Two smiling young girls, one in a fur vest and one in a red floral dress, holding hands in a dry autumn field
Submitted by The Shelf Influencer Marketing AgencyAgency IPI Score 43/100

What Makes You Smile: The Smile Generation Mom Influencer Campaign

Influencer Marketing

The Shelf ran a mom influencer campaign for Smile Generation built on one question about what makes moms smile, potentially reaching over 5.4 million people.

33,000engagements on two added videos
+3.91%in-feed Instagram engagement ratio
36mom influencers activated
36.61%over-delivery on promised UGC

Case in 60 seconds

Smile Generation sells a digital dental financial service, and The Shelf states that capturing captivating content for such a service is a challenge, while the brand also needed families to use remaining benefits before the end of 2019.

The campaign appears to turn on the fact that a dental service has no photogenic moment of its own, so the smile itself becomes the asset, because a mother's reason for smiling is something her audience already recognises and the service can be attached to it.

Rather than sending mothers and children to an actual dentist, The Shelf asked moms one question about what makes them smile, requiring each creator to show her grin while tying the answer to Smile Generation's dental financial services.

The Shelf states 36 mom influencers shared what made them smile across Instagram in-feed posts and carousels, Facebook posts, blog posts, Pinterest pins and Twitter tweets, telling stories of family trips, traditions, hardships and successes.

The Shelf reports the campaign potentially reached over 5.4 million people, over-delivered on promised reach by over 36.61% and on promised UGC by more than 209%, with in-feed Instagram posts at a 3.91% engagement ratio.

Strategy Breakdown

Moms and their families, addressed as households with remaining dental benefits to use before the end of 2019.
The Shelf states that a digital service such as Smile Generation makes captivating content difficult, and the obvious execution of a mother at a computer booking an appointment would have produced nothing worth sharing, so the category problem was visual rather than persuasive.
Smile Generation appears in the content as the reason a family smile is affordable, with Porsha Carr telling her audience not to worry about dipping into the vacation fund, which positions the brand as the enabler of the moment rather than its subject.
Based on the available evidence, the brief assumed mothers would answer a question about their own lives more readily than a question about dental cover, so the service claim arrives after the personal story rather than in place of it.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Blog
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Stories
  • UGC
  • blog posts
  • carousels
  • in-feed posts
  • pins
  • tweets
  • videos

Partners

  • The Shelf

Creator role

  • Amber Mamian — creator
  • Ashley Brickner — creator
  • Heather Hamilton — creator
  • Ilda Hobert — creator
  • Jessen Schulman — creator
  • Michelle Hammons — creator
  • Porsha Carr — creator
  • 36 mom influencers

Results & Evidence

MetricValue
Engagements on Two Added VideosMichelle Hammons also posted two value-added videos that received over 33,000 engagements !
In-Feed Instagram Engagement RatioIn-feed Instagram posts received an overall engagement ratio of 3.91% , which is well above the industry standard of 1.5%.
Mom Influencers ActivatedFor this campaign, 36 mom influencers took to their social channels to share what made them smile while praising the services Smile Generation offers.
Over-Delivery on Promised UGCWe over-delivered on promised reach by over 36.61% , on engagements by over 167% , and on promised UGC by more than 209% .
Potential ReachThis campaign was such a success! It potentially reached over 5.4 million people and over-delivered on engagements by more than 156% .
Unique Content Pieces on InstagramWe also had 248+ unique pieces of content shared on Instagram alone!

Why The Shelf Influencer Marketing Agency's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Casting smaller Instagram accounts that also ran active blogs let The Shelf cover several deliverable types per creator, which suggests roster selection can absorb a deliverable list a small budget cannot fund through headcount.

  2. 2

    A service with no visual moment can be briefed around a physical gesture the creator already owns, because the requirement to show a grin ear to ear gave every creator the same asset while leaving the story personal.

  3. 3

    The Shelf notes the resulting family content remains evergreen for the client to reshare, which reads as a case for briefing away from seasonal service prompts even when the campaign itself carries a deadline.

  4. 4

    Value-added posts sat outside the contracted deliverables and still carried volume, since The Shelf reports Michelle Hammons posted two videos receiving over 33,000 engagements.

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