Introduction:
Palate App, a growing food discovery and recommendation platform, launched a targeted influencer marketing campaign to drive brand awareness, engagement, and user acquisition. The primary objective of this campaign was to increase visibility among food enthusiasts and promote the app's unique value proposition of personalized restaurant recommendations based on users' tastes and preferences.
Before the campaign, Palate App faced several challenges:
Limited brand recognition in a competitive market of food apps.
Low user engagement on social platforms.
Difficulty in reaching their ideal target audience—food enthusiasts actively seeking new dining experiences.
Campaign Overview:
The influencer marketing campaign was designed to leverage food and lifestyle influencers who aligned with Palate App's brand message and values. The brief outlined the following goals:
Objective: Increase app downloads and brand awareness.
Target Audience: Urban millennials and Gen Z food lovers, particularly those in metropolitan areas with disposable income for frequent dining out.
Key Messages: The app helps users discover hidden culinary gems based on personal preferences, enabling seamless and personalized dining experiences.
The campaign took place from August 30, 2024, to October 21, 2024, and involved 18 influencers.
Campaign Strategy:
The Palate App team adopted a multi-tier influencer strategy:
Nano- and Micro-influencers (with followers ranging from 10K to 100K) were selected due to their higher engagement rates and deeper connection with their audiences. They were primarily food bloggers, travelers, and lifestyle influencers who frequently reviewed restaurants and showcased culinary experiences.
The influencers created content across Instagram and YouTube, with a heavy emphasis on engaging formats such as Instagram Reels, Stories, and YouTube Shorts. These formats were chosen to leverage short-form video trends, enabling influencers to showcase quick restaurant reviews and “a day in the life of a foodie” vlogs.
Each influencer was given creative freedom to ensure authenticity, but they had to adhere to key messaging about the app’s core features, including its personalization algorithm and easy-to-use interface.
Campaign Performance Metrics:
The campaign delivered impressive results:
Total Impressions: 49.3K.
Reach: 1.13M total views across all posts.
Total Engagement: 7.44K, with an average of 338 engagements per post.
Engagement Rate: 3.56%, a strong figure for this type of campaign.
Click Through Rate (CTR): Although specific data on CTR was not available, qualitative feedback from influencers indicated that several users explored the app via influencer links and promo codes.
Content Performance:
Top-performing content included visually appealing, short-form videos:
Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts performed best, capitalizing on the trend of quick and dynamic content. Reels featuring influencers visiting hidden local food spots and demonstrating the Palate App’s user interface saw the highest engagement.
Audience Sentiment: Out of 316 comments analyzed, 79.7% expressed positive sentiment. Fans loved the influencers' authentic take on local dining experiences, and 6.7% of comments expressed a purchase intent, showing clear interest in downloading the app.
Influencer Performance:
Each influencer brought unique value to the campaign. A few standout performers include:
@iampranavmaane: This influencer’s content received over 133.59K views with a high engagement rate of 15.99% on certain posts (Source).
@clicker_nextdoor: Known for her in-depth restaurant reviews, her posts reached over 101.93K views and attracted an engaged audience with genuine inquiries about the app’s features.(Source)
@theblogginghogger: Although not focused on food, their lifestyle audience was intrigued by the app, leading to considerable engagement on non-food-specific content. (Source)
Return on Investment (ROI):
While exact Cost per Engagement (CPE) and Cost per Mille (CPM) were not provided, the total media value generated from this campaign was estimated at 10K, with relatively low spend given the choice of nano- and micro-influencers . This demonstrated a solid return on investment, with the campaign driving meaningful brand awareness and app engagement at a cost-effective rate.
Challenges and Solutions:
One of the main challenges faced was ensuring consistent messaging across diverse influencers without stifling their creativity. To address this:
Palate App’s team provided detailed briefs and regular check-ins with influencers, allowing flexibility in content creation while maintaining core messaging.
There were also issues with tracking exact downloads from influencer-driven traffic, which was mitigated by introducing unique promo codes and links for each influencer.
Recommendations:
Based on the insights from this campaign:
Expand platform diversity: Future campaigns could explore platforms like Snapchat, which is highly effective for reaching Gen Z audiences.
Continue leveraging micro-influencers: Given their higher engagement rates, micro-influencers should remain central to the brand’s strategy.
Conclusion:
The influencer marketing campaign successfully met its objectives, driving both awareness and engagement. By tapping into authentic voices and leveraging content formats that resonated with their target audience, Palate App increased brand visibility in a competitive market. Key learnings from this campaign will help refine future strategies, particularly in enhancing app tracking metrics and expanding influencer collaborations.
