Influencer marketing has taken the world by storm. More brands are utilising authentic, “everyday people” to showcase their products with incredible results. Influencer marketing as an industry grew from $1.7bn in 2016 to $13.8bn in 2021. In 2022 it is projected to reach a whopping $16.4bn. As the plethora of options in each industry continue to grow, and new brands expand their reach, consumers search for ways to feel confident in their purchases.
People want to relate to those influencers who advertisie products – when we relate to others we feel satisfaction in our purchase as we are now part of that “tribe”. Using influencer marketing can help build a community around your brand. However, planning and executing your influencer campaign correctly isn’t easy, but it can grow your business exponentially when done correctly. If you’re using influencer marketing, you should be getting results.
How can brands effectively use influencer marketing?
If you’re not, you need to sit down, understand what is going wrong, and change the strategy. Don’t lose all hope though, even the worst strategies can be transformed into performing campaigns. To help you nail it, I’ve included my top three tips below.
Do your research
Research is paramount, the last thing you want is to have someone represent your brand when they don’t align with your business’ values. If you have an influencer in mind, check their account. Read the comments on their posts and who has engaged with their content.
If an influencer is pushing a new product or service on a daily basis, their audience may be confused or feel used. As a result, their audience is less likely to interact with your brand. It is important to avoid influencers who fall into this category. Influencers with 10K followers or less, also known as “Nano” influencers, usually don’t advertise products every day.
Nano influencers generally have more engaged audiences and people are more likely to perceive the ads on the account as more authentic. When researching influencers, it’s also essential to think about your target market. You want to make sure the influencer’s audience will align with your products. Take the following into account when selecting an influencer:
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The age of their followers
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The interests that their followers have
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Their geographic location
These should correspond with the target market of your product. There’s no point in engaging a 19-year-old girl to showcase your luxury jewellery if the majority of their followers are university-age students with little cash to spare.
When reaching out to influencers, ask for their demographics to ensure they are being truthful – this will also allow you to analyse your target audience more critically.
Ensure you have a collaboration guideline in place
Most complaints from owners are based around influencers not meeting their expectations. My question is always, did you send them a guideline which includes your expectations?
The answer is almost always no! There is no way to meet or measure your goals without a comprehensive guideline in place. Your collaboration guideline should include the following:
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How much content do you require from the influencer as part of the agreement, e.g. the number of Instagram feed posts you require and the number of story posts you require.
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A timeline of posting events, that is, when is the influencer expected to post
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Educational material about your products and services to ensure they use the correct copy/brand voice. Alternatively, give them the copy that they are required to use or ask them to send it to you for approval before their post before it goes live
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A mood board and content examples of what you would like them to post
It’s all about the audience’s experience
If you’re sending a product to an influencer, ensure the experience of unboxing your product is unique. Many influencers film themselves unboxing products- packaging nowadays says a lot about the brand and the product… companies with more sophisticated packaging are seen as higher class and make products that command more respect from the target aundience.
Ensure that your product is beautifully presented and includes key messaging and educational points for the influncer. For example, if you are sending an item from your Christmas line, you could include star-shaped decoration and metallic colouring for your wrapping and card.
When you invite an influencer to experience your services, you need to ensure a seamless experience that showcases how you want your brand to be perceived. Focus on the smaller details in your space and be aware of all the Instagrammable moments you can create.
Measure Results
Don’t use sales or website visits as your only metric when measuring the success of an influencer marketing campaign. Consider engagement rates on the posts and traffic to your social media profiles. Whilst selling your products is what pays the bills, if a potential client follows you, you then have a second opportunity to convert them later down the road. Remember, building your brand online presence can be just as vital as selling your products.
Amani Youssef is the CEO and leader of the creative agency So Social. She is passionate about helping brands be seen, heard and understood by their audience. Since opening So Social over eight years ago, Amani has made it her mission to become a leader in Australia for marketing education, branding, social media and content creation.
