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Whilst some believe marketing in some form can be traced back to 1500 BCE, it's generally accepted that it wasn't until the 1950s and 60s that it really became what we recognise today as modern consumer marketing.
However, in today's digital age, the more traditional advertising and marketing methods, like newspapers and radio, may no longer be as effective in reaching and engaging with consumers as they once were.
After all, times change, technology moves on and we all evolve, thanks to these technological advances, especially when it comes to how we shop, engage and connect with each other and the brands we love.
As a result of these changes, businesses have increasingly turned to influencer marketing as a powerful strategy to connect with their target audience.
Today, it's those social, personal connections that can be leveraged when it comes to promoting your brand, business or products, thanks to the rise of the social media influencer.
Influencers, with their significant social media presence across multiple platforms and ability to influence consumer behaviour, have become the go-to partners for many brands seeking to promote their products or services and appear like their on the cutting edge.
In this blog post, I want to explore the rise of influencer marketing in recent years and discuss effective marketing strategies for leveraging influencers to enhance your brand's visibility and reach.
Understanding The Rise of Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing involves collaborating with those individuals (i.e. social media influencers) who have established credibility and a large following on social media platforms.
These influencers can range from so-called super influencers (i.e. A to Z-list celebrities and popular streamers and creators with audiences in the millions), but can just as easily also include industry experts, personalities and even micro-influencers (i.e. those with less followers - usually between 1,000 and 25,000 - but have content that is focused around a particular niche or interest, as your business may well be.)
By partnering with these influencers, brands can tap into their existing fan base and benefit from their authentic, relatable and trusted relationships they have with their existing followers, many of whom may be new to you and your business.
The key lies in finding influencers whose values align with your brand and who cater to your target audience. Using an influencer purely because of their audience size is not only inauthentic, but will ultimately work against you.
Identifying the Right Influencers
As I just touched upon, choosing the right influencer(s) for your brand is crucial. If you are going to go this route, start by clearly defining your own campaign objectives and target audience first.
Before you reach out to anyone, make sure you research and analyse any potential influencers' content, their engagement rates and their demographics.
This is to ensure they align with your brand's image and goals so you're a good fit. You can find this kind of information through platform analytics and social reach websites like Social Blade.
Whilst it can be tempting to just look and be seduced by their follower or subscriber numbers, you should instead look for influencers who have a genuine connection with their audience, have a shared interest and those that create regular, engaging and interesting content that resonates with your brand's values.
Quality matters more than quantity; so it's better to work with an influencer with a smaller but highly engaged audience than one with a large following but low engagement.
Remember that follower or subscriber numbers are often just vanity metrics, so you need to look beyond the obvious statistics to find influencers that can help you promote your brand.
It may take some time to find the right one, but when you do, the benefits will make it worthwhile.
Building Authentic Partnerships
Authenticity is the key to successful influencer marketing, so it's beneficial to collaborate with influencers who genuinely appreciate your brand and its offerings, rather than those who will just do it because you're paying them or sending them it for free.
Any working relationship should be viewed as a collaboration, so when it comes to what they're going to do, it's a good idea to allow them creative freedom to promote your product or service in their unique voice.
This ensures that their content feels organic and natural. After all, they've built a large audience that is clearly engaged, so they must know what they're doing.
When they have used or tried your products, encourage them to provide honest reviews and personal experiences, as this fosters trust among their followers. It might also offer you insight that you may not have thought of or ways it can be improved.
Long-term partnerships can also be mutually beneficial, as they allow influencers to develop a deeper understanding of your brand, resulting in more authentic and impactful collaborations the longer it goes on.
Engaging Your Audience
Influencer marketing goes beyond simple product placement or sponsored content. Encourage influencers to create engaging and interactive content that sparks conversations and drives interest in your brand.
Social media reach will fit perfectly in their wheelhouse, so again, listen to them and be guided by them, but that's not to say they have to have the final say. It's still your brand on the line after all, but an engaged audience will be more receptive to what you're doing.
Contests, giveaways and exclusive discounts can be used to generate excitement and encourage audience participation.
This doesn't have to be a one-and-done campaign. Collaborate with influencers on storytelling campaigns or behind-the-scenes content to provide a deeper connection between your brand and the audience (and it creates even more content).
By engaging followers through social media influencers, you can build a loyal and passionate community around your brand that's a win-win for both parties, but how do recognise a win?
Measuring and Evaluating Results
Whether you're testing the influencer market, either as a trial or something you want to really embrace, you have to know what success (or failure) looks like. How will you know if it's worked if you don't measure the results?
To ensure the effectiveness of your influencer marketing campaigns, it's crucial to track and measure some key performance indicators (KPIs).
By utilising those same analytics tools we touched on earlier and the social media platform's own insights you need to monitor metrics such as reach, engagement, website traffic and conversions.
Compare the results post-campaign against your pre-campaign objectives to evaluate the success and the Return on Investment (RoI) of your influencer partnerships.
During and after you should be continuously analysing the data and making adjustments to optimise future campaigns.
Remember that influencer marketing is a dynamic field. Views on videos or the reach that any posts have will go up and down based on a multitude of factors, many outside of your control, so staying up-to-date with industry trends and consumer preferences is essential for ongoing success.
Conclusion
"Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm." - Proverbs 13:20
Influencer marketing has emerged as a powerful tool for brands to connect with their target audience, build brand awareness and drive conversions.
Years ago, brands would rely on popular celebrities, but even that landscape has evolved. Today, many social media influencers have audiences that eclipse much more well-known personalities, so it's not something to be dismissed so easily.
By understanding the dynamics of influencer marketing and implementing effective strategies, brands, including yours, can unlock new levels of success in today's digital landscape.
Remember to choose influencers who align with your brand values, foster authentic partnerships and engage your audience through compelling and interactive content.
Regularly measure and evaluate the impact of your campaigns to refine your influencer relationships so it develops over time. As we touched upon right at the beginning, times change and even influencers will find their audience ebbs and flows over time.
As we all find new ways to connect and those platforms evolve, leveraging popularity might seem like an unusual marketing technique for many, but their success has shown that to be successful, you have to reach new heights and push those boundaries, even the digital ones.
Have you used any social media influencers to help with your own marketing campaigns? How did you pick them? Did it work? What lessons did you learn from either your successes or from what didn't work so well? Where do you see marketing going next? Let us know in the comments below.
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