7 Essential Facts You Should Know About Influencer Marketing in 2019

If you thought influencer marketing was huge in 2018, you guessed right since 39% of marketers increased their influencer marketing budget last year. However, 2019 influencer marketing is about to explode. If you’re a brand or company, you should already be making good use out of influencer marketing, as it is the best marketing strategy to use in this generation.

However;

What Is Influencer Marketing? 

Influencer marketing is the process by which companies partner with movers and shakers – marketing influencers to reach a broader and more relevant audience. They accomplish this marketing processes mainly through social media marketing channels such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat.

Also, they use websites and blogs to accomplish marketers objectives.

The best example to describe influencer marketing is when, for instance, a celebrity influencer like Kylie Jenner partnered with an online retailer called Fashion Nova. In this partnership, she posted a photo of herself wearing Fashion Nova jeans.

In the caption, she states how she is obsessed with the Fashion Nora Jeans while tagging the brand’s Instagram page and website. With this post, she received more than 2 million likes and over 500,000 comments.

Social media influencers with bigger audiences, such as Kylie Jenner who has a reach of over 140 million Instagram followers, explains why particular companies want to work with these influencers. They have a better chance of gaining website traffic and increase ROI.

However, it is not only the big A-list celebrities or mega-influencers that you can work with on projects. You can also work with macro or micro-influencers. This categories of influencers include bloggers, vloggers, and writers.

Hence, it all comes down to your brands’ niche and goals. What do you want to achieve with influencer marketing campaigns? In view of this, what are the seven critical facts you need to know about influencer marketing?

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In this article, you will learn the seven vital realities of influencer marketing.

1: Always Conduct Research to Select the Right Person

Authenticity is key to your social media influencer marketing success. You want to take some time to research and select the right candidate for your influencer program. By doing so, you will increase your odds of bringing in new prospects and customers through word of mouth and other marketing channels.

Nonetheless, when you start an influencer marketing, several individuals won’t be keen to participate if you can’t offer a monetary reward. Money, free services, merchandise, etc., may be considered for the deal.

However, once you’ve built your brand’s influence, you’ll see high-level influencers who will be more likely to work with you.

2: Influencers are Brands; Treat Them Like Business Partners

It is necessary to remember that influencer marketing is a business relationship between a brand and the influencer. This digital marketing asset is a win-win venture because it will benefit both parties. You as a brand and the influencer will both enjoy the advantages. That is why you should invest in influencer marketing.

Your brand’s message would be heard by an authentic and engaged audience while also reaching a new group of people. The influencer, on the other hand, will generate revenue while producing content that reflects their brand’s passion and experience.

Moreover, to be successful, make sure you share your program goals with the influencers you choose to work for your campaign. Also, provide them the tools they need to achieve your objectives. Clearly define content requirements and give them room to exhibit their creativity and personality.

3: Reach is Not the Most Important Metric In Influencer Marketing

From a brand’s perspective, it may seem that the influencer’s reach is the most vital marketing metric to monitor when evaluating influencer marketing campaigns.

However, engagement (an influencer’s ability to move their readers to action) is a much stronger indication of success. As mentioned above, engagement is something you always want to look for when seeking the right person to become a social media influencer in your program.

Why is that so? It is because when people are engaged, they are more likely to share your posts, like, comment, and pass on their thoughts about your product to their peers. These actions show that readers have actively connected with the content versus just inactively glancing over it.

4: Content, Engagement, Presence, and Demographics

Since most companies have no idea what to look for in an influencer, it remains a challenge for marketers to find the best fit for their business. Nevertheless, to help you identify the right influencer for your campaign, there are four top qualities to look for in an influencer, and these include:

1. Content
2. Engagement
3. Presence
4. Audience

Let us consider each of these credentials.

Content: You want to focus your efforts on individuals who produce authentic content that resonates with your audience. Content pieces that prompt discussions and generate more shares across social media platforms.

Engagement: It is also essential to direct your attention to the influencer’s engagement level. The most common form of interaction is comments, likes, questions, re-posts, and shares on social media sites.

Presence: Research and seek out influencers who maintain an active presence across multiple social media channels. I mean, after all, you’d want your influencers to be able to post and reach a broader audience.

Audience Demographics: It is also crucial to figure out the influencer’s audience demographic reach. For instance, if you’re targeting moms with newborns, then, choosing bloggers who talk about parenting and pregnancy would be a fantastic fit for your campaign.

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More Metrics to Measure When Defining The Best Person for Your Influencer Marketing Campaign

Source: Linqia

In addition to the above measurables, there are other metrics you should monitor to enable you to define the right person or marketing influencer for your business efforts. The quantifiables include:

• Engagement
• Clicks
• Impressions
• Conversions
• Reach
• Product Sales
• Audience Alignment
• Etc.

5: Sponsored Influencer Marketing Content Is More Credible

When you work with influencers whom you pay, it is essential to ensure that they follow Federal Trade Commission Rules (FTC) rules of disclosure.

Why is that important?

The FTC rules of disclosure for influencers are crucial since the rules will enable consumers to identify the difference between a paid advertisement and organic content. Furthermore, the FTC rules disclosure will assist users in knowing whether they’re merely engaging with their preferred influencer or if it is a means to market to them.

In addition, the influencer is entitled to his or her opinion about your product or service. Nevertheless, a proper disclosure combined with an authentic, truthful review will be more persuasive and credible.

Also, do your research to find the right influencers that fit your niche market. Look for those who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer as opposed to going with individuals who only seek to get paid. Consumers who follow influencers can easily see right through any false and dishonest posts.

6: Influencer Marketers Value Authentic Content to Create Trust

Consumers follow influencers for their authenticity and because they value the content that they create. Thus, when posting content, influencers strive to always remain true to themselves when working on sponsored content.

Instead of churning out less valuable, low-quality post materials, Influencers create well-researched content pieces that add value to the reader. In this way, your marketing influencer will assist you in building trust with your target audience through useful blog content.

It could be any material-blog posts, product or service review content, etc. The fact is, influencers work hard to provide quality.

7: Social Media Over Advertising

Social media marketing (SMM) has changed the way brands interact with consumers by developing an environment where consumers have immediate access to information. Social media allows users to easily make purchase decisions about brands and products by what they discover.

It allows brands and customers to stay connected by actively participating in online dialogue. Nowadays, people are more interested in being engaged and conversing about a topic-meaning that advertising isn’t as powerful as what social media can do.

As a consequence, by working with influencers, brands can use social media interactions to boost engagement, attract new clients, and increase sales.

Related Post: 7 Powerful Ways to Optimize Your Social Media Advertising Campaign

Wrapping UP

Overall, influencer marketing is the next best thing in the digital marketing space in 2019. It is an effective way to establish your brand’s credibility while building trust with potential customers. Moreover, it helps you to create mutually beneficial relationships with influencers in your industry.

In light of this, you can choose to work with an influencer marketing agency or any social media influencer marketing partner that support your marketing campaign.

What matters most is to work with influencers that will help you to achieve your desired goals. What other facts about influencer marketing can you add to the ones above? We would like you to bring it at comments below.