Mastering Influence: Key to Effective Influencer Marketing Initiatives
The evolution of social media has been constant over the years – from the early days of creating Facebook pages through to the current state of play where digital-led marketing campaigns are driving results for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
One pivotal milestone in the evolution of digital mediums and their impact has been the opportunities for content and digital creators to build their presence and influence online via Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. In simple terms, influencer marketing.
Influencer marketing is a collaboration between prominent individuals and brands to promote the products and services that are expected to resonate with their audience base. In many ways, it is a shortcut to increasing the eyeballs on your business, product or service, with a third-party endorsement from a trusted source.
For many years the idea of influencer marketing was oversimplified, with very little policy or procedure around engagements, however in 2024, the rise of influencer managers/ agencies, analytics and reporting have made these engagements much more strategic.
Below are our tips for making the most of your influencer marketing strategy:
Quality over quantity
Working with an influencer that has 1 million followers doesn’t necessarily guarantee results. Depending on your product or service, we recommend considering ‘micro influencers,’ who have a smaller audience, but greater influence in that group.
Data and analytics
Every influencer should be able to share their key performance metrics with you when you are in the exploration phase. Specifically, you want to see their engagement rates, click-through rates, past post-performance metrics and conversions and sales (where relevant).
Background check (not the police type)
Before engaging an influencer, make sure you deep dive into their content and social commentary to ensure they are aligned with your brand values. For example, if you were a vegan brand, you want to engage committed vegans who can authentically talk to their experience with your product.
Review process
While influencers are creating more quality content than ever, we highly recommend building in approval processes to contracts, to ensure you are happy with how your brand is being represented.
Reporting
As part of any engagement agreement, make sure there is a requirement for influencers to report back on the success of their campaign with you. This keeps the person accountable and gives them extra motivation to succeed with you!
If you’re contemplating implementing influencer marketing as part of your marketing strategy in 2024, but don’t know where to start, contact our Communications and Operations Director, Laura Carlin – [email protected].