Influencer marketing has proven itself to be one of the most effective ways to reach a targeted audience and drive brand awareness. People are exposed to an overwhelming influx of advertisements daily, and with the rise of ad-blocking software, consumers are tuning out traditional marketing techniques.
With more than 1 in 4 minutes of internet time being spent on social media, and over 2,000,000 blog posts written every day, Marketers are quickly discovering the power of influencers, with 87% planning on launching at least one influencer marketing campaign this year. Considering that influencer marketing is fairly new, it’s important to make sure you keep the following tips in mind when considering influencer marketing for your company to ensure the most effective campaign possible.
1. FIND THE RIGHT INFLUENCERS FOR YOUR BRAND
Identifying the right influencers can be the most difficult part of influencer marketing. Influencers essentially become an extension of your brand, which makes it crucial that they represent your brand’s mission. Research the influencers to make sure they will be a positive association with your brand and that the interests of their followers align with what you’re promoting.
Although the industries of fashion and beauty, health and fitness, food and beverage, consumer technology, and consumer packaged goods have an easier time identifying the right influencers, influencer marketing can work well for almost any industry, it might just require a little bit of more effort to find the right influencers and create the most effective messaging.
2. DON’T FIXATE ON FOLLOWER COUNT
Marketers are naturally attracted to statistics and often focus on influencers with larger follower counts, but smaller ones can easily outperform them when engagement is taken into consideration. A recent survey showed that 72% of Marketers say relevancy is more important than reach, which solidifies the notion that context is key.
Engagement rates and the type of engagement posts receive will determine if an influencer’s followers will respond to what you’re marketing. A massive following isn’t as important as ensuring that the influencer is reaching your brand’s target market.
3. GIVE YOUR INFLUENCER CREATIVE FREEDOM
The influencers have managed to accumulate their followings for a reason, which makes it important that you give them complete creative control when it comes to promoting your product or service. Of course you need to be comfortable that the content they develop will respect and work within your brand’s content guidelines.
Promoting in the vein of an infomercial won’t resonate with followers and will come off unauthentic. The influencer understands their followers better than anyone else and will know what will work and what won’t. The more organic a promotion appears in a post, the better the followers will respond to it.
4. DON’T JUST OPT FOR ONE MEGA-INFLUENCER
Micro-influencers tend to have significantly more engaged followers, which makes securing multiple smaller influencers a better and more effective approach than having just one mega-influencer for the same price.
Opting for one mega-influencer limits your marketing budget by concentrating all resources in one place. Covering more ground with more than one influencer will help you better understand your brand’s most receptive audience.
Depending on your budget and specific goals, working with one or multiple mega-influencers or celebrities might make sense for your brand, but there are many factors for you to consider prior to making that decision.
5. DON’T NEGLECT OTHER MARKETING CAMPAIGNS
Influencer marketing can generate significant brand awareness, but it’s important that you have more to offer when those potential consumers decide to look you up. When focusing on influence marketing, brands often neglect their other campaigns, which is a mistake.
Influencers should compliment your overall marketing because some followers might need further promotion or research prior to being sold on your product or service. An always-on influencer marketing strategy would also help as audiences will be exposed to more positive content about your brand from multiple sources over a period of time, increasing the likelihood of them purchasing your product or service.
6. CONSTANTLY TRACK YOUR CAMPAIGN
Adjustments may be necessary to get the most effective response from your campaign. Continually tracking metrics using various analytical tools will help you understand what changes need to be made in order to maximize the results of your influencer campaign.
Influencer marketing isn’t just a one-step solution and should be treated as you would any other marketing campaign. Using influencers to market products or services can be a powerful tool, but attentive research and persevering effort are vital to ensure success.
Read more: Influencer Marketing Strategy: ContentMarketer.io Review