Influencer marketing has gained its clout because of one major reason: traditional advertising no longer woos customers as effectively.
Influencer marketing is powerful because it combines strategies including word-of-mouth marketing and social proof, which are now essentials to any successful marketing strategy. Brands ‘ collaboration with influencers is a popular tactic because it is quick, easy, and inexpensive. It promotes their goods or services, reaches a big audience, and produces results.
Statistical research conducted by various companies shows that influencers have been influential for business in both measurable KPIs and intangible gains. Here is what Smart Insights has to say about influencers and brands working in tandem:
- 51% of marketers said they have access to better customers because of influencers
- 71% of marketers believe that a strong relationship with an influencer is the most effective part of an influencer marketing strategy
- For every $1 spent on influencers, businesses are making $6.50
- Presently the influencer marketing industry has inflated to a size of $5 – $10 billion
It is no longer a discussion of WHETHER a brand should be engaging with an influencer. Now it is all about HOW to include influencer marketing to explode your presence in the social world.
Need For A Massive Online Presence
The biggest change that the 2020 lockdown brought is that consumers have finally made their move to digital.
TikTok has gone mainstream; podcasts are now a part of our daily lives; and Instagram has evolved into a video-first, shopping-oriented platform. Consumers also have the option of opting out of advertising wherever possible. We have entered a new era of democratic media consumption, in which consumers decide what they want to listen to and whom they trust.
As a result, the digital market is becoming increasingly congested. With the emergence of the attention economy, we’re witnessing a new type of trade in which firms compete for client attention by creating engaging, entertaining content. When consumers are eager, active players in the marketing scheme, digital marketing’s true genius is shown. From changing algorithms to competition, marketers can’t afford to take their foot off the pedal. They might suffer in the long run if they don’t do everything they can to optimize their presence.
Influencer Marketing Tactics To Amplify Your Brand’s Presence – And Give You A Jumpstart Once You’re Ready To Launch!
Influencer endorsements are hands-down the best tactic to get your products in front of your consumers in a relatable, humane way. Here are some tips to involve influencers from the get-go so your brand doesn’t lose out on the trend that is not dying out anytime soon.
1. Involvement right from launch phase
Involving an influencer from the first step in your product’s life cycle can reap better rewards in the long term. Millennials, reportedly, tend to purchase a product that has been used and reviewed by their favorite influencer. Brands should also be looking at nurturing a long-term relationship with the influencer. Influencers and companies can form a strong connection with this type of transaction because they better grasp what the company is giving and how to portray it best. The brand sees that the influencer can be trusted to provide quality content.
2. Partner with local influencers
You could be a global company that has the means to get famous celebrities as brand endorsers. However, the rise of social media has brought forth the importance of local influencers whose reach may not be on a mega level but their engagement can outshine celebrities. These local influencers can be the spokespersons for your brand and bring results in your sales. This puts a lot of onus on the influencer a brand chooses to collaborate with.
For example, Tao Liang is a Chinese influencer who posts handbags on WeChat and Weibo, two famous Chinese social media sites. Mr. Bags, as he is known, has already worked with several international handbag brands, including Tod’s of Italy, where his WeChat promotional posts resulted in 3.24 million RMB (almost $500,000) in limited-edition handbag sales in just six minutes.
Figure 1: Tao Liang (@mrbagss), a local influencer endorsing big brands to local sites, WeChat. Source: Instagram
3. More creative freedom to the influencers
The beauty of influencer marketing is the content created by influencers. Influencers are gifted people who have the power to create something spectacular. It saves you and your team a lot of time and effort when brainstorming and developing new ideas. It’s a tried and true strategy to give your influencers a lot of creative flexibility. According to a Crowdtap study, 77% of influencers prefer to collaborate with firms that provide creative freedom. Also, they are experts at knowing what clicks with their audience. So, once you have oriented them with your brand, leave it up to them to do what they are known for!
4. Opt for long term collaborations
Collaboration that is effective and efficient is critical to achieving the best results. Finding influencers who can serve as brand ambassadors is a successful influencer marketing strategy in the long run.
Many well-known brands have worked with the same influencers on all of their campaigns. They don’t consider such relationships to be one-time transactions. Of course, the influencer’s interests and niche must coincide with the brand’s.
You also save on time and energy on last-minute adjustments because your influencer already speaks your language and won’t need too much handholding.
5. The magic of micro-influencers
Micro-influencers have maximum persuasive power, all wrapped up in a small package. Their connections and influence are stronger because of this close-knit community. This is why working with micro-influencers to help you run a successful campaign is a great move. Another incentive to choose micro-influencers is that they are cost-effective to work with. 87% of them charge less than $500 for an Instagram post.
Micro-influencer collaborations are a viable influencer marketing strategy that can help you engage your target audience more effectively. Finding the ideal ones for your brand can be a challenge. You may have to do a lot of scrub work before you find a good one.
