Much like our Kate, Lucy straddles both sides of the fence. By day, Lucy is Social Media Content Producer at Boden, a British clothing brand. By night/weekends, she puts on her influencer hat under the alias of ShinyThoughts, which she’s been running for 9 years. In her day job she manages the production and publishing of content across social channels as well as supporting on campaigns which includes working with influencers. She then sits on the receiving end of this when answering her own personal emails about various brand collaborations for her blog, ShinyThoughts.
We are so excited that Lucy’s shared her (shiny) thoughts with us. When we’re asked for an example of a brand who is nailing it, both of us often refer to Boden. On top of that, Lucy is a great ambassador for the message we’re trying to get across here at Be More Hive. She is indisputably one of the most genuine, true-to-herself bloggers and with her experience, we know you’ll learn a lot from the experiences she’s shared with us.
BMH: What do you think the biggest challenge is when it comes to brand working with influencers?
Lucy: I think that one of the biggest challenges (because there are many!) is not being able to really give even an estimation of ROI on a new Influencer. If you’ve worked with someone before then it is much easier but for someone new, it really can be a finger in the air situation. You can have all the demographic stats you like but you never truly know whether they will convert. This obviously makes proving the worth of your campaign and asking for money within a business pretty tricky. You have to really research and believe that you’re spending your money as strategically and sensibly as possible. 
BMH: What do you think the future looks like for influencer/brand partnerships?
Lucy: I think we’ll see even more ambassadorships of sorts, rather than sporadic ads for various brands as brands realise the importance of the repeated message to an audience. I think we’ll see more holistic campaigns like Mango with Lucy Williams where the Influencer touches the customer on every marketing channel. We’ll probably also see brands put spend behind Influencer posts on the Influencers’ channels. I also think, in terms of strategy, we’ll see more defined segmentation in terms of the messages that different tiers of Influencers are relaying e.g Super-micro customers talking about one aspect of the brand to their audiences whereas mega influencers might relay a different message to their audiences at the same time. 
BMH: What’s been your best brand partnership to date with Shiny Thoughts and what made it so great?
Lucy: I’ve recently completed a brand partnership with Campo Viejo wine which was really ideal. The concept was sent to me along with a mood board of both my images and brand images. There was constant communication between myself and the agency and ideas bounced off during the whole campaign period. It was that perfect balance of having brand direction whilst still allowing me space to be creative and make it right for me. On top of that the fee was fair and the feedback afterwards was great. 
BMH: What three things should a brand consider before kicking off influencer marketing within their business?
Lucy: Strategy – What do you want to achieve and why would Influencers be the best channel for this? How are you going to measure the effectiveness? How are you structuring your plan in terms of frequency, type of Influencer and message? Who, how often, why and how are the main questions to ask.
Budget – How much have you got to play with in order to make the above happen and how often. Does this cover the cost of amplifying the content as well as paying the influencer? Do you need budget for gifting, materials or events?
Approach – How are you going to physically manage Influencer Marketing. Who will be responsible for researching, sourcing, managing and delivering campaigns. Are they within the business and do they have the expertise or will you need to outsource? How will you communicate with Influencers, how are you going to approach your relationship with them. 
BMH: How much budget does it really take for a successful partnership? Is success dictated to by money?
English