We live in the era of the influencer. We cannot scroll through social media platforms without stumbling upon an influencer promoting either an outfit, product, or restaurant that they are an ambassador for.
According to Influencer Marketing Hub, “60% of marketers shared that influencer-generated content performs better and drives more engagement compared to branded posts.”
Influencer marketing has taken over by storm and it looks like it’s here to stay. Brands need to play the game right and focus on finding the right fit for collaborations that represent the brand. The goal is to ultimately generate sales and increase your online exposure. So, having the right influencer on your side can help you get there.
Why is influencer marketing important
Influencer marketing – when done right – is an efficient and effective way to let your brand be seen by new audiences. The beauty of influencer marketing is that they relate to their audience and “influence” them to make the same purchasing decisions as them. That’s why it’s essential to collaborate with the right influencers who have a following that appeals to your target audience in order to generate the sales and revenue you want.
Here are 5 reasons why influencer marketing is important.
Increases brand awareness
This is one of the biggest reasons to hire influencers to promote your brand. Good influencers have committed and engaged followers who trust them and want to purchase and do things like them. When influencers post something, their followers will immediately become aware of it. They might do more research and end up being instant customers of the brand they post about. While it may seem too good to be true, influencer marketing is a quick and simple way to get your brand out there to thousands of people in a snap!!
Improves trust
Consumers want to buy from brands they know are credible. As a new brand starting out, it’s often hard to gain your audience’s trust immediately. Influencers can help your brand by showing their followers the quality of your products and showcasing that it is a brand that can be trusted. As influencers promote your brand, their opinion will matter to their followers, which helps build your reputation during these campaigns.
Boosts search engine ranking
Collaborating with influencers is a great way to increase your reach and traffic to your website. When an influencer promotes your products or services, chances are they are linking back to your website and social pages. Curious followers will check out your website and in turn, help you increase your search engine ranking.
Increases audience engagement
A key benefit of partnering with influencers is the engagement your brand will receive. How? Influencers have the power to get their followers to interact with your brand through their sharing of your products and services on their platforms. With influencer marketing, your influencer attracts your target audience and brings them to your website and social platforms. Your brand is exposed and by further sharing continues to gain exposure with multiple accounts. The cycle of reach is endless.
Generates Conversions
According to a recent Tomoson study, businesses are generating $6.50 in revenue for each $1 spent on influencer marketing initiatives. Investing in influencer marketing is a no-brainer. With social media playing such a pivotal role in sales and awareness, influencers are a powerful tool in ultimately persuading customers to buy from your brand. Partnering with the right ones can increase your reach, engage your audience, and ultimately turn them into paying and loyal customers.
How Much does influencer marketing cost?
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to influencer marketing costs. Each influencer will have their own press kits, their own rates, and their own conditions. With that being said, there are many factors that affect how much influencers charge for posting on their platforms.
Factors that affect influencer’s rate include
- Social media platforms for posting
- Reach and engagement
- What the project entails (# of posts, videos)
- What type of content is being requested (Reel, Story, Main feed post, etc)
- Agency fees (if the influencer is hired from a marketing agency)
While costs vary depending on the above factors as well as the social media platform you want to market your brand, Neal Schaffer has a breakdown of what to expect with each platform.
- Facebook $25 per 1000 followers
- YouTube $20 per 1000 followers
- Instagram $10 per 1000 followers
- Snapchat $10 per 1000 followers
- TikTok $5 per 1000 followers
- Twitter $2 per 1000 followers
Getting Started with Influencer Marketing
If you’re new to influencer marketing, here’s what you need to know.
Analyze your audience
Before you choose who can promote your products, you need to understand who your audience is, where they spend their time online and what value you can provide to them. The influencer you choose to collaborate with will need to appeal to your target audience because they are the ones you are trying to reach.
Determine your goals
Do you know exactly what outcome you are looking for with the influencer marketing campaign? While the most obvious goal might be to make more sales, you could be initiating a new influencer marketing campaign to gain new reach or target new customers.
Define KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)
After you have identified and set your goals, you need to be able to measure and analyze your results. One of the most common KPIs includes return on investment, or ROI, which determines if you made any profits from the campaign. If SEO is your goal, then you will need to measure if website traffic and ranking have increased. KPIs help you track your campaigns so you can see what’s working or where you need to make changes.
