The World of Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing is the type of social media marketing that uses endorsements and product mentions from influencers. The way it works is because of the high amount of trust that social influencers have developed with their followers. Recommendations from influencers can turn their followers into your brand’s potential future customers. Influencers are individuals who have a dedicated social following and are viewed as experts within their niche.
When Influencer Marketing started (about a decade ago), it all depended on whether your page had a certain look or was unique. Back then, if you were lucky enough to be featured on Instagram’s featured page, you had higher chances of being perceived as an influencer. It is all about the look of a post. Think about when you are scrolling through social media. What appeals to you? Most of the people that have made it to the influencer level post well thought out posts that have an aesthetic color combinations that make the content of the post stand out. For example, carefully propped up food that is placed against an interesting background.
In Influencer Marketing you may find two types of influencers. The first are the ones that have bought DSLR cameras and have mastered photo editing to get the perfect shot (Millennial influencers). The other types of influencers are the younger generation whose posts are mostly taken from their mobile phones.
The value of influencer marketing is continuing to grow at a rapid pace. Now there are more platforms on which influencers are making their mark than just Instagram. Now a days we have Instagram, Tik Tok, Snapchat and YouTube.
Like a generic marketing strategy, an influencer marketing strategy takes well though planning and targeting. To develop a successful influencer marketing campaign there are a couple of things that your company can do.
Steps to develop a successful influencer campaign:
1. The first step is research: first you need to focus on the the platform you want to focus on. It would be ideal that your focus platform is one where your brand is already present and may be looking to expand. The industry that your company is in is also a very important aspect of selecting a platform. For example, beauty and fashion brands shine on Instagram and YouTube while the video game industry dominates Twitch.
2. Set a budget and management strategy: here you should factor in the time for planning, executing and reviewing your influencer marketing program. Setting a successful influencer marketing strategy is not a set-it-and-go type of strategy it needs to be monitored closely and requires follow ups. You also, need to manage your group of influencers. Many influencer have many partnerships and may fall behind at times on their commitments.
3. Decide on goals and message: the two main reasons for using influencer marketing are to increase brand awareness and company sales. The message is just as important as those goals. People want to see brands that are creative and unique and one who conveys a strong message.
4. Influencer outreach/how to contact influencer: the question you have to ask when selecting an influencer are: Does the influencer already post about similar things to your service? Are they legit? Have they worked with similar brands before? If you can answer yes to all three of these then you probably have found yourself a proper influencer to represent your brand.
5. Review and refine your strategy: establish pre-determined dates in which you will measure the progress of your campaign. Not all campaigns are successful and it is important to monitor them to see where the campaign can be improved.
In conclusion, influencers are here to stay. They are the future of social media marketing. Look how far they have come in such little time and in five years time they are probably going to be even more ahead. Even though that there are unique things to take into consideration when working with influencers the influencer marketing campaign is very similar to a normal marketing campaign: research, set a budget, determine goals, find your influencers and review and revise.
References:
Geyser, Werner. “The Ultimate Influencer Marketing Blueprint for 2022.” Influencer Marketing Hub, 2 Mar. 2022, influencermarketinghub.com//influencer-marketing/.