What Is Influencer Marketing?
In today’s digital world, influencer marketing is an essential part of any brand’s growth strategy. While the name may sound like it’s a modern invention, influencer marketing has been around for centuries.
Think about the people you know and love. Chances are, many of them are influencers. They have achieved fame and fortune due to the amount of influence they have over their connected audience. Influencer marketing is the practice of using celebrities and famous personalities to sell a product or service.
The digital marketing industry has shifted to focus on influencer marketing, and with good reason. The right influencers can help your business grow. They can expose your brand to millions of people, and potentially turn them into customers. And, if you work with the right influencers, you don’t even have to sell them on your products. They’ll tell their audiences about your business, and convince them to buy what you’re offering, all while earning money from sponsorships.
Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why influencer marketing is important to your brand:
- It’s incredibly cost-effective.
- It gives you instant credibility.
- It increases brand loyalty.
- It creates buzz, increasing word-of-mouth, and potential sales.
- It exposes your brand to new markets.
- It’s a great way to learn valuable marketing lessons.
How Can Influencer Marketing Help My Business?
If you’re unfamiliar, influencer marketing is all about gaining the trust and loyalty of people based on their affinities with your product or service. In other words, influencer marketing is about influence, not marketing.
As a brand, you have a pretty good idea of what your product is, and what it does. You may have even been able to pinpoint the exact demographic you want to target. The problem is, everyone expects you to know exactly what you’re doing, and they’re right. You don’t. That’s why you need the help of experts. That’s where influencer marketing comes in.
Think about all the celebrities you’ve heard of. Can you name a single one that isn’t an influencer? I bet you can’t. This is mostly because you can identify the influencers in a given industry. For example, if you’re in the fashion industry, you know that famous fashion influencers like Yoyo Chao and Cheyenne Chesney are going to help your business grow. If you want to be the next big thing in fitness, you may want to consider working with a famous fitness influencer like Hana Does Yoga.
The list of potential influencers is endless. It’s all about finding people who have large audiences that are interested in your product or service. When you have that, you’ve basically got yourself a marketing machine. The influencers will help you spread the word about your business, while also generating leads, and increasing brand loyalty.
As with any new marketing strategy, you’ll want to keep a close eye on the numbers. It’s easy to get overly excited about a new strategy, and think that just because it’s working, it must be good. This can translate into bad metrics, which may in turn lead you to make incorrect business decisions.
The truth is, you cannot gauge the success of an influencer marketing campaign simply by looking at the number of leads or sales that your business makes. It takes time to see how effective this strategy truly is. You’ll want to look at multiple metrics, such as:
- The increase in social media activity, such as: post views, comments, and shares.
- The amount of press coverage your business receives.
- The growth of your website traffic.
- The increase in email sign-ups.
You’re not in this to win a popularity contest. You’re in this to make a profit, and achieve long-term growth. If you want to be sure that you’re making the right decisions for your business, it’s important to take the time to measure the effectiveness of your strategy. This way, you can be sure that you’re not making any hasty conclusions, based on incomplete data.
How Do I Find The Right Influencers For My Business?
You’ve probably heard the term “digital marketing strategist.” That’s what you are. You’re a strategist, you’re doing digital marketing, and you’re doing it well. You’re an expert in creating strategies for brands, businesses, and marketers to improve their performance online.
If you want to be sure that you’re investing in the right influencers for your business, it’s important to follow this process.
Firstly, look for people who have a large audience. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never done any social media, or if you have thousands of followers. You want to work with influencers who have a broad appeal, and can bring in a large number of potential customers. When you have that, you’re on the right track.
Secondly, look for people who are already established in their fields. The more experience they have, the more reliable they’ll be as an influencer. This is because experienced individuals know exactly what they’re doing, and are confident enough in their abilities to be compensated fairly for their efforts. The more experience the better, and the more you can trust them to be fair about what they say.
You’re not looking for just any old influencers, you’re looking for experts who can bring in the customers, and grow your business. Once you’ve found that expert, be sure to work with them frequently, so that they continue to encourage brand loyalty, and keep people aware of your products and services. If they’re doing their job properly, they’ll have numerous offers from brands, businesses, and marketers, wanting to work with them. It’s important to be sure that you make the right decision, and work with someone who is capable of bringing in the customers, and growing your business.
How Do I Know If An Influencer Is Right For My Business?
It’s important to do your research before making any kind of commitment. Once you’ve found that expert, be sure to do your research into their background, and learn everything you can about them.
This is important because you don’t want to do business with someone who isn’t going to be effective in promoting your products and services. It takes time to build a relationship with an influencer, so you want to make sure that you’re investing in someone who is going to be able to help you, and that you can rely on. If you do your research, and learn everything you can about them, you’ll be able to make the right decision. You’re not going to regret working with an expert, who knows exactly what they’re doing, and is confident enough to be compensated fairly for their efforts.
How Do I Ensure That My Business’ Interests Are Aligned With The Influencers’ Interests?
While it’s great to find someone who is willing to promote your business, you don’t want to do business with someone who isn’t going to be honest with you or your team. This is why it’s important to find someone who is already established, and who you know you can trust. As a business, you want to ensure that you are working with someone who is going to promote your products, and is also going to be honest with you, and your team. You want to avoid any surprises once the campaign is over. So, do your research, and meet with the influencers in person, before making any contracts.
What Are Some Of The Benefits Of Digital Influencer Marketing
I already mentioned the cost-effectiveness of digital influencer marketing. But there are other benefits as well.
First, and most importantly, digital influencer marketing is measurable. You’ll be able to track the results of your campaign, and determine if it was effective or not. Traditional influencer marketing is very difficult to track, and even when you do have proof that it was successful, you’ll never know how much. With digital influencer marketing, you’ll be able to easily see the results of your efforts, and know if they were worth it or not. This is extremely valuable, and allows you to make informed decisions about your marketing strategy, without being fooled by marketing claims that are too good to be true.
