The art of influence

The art of influence – What is influencer marketing and how can it help grown your brand.

Influencer marketing, you’ve likely heard this term in relation to your advertising and marketing spend but what is it and how can it affect the way you market your business. Influencer marketing arguably started gaining traction in 2010 with social media platforms such a YouTube, Instagram and Facebook seeing a surge in popularity. With more users being drawn to social media platforms came an increase in creator accounts (accounts with more than 10,000 followers), providing a way to reach a broader audience directly.

Early adopters of influencer marketing saw a pathway to connect their brand and products to a highly engaged market of warm leads, leveraging the following and trust of other accounts to increase their own following and consequently converting those followers into customers. To put it simply, influencer marketing is word of mouth amplified.

While introducing influencer marketing into your strategy, it is important for business owners and their brands to understand the mechanics of the process to avoid a negative experience.

So, what do you need to do before engaging an influencer to represent your brand?

Here are some key tips for adding influencer marketing as a key activity to your budget.

Do your research

Who is your target demographic? Find them on your chosen platform (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube etc.) and do some market research. You want to know what their interests are, who they follow and how many followers to they have and is that following engaged. Seasoned influencers and agencies should be able to provide you with a media kit detailing this data, giving you the opportunity to have a conversation about needs and expectations.

Know your why

What are you hoping to get out of engaging with an influencer? It’s important to know what you hope to gain out of an influencer campaign. Are you simply looking to expand your following? Do you want to make more sales, or do you simply want to drive greater traffic to your website? Sit down with a pen and paper and ask yourself what your ideal outcomes are and then prioritise your list. This will help you choose an appropriate influencer to represent your brand and will lead to a more successful campaign.

Measure your success

There are many ways to measure to the success of your influencer marketing campaign and it really depends on your desired outcomes. Are you looking for a Brand Ambassador, someone to partner with your brand long term to build trust and community? This approach is great for generating brand awareness, building your online community, and attracting highly engaged warm leads (future customers). It can be as a perfect direction if you are launching a new product and are looking to social proof your product, create buzz and increase demand.

The price of entry into influencer marketing – Paid advertising? Free product?

Once you’ve decided on your campaign objectives and return on investment, it’s time to secure your talent and look at your budget. Payment terms are just as fluid. Some influencers expect to be paid per post (on their platform of choice – Instagram, Facebook etc.) and this rate is usually reflective of how many followers they have and how engaged their followers are. Payment again, is varied, some influencers are happy to be paid in free product, others would prefer a financial exchange or both.

In this day and age, understanding the power of influencer marketing is critical. It’s an activity that is not for every business, but it can assist in building on your brand strategy and can be a worthwhile investment. There are a few ways you can engage the services of an influencer; direct contact, through a talent manager or through an influencer marketing agency.

This is an article for Business Blindspots Tasmania. To ensure you receive regular updates from expert business advisers across a range of areas follow our LinkedIn Group