Influencer marketing is the fastest-growing customer acquisition channel. 51% of marketers have claimed that it is the most cost-effective channel for user acquisition. Not to mention, purchasing decisions of about 50% of consumers depend on what is recommended to them by the influencer they follow. Right from small businesses to well-known brands, go to influencer marketing for a variety of benefits.
Small-scale businesses include everything from local convenience stores to freelance web designers. However small or big your business is, it needs to be recognized. The best way to promote your business, in this era, is with the help of social media influencers. Here you can reach out to a bigger audience and create more demand for your products. If you are starting your small business, Nano or Micro-Influencers are the best options to go forward.
Social Media Influencers are people who have a strong presence online along with a sizeable fan base. Reaching out to the audience of various influencers is one of the goals when it comes to influencer marketing.
Traditional Marketing/Advertising methods though effective to a certain extent, pose the following limitations:
Consumers find influencers relatable and easy to connect with. It brings the influencers closer to the consumer than any celebrity can get. Therefore, they (The consumers) tend to believe the recommendations and reviews given by the social media influencers rather than famous personalities endorsing any brand. So, you should opt for influencer marketing as a form of brand promotion.
When you opt for Influencer marketing, you should make sure that the influencer you choose for promoting your brand produces content that is in line with your brand. For example, if your brand makes food ingredients, you could approach food influencers. This way it is more likely for your product to reach the relevant target audience, which increases the chances of the audience converting into potential consumers.
Many social media influencers have a considerable number of followers. If you collaborate with such influencers it will enable your brand to gain greater exposure that is quite targeted. Most of their followers can also turn into potential customers since they trust the influencers.
Influencers spend a lot of time and effort cultivating a bond of trust with their followers. It leads their followers to believe them. When the same influencers promote your brand, the audience will trust the said influencer without questioning the credibility of your brand.
When you target your marketing campaign towards a particular target audience, they convert to customers quickly. It is easier for them to understand what your brand is about since the influencers know what to say to their audience so they can understand the functionality of your brand or product.
Due to the increase in various social media platforms, the number of influencers has also increased drastically. The influencer marketing industry is currently booming and is still to reach its peak. Businesses generate $6.50 in revenue for each $1 invested in influencer marketing.
When an influencer promotes your business it doesn’t only reach your desired target audience but also spreads to their circle since people tend to share the content that they like. This audience varies in number for every influencer. Here is how to differentiate between the types of influencers by the number of followers they have.
Nano Influencers are the influencers with the lowest follower count. They usually have followers between 1k - 10k . Even though these influencers do not give you a wider reach, they tend to have the highest engagement rate. They are also cost-effective as they charge very low since they are trying to grow and build their connections with other brands.
Micro-Influencers have a slightly higher number of followers between 10k - 50k. Micro-influencers are favorable among small businesses because of their reach as well as their engagement rate. They interact with their audience frequently, therefore, have a strong bond with them.
Mid-Tier Influencers have a healthy following of 50k - 500k. Their engagement is slightly higher than Micro & Nano Influencers. Their content developed through experience, but organic nonetheless. They have a good experience of content creation and the likes and dislikes of their audience.
Macro Influencers have a considerably large number of followers between 500k - 1m, which is less than the followers of Mega Influencers. They have a good reach and engagement rate. They lean more towards the professional side when it comes to Influencer marketing.
Mega Influencers enjoy celebrity status with more than 1m followers. They have a wider reach and have a decent engagement rate despite studies showing that the engagement rate drops with the increase in the number of followers. Mega influencers are often approached by high-end and luxury brands and also charge higher fees.
Even though the objective of Influencer marketing campaigns is to reach out to the target audience, that is, the influencers’ fan base, the influencer must find your brand appealing enough to make them want to promote/endorse it. If the influencer does not think your brand is appealing, they will not promote it due to the fear of creating content that disconnects with their audience base.
Most brands, as well as influencers, choose to go for long-term partnerships. For the brands, it results in multiple product campaigns by the influencer for the brand and a loyal customer base. Influencers can build a good rapport and a good relationship with the brand.
The content of your business/product should be in line with the interests and niche of the audience the influencers appeal to. The influencers are sensitive when it comes to their fan base since they have spent a long time cultivating a trustworthy relationship with them. If your brand has nothing close to the audience's interest, the influencers may go as far as outright declining your offer.
As the point suggests, giving the influencers their creative liberty is a must in influencer marketing campaigns. You can give the influencers an outline of what you want to cover in the campaigns but, how they convey it should be left up to them. They know what to say so that your brand appeals to their audience as they interact with their followers frequently and are aware of their likes and dislikes.
After reading through the above content, you may be thinking of promoting your own small business through Influencer Marketing. It is an amazing step ahead for your business but, you need to map out your Influencer Marketing Plan strategically to get the best ROI.
