How Heart & Soil Boosts Brand Awareness, Drives Sales, and Saves Hours on Influencer Search with SARAL

Do you know why our grandparents seem so tough? It might've been their diet. If you're into supplements or a carnivore-based diet, you've probably heard of Heart & Soil - a brand that's bringing back the nutrients our ancestors got from organ meats, everything lost in our diet today. And, they're putting it in easy-to-take supplements.

Their goal? Get these powerful nutrients to as many people as possible. They're not just selling supplements. They're on a mission to boost energy, help people bounce back faster from tough workouts, sleep better, and improve gut health.

Scroll through Heart and Soil's Instagram and you’ll see more than just product photos. With 380k+ followers, their feed is packed with health info, relatable memes, and A LOT of influencers raving about their supplements. It's not your average vitamin company's social media.

How did they pull this off?

We sat down with Noël Ostrosky, the brains behind Heart and Soil's affiliate program, to get the scoop.

Here's the inside story on their influencer strategy:

Hunting Influencers and Farming Relationships

Noël came on board when Heart and Soil had just 12 employees. The brand had just started exploring affiliate marketing when they realized they needed someone to manage it full-time.

As an ex-farmer, Noël sees a neat connection:

Affiliate marketing is like hunting and farming. You've got to hunt for new influencers, which is scouting for the right people. Then there's the farming part - taking care of the influencers you already have.

It's a clever way to think about it. Just like a farmer tends to their crops, Heart & Soil nurture relationships with influencers. And like a hunter, they're always looking for new talent to bring into the fold.

But hang on, why influencers?

Heart & Soil put themselves in their customers' shoes and asked, "When was the last time we bought something because of an ad?" The answer? Not often. Instead, they realized people usually buy stuff when someone they trust recommends it.

Think about it. You're likelier to try a new supplement if your fitness-obsessed friend swears by it, right?

That's why Heart & Soil bet on influencers. They wanted real people telling real stories about their products - no fancy ads, just honest talk from folks who actually use and love their supplements.

It's all about making the customer the hero of the story. And who better to tell that story than influencers who've experienced the benefits themselves?

The Heart of Heart & Soil's Influencer Strategy

When it comes to influencer marketing, Heart & Soil don’t just look at numbers. They're after something more personal, more authentic.

Picking the Right Partners

Heart & Soil's approach is all about the feel. They're don’t check boxes but look for that spark, that passion that comes through in an influencer's content.

It's not one thing we look for. It's a combination of warmth, authenticity, confidence on camera, firsthand experience, and honest testimonials.

This careful selection is crucial in today's world.

People are starting to see Instagram as more of a marketing page now. That's why selecting people who truly embody our mission is so important.

We couldn’t agree more.

But how did they onboard the first few influencers?

The Manual Hunt for “The One”

Before SARAL, Heart & Soil did things the old-fashioned way. Most of their influencers (about 60%) came knocking on their door. People who loved the products would reach out, wanting to spread the word. They were super picky, only accepting about 5% of applicants. Why? They wanted to give each influencer special attention and build a long-term rapport with them.

For the rest, Noël and her team had to dig.

They'd spend hours on Instagram, searching hashtags like #animalbased, #nosetotailnutrition, and #liversupplements. They were looking for people already talking about topics related to their products.

They also tapped into the whole team's network. Every month, they’d ask everyone, "Who are the up-and-coming creators you've noticed in our space?"

It was time-consuming but helped them find people who loved their products.

The most important thing for me was to make sure that these are people who love the product. Product integrity is vital. Customers are really smart. They can tell even at a subconscious level when something is not authentic. Our mission is to bring people on board who feel the difference and believe in the product.

The manual process laid the groundwork for their influencer program, but things were about to get much more efficient.

Expanding Horizons: Heart & Soil's New Mission

Heart & Soil had a goal: new customer acquisition and expanding their top-of-funnel reach. They were after folks in the health and wellness world who might be skeptical about supplements or had never considered organ-based products and educate them about the benefits.

You can take our supplements anytime, anywhere. Some people in our office take 24 capsules a day. They just chew on them like a snack, like food. That's the beauty of bringing those nutrients to as many people as possible. Never before has word-of-mouth marketing been so crucial.

This meant finding influencers in new niches.

A more efficient way to find the right influencers

To find the right influencers for this word-of-mouth strategy, Heart & Soil turned to SARAL.

