Inside Influencer Marketing
By: Brynn Herncane
What is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is a digital marketing strategy involving a brand and a content creator/influencer. An influencer is an individual who has a large trusted social media following that has the potential to influence in specific industries to their following by promoting the item or brand on their socials. The brand and influencer collaborate to promote a product, service, or brand on social media platforms. The promoter is typically a popular social-media user but can also be a small content creator, depending on the brand’s needs and budget. Influencer marketing has always been around, but we have seen a large increase in the past years with the rise of TikTok, making it easy to produce digital ads for millions to see. How the collaboration works is the brand will research popular or trending influencers that have a high number of followers, which shows them how many users trust this influencer. They then reach out to the influencers that they think best align with their brand and would help them benefit from collaborating with them. The recommendations from the Influencer can help turn their following into possible customers for the brand. The value of influencer marketing is growing rapidly with the number of platforms an influencer can post on. Some reasons to consider using influencer marketing is brand awareness, audience targeting, build trust with your audience, and much more.
Types of Influencers
According to Sproutsocial there are four major types of influencers in influencer marketing. As the brand you’re not going to pick your influencer based off followers alone but based off their aesthetic, posts, values, and content types. You want to select the creators that match best with your brand image.
Mega Influencers: These are your celebrities, actors, musicians, artists, athletes, and other public figures. Their celebrity status is going to reach a diverse and large audience demographically. This will give your brand attention but collaborating with mega influencers is going to be expensive.
Macro Influencers: These influencers have an established media personality within their respective niches. These influencers gained their following by consistent content creation over time. These are often the most popular in influencer marketing because their following shares common interests.
Micro Influencers: These are smaller but on the rise influencers. Typically seen on YouTube and TikTok. This an inexpensive choice and will be easier marketing seen as their following is passionate and engaged in their niche content.
Nano Influencers: These influencers are more genuine and personable. They’ll be able to reach specific and targeted type audiences for a brand for the cheapest.
Steps to Develop a Successful Influencer Marketing Campaign
According to SproutSocial a successful influencer marketing campaign can be successful with five steps.
Research/Find influencers: finding the right influencer is the most important step in this process. You must conduct market research on your audience’s preferences in order to pick the right platform and right influencer.
Set a budget and management strategy: making sure you are able to sift through potential influencers, manage pricing negotiations, and review and approve content.
Decide on campaign goals and messaging: determine whether you want to attract a new demographic, introduce a new product/service, or just promote brand awareness. Ensure that your influencers content aligns with your overall goal.
Establish influencer outreach: connecting with influencer agencies for large content creators or reaching out to micro influencers by direct messaging them on social media.
Review and refine:After you have done your research and chosen your influencer make sure to go over strategies and have clear communication with your influencer
Conclusion
In conclusion, influencer marketing is here to stay. Brands take advantage of influencer marketing because it works for them and the consumers. It’s a simple and easy way to do digital marketing. Most of consumers purchases are from ads seen online. Plus, there is no shortage of influencers. Influencing people has become a full-time job, most of an influencer’s income comes from their paid ads and collaborations. It was reported that “In 2022, an analysis of more than 2,000 influencer marketing posts found that the strategy does yield a positive ROI for brands” (McKinsey, 2023). The numbers show that influencer marketing is at a constant rise and is positive and smart tool for brands. If you’re a brand you should highly consider tapping into influencer marketing.
References
· Sheikh, M. (2024, June 6). What is influencer marketing: How to develop your strategy. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/influencer-marketing/
· McKinsey & Company. (2023, April 10). What Is Influencer Marketing? Mckinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-influencer-marketing/