How NOOMA Built a Diverse Influencer Portfolio and Streamlined Management with SARAL

"How do I find the right influencer?"

"I found some good fits. How do I get them to say yes?"

"What do I offer them? Free products? Commissions? Flat-fee?"

"How do I know things are working? I don't see sales."

You've landed on the right page if you want answers to any (or all) of the above questions.

We interviewed Jarred Smith, co-founder of NOOMA, an organic healthy drinks brand to find the answers. Here's what he shared:

👀 This is one of the most insightful interviews, and packed with learnings. Buckle up.

Talk About Refluxes

It all started when Jarred, a hockey player, was getting acid reflux from the sports drinks he drank. He thought, "Could I make a sports drink that doesn't give me acid reflux?"

Jarred had no plans to start a business when he was younger. He was studying business in college and thought he might work in banking. But, after taking an entrepreneurship class, he got excited about starting his own thing. That's when the idea for NOOMA came along.

He teamed up with his brother, who played minor pro hockey then. They started working on this as a side project. It was just an idea to solve Jarred's problem, but it grew bigger.

Ten (!) years later, NOOMA makes clean, organic sports drinks with no added sugar. Their range has expanded to include regular sports drinks for hydration, a pre-workout energy drink with caffeine, and a wellness soda for recovery and immunity.

From Gyms To Whole Foods By Breaking A Sweat

When NOOMA started, they didn't follow the usual playbook. Most new brands jump straight into DTC and Meta Ads. Not NOOMA.

Jarred and his brother hit the ground running. They called it "sweaty samplings." They'd show up at local gyms, yoga studios, and boot camps with coolers full of NOOMA. They'd join the workout, hand out drinks, and chat with people. It was grassroots marketing at its best.

A Whole Foods buyer noticed NOOMA flying off the shelves in a few local stores. Next thing they knew, NOOMA was in Whole Foods across the country. It was exciting… but it proved to be a whole different ballgame. They couldn't do those personal samplings in 450 stories across the country.

They realized they needed to change tactics. Just before the pandemic hit, NOOMA went online. They focused more on selling directly to customers through their website and Amazon.

Shelf to Screen: Why NOOMA Went All-In on Influencers

NOOMA's marketing journey has been about figuring out what works best for their brand. It's been a process of trial and error, but they've learned some valuable lessons along the way. Lucky for us, they shared them with us.

At first, NOOMA split its efforts between traditional social media ads and influencer collaborations. But things changed, especially after the iOS 14 update. Who doesn't remember that?

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This shift made NOOMA rethink its approach. They realized that for a health-focused product like theirs, trust is everything. A one-time ad is not enough to convince people to decide what to put in their bodies.

Which is why, NOOMA sees influencers as a part of its product discovery strategy.

Their drinks aren't a casual purchase – they're part of people's health and fitness routines. So, hearing about NOOMA from a trusted voice is a stronger start to a customer's journey.

For example, if a pro athlete or fitness coach recommends NOOMA, it carries more weight than an ad made by the brand.

While they onboard influencers as affiliates to drive sales (more on this in a minute), the focus is more on the power of authentic recommendations. It's not about the influencer's follower count either – it's about the trust they have built with their audience.

But how do they pick the right influencers? And how do they know what to offer them?

Finding Influencers That Care About Your Brand

For NOOMA, choosing the right influencers is crucial. They keep brand alignment as their top priority.

Jarred emphasizes the importance of authenticity when it comes to collaborating with an influencer:

They have to be a great representation of your brand, and they actually have to love your product, no matter what.

He explains why alignment is key to getting good content:

If they don't like the product themselves, the content will be terrible. It's not going to work well, and it's not even going to be good if you're going to use it for your own ad creative or whitelisting.

NOOMA understands that finding the right influencers is key to their success. With SARAL, they've found a powerful tool to help them discover influencers in their niche.

Understanding the Influencer's Audience

Looking at an influencer's content is only half the job done; Their audience matters, too. As a brand, you need to understand the influencer’s target audience.

• Will their audience receptive to your product?
• Does their target audience there to follow them for product recommendations?
• Or are they there for lifestyle?

These are some of the questions you need to ask.

With SARAL’s FREE Chrome Extension, you can track metrics and save influencers while scrolling through social media →

Reaching Out with a Personal Touch

Finding the right influencer is one thing, but getting them to say ‘yes’ is a task brands often struggle with.

According to NOOMA, influencer outreach is a delicate balance between personalization and efficiency. And SARAL's email templates and automation features have been a game-changer for them.

Having the email templates and email drips is really nice. The best part is that custom fields allow us to add specific lines and different types of messaging within those email drips. If I wrote the emails one at a time, it would be exactly like what I can do within SARAL.

This personalized approach helps NOOMA build genuine connections with influencers without sacrificing productivity. And if an influencer needs a more tailored touch, NOOMA can easily move them out of the automated flow and into a more hands-on engagement.

