tracking info as each delivery nears.

Shelby also utilizes Aspire Manage to seamlessly send payments to influencers through PayPal.

Analyzing Campaign Data

Aspire Analyze allows brands to easily track each piece of content’s performance metrics, as well as the overall campaign performance on one easy to read dashboard. Shelby can track engagement as well as the total media value of each influencer post

Shelby now works with several on-brand influencers per season to promote 7 For All Mankind and Splendid’s new launches. Aspire tools allow Shelby and her team to efficiently partner with more influencers than before without sacrificing resources. Eliminating messy email threads and unnecessary back-and-forth, as well as adding the ability to easily send and track packages and pay influencers has helped given Shelby the flexibility to put her energy toward other tasks.

Additionally, being able to use real-time data to show the effectiveness of influencer-generated content has helped to justify the need for both brands to continue investing in micro-influencers.