Marketing marketing marketing. It is such an omnipresent component of all businesses. The multitude of marketing strategies range from traditional marketing to digital marketing, email marketing to guerrilla marketing, and many more…
Needless to say, in this age of internet and social media, some marketing strategies are definitely more effective and relevant to others. This leads us to today’s topic of “Influencer Marketing”, which many in the industry had dubbed the “Marketing’s Next Big Thing”.
Before we elaborate on this hot topic, we must first understand what is an “influencer”. In general, an influencer is a compelling figure with sway over your target audience. Today’s prominent influencers fit into the following categories:
Celebrities: Artists, athletes and pop culture stars
Industry experts
Micro- and nano-influencers: Individuals with impact on social media
Bloggers and content creators
The bulk of influencer marketing today occurs in social media, most commonly Instagram and Facebook. Micro/Nano-influencers and bloggers are the most cost-effective way to garner awareness and access instant credibility for growing brands.
Here are some key metrics:
80% of marketers say influencer marketing is effective, and 89% say it works just as well (if not better) than other marketing channels.
71% of marketers say the quality of customers and traffic from influencer marketing is better than other sources.
49% of consumers today depend on influencer recommendations for their purchase decisions. 60% say they've been influenced by a recommendation when shopping in-store.
Google searches for "influencer marketing" grew 1500% in the last three years.
48% of marketers say working with influencers say audience relationship is the most valuable factor when considering which influencer to collaborate with.
Influencer marketing strategies focused on branding or engagements generate 8x ROI.
The top three goals of influencer marketing for businesses include increasing brand awareness (85%), reaching new audiences (71%), and generating sales and conversions (64%).
These go to show how much potential there is in engaging influencers.
Create an influencer marketing strategy
Like any marketing tactic, an influencer program takes deliberate targeting and planning. Doing some research can help you better reach out to your target audience.
How to choose a social media influencer
Find influencers who complement your needs
What is the focus of your brand?
Who are your target audience?
Are you going for celebrities with massive followings? Or micro-influencers with less than 2000 followers? Whatever you decide to focus on will determine your budget.
How to work with an influencer
Sponsor posts: Pay for them to post about your brand’s product and services
Gift them with goods and services in exchange for a review: This is can rather labour-intensive
Guest posts: Ask people to write on your website, or request to place a piece of content on their blog
Decide goals and message
Influencers have the ability to reach targeted audiences who are likely to be interested in your product reads and engages in your content. Be specific whether you want the influencers to promote a new product to increase sales or that you want them to talk about your brand values to improve brand reputation.
Estimate budget
Compare your expectations for influencers to other firms: Look at how you might gauge the budget for a video production firm’s work in creating an ad for you versus an influencer creating a video.
How to measure effectiveness
Some of the metrics to keep an eye on are:
Engagement: Likes, shares, comments, retweets, mentions, hashtags, direct messages
Reach: Number of views
Increase in website traffic
Clicks: Direct link to your website, a CTA, a social media giveaway, or a sign-up form
Social awareness surveys
Conversions: Number of leads who become customers
Return on investment (ROI): Divide the benefit by the cost of the influencer marketing
Increase in follower count: Your number of social media followers or blog subscribers
Conclusion
Influencer marketing is here to stay although it will always be evolving in many possible ways, like for example taking place on new channels like TikTok. Hence it is important to be ready for change. This guide will help you to get the basics right for building an influencer marketing strategy. Success varies between brands so don’t give up if your first one is a failure. You might find that collaborating with influencers is wildly beneficial to everyone.
Reference from HubSpot and Sproutsocial
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