Memorial Day is here, and summer has unofficially started! (How is it already the end of May?!) We’re craving hamburgers, white jeans are finally acceptable again, and it’s time to get our wallets out for some of the biggest sales of the year. In fact, over 40% of Americans take advantage of all the discounts and markdowns occurring during this 3-day weekend. With most brands participating in Memorial Day sales, how can you disrupt the noise (and poolside lounging) to become more relevant and get back to the true meaning of the holiday at hand? By crafting an influencer marketing strategy.

Make an Authentic Connection

As consumers and marketers, we have to remember why we celebrate Memorial Day in the first place. It’s a special day to honor those who have died in the service of our country, so your brand should make sure they’re being sensitive and cautious with their content. Millennials and Gen Z are especially active on social media, opinionated, and ready to call out brands when necessary.

Many influencers have relatives in the military or have even served themselves. They can use their voice to craft a personal, heartfelt narrative around your brand and honor the servicemen or women in their lives. By doing so, not only are brands generating conversation and engagement, they’re making a human connection with consumers. In fact, almost 50% of influencers say that posts featuring themselves or their family generate the most engagement on their channels.

Bring Your Brand To Life

When deploying influencer marketing, you have the opportunity to add a natural depth and authenticity to your brand. Not only are influencers creative enough to showcase your brand through amazing photos and videos, but they’re translating the functionality of your product or service through the power of storytelling. This is especially important for big-ticket items that require a more extensive decision-making process where consumers are looking for reviews and as much information as possible.

When we created a Memorial Day campaign for our client Char-Broil, we sourced a mix of deal-oriented and storytelling-focused influencers from all over the country. They covered the nitty-gritty details and features of the grill, but in a natural way that focused on family BBQs and other fun gatherings.

Char-Broil received 174 original pieces of content to repurpose on their own channels, including this delicious mouth-watering gem from @girlcarnivore.

Sell a Story

At the end of the day, influencers don’t blog, post, and create just to sell products. They strive to add value to their readers’ lives by sharing their experiences. When your brand sponsors influencers, you have the opportunity to share stories that relate to consumers’ experiences – not just what you have in your sales flyer.

For example, Memorial Day weekend is one of the busiest for travel and the perfect time to activate travel influencers exploring the world with their own unique perspective. Family-oriented influencers could talk about how to travel safely – and sanely – during the holiday weekend, while budget travel influencers could share tips on how to save on costs of transportation and lodging.

The thing to remember is that influencers – and travel influencers, in particular – create content to inspire their audience. The best part? Their audience is looking for inspiration! In fact, over 40% of millennials take ‘Instagrammability’ into account when searching for their next vacation spot.

Overall, your brand has the opportunity to craft authentic stories to stay top-of-mind during all of the Memorial Day mayhem with an effective influencer marketing campaign.