What you need to know about Influencer Marketing

What you need to know about Influencer Marketing

The advent of Instagram and other social platforms witnessed the rise of influencer marketing, which is a relatively new form of online marketing. Influencer Marketing can be described as a combination of new and old marketing tools. It refers to celebrity endorsement marketing in today’s content marketing-driven scenario.

Influencer marketing does not necessarily always involve celebrities. It is mainly a collaboration between brands and influencers who may not be popular offline.

Influencers

An influencer is someone who can:

• Affect other people’s decision to purchase a product or service thanks to their online position, relationship with the audience, knowledge, or authority.

• They also have a following in a specific niche where they engage their followers regularly.

Unlike today’s influencer marketing, traditional marketing would often fail to make a distinction between celebrities and online influencers. Influencers put in the work to amass the following they have through engaging and interactive content.

influencer-marketing

When a brand partners with an influencer, they are essentially exposing themselves to a new target audience. This audience does not know or care about the brand in question. They primarily care what the influencer thinks of the brand.

What is Influencer Marketing?

Fundamentally, influencer marketing is a sort of social media marketing that makes use of individual endorsements and product mentions. These individuals have a dedicated following on social media platforms, which means their opinions are held in high regard. In other words, when you approach them and get them to market your brand, you are effectively building social proof.

The more followers they have, the bigger your audience. You need to find influencers in your niche and approach them to get your brand out there.

How to build an influencer marketing strategy?

If you plan on approaching an influencer to expand your target audience and online recognition, here are a few steps you need to follow to do this:

Identify your goals and plan your message

Influencer marketing is primarily useful to boost your brand awareness and sales. While these are the general goals of just about every brand, you could figure out precisely what you want out of an influencer marketing campaign.

Your brand may have specific needs that you want to take care of. Put in the time and work to identify what you want before you partner with an influencer and launch your campaign.

Secondly, you need to plan your message and what you want your audience to gain from this marketing campaign. Since your influencers have a niche audience, you need to plan your message carefully to ensure they understand what you are trying to say.

Get the message right and you can expect the influencer’s followers to latch on to your product or content if they like it, thereby increasing your engagement. In other words, be very clear with what you want.

Research influencers and figure out what to pay them

As with anything related to content, you need to do your research. You need to figure out your goals, niche, target audience, and then zero-in on the network you want to focus on. While you can look for your ideal influencer in multiple networks, you should start with one, especially if you are a beginner.

Consider your brand, products, and the demographic you are appealing to as you look for the right influencer. You also need to consider your niche and make sure you are searching for influencers in the right place. For instance, you can find beauty and fashion influencers in spades on Instagram and YouTube. If you want a large pool of influencers to choose from, consider hiring an influencer marketing agency.

As you do this, you need to ask yourself what kind of influencer you are going for? Want an influencer with a massive following? Or an influencer in a small niche with less (but hardcore) fans. You need to figure this out as it will determine your budget.

This brings us to compensation. You need to look at the rates influencers of your desired type typically charge. Niche influencers generally accept products and are willing to focus on certain topics. Some work on their own while others have an agency. The relatively larger influencers often require compensation to market your brand. The rates depend on your niche, how popular the influencer is, your marketing campaign, and many other things.

As you do this, you need to consider your Return on Investment (ROI) and figure out how much you want to spend.

Budget your marketing campaign

Once you have a list of influencers and a general idea of their rates, you need to set aside a budget for your marketing campaign. Now would also be an excellent time to plan your campaign before you launch it.

Influencers usually do not rely on an automated ad strategy, which means that they will personally correspond with you. This also means that they may fall behind on their commitments because they have multiple clients to handle. You will have to be patient and follow up with them carefully.

Conclusion

If Instagram growth is your brand’s objective, influencer marketing is not a bad idea. However, as mentioned, you need to do your research, be clear with what you want, and prepare to set aside a substantial budget, especially if you plan on working with a popular influencer with a significantly high audience. The tips in this article should help you get started in no time.