Here's how SARAL helped:

Discovery Feature

Before SARAL, finding new influencers was like panning for gold - time-consuming and hit-or-miss. Now, Heart & Soil could easily spot creators using relevant hashtags.

We can see creators using hashtags like #animalbased who aren't even in our ecosystem.

This opened up a whole new world of potential partners who could introduce their products to new audiences.

Lookalike Lists

SARAL doesn't just match influencers based on follower count. It looks at content topics and hashtags, helping Heart and Soil find influencers in adjacent niches who align with their values.

Chrome Extension

Gone are the days of scrolling through endless posts to gauge an influencer's impact. SARAL's Chrome extension lets you quickly check engagement rates.

Something that I really appreciate is the Chrome extension. It's so hard nowadays to trust follower count solely as the barometer of engagement. It's imperative to look at a creator's profile, see who's engaged and what kind of comments are coming in. How engaged are their audiences, and how excited are their audiences about what they're sharing and their message.

It helps them spot influencers with genuinely engaged followers - the kind who might try a new supplement based on a recommendation.

Social Listening

Managing existing influencer relationships used to mean manually checking every post. Not anymore. SARAL's social listening feature lets Heart and Soil effortlessly monitor their current partners' content. It's a huge time-saver that lets them focus on building stronger relationships.

The result? Time saved, reach expanded.

With SARAL, Heart and Soil is saving hours each week on influencer searches. But more importantly, they're finding partners who can help them reach and educate customers.

SARAL is fantastic, responsive, has a beautiful UX UI, and is easy to use. The people at SARAL care deeply about delivering and bringing a premium affiliate marketing experience.  I highly recommend SARAL. We can't imagine our program at this stage or scaling without the help of SARAL and so many of its features.

Looking Ahead: Expanding the Influencer Network

With SARAL streamlining their influencer discovery and management process, Heart and Soil is setting its sight on bigger goals.

Now, with the SARAL functionality, I don't have to accept only 5% of applicants. We can bring on more people who may be in their infancy on Instagram or TikTok and are just starting to get their feet off the ground regarding their work and UGC creation.

This expanded capacity means Heart and Soil can nurture up-and-coming influencers, potentially discovering the next big voices in the health and wellness space.

We're planning ways to increase commissions, bringing influencers on board as campaign ambassadors for new product launches, and bringing more people on board overall. We now have the capacity to seed way more people, so I'm really excited about that.

As Heart and Soil grows, their influencer strategy evolves with them. With SARAL's support, they're well-positioned to expand their reach, educate more people about the benefits of organ supplements, and continue building authentic relationships with influencers at every level.

Lesson for Other Brands: Build Lasting Relationships

Many brands ask us, "How do we keep influencers from jumping ship to competitors?" Heart & Soil have cracked the code.

Their secret? Treating influencers like real partners, not just marketing tools.

I know when these people have weddings, their birthdays, and their kids are graduating. This human element establishes a beautiful trust.

This approach pays off. Noël tells the story of an athlete who left for a higher-paying offer, only to return two months later. Because he missed the personal touch Heart and Soil offered.

If you view these relationships as relationships, that is the key.

Heart & Soil's philosophy is simple: be open, be flexible, and sometimes, be willing to let go. They work with influencers to meet halfway when possible. But if they can't? They encourage the influencer to take the better offer.

It's almost like true love. Sometimes, letting go is the right thing. And sometimes, they come back.

This unique approach has helped Heart and Soil build a loyal, authentic influencer network. It's not just about sales or commissions. It's about creating genuine partnerships that benefit everyone involved

The Heart of Success: Authenticity and Efficiency

Heart & Soil's journey with influencer marketing is a testament to the power of authenticity combined with smart, efficient processes. They've created a network of authentic brand advocates by carefully selecting partners who genuinely believe in their products and building lasting relationships. The addition of SARAL has strengthened their efforts, allowing them to expand their reach while maintaining the personal touch that sets them apart.

Heart and Soil's approach is a blueprint for brands looking to make a genuine impact through influencer marketing. Combine a mission-driven product with the right partners and an efficient tool and you can create a marketing strategy that drives sales, yes, but also educates and improves lives. Ultimately, it's not just about selling supplements – it's about building a community of health-conscious individuals, one authentic relationship at a time.