Influencer marketing is a popular marketing
method that uses people called influencers to promote a service or brand to a
larger market. Influential people are leaders of opinion who have a social
basis. They appear as experts or reliable sources of information.
If you want to explore the benefits of
influential marketing, choose some helpful tips, and learn from some examples,
keep reading. In this article, we will also teach you how to start influencer
marketing for your brand.
Why is
influencer marketing important?
Influencer marketing is closely related to social
media marketing because most opinion leaders gather their audience on social
platforms. This channel gives access to a huge audience - half of the world's
population uses social media.
Even better, influencer marketing allows you to
reach people you can't reach through traditional advertising. Two-thirds of
consumers use ad blockers, but the same people gladly take advice from
influential people. 80% of users buy something based on an impressive
recommendation.
Brands that already employ influencer-based
marketing have proven the effectiveness of this channel. 89% of marketers say
that the ROI of influential marketing is comparable to or better than that of
other marketing channels. Not surprisingly, 17% of companies spend more than
half of their marketing budget on influential people.
Thus, influencer marketing is crucial in the age
of social media and advertising fatigue. This channel helps build confidence in
your brand and produces impressive results. Now, let's move on to the other
benefits of influential marketing offers
How does
Influencer Marketing work?
Of course, influencer marketing is a must today.
So your decision will be about choosing the type of influencers from the sea of
categories, platforms, and channels. Which gives more benefits? Which one
aligns with your needs?
How to do
Influencer Marketing?
Now let's see how to develop a strategy for an
influencer marketing campaign.
Set your
Goals for an Influencer Campaign
It is important to understand that influencer
marketing is not based on the number of followers. It’s actually about
connecting influencers with the right followers. For this, you must first
identify what your purpose is with the promotion. If you're still in doubt,
check out examples of goals:
●
Increase the visibility of the
brand to a specific audience
●
Increase website visitors
●
Increase the number of followers
on a particular social network
●
Create more engagement
●
Downloading a specific element
●
Register for the event
●
The older generation
●
Increase sales
If you don’t have a clear purpose, it will be
very difficult to measure your success at the end of your campaign. Once you've
identified your purpose, it's time to figure out what kind of campaign you want
to run.
Your purpose also determines what kind of
influencer you will work with. Not the kind of attitude that influencers adopt,
on any social network.
Planning
your Campaign
Various campaigns are going on with influential
people. If you really want to achieve your goals, it is important to identify
the right campaign.
You can ask an influencer to simply mention your
brand or do an in-depth review of a product or create content with you.
Sometimes brands allow influential people to take their social media profiles
and allow them to manage their outreach for a certain period of time.
Like any marketing strategy, an influencer
campaign requires guidance and planning. You do not have the required
permissions to post. Even if your campaign is based on sending samples or free
demos, your plan should be designed and the results tracked.
The purpose of any content marketing campaign is
to show you how you can add value to your audience. In the case of influential
marketing, you need to prove that you can add value to an influential audience.
Finding
Brand Influencers
It is impossible to find the right influencer
unless you know who you want to influence.
Therefore, you should already know your ideal
client. If so, keep that in mind when looking for influencers. The more you can
narrow down your audience for the campaign in question, the easier it will be
to select the right influencer. In another blog article here, we explain in
more detail how to find brand influencers.
Managing
Influencer Marketing Campaigns
After defining the objectives, designing the
campaign, and deciding who will be influential, it is time for a briefing.
A campaign overview is a clear explanation of
what a brand expects from influencers, including guidelines and rules. The
important thing is to make it clear to influencers what their role in the
campaign will be and what the brand is offering in return.
When a relationship exists between the brand and
the influencer, it is easy to move on. Because influential people already know
what a brand offer has in common. If it is not, the first contact for
presentation and clarification is interesting.
Working
with Influencers
It is very important that you remember that real
influencers will only be willing to work with you if they believe that your
product adds value to their followers.
While the best influencers can be expensive, they
don’t engage their audience on their blogs or social channels just for the
money. Influencer marketing is not just about paying someone to say good things
about you.
People are only accepted as influencers because
they add value. If they try to pitch irrelevant or unprepared products to their
followers, they will quickly lose credibility. So they will not be influential.
No matter how much you pay your influencers, your
brand needs to provide something valuable for your following foundation. There
is no point in trying to work with influential people who have a different
audience than you.
There are many potential ways to work with
influencers. Here are some examples:
●
Send samples or demos with
discount coupons for him to invite his followers.
●
Ask for a review. Of course, in
this case, you need to be very confident in your product and willing to hear
negative feedback. Remember, the real influencer will be sincere.
●
Build competition among the
influential, and give big prizes to those who will get the best results.
●
Pay for sponsored content.
Influencers
are like paid media
This is another important point to mention. The
way you invest in ads on social media, you can invest in ads created by
influencers.
When you pay for an ad, you're investing in more
visibility. A particular channel will present its offer to its subscribers,
readers, listeners, or viewers. For example, influential people like a TV
station have their audience. So when you’re campaigning with an influencer,
you’re buying media in a way.
There are different levels of participation of an
influential person in a campaign. Some campaigns are based solely on
influential people. But often, influencers are just one part of the overall
marketing strategy. You can even choose to include influencers in every step of
your marketing, from research to planning.
Checklist
for Influencer Marketing Campaign
Each campaign will have a specific checklist.
Because it will depend on many factors, such as what social network the game
has and how the short is made. But, here is a summary of the main actions.
●
Set your goals
●
Define your performance metrics
●
Choose your method to find the
influential ones
●
Determine your campaign manager,
budget and resources required
●
Determine what the incentives
given by the influencers will be
●
Verify and examine potential
influencers
●
Give a brief definition of the
campaign
●
Communicate with influential
people, it will already depend on your relationship with them
●
Discuss with influential people
and remove all doubts
●
Create relevant content or track
content that influencers are creating
●
Make sure there is transparency in
your campaign, for example, is your influencer letting you know that it is a
paid partnership?
●
Monitor and support influencers as
needed
●
Track your performance metrics
Conclusion
For influential people to stay here, they are
part of the Creator’s economy. However, this does not mean that working with
them today is always done the same way. The world of influencer marketing has
changed a lot in a short time and in a few years, we may have more news. This
guide will help you get started with your strategy. Still, it is important to
be prepared for change.
Influencer marketing works hand in hand with
content marketing. To be successful, brands need to believe that influential
people present them correctly. If you choose influential people whose followers
are close to your goal, then you have a chance of a successful campaign.