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Influencer marketing is a form of marketing that focuses on using key leaders to drive your brand’s message to the larger market. Rather than marketing directly to a large group of consumers, you instead inspire / hire / pay influencers to get the word out for you.
Influencer marketing often goes hand-in-hand with two other types of marketing: social-media marketing and content marketing. Most influencer campaigns have some sort of social-media component, whereby influencers spread the word through their personal social channels. Many influencer campaigns also carry a content element in which either you create content for the influencers, or they create the content themselves and upload it. Though social-media and content marketing often fit inside influencer campaigns, they are not same with influencer marketing.
Instagram was easier 5-6 years back than today. If you were lucky enough to be featured on Instagram’s featured page or your look was just distinctive enough, then your chances of being tapped as an influencer were quite high. After bagging enough brand partnerships, some have turned influencer marketing into a full-time career.
We’re highly influenced by what we see and aesthetics are no different. Bright images, bold colors are more common now as well as carefully propped up food against interesting backgrounds.
To be a fashion influencer among this younger demographic, you may no longer need to rely solely on perfectly shot photos against a good backdrop. Instead, more casual poses and limited editing are now becoming more welcome on the feed.
Why is influencer marketing important??
The influence culture has changed the way we buy things—forever. Roughly 67 percent of brands report that they are engaged in some form of influencer marketing, a number that’s likely to grow as social media influencers gain more mainstream exposure and popularity. With demand on the rise, the influencer culture is shifting toward more streamlined solutions, embracing tools like influencer networks, match-making platforms services and even programmatic to help brands tap influencers more easily. Brands that aren’t part of it are losing control and visibility. Consumers now control the buyer’s journey, and they are getting harder to reach with just digital advertising:
Conventional digital marketing no longer has the same impact as it used to. A majority percentage of customers are overwhelmed by too many online marketing messages, and about 20 percent of consumers would boycott a brand because of excessive ads. Marketers should care about influencer content because it provides the perfect cure for “ad fatigue” and, unlike traditional ad campaigns, delivers authentic message.
Smart brands are combating this by using influencer marketing to create a rapport with consumers, recognizing that they are influenced by different people, at different times, in different ways. Instead of diminishing returns from digital advertising, brand social and content marketing, the influencer marketing goes past reach and clicks to engage continuously with consumers that drive commerce, giving you metrics that matter and align with your business goals, such as:
Consumers want authentic voices and face, not faceless sales executives who use the same old tricks. Marketers can’t ignore influencer marketing any more: content creators have the power to escalate the business and deliver authenticity that engages with audiences. Imagine—thousands of voices having authentic messages about your brand that hold sway in a way your voice alone never could. That’s the real power of influencer marketing.
How does influencer marketing work?
If you’re a marketer and you’re feeling the pressure to deliver more revenue while having less control over messaging, you’re not the only one. The landscape of marketing has changed considerably and consumers determine the messaging they want to see. Brands no longer have center stage, it’s the consumers. If you want to be a piece of consumer conversations, you have to play by their rules. Social media is where consumers are having conversations today, and one of the most powerful byproducts to emerge is that of influencer marketing.
At a high level, it is a form of branded engagement where marketers connect with those who boast high-flying social footprints. The objective is to plug into new communities and connect the brand/product to new audiences through the voice and trusted relationships of said influencer.
Authentic content forms trust. People are drawn towards digital influencers because they value the content that they create. Developing strategic relationships with these influencers permits brands to incorporate their messaging into that content, and share it with consumers through a trusted source. To make the most of this opportunity, brands must allow influencers the ability to stay true to themselves when working on sponsored content and give out the right message.
How to create an influencer marketing strategy
Like any marketing tactic, an influencer program takes deliberate targeting, planning and budgeting. You won’t find strategic success just by sending free things out to everyone or to your existing friends and acquaintances
Research is the first step. Choose the platform you want to focus on first. You can always expand to other networks later .If you’re just starting out, stick with one. Ideally, the brand should already have a presence on this network or be looking to expand into it. Demographics differ on each network.
The industry you’re in also matters when you’re planning to execute an influencer marketing strategy. Beauty and fashion brands excel on Instagram and YouTube. The video game industry leads on Twitch.
During your research phase, figure out what type of influencers you’re interested in. Are you going for celebrities with massive followings or micro influencers with less than 10000 followers? Whatever you decide to focus on will determine the budget.
Be sure to look at common rates for those influencer types. Micro influencers tend to be focused on a few subjects and accept products. Some micro influencers work independently while others may be represented by an agency. Whereas, larger accounts and celebrities will need payment and might even go through a talent agency.
Brands need to think about the expected ROI of the influencer marketing campaign. It is important to gauge the contributions of influencer posts to your overall marketing goals. Research is key and you’ll find yourself returning to this step often in the whole process.
After brands have some idea of what to pay influencers, you need to create the budget. They need to factor in time for planning, executing and reviewing your strategy. Running a successful influencer marketing campaign is not an automated ad strategy. It also involves careful monitoring and follows up.
Unlike an automated ad strategy, influencers are human and frequently balancing multiple partnerships, so some may lag behind in their commitments to post on time or make mistakes in your requested tags or calls to action. Brands need to be more hands-on with these relationships to develop them, and refine your approach through experience about what works and what doesn’t in your niche.
The two most common reasons for using influencer marketing are to increase brand awareness and elevate sales. However, instead of setting these broad targets as your two goals start strategizing and honing in on what your brand’s needs are. Perhaps you want to increase your customer base to a younger audience.
