Things You Should Know About Influencer Marketing 2022

As a business owner or marketer, you should know by now that influencer marketing is taking the world by storm.

While every marketer has tricks and strategies in promoting their brands, a shrewd one would know how to capitalize on modern trends. Today, influencer marketing remains to be the most prominent and most effective way to get your brand out there. If you thought the trend was huge three years ago, you have guessed right. But, you will be even more surprised to know that it has grown exponentially over the last three years. In fact, marketers have seen its potential so much so that many of them increased their influencer marketing budget for this year. That alone is a clear indicator of just the trend has grown.

More importantly, it is an indication that marketers should start looking into availing of influencer marketing services if it is not part of their advertising budget just yet. Influencer marketing has been making significant gains for marketers insomuch that investments they made will generate an average ROI of at least 478% that is according to a report from the Benchmark Report of the State of Influencer Marketing in 2020. If you are a brand or a company, you should be reaping the benefits of influencer marketing by now. But if you are relatively new to digital marketing, you may have questions about this latest trend in marketing and advertisement. We will attempt to discuss and address them below.

WHAT IS INFLUENCER MARKETING?

In essence, influencer marketing is the process by which companies enter into a contract with influencers to reach a broader, more comprehensive, and relevant audience. Influencers can accomplish this marketing process through social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, and even TikTok.

They may also use websites and blogs so that they can successfully meet and accomplish a marketer’s objectives. To illustrate how influencer marketing works, it is pretty much when a celebrity or well-known personality advertises a marketer’s product through their own social media platforms. They do not need to employ hard-sell techniques either as most of them would simply wear or use the product, avail the service, and tag the appropriate brand or business.

The advertising itself comes from the captions they write or the things they say about the brand. Social media influencers with a huge following and bigger audiences tend to have a better chance of gaining website traffic and increased ROI. However, this does not mean that only A-list celebrities or mega-influencers are worth working with. You can also partner with macro or micro-influencers such as bloggers, vloggers, and writers.

It all boils down to your brand’s niche and goals. What do you want to achieve with your campaigns? To have a better understanding of what your goals should be in your influencer marketing campaigns, it is best if you know the critical facts of influencer marketing, which will be discussed in detail below:

a.) Conduct your research and select the right personality from there

Your consumers want authenticity, and as a marketer, you need to give it to them for you to see effective results. Your social media marketing should be authentic, so you need to select the right personality that can deliver it. Take time to do your research and choose the right candidate that fits your influencer program. Doing this will increase your chances of targeting new prospects, customers, and conversions through word of mouth. When you start your influencer marketing program, it is hardly likely for you to find individuals who will be up for the deal without something in return. Monetary reward, free services, merchandise are just some of the things that may be considered for the deal.

Once you have built your brand’s influence, however, high-level influencers will be more receptive to working with you.

b.) Treat influencers like business partners

Keep in mind that an influencer relationship is a business relationship between your brand and the influencer whose professional services you employed. Essentially, this business relationship is a win-win venture as it will benefit both parties, and you and the influencer can enjoy the respective advantages.

Your company or brand’s message will be authentically conveyed to the appropriate audience while also reaching a new group of people. Influencers will also generate revenue for themselves while producing content that reflects their voice and brand’s passion and experience. To achieve the results, be sure to align with influencers and share your vision and goals with them. Also, choose to work with and provide them with the tools necessary to get the job done. Outline and clearly define what your content requirements are, but do not limit their creative freedom. Give them enough room to express and exhibit their creativity and personality as well.

c.) Be mindful of content, engagement, presence, and demographics

Most companies have little to no idea what to look for in an influencer. Today, it remains a challenge for most marketers to find the right personality for their business. To help you find the right influencer for your campaign, the four qualities you should look for are content, engagement, presence, and demographics (audience). We will discuss each below thoroughly:

1.) Content: Look for individuals who produce content that resonates with your target audience. These should be individuals who can prompt discussions and generate even more shares across social media platforms.

2.) Engagement: Be a little keen on a prospective influencer’s engagement level. Engagement should be in the form of interaction such as comments, likes, questions, reposts, and shares on social media websites.

3.) Presence: Seek out influencers who have an active presence across multiple social media sites. They should be posting regularly. After all, you would want the influencers you hire to post and have an even wider reach.

4.) Demographics: Figuring out an influencer’s audience demographic reach is pivotal. If you are targeting a particular set of individuals, make sure that the influencer you choose talks about things that would pique the interest of your target market.

d.) Influencer marketers value authentic content to create trust

Consumers tend to follow influencers who exude authenticity. Similarly, they follow them because they value the content they create. Influencers strive to remain true to themselves when working on sponsored content to ensure that they satisfy their audiences.

With that in mind, a good and effective influencer would create well-researched content pieces that add value to the reader instead of routinely putting out low-quality materials that do not add any value to their content. Through this, your influencer can assist your brand in building trust with your target audience through valuable blog content. This can be in the form of material-blog posts, product or service reviews, and the like.

CONCLUSION

Needless to say, influencer marketing is the biggest thing in the digital marketing space this year. If you wish to establish trust with your consumers and build your brand’s credibility, you may want to think of boosting your influencer marketing campaign.

More importantly, you can create mutually beneficial business relationships with influencers in your industry.