Many founders want their brands to do more than just sell great products: they want to change their industry. The team behind The Honey Pot wanted to create products and resources to support vaginal health and encourage traditionally taboo conversations.
With the help of a network of influential creators, VP of Marketing Giovanna Alfieri transformed The Honey Pot into a household name. To achieve this, Giovanna and her team worked to promote the brand with honest words and real human stories. As a result, she created a winning strategy for influencer marketing and generating meaningful connections with customers.
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Adopt hyper-intimate conversations
Intimacy and vulnerability are important to a brand like The Honey Pot. “We need to create a safe space where human micro-experiences are actually harnessed as points of conversation,” says Giovanna.
One of the guiding principles she follows is finding creators who can add a personal touch to the content they create for the brand. This is important because it adds another layer of authenticity to brand content and a deeper level of trust. “They help us define these fundamental concepts or elements of our brand and our community,” says Giovanna.
Using humor to convey educational messages
One of The Honey Pot’s most important guidelines when working with influencers is to ensure that they use humor to promote the brand’s products.
“Humor is a huge opportunity for us to address these touchy subjects, or things that we have unfortunately been conditioned to view as inappropriate or obscene,” says Giovanna. This sense of humor is helping the team change the perception of vaginal care and wellness.
Although humor is essential, it alone is not enough. The brand combines humor with a tone of confidence and relatability, adding just the right amount of seriousness to a subject. “Our high-level content may have a humor angle, but the caption, for example, will be deeply insightful, with reference points backed by science, so I think it’s about having that juxtaposition” , explains Giovanna.
The brand’s light-hearted approach has made its content more shareable, both by media outlets and online customers. “We know that humor often removes personal belief systems and opens up the possibility of simply laughing or taking a moment of reflection,” says Giovanna.
@thehoneypotco If you’re a little nervous about trying to use a tampon…you’re not alone! But tampons can be useful if you exercise, swim, or are worried about your pad showing through tight pants. Tip: You shouldn’t be able to feel the tampon once inserted, and be sure to remove the plastic applicator after insertion! 🩸 #stamps #how #potdemielco ♬ original sound – hntr slideshow
Find people who reflect your brand values
Who better to share The Honey Pot story than those who have personal experience managing their vaginal health? This strategy creates close connections between product ambassadors and potential new customers. “This minimizes potential shame or discomfort related to the educational topics we cover,” says Giovanna.
The Honey Pot looks for creators who have similar personal or brand values. “For us, it’s about finding people who can reflect our values while producing meaningful and creative content,” says Giovanna.
The brand does not prioritize follower counts or content performance when choosing creators. Instead, it reviews posts, captions, and topics covered to make sure everything matches the promoted message.
Humanize the strategy
Giovanna recommends the human touch of working one-on-one with influencers rather than working with a large agency. “I don’t want to be seen as just a set of data. I want to be seen as someone who exists in the world dynamically,” she says. “We find it difficult for agencies to replicate our humor.”
This approach also helps the team satisfy its ongoing content engine. There’s only so much the brand’s internal social team can produce. “What is powerful about influencers [is that they] meet the brief in a way that shows a certain level of connection and understanding with the brand,” explains Giovanna.
Bring resources to your community
When preparing for its next product launch in a new category, instead of taking the traditional route of recruiting beauty influencers, The Honey Pot digs deeper, considering different types of creators. “How about a beautician or someone with difficult skin conditions? [who] can you naturally start talking about products? » asks Giovanna.
Honey Pot’s approach to influencer marketing proves that brands can think outside the box and take risks with their strategy to create more meaningful connections with customers.
Log in in full Shopify Masters episode to learn more about Giovanna’s influencer strategy, her event marketing tips, and how to use storytelling to expand your brand’s reach.