Pizza Today - October 2018 - 18

Man on the Street
SCOTT WIENER

"What the Heck
is an Influencer?"

W

e all know that Facebook
has become a minefield of
negativity, punctuated with
complaints and cries for help amid all the
photos of vacations and babies. It's usually pretty easy to scroll past the squeaky
wheels, but a friend's complaint post
recently caught my attention. He was
venting about an e-mail he received from
someone promising incredible coverage
for his pizzeria in exchange for a free
meal. I get requests like this all the time
and while they can be incredibly infuriating, there is a silver lining. Influencer
marketing has become serious business
over the past few years now that anyone
with a phone and some spare time can
build an audience of dedicated followers.
Big brands work with marketing agencies to create influencer campaigns, but
independent pizzerias have to navigate
these murky waters on their own.

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The first thing you should do when
fielding this kind of request is to check
out the requester's social media accounts.
Is their messaging in line with what you
do? Do they have an engaged audience?
An account with 3,000 followers that
gets 800 likes and 50 comments per post
is more valuable than an account with
300,000 followers that gets only 20 likes
and comments per post. You can also tell
a lot by how they write their e-mail. If
it's sloppy or cut and pasted, it's perfectly
acceptable to drag it right to the trash.
If they call themselves an influencer,
that's another red flag. But the worst
offense is when they offer to do a "collab" (collaboration). To me, that means
they want to work together on a project
that is mutually beneficial (you know, a
collaboration)... except, to them, it likely
means posting a picture in exchange for
a freebie. Luckily their entire profile is

public so it's pretty easy to do your
due diligence.
When I get a request that seems
to have little value, I usually play
dumb and reply with something
like: "Your account looks great! Let
me know when you sign up for a
tour and I'll be sure you go to some
of my favorite pizzerias!" If someone seems like a dedicated blogger
with some real potential, I might
offer him or her a discount on a
tour. I usually say something along
the lines of, "Sounds great! Here's
our promo code for bloggers." It
lets me turn down a request for a
freebie while still offering a benefit.
If they're only looking for a freebie,
they won't use the code at all. I think
I've seen a handful of people use it
in 10 years.
There are also plenty of ways to
say "YES!" while keeping the relationship in your control. I know a
pizzeria owner who holds influencer
parties whenever he has a new pizza
to launch. It creates a burst of coverage in one night and makes
attendees feel like a part of the process in a way that a free meal would
not. You can also keep a list of influencer requests and invite them to
new product tastings on slow nights.
Reply to their initial request by letting them know that you're adding
them to your special guest list. It's a
way of delaying the invite in favor of
a time that better suits the needs of
your pizzeria.
Influencer marketing is still new
and ambiguous, but it's a powerful
tool to have in your marketing mix
when used on your own terms. ■
SCOTT WIENER is the founder of Scott's
Pizza Tours in New York City and
SliceOutHunger.org.
http://www.SliceOutHunger.org http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM
Pizza Today - October 2018

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