There’s no doubt that influencers can be a powerful marketing tool for businesses to promote their products and/or services. But deciding on what channels and which influencers would be the most impactful for a brand can be a challenge for some. In this article, you’ll find out what it takes to do influencer marketing right.
The right channel, the right influencer
Influencers can be found on every social platform, with Instagram being the finest and most popular amongst them. Nearly 80% of brands tap into Instagram for influencer promotions, followed by Facebook (46%), YouTube (36%) and Twitter (24%). Before identifying the right influencer, start by identifying the right channel for your brand. What social channels does your target audience visit for inspiration? TikTok can be the right channel when reaching out to a younger audience for example, while millennials still live on Facebook and Instagram. Once you’ve determined the right channel, the search for the right influencer that matches your values in that particular channel can begin.
Influencers can be roughly split into two groups; reach and niche. A macro influencer with a reach above one million may indeed result in the largest reach for your campaign, but this usually comes with a higher price tag. On the contrary, authenticity is becoming more important for brands, which is something that’s often easier to achieve for niche influencers with more targeted audiences. Don’t focus on following numbers only. Also bear in mind that a profile should match the company’s brand values and that the influencer should be someone who genuinely likes your product. In the end, influencers need to create trustworthy content, which is more likely to happen when they test and evaluate a product preferred by themselves. It’s an essential part to ensure a brand fits with your influencers.
More than just an influencer
There is no harm in asking for the influencers’ advice. After all, they know their audience’s behavior best, understand which content resonates most with them, and what type of posts showed great performance in the past and what didn’t. Use their experience to get the most out of your campaigns. That’s a win for both you and the influencer. What’s more, this mutual trust could potentially turn into a long term relationship. Allowing you to build relationships with an audience and promote your product over a long period of time.
At that stage of influencer marketing, the influencer becomes more than just an influencer. The influencer turns into a true brand advocate, becoming the face and persona representing the brand. Having a well-trusted person associated with your brand could have an incredible impact on the purchase behavior of your target audience.
Data-savvy
Influencer marketing has evolved into a data-driven industry with professional standards. The number of followers doesn’t account for unique reach any longer. It’s impossible to imagine a world without tracking the influencer promotions through UTM-codes. Campaign evaluation and benchmarking are the norm. Despite the human and creative aspects, influencer marketing is now measurable. Using data enables you to effectively tailor each campaign for maximum impact.
This all starts with a solid brief of the campaigns towards the influencers. Set clear objectives on campaign metrics such as demographics, unique reach, viewable impressions or video views, to measure success not only at the end but throughout the campaign period. Also, if the campaigns seem to be underperforming during a mid-term evaluation, the data will guide you towards the right moves in order to get back on track.
Moving target
It’s not just your own data and influencer insights that can be used to further develop your influencer promotions. Monitor the behavior of your competitors and keep a close eye on what’s done outside your industry, as the digital landscape is quick to experiment and evolve. Which influencers are brought on board, what is working for other brands and what could work for your business too? Consider assessing the work of others as a source of inspiration. Do not interpret this as “copy what others do”, but take out the key learnings from others and find a way to apply this to your brand.
Doing right in 2020
In Influencer Marketing 2019, Business Insider Intelligence shares their estimate on the influencer industry growing by 88% to being worth up to $15 billion dollars by 2022. All the more reason not to underestimate this marketing tool. Find the right influencers through the right channels for the perfect brand fit to reach your audience in authentic ways. Then the data will eventually show you how influencer marketing can elevate your brand.