Tips and reasons to use influencer marketing.
It has become increasingly common for companies to use Influencer Marketing. But why is it so popular? In this blog post, we list the top reasons why you should include Influencer Marketing into your marketing strategy. We will also give you tips on what to consider before using Influencers for the first time!
Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing means using influential people to influence their target audience.
Using Influencer marketing is closely related to PR but, unlike the traditional broadcast of press releases and the struggle for journalists’ attention, it is about a close relationship with the influencer and a clear plan for preparation and implementation.
The influencer may, for example, be a person with a large number of followers on social media that your target audience follows and looks up to.
The goal is to influence the intended target group and to reach new potential customers. One reason why this is so popular is that people rely on recommendations from others. In addition, we like to receive recommendations from people we feel we can relate to. Recently, the level of knowledge has gradually increased about Influencer Marketing, and more and more companies dare to try it because they understand that it is an effective way to reach their target audience, and if done right, the results this marketing method is able to yield.
Planning
Unlike traditional marketing tools, influencer marketing requires slightly more planning. The influencers do not necessarily deliver consistent messages. As you can understand, everyone has their personal attitude and personal touch on their social media, which requires different designs of the message you want to send. Furthermore, it also requires you to identify the influencers that are most relevant to your company, to ensure you are only reaching the people who are truly relevant to your brand.
There are also Influencers that belong to a particular agency and therefore have strict guidelines that need to be followed. As a company, it is therefore important to listen to the Influencer and their proposals for content as they know their target group very well.
Popular and well-established Influencers generally have a great understanding and knowledge of their followers. They therefore usually know how the message is delivered most efficiently and with their experiences can create completely new approaches. They know what works and what doesn’t work. Our tip for you is, therefore: involve the influencer early in the planning stage! In fact, ask the influencer about what they think, and what they, based on their experience, think will generate the best results.
Authentic and reliable marketing
A clear advantage of Influencer Marketing is the authenticity that can be created around your brand if you do it right. But since the use of Influencers has become commonplace, consumers have also begun to become more aware and selective to sponsored posts. Therefore, it is now more important than ever to strive for credible people to promote your brand.
By finding an influencer that matches your brand, its value, and attributes, there is a greater opportunity for the campaign to have an impact on people, and thus generate great results.
An Influencer whose values and attitudes are consistent with your brand is more likely to gain confidence because the message they mediate is perceived as far more trustworthy and credible. Therefore, it is very important that the background work is carried out properly. If this is done correctly, it is possible to achieve an authenticity that is very difficult to achieve through traditional marketing tools.
Create a domino effect
In order to gain a great deal of trust from your target audience, it is important to allow the Influencer to create and produce their own content adapted to their social media. It will create higher credibility with the intended target group.
There is also another great advantage of Influencer Marketing. Often, it creates a so-called domino effect that makes other Influencers also interested in marketing your products. Choosing the right Influencer can be the way to a successful marketing campaign that leads to an increase of word-of-mouth around your brand. If you have access to a database of Influencers, you can also use several Influencers with similar properties to get a larger spread.
Create your own platform of Influencers
By using the very best tools on social media, you can create a forum for your brand’s Influencers. One example is to use hashtags which can be used by private individuals to spread their opinions about the brand publicly. This opportunity gives companies the opportunity to integrate and create good relationships with their intended target group. An organic division of one’s brand can have a large and positive effect on how people perceive one’s brand.
1) Research!
Finding the right influencer requires careful research. Regardless of whether it is an unpaid or paid collaboration, it is very important that the profile has a high level of trust with its readers or followers. Does the person use products that are similar to yours?
Does the profile use rewriting similar products? If not, the cooperation will not feel credible and the chance that the profile will write about the product or service is small. Remember also that just because the blogger has many readers it does not mean that your target group is just there, so it is worth adding some extra time to research.
2) Focus on influencers with fewer followers
In the case of unpaid partnerships, you may not require the blogger to rewrite the product or service in their social channels. Therefore, it can be smart to invest in slightly smaller blogs to increase the chances of impact. Influencers with a larger following tend to get more requests from brands about partnerships, and naturally, they also tend to have significantly higher prices for promoting brands. But the fact is that micro-influencers also tend to have a higher engagement rate than the influencers with a lot of followers. As such, you can generate the same results by partnering with many micro-influencers at once, rather than working with only one large influencer. And the final cost will also be lower.
It is also smart to build up a relationship with the influencer, because not only will the be more likely to work harder to make sure the campaign is successful, but they will also be more inclined to help you out in any way they can, and overall do their best in the campaign. Large influencers often get a lot of samples from agencies and brands, and the chance that they will write about your product after simply receiving it is quite small. If, on the other hand, you have an attractive product or service that would fit perfectly for one of the largest blogs, it may be worthwhile to take a chance and send out samples.
3) Be personal!
Being personal is especially important in unpaid partnerships. Show the profile that there is a thought behind why she or he got the product sent to them. Spend time on the execution of the campaign, and try to make it more personal when sending out samples to these influencers, for example, a handwritten letter with a personal greeting.
Conclusion
An Influencer can help your business in many ways, here are some:
• Branding
• Increased sales
• Inspire consumers to use the company’s products
• Generation of sales related content
• Get insight into user experiences and valuable feedback
• Builds a strong brand identity
• Reach a specific audience that is not reachable through other platforms