BTW, you can choose from a repository of email templates as per your campaign and customise it →

Managing different types of partnerships

NOOMA does not believe in one-fit-for-all. Each influencer, their content, and their audience is unique, so the partnership should also be different. NOOMA has a range of partnerships to maximize its influencer strategy.

1. Product Seeding: For newer influencers or inbound interest
2. Affiliate Partnerships: Commission-based model
3. Paid Partnerships (Retainers): For larger, well-aligned influencers
4. Hybrid Models: Mix and match different partnership types to create custom arrangements

By having a range of partnerships, NOOMA can focus on both brand awareness and direct sales without compromising the relationships.

Since NOOMA tailors its approach to each influencer's unique situation and audience, there’s a huge risk of losing track of conversations, notes, and of course, sanity.

Not with SARAL.

The thing I love about SARAL the most is that it replaces spreadsheets.

With SARAL, Jarred does not have to juggle countless Google Sheets to keep track of potential partners.

SARAL has turned NOOMA's influencer pipeline into a comprehensive system.

It is a pipeline at the end of the day. You're moving people through stages. And then, you will put them through another pipeline, whether a reactivation campaign or a new one. Doing that in a spreadsheet may be good, but it doesn't automatically link to their social handles, and you can't DM them or send them a gift or anything like that.

With SARAL, NOOMA has a user-friendly platform that integrates with social accounts, letting NOOMA to email influencers directly and streamline everything.

Streamlining the Partnership Process

NOOMA uses the SARAL to manage the entire influencer partnership lifecycle, including shipping products.

The ability to send products within SARAL is a huge time saver, especially uniquely compared to other platforms.

NOOMA has even leveraged SARAL's application feature to create a custom landing page, inviting influencers to apply to work with the brand. This helps them maintain control over the inbound partnership pipeline, ensuring they find the perfect fit for their brand.

What was once a tangled web of spreadsheets and manual outreach is now a streamlined, integrated process that helps them discover, connect, and nurture long-lasting relationships with their most valuable brand ambassadors.

Red-Carpet Customer Support

Here’s what Jarred has to say about SARAL's commitment to building a robust, valuable influencerOS for DTC Brands:

I love the responsiveness of the team and the relentless pursuit of making your product better for us, which makes your product more valuable. It's a two-way street. It's not a static, stagnant product you're offering. It's evolving, it's getting better. And it's super valuable for us as a company.

Thanks, Jarred!

How do they know everything is working?

How NOOMA Measures Influencer Success Beyond Sales

NOOMA tracks the success of their influencer partnerships in two ways:

Coupon code redemptions

It's a straightforward measure of how many sales an influencer directly drives.

Earned media value (EMV)

They also look at the CPM of videos about their product. As Jarred puts it, "We love getting tagged. At the end of the day, it's almost like a little billboard."

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Calculating CPM helps them understand how many people saw their product and how cost-effective each influencer partnership is at generating that kind of visibility.

They're looking at the ripple effect of influencer content across their entire marketing.

Long-Term Strategy: A Diversified Influencer Portfolio

NOOMA has taken a thoughtful, strategic approach to its influencer marketing, recognizing that it's not about finding a single "home run" partnership. Instead, they will focus on building a diversified portfolio of influencer relationships to drive sustainable growth.

Rather than chasing the biggest names, NOOMA is more interested in finding a network of mid-tier influencers with highly engaged, receptive audiences.

The benefits are two-fold:

1. It mitigates risk. Not every influencer partnership will be a sweeping success. By spreading their bets across multiple influencers, they can balance out the hits and misses.
2. It will allow NOOMA to refine its targeting and onboarding. By testing different profiles and audiences, they can narrow down the "ideal" influencer persona with the right blend of reach, engagement, and affinity for the NOOMA brand.

Advice For Other Brands: Play it Smart, Play It Cool

One of the most frequently asked questions is getting influencers to say yes to partnering. What is the right message, tone, and offer to make them a. excited and b. sustain the partnership beyond a one-off exchange.

1. Jarred's first advice is to start small and not come off as too strong in your first message. Your focus should be on getting your product in their hands. Take an interest in who your prospects are, understand them, and see if they align with your brand before making the next move.
2. Secondly, you don't have to shy away from making your intentions clear. You can be open about your expectations without being overpowering. Think, "I'd love for you to try our product if you like it; I'd love to have the next conversation about working together."

Just starting out, take an actual interest, and get the product in their hand. Don't lie about not wanting them to post. But don't try to get married after one D.M.

We couldn't have summed it up better.

NOOMA's Playbook for Authentic Partnerships

By diversifying their influencer partnerships and using SARAL to streamline processes, NOOMA saved hours and built more robust, authentic relationships. This strategy has allowed NOOMA to focus on long-term growth, ensuring every partnership contributes to the brand's overall success.

To conclude, finding influencers who genuinely connect with your brand and using the right tools to manage these relationships will set you apart from other brands.