Influencer Marketing is a hybrid of new and old forms of social media marketing. Earlier, influencer marketing was limited to celebrities and a few big daddy bloggers. But with the rise of social media influencers, things are taking a turn. Now Influencer Marketing doesn’t just revolve around celebrities.
Influencer marketing, in its simplest form, is a form of social media promotion that relies on influencers for product mention and brand collaboration. These influencers either have a huge following or are experts in their field.
Now, the question arises What is an influencer, we can define as someone
- has a large number of followers on any social media platform and he/she actively engages with their followers. Someone whom his/her followers trust.
- have the power to alter the thoughts of their followers. A person possessing the knowledge, stature, and connection to his/her audience to influence their purchasing decisions.
What is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer Marketing is a collaboration of brands with social media influencers to promote their products and services. Sometimes brands collaborate with influencers to just improve their brand recognition.
You must have seen Youtubers making videos with such brands in which they do not suggest you buy anything. They are just bringing the brand to your identity.
An influencer can be anyone, a popular photographer on Instagram, a tech video creator on Youtube, a comedy video creator on TikTok, a well-reputed executive on Twitter and LinkedIn, and someone who owns a cybersecurity blog. What makes them influential is their large number of followers on social media platforms or their knowledge and expertise in a field. Someone can have less than 10k followers, still, he/she has a reputation among his/her audience and can influence the decision-making of almost all of them.
Stats of Influencer Marketing
- The size of Influencer Marketing is worth a whopping 14.2 billion dollars in 2022. It is estimated to grow up to 24 billion dollars by 2025.
- Businesses are claiming a $5.78 return on investment (ROI) for every $1 they spent.
- 67% of brands are using Instagram influencers for social media marketing and 1400+ agencies and influencer marketing platforms have entered the market in the last 5 years.
What works in Influencer Marketing?
- Be patient and act more like a human than a company. You are talking to an influencer who is a human, not a company.
- Find influencers organically. Seek help from agencies and subscribe to a platform that gathers influencers in one place.
- Be organised. While running a campaign, keep a strategy, plan, and budget in mind. Put extra effort into research.
- Mail the influencers on behalf of an executive rather than the company. Arrange face-to-face meetings with influencers.
Also Read – Beginner’s Guide to Email Marketing: Dos, Don’ts, and Strategy
What doesn’t work in Influencer Marketing?
- One size doesn’t fill all. Generalising an approach to finding influencers will not work. Take a specific approach for each influencer.
- The number of followers doesn’t mean popularity. Assuming the influence by just numbers will end up as a catastrophe in your campaign. Look after the engagement and relationship of creator and audience, not the following numbers.
How to become a marketing manager?
The idea of hiring a social media manager seemed absurd a few years ago. But now the role of social media manager is highly crucial within most organisations. Now, brands are valuing a person who has the knowledge to grow and manage their presence on social media. A brand must evolve with the trend of social media to meet the demand and in this scenario, a social media manager comes handy.
We are sharing four qualities that every marketing manager must have.
1. Keep up with trends
Keeping up with new trends will help you to increase conversion rates. A keen eye on new regulations and updates by platform also keeps you ahead of the game. Being tapped with trends and trustworthy news sources will elevate your influencer marketing career.
2. Value the community
Influencer Marketing by its core is community marketing. Influencers have worked hard to gather a large number of followers, largely organic and by shared value. They are a form of community manager in his/her community. Knowing the significance of community will set you apart whether your goal is to increase sales or brand recognition. Being able to sieve out the influencers relevant to your brand will inevitably separate you from the others.
3. Maintain the right relationship
The skill of maintaining relationships with influencers is very crucial. One wrong move can spoil all your hard work with an influencer. Your relationship must be mutually beneficial and to maintain such a relationship, you must have some knowledge of their hustle. Maintaining a good working relationship and contact will keep your brand top-of-mind of influencers.
4. Adopt the right technology
A social media manager has to do a lot of small stuff throughout the day. Using the right technology will help you scale your productivity while simultaneously reducing the waste of time. You can use that time to focus on other deeds.
You have to discover new influencers, maintain relationships, approve content, and many more things which put you under strain. By using the right tools, you can scale up your campaigns with ease.
FAQs
What is meant by influencer marketing?
Influencer Marketing is a type of social media marketing that uses influencers to promote their brand and product in their community. Influencer marketing can be described as the extension of community marketing.
What is an example of influencer marketing?
If a brand wants to drive sales or boost its recognition, then it can be done by collaborating with YouTubers, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram influencers.
What is the role of influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing can give exposure to a small brand. It can be used to drive customers and ultimately sales. Influencer marketing provides more than 5 times the return on budget.
Which influencer marketing is best?
Nowadays, the most popular social media platforms are Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. A brand can get big exposure by utilising a large user base of these platforms.