POPCORN

Digital Marketing Intern

Toward the end of my studies, I completed a six-month internship at Popcorn, a digital marketing agency based in Vancouver, Canada. My responsibilities included reporting on campaign performance, preparing presentation slides for various meetings with clients, contributing to social media planning, and crafting engaging, brand-appropriate captions. I also supported the team with a variety of tasks such as participating in photoshoots and client meetings. About 3 months into my internship, I had the opportunity to contribute to an influencer campaign for SKYE Footwear, a local shoe brand, which aimed to boost brand awareness and raise North American sales on their new Shopify e-commerce website.

Influencer campaign:

One of my primary responsibilities during the campaign was selecting influencers who aligned well with the brand’s image and whose audiences demonstrated strong engagement. I identified 142 suitable influencers, who were then contacted by Popcorn’s co-founder. After negotiations, they were provided with contracts outlining the terms of the collaboration. Some of those contracts included the inclusion of a unique discount code for the brand’s Shopify e-commerce site.

As the campaign progressed, I was responsible for monitoring influencer posts, tracking engagement metrics, and reporting on performance. I also analyzed the use of individual discount codes to measure the direct impact on sales.

The campaign led to 27 direct sales attributed to the discount codes over a 30-day period and significantly increased traffic to SKYE’s website and social media platforms, contributing to overall brand awareness.

Master’s thesis:

During this influencer campaign, I observed an interesting trend that ultimately inspired the focus of my master’s thesis. Specifically, I noticed that micro-influencers (with fewer than 10,000 followers) consistently achieved engagement rates nearly twice as high as those of mid- to high-tier influencers. This led me to explore whether smaller brands could leverage micro-influencers to promote their products more cost-effectively.

Through analysis of the campaign performance data, as well as additional empirical research (including an interview with a key industry expert and online surveys), I found that micro-influencers often foster close-knit communities with strong feelings of connection and belonging. These followers are more likely to actively support the influencer’s recommendations, which increases the potential impact of sponsored content.

My findings suggest therefore that micro-influencer marketing can be a powerful and budget-friendly strategy for smaller companies looking to build brand awareness and engage their target audiences more authentically.