CASE STUDY | INFLUENCE

Liftoff Influence increases Calm’s influence marketing ROI by over 50%

Liftoff Influence increases Calm’s influence marketing ROI by over 50%

Overview

San Francisco based Calm ‒ a meditation and wellness app that launched back in 2012 ‒ has grown to become the top grossing app in the Health & Fitness category. Named by the Center for Humane Technology as “the world’s happiest app”, Calm helps users cope with some of the most important mental health issues of the modern age including anxiety, stress, and insomnia.

Giving Influencer Marketing A First Try

The Calm team knows its audience well. Mental health conditions are on the rise within the Gen-Z and Millennial demographics. There’s also a reduced stigma in seeking wellness solutions. Accordingly, the Calm team sought a way to connect with younger audiences. They set their sights on social media influencers, hoping to reach new users in an authentic way.

Where to start?

The best method wasn’t clear. They started in-house, with full-time employees reaching out to influencers. Many of these arrangements billed upfront, on a pay-per-post model. Rates were arbitrary, and not tied to actual performance. It was difficult to predict or track results. Depending on the campaign, measurement involved a difficult analysis of organic lift. With many campaigns running simultaneously, the results were blurry. Negotiating deals, aligning tracking, and coordinating influencer posts required dozens of hours weekly. This made Calm unable to scale up until they found Liftoff Influence!

“Liftoff Influence was the key to unlocking influencer marketing at Calm. Direct deals with individual influencers took a ton of time and effort and usually delivered poor value. By working with Liftoff Influence, we’re saving time while also achieving significant scale.”

Matthew Horiuchi
Director of User Acquisition, Calm

The Liftoff Influence Solution

When Calm started working with Liftoff Influence, they instantly had access to a network of 6000+ influencers. There was no need to set up individual deals or worry about whether a specific post would drive installs. Calm was able to bid a flat cost-per-install, and track subscriptions with their Mobile Measurement Partner (AppsFlyer) on a per-influencer basis. With this data, they could scale with influencers who generated the best returns.

By removing the friction of individual deals and measuring post-install performance, Liftoff Influence gave Calm the confidence they needed to scale influencer marketing. The results speak for themselves. Liftoff Influence has provided evergreen campaigns throughout 2019. It’s still going strong!

“We love that everything is trackable and ROI is positive. Liftoff Influence has given us access to influencer marketing in a way that feels like a traditional advertising network. Their team has a deep understanding of performance marketing, and they’ve built a unique and refreshing approach to influencer campaigns.”

Matthew Horiuchi
Director of User Acquisition, Calm