21-year-old Ben Jeffries launches new influencer marketing platform

Influencer, a new web platform that allows brands to collaborate with social media content creators, has been launched by 21-year-old entrepreneur Ben Jeffries.

The platform says it connects brands with the “right content creators” – or ‘micro-influencers’ – who have more than 10,000 followers on social media.

In effect, it takes a brief from a brand and matches it to relevant content creators who suit the brand best, whether they cover fashion, technology or food and drink.

Content creators will “make the brief their own” to keep their content consistent and authentic for their followers.

In exchange for producing and sharing content for the brand through the Influencer platform, a creator will get paid a campaign fee, assessed on a case-by-case basis from an ‘Influence Score.’

Now 21, Jeffries experimented with his first business venture, Breeze, when he was 16. It was at this point he had the idea for Influencer since Breeze attempted to advertise through ‘micro-celebrities’ who came with a loyal fan base but without the “premium” price tag.

In 2015, just as he joined Bath University, Jeffries was shortlisted for the Virgin Media Business “VOOM 2016” competition and became the winner of Young Start Up Talent 2016, where he secured £50,000 worth of prizes.

Shortly after this he made the decision to go onto Crowdcube to secure his first round of funding. Within 24 hours, the £100,000 target was exceeded and within three days he hit £152,000 from 139 different investors.

Jeffries said: “Influencer marketing is buzzword that brands know but often don’t quite understand or use to full effect. A hefty 90% of people trust peer recommendations over only 33% of consumers trusting online ads.

“People are increasingly savvy – being influenced to buy something is different to being told to buy something and 15 million people use adblockers in the UK – and that’s the beauty of social media marketing because the followers actually want to see the products because they trust that they’re relevant to their interests.”

Influencer can engage specifically with students at a certain university by tapping into content creators who study, or have studied, there.

Jeffries added: “It seemed like something no other platform was doing, so we took the opportunity to make sure we could connect with universities skillfully – a really useful feature for brands looking to connect with students.”

To sign up as a content creator or if you’re a brand looking to collaborate, visit https://influencer.uk