Influencers have the ability to reach very precise audiences. Instead of you relying on thousands of followers, influencers will help you ensure a much targeted audience who is likely to be interested in your product reads and engages with your content.
Your message is as important as your goal. While you don’t want to smother an influencer’s creativity and uniqueness, you also don’t want them to post about something unrelated to your campaign.
Brands need to research and find the right influencers to work with.
During the research, keep in mind the below:
Next, reach out to them. For micro influencers, you could reach out directly in a private message on their handle. For more established they may list contact information for business inquiries in their bio on their profile.
If your influencer marketing campaign is ongoing, you should still have pre-determined dates where you’ll measure its progress. The next part of this guide will go into how to track the results. Not every campaign is successful but hopefully, you’ll learn with each one you create.
How to track your influencer marketing campaign
There are a few ways to measure the success of your campaign. You can create a specific hash tag, to track what your influencers are doing which makes it easy to see what’s being talked about with specific hash tags, or to watch for mentions of specific Twitter keywords.
If you’re aiming for increasing sales, giving out affiliate codes or tracking links is an easy way of seeing how much is being generated from influencers.
References:
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/influencer-marketing/
https://www.tapinfluence.com/blog-what-is-influencer-marketing/
https://www.singlegrain.com/content-marketing-strategy-2/guide-influencer-marketing/
Sumeet is endowed with 23 years of global experience reflecting strong leadership qualities coupled with enormous experience & exposure in IT projects’ planning, execution, management, delivery and production support (onsite, offsite and offshore); across e-Business, Client/Server, Custom Application Development, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Enterprise Content Management, Internet based applications, Business Intelligence, Integration packages and Databases. Eminent leadership expertise with exemplary record in driving management methodologies and disciplines spanning estimation, contracting, project planning, risk management, progress tracking & analysis, report and other related factors Well versed in project management methodologies of Agile, Scrum, Waterfall and delivery technicalities of Onsite, Offsite and Offshore model with expertise in translating complex business opportunities into creative, effective and efficient IT solutions, analyzing the client business needs and requirements: translating new ideas into clients’ solutions including opportunity identification, requirements development, delivery, production support & analysis and documentation.
Jayanti, a proactive founder brings more than 21 years of rich industry experience with an insight to provide innovative solutions. A leader and a team player who aims to help an organization achieve its objective through new and innovative ideas. Her spectrum of work varies from IT Education Delivery, Instructional Design and Delivery, content management and development. She understands the need for building collaborative and trusted relationships with the clients. Jayanti exudes remarkable calm, confidence to withstand the challenges in setting the tone for the company’s values, ethics, and culture.
Nidhi has 15 yrs. of experience in Business Research, Talent Acquisition, Client Relationship management, Database Search Tools and Leadership Hiring. She has worked with internal teams and hiring managers in UK, Continental Europe and US geography to assist with recruitment efforts. She has also worked on custom projects in different sectors and industries, involving – company profiling, business overview, business segments, key financial, executive team, board member composition, competitors and other key developments.
She has been instrumental in preparing presentations on the key developments in the business world like Digital Transformation, UK Talent Trends, Digital Age Disruption. She has been involved in working on newsletters pertaining to candidate moves, company mergers & acquisitions and layoffs in US, UK, CE, APAC.
Priyali has around 8 yrs. of product and digital media experience, along with background in Product Marketing.
She has helped publishers in transforming their digital media business and reinvent their digital monetization model with data driven decision making and an effective web and mobile optimization strategy to increase revenue, website traffic, user engagement, and gain competitive advantage.
Through her specialties like Product marketing, lead generation, digital media consulting, web optimization, user engagement, content monetization, product optimization, customer success she has delivered products that are user friendly and provided a unique and consistent value to the customers.
She has worked closely with cross-functional teams, including Product Management, Sales, Marketing, Research, Web development and Design along with customers, to ensure the successful roll-out of new products and new versions of existing products.
Nitin Gupta, Business Development Manager at IvaluePlus has more than 21 years of experience in all aspects of business development, previously working in the F&B domain and has now transitioned his focus to IT/ITES domain.
His key areas encompass increasing the top line of the company by identifying and developing new business areas & opportunities. He is instrumental in leading cross-functional teams, manage existing partnerships, and evaluate company business goals
A proactive, advising, strategic and result-oriented account manager who maintains a strong link between the team & the clientele – stakeholders. She understands client’s requirement & plans out ways to achieve the required business objective. She is a people’s person and keeps thy team going in sync & flow. She dives deep to understand the business severity & aims at deliverables. She has experience in intercultural sensitivity, workforce planning & employment, language skills, Lisha has been instrumental in building company’s human capital capability through keystone involvement and systemic value addition.
Spending almost a decade into Arts & Entertainment industry and now stepping into Human Resources, right from Hiring to Training to Generalist HR, it has been quite a journey for her but it’s all about getting everything together. The motto is to learn, evolve & grow.
Sujeet is an Ambitious and self-motivated with 7+ years of professional experience In Finance. He has done his B.COM & M.COM from Kumaun university Nainital.
He has been instrumental in Financial accounting /Direct and Indirect taxes/ Payroll and Compliance Management specializing in the IT/ITES sector. He posses excellent research and financial analysis capabilities.
Highly capable, versatile and accomplished IT professional who is confident to make the right decisions as per the situation.
His experience encompasses good knowledge of Cisco, Aruba, D-Link, Sophos, TP-Link devices, Setting up of IT infrastructure from scratch to a secure fort, extensive IT management experience, planning and implementing computer systems and networks.
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