Ep #018: Scaling to a nine-figure business using influencer marketing (with Sean Frank)

In this episode, we’ll be talking to Sean Frank the CEO of Ridge, and how he worked alongside a wide range of influencers and used the pay-for-post model with creators to scale Ridge to a nine-figure brand. [01:27]: Introduction to Ridge [02:17]: Joining Ridge [03:39]: Agency Brand Dichotomy [05:41]: Importance of working for an agency when starting up [06:44]: Working with agencies at Ridge [08:13]: Marketing budget of a 100-million-dollar brand [09:51]: Percentage of marketing budget spent on influencer [10:39]: How Ridge spends its influencer marketing budget on influencers [12:16]: Team Dynamics [14:03]: Reasons why influencer is Sean's favorite channel of marketing [15:42]: Gaining influencers’ trust [17:15]: Sean vs Cody. Who’s right? (Seeding vs Pay for Post [19:43]: Leaning towards YouTube on pay-for-post ads [22:40]: Losing money on pay for post [23:18]: Importance of user-generated content (UGC) [25:23]: Benefits of paying for post despite half the bids losing money [26:45]: Number of creators Ridge has worked with long-term [28:23]: Expanding into different products launches with community [30:51]: Drawback of having consistent influencers to work with [32:59]: People getting started with influencers but concerned about ROI [34:29]: Word of mouth [36:07]: Working with Macro Talent [38:54]: Advice for a 10-million-dollar brand starting out with influencer marketing [40:48]: Inherent risk of marketing. Cody Wittick: Twitter‍ Sean Frank: Twitter Never miss an episode by subscribing via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or by RSS!