On July 18, Cindy Krupp, Founder of Krupp Group and Co-founder of 28 ROW, brought together a group of young women currently enrolled and newly graduated from U.S.-based universities for a panel discussion on the impact of peer influencer marketing.

Joining the conversation were Liz Cerreto (@lizcerreto, Rutgers University), Madison Krause (@gaptoothginger, New York University), and Madi Kahn (@madiizk, University of Pennsylvania).

What makes these three so appealing? They are considered nano-influencers, with followers ranging between 3,000 and 6,200 and engagement rates of 15-20 percent (micro or macro influencers traditionally have 2% engagement). They are more likely to convert products they wear on Instagram than some of the largest influencers around.

Cracking the code on how to access this college demographic can be complicated and expensive. Unless you’re a brand that has the budget to set up a booth during orientation and hand out free product and discount codes, how are you getting the attention of these incredibly influential students?

Using the power of peer influencer marketing, 28 ROW authentically helps brands build brands awareness and drive sales. The girls who are part of the program are not necessarily on the path to being lifelong influencers, nor are they concerned with growing their following to be the next Something Navy, and that is perhaps why they are so successful because their bring a level of authenticity and genuineness to everything they share.

Here are some highlights from the conversation:

What are brands doing on social media that is affective in reaching you?

Liz Ceretto: They’re reaching out, they’re finding the students that have a great look to their Instagram, have a good following, and are providing us codes that we can then share with our followers who are our friends. The incentive of receiving 20 percent drives our followers to a brands website and once they’re there, they usually purchase.

Madi Kahn: Some brands have ambassador programs, like Victoria Secret, but those are open applications, whereas with 28 ROW, Janie Smukler [co-founder of 28 ROW] has recruited us.

Cindy Krupp: What differentiates 28 ROW from ambassadors programs is that ambassadors are restricted to posting exclusively for that brand. Through 28 ROW, we saw that women didn’t want to be pegged down to working with one brand, so we offer our influencers the opportunity to work with many brands that represent their lifestyle.

Madison Krause: it’s an organized approach, where we are given more space to do things that are authentic to our brand. And that’s really important to me, that I don’t have to follow strict guidelines and rules, because then my followers will know that it’s an ad and it’s not really me.

If a brand approaches you, what appeals to you?

Cerreto: Products needs to make sense for me. If a brand is asking me to wear one of their bathing suits in the middle of winter, that’s not going to happen. Additionally, if a brand asks me to pay for their product, I don’t think that’s a fair trade. I’m looking for an exchange of product for a post.

Krause: I also want to control getting to pick my posts, whereas some brands will make you post the pictures that they prefer. Our followers and friends know us, and they can see when it’s not authentically us.

How are brand getting in front of you?

Krause: Our generation is all about it technology and it’s made us kind of lazy. Unlike our parents who went into the store, I want to get it in the mail. And now, with being able to swipe up and shop on Instagram, it makes it so much easier. And since we have a smaller following compared to major influencers, our followers can DM us and ask us questions about size and fit, and they know they will get an answer. They are always reaching out asking us questions about what we are wearing, where we bought something, regardless of it’s a sponsored post or not.

Krupp: These influencers want you to be thoughtful with your outreach. Don’t send them a mass DM, personalize your communication (mention something about them that you love and how it’s is in line with your brand) and brands needs to be ready to invest in the partnership right away. Approaching an influencer with value and clearly outlining what type of partnership you want is the best plan of action.

What is the added value in working with you?

Krause: When I like a product, I genuinely like it and I want to wear it. I went to Australia and brought several of the 28 ROW brand pieces had already posted about and I continued to post and tag the brand since I liked wearing them. It’s common to get one post out of a traditional influencer, but with us, you get a lot more. And since we’re not getting paid a lot of money, we are really picky about what brands we want to work with because they have to make sense for us, and we really want to wear them.

Kahn: When you have a smaller network of followers, it’s much easier for them to reach out and ask about where we bought something, or how much it was. And they actually hear from us. We work with fewer brands, so we post branded content less frequently, so we bring more creativity to those post that are sponsored.

Ceretto: Our networks are our friends and friends of friends, so when they DM us, we can tell them how we feel about the brand and we can engage in this truthful conversation with them. We’re also using the products all the time – when we’re in class, at the gym, at work, we’re always around people and people will always ask us where we got it. It’s a more natural connection to introduce a brand to someone we meet.

Does #Ad or #Partnership dissuade your audience when they know you’ve been contracted to work with the brand?

Ceretto: You need to find a balance.

Kahn: It still draws in their interest as long as the rest of the caption is natural and authentic to you. You don’t want it to look like it was written by a marketing person.

Krause: Brands need to let their influencers be authentic and write their own captions.

What motivates you to shop?

Krause: I usually like to offer a discount code that offers my followers between 20-30 percent off a purchase. If it’s less than that, it just covers shipping and that’s not enough incentive for my followed. The average shopping price point for me and my followers is $200.

Kahn: It varies on where you are and what the product is. But when a girl is really eager to buy something, there are services now like Afterpay which can help us get something quicker and more immediately without having to pay for it all upfront. I can add as many things I want to my shopping cart and only have to pay for a quarter of the total price when I make the purchase. I don’t even notice when the balance is deducted from my bank account over the course of the remaining months.

If you are interested in learning more, please contact Janie Smukler janie@28row.com

Pictured: Madison Krause, Cindy Krupp, Liz Cerreto, and Madi Kahn.