DTC619: Paige Mueller from Solawave Shares Top Influencer Marketing Tips

Good morning,

Happy Friday Jr! It’s that time of the week where we deliver you another DTC Summer Series Takeover.

This week’s writer is Paige Mueller, the Head of Creative Development at Solawave.

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Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC:

💡 Top tips for leveraging influencers ahead of BFCM and why simple briefs are more effective.
😂 How to turn unexpected and wacky UGC content into top-performing ads!
🤖 And…it looks like we will have to wait a bit longer for GPT 5.

You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Horse Help, Monument Grills, and Cleo and Coco. 👋

💬 Paige Said It Best: "You Want to Get The Best Influencers Before They’re Swooped Up"

If you want native, high-converting ads and micro-influencers that move the needle, partner with minisocial BEFORE your competitors get to them.

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⏰ Starting early will give you time to:

• Test out ad concepts
• Find the hooks that work best
• Narrow in on the right demo of micro-influencers

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With minisocial, accomplish all of the above with one fully managed project.

See why brands like Solawave and thousands of others trust minisocial to do the work for them.

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🧑‍🏫 Biggest UGC and Creator Content Lessons

Hi! My name is Paige Mueller, and I’m the Head of Creative Development at Solawave.

I oversee a lot (we’re a start-up…so you get it?), but one of my favorite parts of my job is the creative content production. 🧑‍🎨 📸

I’m one of those people who had a significant career shift during the pandemic.

Before Solawave, I was just a skincare enthusiast who worked in reality television. I was given the chance to join the growing start-up of Solawave, so I left my 17-year-long career in TV and jumped into this wild world.

I was one of the early employees, and I was able to apply my production and casting background to what we were trying to do with our online ads.

However…like all things, I learned a lot along the way. Truthfully, audiences' responses shift every few months, similar to how it is in TV, so what worked last year will most likely not work this year. But finding and leading the new trends is what excites us as a company.

A few things that I’ve learned along the way (and still have to remind myself to apply) are definitely related to creators and UGC Content. 🤳

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1️⃣ My biggest mistake and what I learned: Giving TOO MUCH GUIDANCE.

Something that comes with our product specifically is a lot of over-explaining and pushing things to hit.

This can lead to confusing content or just not engaging content. We've really learned to simplify our briefs and make them more about the creator than the product. Giving too many restrictions and rules, or even giving too many examples of good UGC, is overwhelming! We’ve done a great job dialing it back and keeping it simple.

At the end of the day, who wants to read a 10-page brief to create a 30-second piece of content? We were making ourselves seem more complicated than we are, which is the best part of our Radiant Renewal Wand product—its simplicity! So stick to the absolute need to hit bites, then let the creator do their thing.

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2️⃣ My best tips for leveraging influencer marketing to prep for BFCM: Start early!

You want to get the best influencers before they’re swooped up. This is such a competitive time. Ad space costs more, everyone is upping their visibility, and unbelievable deals are happening.

Plan early, and reach out to your brand friendlies to get them thinking about creative content. Start outreach to new creators so they get comfortable with your product and can speak authentically to it.

It’s such a relief to know you have a plan and are taking action months before. There will always be those unexpected hiccups that come with holiday shopping, but at least your influencer marketing will be in order.  

I would also say this is a great time to really make your affiliate commissions juicy. Any incentive you can give creators to pay more attention to selling your product will also help your earnings.

Everyone is ready to sell during this time, but giving back to your influencer community builds loyalty and lights a fire for them to really hit their goals.

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Keep scrollin’ for more from Paige!

🧑‍🏫 Biggest UGC and Creator Content Lessons

3️⃣ My take on influencer marketing/UGC: For us, this is the area we are most excited to expand in.

UGC and influencer marketing is the modern day word of mouth — which is such a powerful marketing tool.

When we first started investing in influencer and UGC content, seeing what people did online with our skincare wand was so exciting. It was also what helped us cut through the clutter—and why Vogue gave us the #1 Viral tool! 🏆

Whether it's a celebrity posting us or a nano-influencer, this type of buzz helps not only with sales but also keeps us in the zeitgeist and part of the conversation. It’s an area in which we continue to grow and expand.

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4️⃣ Stay open-minded!

Our product customers are all over the place—we have customers as young as 18 using our products, and the age range goes up to 80+.

We are sold globally and are unisex, so when it comes to creativity, we try to remember how many different people worldwide use our product. We always take that into our UGC choices and truthfully work with anyone and everyone.

This has led to some wacky, unexpected creative—however, some of that has led to our top-performing ads!

One, in particular, was a UGC creator who started their content off by singing “SOLAWAVEEEEEEEEEE” – when we received it, we laughed and, of course, loved it. But, we questioned if this would adequately explain the product and get people to understand why they would use us. This specific instance went against the stereotypical, basic rules of digital ad creative.

Well – it became our top ad for BFCM of 2022. It was an attention grabber that kept people long enough to hear the benefits of reducing the appearance of wrinkles and dark circles while rejuvenating their skin. And we were all pleasantly surprised – and singing the song all through the holidays! 😂

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Overall, our team is really honest about what we know and what we don’t know. We love taking chances and testing out things that seem completely bonkers because you can’t predict the future, and that’s the fun part!

🤝 This Partnership Helped Drive Solawave’s BFCM 2023 Success

Last Black Friday, Solawave partnered with minisocial to book 200 micro-influencers to boost their organic reach and generate content for ads.

Those Whitelisted and Spark Ads turned out to be a HUGE part of Solawave’s Q4 success.

By partnering with minisocial, Solawave was able to get micro-influencers and licensed content in one project.

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All you need to do is:

• Submit a brief ☑️
• Approve your creators ☑️
• Download your new, fully licensed content and watch as 100's of new micro-influencers share about your brand on socials ☑️

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minisocial’s fully managed solution allows your team to see results without having to give up more of their already limited bandwidth. Stop paying for platforms that add more work on your plate, instead… 👇

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🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE

Despite rumors swirling that OpenAI will launch its latest AI chatbot during DevDay this Fall, the company has decided to focus on updates to its APIs and developer services instead.

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⚡ QUICK HITS

🤔 What SHOULDN’T you be doing this Q4? You know what you should be, but have you flipped the script? Join the DTC x Pilothouse virtual webinar on August 14th for The Ultimate Q4 Guide: Big Wins and Even Bigger Mistakes. Register here.

📥 Got a B2B Biz?

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Have you heard our latest podcasts?

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• ✉️ AKNF 425: How To Fix Email Automation and Improve Retention
• 🍺 Duncan Frew on the Whisky Business and Return of The Rascal
• ⚡ AKNF 423: Optimize Post-Click Experience With Landing Pages

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DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.

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