Companies are shifting towards influencer-style marketing, using regular customers and employees to promote their products. ResMed, a medical company, has started a social media campaign featuring users of its sleep apnea treatment device, called the CPAP Baddies. The campaign aims to normalize sleep apnea treatments, especially among women who are disproportionately undiagnosed.

Influencer-Style Marketing

ResMed’s approach is part of a larger trend, where companies are recognizing the value of ‘normal people’ content over polished campaigns. According to Keith Bendes, chief strategy officer at Linqia, ‘normal people’ content outperforms polished campaigns. The CPAP Baddies page has reached 4.2 million views over the past 30 days and has 6,200 followers across Instagram and TikTok.

Other companies, such as Starbucks, are also using influencer-style marketing. Some of these ‘baddies’ are paid through brand partnerships or ad revenue on posts. However, not all influencer-style marketing efforts are successful. The Baddies of Polymarket page, for example, hasn’t posted anything since April on X, and the company faced fierce scrutiny for its deceptive marketing tactics.

Marketing Tactics

Marketing tactics have drawn intense scrutiny, with some companies facing criticism for their approach. However, ResMed’s approach seems to be working, with the company seeing a payoff from its organic ambassadors. The internet was charmed by the ‘Staples Baddie,’ a TikTok user who worked as a print specialist at a Staples in upstate New York.

ResMed had to get creative with marketing an unsexy product like a CPAP machine. The company is facing headwinds from recent US Food and Drug Administration approval for a treatment for sleep apnea in adults with obesity, which could lead to a reduction in annual device sales. However, the company’s shift towards offline meetups and community pages has helped build brand loyalty in a different way.

Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.