Promoting your business on all social media platforms may not be as appealing and effective as it sounds. You must make sure that a maximum of your target audience uses those social networking sites. It will help you to concentrate most of your influencers on one platform so that your target audience sees the maximum of your content on the same platform. It will also get you maximum reach and engagement.
Once you finalize the Social Networks to concentrate on, you can start by setting up a budget. Your budget should contain the amount you will be paying the influencers and influencer marketing agencies (if you are planning to hire them) and other miscellaneous costs. You must make a clear plan about the format and the frequency of your promotional content, for example, two pictures and one reel on Instagram twice a week.
The reason why you are initiating the influencer campaign must be clear. Maybe you want to target a new demographic or you want to increase your brand awareness within a particular community. It should be clear to you and the influencers since they are pitching your product to their audience.
Your mission statement is what you want to convey about your brand through the marketing campaign and as mentioned earlier, the influencers should have a clear idea about it. They are the ones who are going to talk about what your brand is and what message it is trying to convey.
You cannot just release your influencer marketing campaign and forget about it, you must follow up on their performance regularly. Referral codes for each influencer can be generated so you can keep track of their performance like how much traffic they bring at regular intervals. Regular follow-ups are also not enough. A strong impact will be made when you optimize your strategies from time to time.
As you read through all the steps to create a successful influencer marketing campaign by implementing various influencer marketing strategies, it is only natural that you get overwhelmed. There are a lot of factors that you need to be careful about while handling your campaign manually.
This is the most crucial part of your campaign since who you will be choosing will be representing your brand for a certain period. Sometimes even after extensive research, you may choose an influencer who is not suitable for promoting your brand. You may overlook a fact or two due to the overwhelming amount of influencer data.
Influencer frauds are more common than you think. It has been noted that a lot of influencer accounts use third-party applications to boost their follower numbers. It results in the incorrect evaluation and there is a possibility of your influencer marketing strategy to go for a toss.
Over the years, the audience has grown accustomed to the generic positioning of any promotional content. They can easily recognize what kind of content is promotional and turn a blind eye to it. You have to think out of the box when it comes to promotional content that will appeal to the audience.
All this sure is nerve-wracking, especially if you are starting with influencer marketing. Even though you feel that you should personally look through all the stages of your campaign, you may not be able to do so due to time constraints or even due to its physically and mentally taxing nature. Wouldn’t it be convenient if all this were automated?
Here is how Affable.ai can help you automate your influencer marketing campaigns.
The term SaaS may sound very technical but, in reality, it is not very difficult. To put it simply, Influencer Marketing Platforms automate the entire influencer outreach and help you find the most effective influencers across different social media platforms. These platforms help you find, manage and measure Influencers Campaigns and help you get a higher ROI. They also help you save countless hours that would otherwise be spent in finding influencers and tracking campaigns manually.
Influencer marketing platforms like Affable.ai save you the time and effort spent looking for the right influencers for your brand. They give you a curated list of influencers according to your preferences. It also helps in narrowing them down to the specifications of your choice. Influencer marketing platforms also provide performance analytics. These platforms measure the success or failure of your marketing campaign and help you come up with ways of increasing the impact of your campaign.
Keeping track of every post by every influencer is a task in itself. The features on Affable.ai can rid you of this hassle. Managing and keeping track of posts made by influencers under your campaign is made easier on this platform. When it comes to influencer marketing, you should keep in mind that there are other brands in the market too. You need to know what your competition is doing as well. Fortunately, Influencer marketing platforms are well-equipped with tools that can help you keep track of what your competitors are up to.
Influencer marketing is more effective because the audience finds influencers relatable. Influencer marketing generates more specific traffic. The influencers have a wider reach compared to traditional marketing methods. The Audience tends to believe the influencers more than well-known celebrities. Thus Influencer marketing generates a higher ROI as compared to other marketing channels.
Nano influencers: Nano Influencers are the influencers with the lowest follower count. They usually have followers between 1k - 10k.
Micro-Influencers: Micro-Influencers have a slightly higher number of followers between 10k - 50k.
Mid-Tier Influencers: Mid-Tier Influencers have a healthy following of 50k - 500k.
Macro Influencers: Macro Influencers have a considerably large number of followers between 500k - 1m which is lesser than Mega Influencers.
Mega Influencers: Mega Influencers enjoy celebrity status with more than 1m followers. They have a wider reach and a decent engagement rate.
Building a long term relationship by offering affiliate partnerships may prove to build brand loyalty among the influencers and their followers. Your brand must also appeal to the influencers as well as their followers since it will be beneficial to increase engagement. It is also important that you give the influencers creative liberty when it comes to the promotional content since they know how to convince their audience.
An effective marketing strategy involves knowing which social network is the most effective for brand promotion. Preparing budgets for every aspect and planning when to post your content will help in making your campaign more streamlined. Making clear objectives and mission statements provides the influencers with a clear perspective about your business and what you stand for. A campaign manager must continuously analyse the campaign performance and come up with optimized methods to create a strong impact.
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