Starlight Children’s Foundation

Entering New Waters In 2018 Laura Martin joined Starlight Children's Foundation as the social media and content producer. They knew they wanted to elevate their influencer strategy, and with an agency background, Laura had just the idea: Influencers. This was very new territory for Starlight. The brand had never run an influencer campaign and did not have many non-profits to look to as examples.

Running influencer campaigns for non-profits requires a different strategy than B2C brands. While budgets may differ, desired goals and outcomes are typically the same. For this, the Starlight team had to discover a way to integrate a non-profit framework into the realm of influencer marketing. This required developing ways to motivate and engage new partners, and establishing authentic messaging that engages influencers and the brand’s network. The Starlight team has now been working on influencer campaigns for the past two years and has developed a strategizing understanding of how and why influencers are willing to work with non-profit organizations.

Solution: Identifying Influencers To Boost Brand Awareness

The Starlight team knew that they wanted to use influencers to promote brand awareness and education. This required identifying the right influencer that would create the most meaningful connections with the brand’s audience. The team will select the influencer based on a campaign's stylization, and rely on Meltwater Influencer Marketing's vetting metrics to identify strategic partnerships.

Starlight takes influencer selection seriously. As a non-profit, it is essential to ensure that they are partnering with influencers that align with brand values. For this, the team uses Meltwater Influencer Marketing's portfolio tool, and assesses past collaboration to identify any partnerships that may not align with Starlight. And, it doesn’t end there. The team is extremely data-driven. Like many influencer marketing professionals, the team has reduced dependence on follower count as an identification metric by leveraging True Reach and engagement metrics.

Success: Tax Appeal Campaign

The Campaign

The Starlight team understood an important intersection between their brand and influencers: tax appeals and charitable donations. One of the brand’s major campaigns is their Tax Appeal campaign, which uses influencers to promote charitable giving around tax return time.

The Strategy

Using Meltwater Influencer Marketing the team identifies influencers who promote positive, child-oriented content, and have a network that is predominantly parents. By partnering strategically with parent influencers, the team knows they are connecting with an audience that is passionate about children.

The Outcome

• 8 Influencers
• 19 Posts
• 49.9K Engagements
• $446.7K EMV