6. Make influencers the center of your campaigns
Gymshark, a popular workout clothing brand, has created its entire marketing exclusively around influencers of all sizes and shapes (no pun intended). Influencers create content for Instagram and have meet-ups in gyms and health centers where they have live interactions with customers. Gymshark went for $0 to $1.5million in just two years, all because of influencers at the center. They now also have an almost cult-like following.
Figure 2: Gymshark keeps influencers at the center of its marketing tactics. Source: Instagram
Influencers can be the answer to improving your ROI if you know how to do it well. This influencer marketing tactic will shake up your promotional initiatives to the next level.
7. Monitor, analyze and optimize
If you want to employ influencer marketing to build your brand, you’ll need the correct tools. You require this for a variety of reasons. One of them is that 78% of marketers find calculating the ROI of influencer initiatives tough. 45$ of them say that finding an influencer is a challenging task.
Whether to find the right influencers, manage content schedules or keep track of payments and performance, a tool can help you stay organized and on top of things.
8. Look beyond Instagram
Instagram is the most popular place for influencer marketing, according to a HubSpot Blog Research report from 2021. Surprisingly, though, it is not the platform that generates the most significant ROI.
That is Facebook.
This doesn’t mean Instagram will go obsolete anytime soon. However, it appears that more firms are looking outside Instagram for ways to supplement their marketing efforts.
Keep a lookout for influencer marketing on YouTube, Tik Tok, Snapchat, Twitch and Pinterest in 2022, particularly if your target demographic is GenZers.
9. Don’t expect overnight success
Influencer marketing may appear to be a quick-win marketing tactic, but it isn’t. A well-known influencer may be able to promote your company to a wide audience quickly. Converting those individuals into long-term consumers, on the other hand, can require a lot of time and effort. Brands have to spend time following mentions, online customer complaints/queries, and other hitches and respond to them smartly and in time. Remember, you are building a reputation, and it takes time to do that well.
10. Watch out for wolves among the sheep
While everyone sings praises about the wonder-working power of influencer marketing, it is naive to believe that only good things will come from it. Among all the hardworking influencers, there are hidden fake influencers. A study showed that more than 50% of the influencers have resorted to unethical ways to misrepresent their follower numbers. Brands should not rush through their vetting process nor slack off in following up with the influencers routinely. Also, put in the time to manually check out the engagement on their profiles, whether the majority of it is from real people or bots, pods, or fake accounts.
On A Shoestring Budget? No Problem! Amplify Your Brand, Without Breaking The Bank
Paid Facebook and Instagram advertising have a place. On the other hand, your core marketing plan can be more cost-effective. There are strategies to keep your costs down while still attracting attention on social media.
Let your fans contribute
User-generated content has been demonstrated to generate 6.9 times higher brand engagement than original material. And you won’t have to spend any time or money on it.
You can ask your customers to get creative in advertising your business in a variety of ways. Whether it is creating reels, memes, or sharing pictures, you can get much attention with content from your audience.
Go to the hangout spot
If you know what makes your consumers click, a seemingly basic strategy like providing a relevant hashtag can go a long way toward boosting engagement. Focus on media preferences to take that technique further and increase engagement. Starbucks’ @Tweetacoffee campaign used its customers’ massive Twitter following to boost brand awareness. Starbucks generated $180,000 in sales by engaging followers on Twitter and encouraging them to share coffee with friends. At least 27,000 people participated in the initiative at no expense to the company.
Make a video
Video’s power is undeniable: a whopping 92% of mobile video watchers like sharing their favorite clips with others. The low-hanging fruit of audience involvement is this. Even low-budget videos may receive a lot of attention on Facebook Live, IGTV, and Snapchat.
The most crucial thing is to make continuously entertaining and fascinating films, such as Benefit’s popular “tipsy tricks” series. Hosts give cosmetic suggestions to their 60,000 Facebook Live viewers based on their preferences, and they keep people coming back week after week by posting new content.
Figure 3: Benefit’s FB live videos have thousands of views and engagement. Source: Facebook
Ready To Increase Brand Awareness?
Digital influence is simply a modern iteration of the age-old practice of word of mouth, delivered via new virtual platforms to huge audiences over the world. It’s about time marketeers acknowledge the power of influencers and work with them to help brands grow faster. The influencer marketing strategies we just covered will significantly help you launch successful campaigns.
What will help more is getting expert help in finding the right influencers for your brand without investing the time you’d rather spend building your business. AtisfyReach is dedicated to helping brands like you build long-term relationships with influencers. You can find influencers and manage your entire influencer marketing campaigns from a single dashboard. Our AI-based platform enables you to do a lot more with no hassles so you can amplify your brand’s presence on social media.
Register with AtisfyReach today.
