Hosted by:

Katya Allison

Director of Marketing
Content at GRIN

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About GRIN Gets Real

Welcome to the GRIN gets real podcast, the show for people who want to maximize their marketing potential. From influencer marketing to eCommerce strategy and everything in between, each episode will feature industry experts that share their insights and provide actionable tips to help you achieve your marketing goals. Subscribe and stay tuned!

PR isn’t dead, it’s been redefined for digital

In this episode:

Katie Stoller

Head of influencer marketing at Fiat Growth

Katie is currently the head of influencer marketing at Fiat Growth, a strategic marketing shop focused on data-backed decision making, innovation, and execution. Her PR background gives her a unique perspective on how brands can improve their messaging to create more authentic influencer marketing campaigns.

Full episode details

Approaching influencer marketing through a PR lens

With over a decade of experience at global PR agencies, Katie Stoller counsels her clients on how to effectively reach goals by working with the right influencers to tell compelling and engaging stories. She has worked with a number of top brands throughout her career including IKEA, LG, Whirlpool, J.M. Smucker Co., General Mills, and Kimberly Clark.

Consumers want to hear from people, not brands

“Traditional advertising is very calculated and complicated. And it’s intrusive. Like, you are watching TV and a commercial pops up and interrupts your show. Influencer marketing is the antithesis of that. We choose to watch it. And we are OK with commercials.”

More brands are realizing that traditional advertising doesn’t work like it used to. Now marketers are using people – social media creators specifically – to tell their brand story and drive sales and conversions. Creator management through a PR lens can help brands form a cohesive message across all communication platforms and maximize their return on investment for influencer marketing.

Approaching influencer marketing through a PR lens

Breakdown of the GRIN Gets Real podcast: Season 2, Episode 5

“That is what our clients want to see. They want to see great storytelling that translates into actual sales and conversions. They want to see the action, and I really think that is where the industry is going to shift in 2022.”

Brands want more out of creators today than ever before. Companies that used to spend money on influencers to help spread awareness or liven up their social media feed now demand a tangible return on investment. To keep up, influencers must deliver sales and conversions for their brand partners in a way that can be tracked across the entire marketing funnel. In this episode, you will learn:

The advantages of modern PR versus traditional.
How PR benefits influencer marketing campaigns.
How to approach influencer marketing through a PR lens.
What role PR crisis management plays on social media.
How brands can implement PR elements in 2022.

Quotes from the Episode

“The first thing that comes to mind is transparency. (Influencer marketing is) person to person. At the end of the day, yes you’re a brand, but someone is typing up the caption. A computer is not running your social media. It’s human to human interaction.” “I am obsessed with storytelling. I have clients that want to get promo codes out or hear about them and sign up, and I really try to get them to take a step back and get the messaging in order … There are so many different channels and if you are telling a cohesive message, I think that message is going to go so much farther than if you have no strategy.” “As social media was becoming bigger and the paparazzi was a huge thing in LA with fashion and celebrities, I had this moment where I realized we were gifting this free stuff to celebrities and, I didn’t realize it at the time, but that was really influencer marketing. That was the foundation of it. We were putting products in the hands of influential people with huge audiences.” “PR encompasses anything that is ‘storytelling’ about your brand. So it’s your website, your branding, your thought leadership, or even what your CEO is putting on LinkedIn. The main thing in PR is media relations, so working with reporters to tell your story is also critical.”