Kenkel Shares Tips on Advertising With Social Media Influencers
Kenkel Shares Tips on Advertising With Social Media Influencers
GROW Nebraska member and popular social media influencer Michaela Kenkel of Elkhorn will share tips for winning customers by partnering with brand ambassadors at the April 15 MarkeTech conference in Kearney.
Kenkel operates the successful food blog called “An Affair From the Heart” that reaches millions of eyes each month, including 7 million monthly views on Pinterest and about 6 million monthly views on Google. Her enterprise, which started more than a decade ago, now has more than 180,000 followers on Facebook, more than 3,000 on Instagram, 40,000 on Pinterest, and more than 8,000 subscribers to her weekly recipe email.
She serves those followers with trust, sincerity, love and kindness and they respond with “likes” and “shares.”
“I take a lot of pride in developing relationships with my audience,” Kenkel said. “I engage with my readers a lot, and I feel like I’m tuned in to what they like and what they don’t like.”
Besides creating her unique recipes, Kenkel works as a brand ambassador to business owners and food entrepreneurs, such as Frank’s Kraut, Dorothy Lynch and Spice Isle, to create new recipes using their products. She then shares those recipes with her audiences to create momentum and generate sales for those companies.
Kenkel will present “Satisfy an Appetite For Your Brand: How to Win Customers and Influence Brand Appeal in the Age of Social Media” at one of the break-out sessions at MarkeTech, where she will share her advice on working with brand ambassadors.
Kenkel said her presentation will appeal to marketers, business owners, entrepreneurs and aspiring brand ambassadors and influencers.
For those who aren’t aware of this relatively new marketing tool, Kenkel said a brand ambassador “is a person who is hired by an organization or company to represent their brand in a positive light.”
By doing so, it increases brand awareness and sales among a specific audience.
“A brand ambassador works as both an ‘influencer’ and a ‘sales representative’,” Kenkel said. “A brand ambassador’s role is to introduce a brand and communicate its virtues organically through its existing audience and social channels and also provide opportunities for sales or similar conversions.”
After the presentation, Kenkel said attendees will have a better understanding of social media and how to leverage the power of influencers and bloggers in advertising.
“Participants will learn how to find suitable influencers and brand ambassadors, establish and track goals for a successful relationship, plan for content and set deadlines, and monitor progress through statistical analysis,” she said.
She also will show business owners how to create a successful social media strategy by working with legitimate brand ambassadors and influencers. Kenkel will focus on social media channels that she uses, including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.
“They will learn what works and how to avoid common pitfalls,” Kenkel said.
Other takeaways from her presentation include:
- The difference between being “influenced” and being “convinced.”
- How to measure “likes,” “shares” and other online stats to evaluate performance.
- Why a brand ambassador is so much more effective than any type of advertiser promotional resource.
In addition, Kenkel will share tips with aspiring brand ambassadors and influencers, who will learn how to work with companies and how to grow their audiences to make themselves more attractive as an advertising asset.
Early bird registration for the conference ends on March 20. The price is $99 for a half-day and $199 for the entire day for non-GROW members and $59 for GROW Nebraska members. The registration fee includes breakfast and lunch and full conference registration, including two breakout sessions, the keynote speaker, chances to network, conference swag and the VIP After Party at McCue’s Nebraska Taproom in Kearney. To register, visit marketechconference.com/registration
GROW Nebraska® Foundation is a statewide non-profit training and marketing organization. Serving over 400 Nebraska small businesses, the organization provides marketing opportunities, education, and training to launch and connect Nebraska businesses to the global marketplace. GROW Nebraska’s educational programs receive federal and state funding, along with generous support from foundations and individual donors.
