Nate Lagos, CMO at Original Grain, reveals how his D2C watch company achieves a 6x ROAS on YouTube influencer marketing. He shares their selective strategy for identifying high-performing creators, negotiating deals, and meticulously measuring attribution, offering a actionable blueprint for brands seeking profitable influencer partnerships.
Key takeaways
Focus on niche-specific YouTube creators whose content naturally targets your ideal customer, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.
Implement a 'worst-case scenario' attribution model using custom discount codes to accurately track direct revenue generated by each influencer, understanding this is a conservative estimate.
Prioritize
Measure revenue per thousand impressions (RPM) post-campaign to gauge audience value and inform future negotiations, aiming for an RPM of $40-70 or higher.
Be prepared to walk away from deals if an influencer's perceived value doesn't align with your data-driven projections of their audience's RPM.
In this episode, we talk to Nate Lagos, Head of Marketing at Original Grain. He shares insights into their marketing strategy and is selective about which influencers they work with and has found success with YouTube creators that have highly engaged audiences within their niche.
TIMESTAMPS
[02:00]: Nate's Background
[02:40]: Original Grain's annual growth revenue
[03:39]: Original Grain's marketing revenue percentage
[04:14]: Original Grain's influencer marketing percentage
[05:14]: 6x revenue in Q1
[07:12]: Original Grain's attribution measurement
[08:18]: Product niche testing
[10:00]: Niche testing category
[12:04]: YouTube views consistency
[12:22]: YouTube average views agreement
[16:33]: How to keep the influencers going
[17:59]: Deals usage rights with networks
[20:41]: Potential ways to find new creators
[21:50]: Effective tools to reach potential clients
[24:00]: Contractor payment
[27:13]: Nate's advice to upcoming influence marketers on YouTube
What does this episode say about customer acquisition?
Focus on niche-specific YouTube creators whose content naturally targets your ideal customer, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.
What does this episode say about d2c strategy?
Implement a 'worst-case scenario' attribution model using custom discount codes to accurately track direct revenue generated by each influencer, understanding this is a conservative estimate.
What does this episode say about influencer marketing?
Prioritize
What does this episode say about performance marketing?
Measure revenue per thousand impressions (RPM) post-campaign to gauge audience value and inform future negotiations, aiming for an RPM of $40-70 or higher.
What does this episode say about customer acquisition?
Be prepared to walk away from deals if an influencer's perceived value doesn't align with your data-driven projections of their audience's RPM.
