The Influencer Influence: How to Build Your Brand With Influencer Marketing
These days, influencer marketing is all the rage. From Old Navy to Mixed Chicks, thousands of brands have jumped on the influencer bandwagon.
But despite all the buzz, you may find yourself wondering what influencer marketing really is, and if it’s worth all the hype. To help you out, we’ve broken down the details about this brand-boosting advertising option.
What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing is exactly what it sounds like: marketing via a social media influencer.
If you’ve ever been on social media, you’ve probably come across some big-name influencers like Michelle Phan, Kayla Itsines and PewDiePie, but the world of influencer marketing goes much deeper than these three social celebrities. Scroll through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, and you’ll find a plethora of people promoting different brands and products. These accounts range from 2,000 to 200,000 followers, and can charge anywhere between $500 to upwards of $100,000 in exchange for posting or blogging about sponsored content.
Engaging with Instagram stars, or influencers, is a great way to promote and grow your brand and product.
The idea behind influencer marketing is simple: You pay an influencer to endorse your product. Then, after seeing sponsored content, dedicated followers of said influencer will purchase whatever it is that their favorite social media star is promoting. This, in turn, will help build your brand and boost your sales.
Who are influencers?
Influencers range from stay-at-home mommy bloggers to world travelers. The most popular industries are beauty, fitness, travel, home and entertainment. However, we guarantee whatever it is that you’re selling, there’s an influencer out there looking to promote your product and help build your brand.
Influencers can be categorized by the industry they cover, as well as by their size. The number of followers an influencer has determines if he or she is considered a macro- or micro-influencer. Accounts with over 30,000 followers are macro, while accounts with between 10,000-30,000 followers are considered micro. Both macro- and micro-influencers can help build your brand. However, micro-influencers have actually been found to be more effective in boosting sales.
“60 percent higher campaign engagement rates are driven by micro-influencers; those campaigns are 6.7 times more efficient per engagement than influencers with larger followings, which makes them more cost effective; and micro-influencers drive 22.2 times more weekly conversations than the average consumer.” – via Adweek
Where can I find influencers?
You can find influencers on almost every social media platform, but you’ll likely have the best luck with Instagram and/or YouTube. Influencers tend to prefer these two platforms for creating sponsored content.
To find out which accounts are influencers versus which accounts are just users posting about well-liked products, look for a disclosure in the caption. Under FTC regulations, influencers must disclose when they are being paid to promote or endorse products. The Instagram post below from Zoella is a great example of what to look for.
Once you’ve found a handful of influencers that fit within your industry, you can reach out to them via a direct message. You can then negotiate fees and hopefully come to an agreement. Make sure to keep an eye on your influencers and track your results. Just as with traditional advertising, you need to monitor your campaigns. Certain influencers will yield a better ROI and create more buzz for your business.
You can also find influencers by working with an agency. Working with an agency to plan a campaign will save time and money. It will also spare you the work of having to reach out individually to each influencer. Agencies typically have lists of available influencers broken down by industry and cost. If you’re looking to do some influencer marketing on a tight budget, working with an agency is the way to go, as agencies often offer reduced fees due to their partnerships with a variety of influencers.
The Influencer Influence
Influencer marketing has the ability to take your brand to new heights. Partnering with a celebrity or popular social media star can attract new customers and help build a loyal following. It also can be incredibly budget-friendly. To find out more about building a custom campaign with influencers, contact your sales rep or visit H2O Media Inc. for more information.