Research influencers
This is an extremely important step in the process. You don’t want to choose just any influencer to be the voice of your brand. You will need to research to see if their values, followers, persona, and anything else related to your brand matches your brand persona.
Depending on your budget, offering, portfolio, and scope of work, you will need to see which influencers would want to collaborate with you as well. Influencers want to work with brands that they feel connected to and that share the same values as them. Therefore, it’s important to do the research to find the right fit for both the brand and the campaign for an effective partnership. Something to keep in mind – you need to see their reach and engagement to identify if their audience trusts them and views them as a credible source.
Reach out for collaborations
Depending on where your target audience browses or what platform they use the most, you will find and contact influencers on those specific platforms. Whether it’s Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, or Twitter, you need to have a thought-out strategy to reach out for a potential collaboration.
Start by introducing yourself and your brand. When it comes to influencer collaborations, you need to take the time to build a relationship with them as well. Make sure you follow and engage with their content so you can let them know what drew you to them in the first place. Also, be detailed in what you are looking for and what the scope of work is so they have all the information they need to evaluate the partnership opportunity.
Measure results
In order to make sure your campaign is working, you will need to keep track of all the analytics from each campaign. Then, you will analyze how they are performing according to your goals. Did you increase your website traffic? Did you increase sales and revenue? We might get caught up in how many “likes” a post gets. However, it’s important to measure the results based on your goals. That will be the true measure of whether these posts are performing or not.
6 Effective Types of Influencer Marketing
Ready to get started? Here are 6 effective types of influencer marketing to consider.
Sponsored Social Media Content Collaboration
Let’s face it, we’ve all spent hours scrolling through our IG feeds. Now, we’re not trying to make you feel guilty. We just want to point out content you may have seen that has #sponsored or #ad in the captions. This is a very common and very popular Instagram collaboration known as sponsored social media collaboration.
In this type of social media collaboration, the influencer promotes your brand through pictures, stories, and videos on their social media channel. First, you will need to outline what the influencer is expected to promote, how often, and what the objectives and terms are for the project. The influencer can then refer to this guideline on how they need to create the content in exchange for a fee or payment.
Social Media Takeover
Takeovers are a fun way to get fresh content out there! Social media takeovers involve the influencer taking over your brand’s accounts and creating content for the account. This can be beneficial as the influencer might be able to create content that has more reach and engagement with your target audience. Furthermore, it’s an opportunity to drive their followers to your page. Social media takeovers do have outlines as to what kind of content is expected, how frequently content needs to be posted, as well as the time frame (1 day or 1 week) for the takeover.
Sponsored Blog Posts
Similar to sponsored social media posts, a sponsored blog post involves the influencer writing about your brand on their blog or website. Depending on how involved you want the article to be, the blog post could be entirely about your brand – the background, values, information, and trends) or mentions your products and services on a list. While you pay a fee, you can even offer free products to go hand in hand.
Guest Blog Posts
The key phrase here is “High Domain Authority”. High Domain Authority is the search engine ranking score that depicts a website’s rank. When you find influencers in your niche with high domain authority, you can pitch the articles you want to write. You then have a chance to be featured and get more eyes on your brand.
Make sure your articles align with the influencer’s persona and are engaging enough to attract your target audience. When you include your backlinks, make sure to include them in a natural manner. It shouldn’t look like you are trying to spam the reader. Rather, inform them on how your brand can provide value.
Brand Ambassador Programs
If you are looking to set up a brand ambassador program, know that your ambassadors will be representing your brand in everything they do. They are the face of your brand and will be what customers think off when they think about your brand. With that being said, brand ambassadors are a popular way to collaborate with influencers. These programs can last a long time and allow for consistent posts about your brand. Depending on your contract, your brand ambassadors will even be part of all your events, videos, and marketing campaigns.
Gifting Items
Who doesn’t love a gift? When you gift products to influencers, you can potentially receive a lot of exposure if they post about your product. Gifting is a great way to get your brand out there. Provided that you target the right influencers who will actually want to post about your product. Something to keep in mind when it comes to gifting. The influencer is not obligated to share your product. So, if they don’t like it they might share it in a negative light.
When it comes to influencer marketing, brands need to realize that the influencer will become the face of the brand. Therefore, it’s important to do your research and vet influencers accordingly. Make sure they have the same values and target audience as the brand they are representing. Influencer marketing can be a great way to build brand awareness with the potential of generating sales and profits.
