Of all the marketing gimmicks that are going around, do you know what sets Influencer Marketing apart? The human touch. And, that’s the power of influencer marketing. Recent years have witnessed a whooping increase in the use of influencer marketing strategies for business growth. Influencers play a major role in shaping the interests and controlling the purchasing decisions of buyers these days. According to a recent survey conducted by Influencer Marketing Hub, 61% of consumers tend to go with influencer recommendations while only 38% of consumers trust brand recommendations.
Influencer marketing strategy is the type of marketing that uses individuals with a high follower count on social media, a.k.a., influencers to market a particular product, brand, or service. Consumers tend to trust the opinions and recommendations of people they follow and admire. This is the whole idea behind influencer marketing. Influencers have built a strong and loyal fan base with their honest opinions and recommendations and brands use this to their advantage. With the help of influencers, brands could reach a specific target audience in a much more effective and quantitative way. Influencer marketing drives a certain amount of credibility and reliability to a brand which, in turn, helps in enhancing the reach, engagement and sales of a business.
There are several different ways a brand can make use of an influencer program like through sponsored posts, collaborations, product mentions, etc. The cost of influencer marketing depends on the influencers and the means of marketing. The key to a successful influencer marketing campaign is to find the right social influencer for your brand. The influencer should fit your brand’s voice effortlessly. We will come back to selecting the right influencer in a while. Before that, let’s talk more about why influencer marketing is powerful and important for your brand’s growth.
POWER OF INFLUENCER MARKETING
The power of influencer marketing majorly lies in four major factors.
1. Integrity
Consumers believe in the integrity and authenticity of the influencers. The recommendations and suggestions that come from influencers are considered more genuine and trustworthy than traditional advertising.
2. Reach
Influencers have a huge followers count on social media platforms. For a brand, this is the easiest way to reach out to a specific audience.
3. Trust
Consumers see influencers as trusted sources of information. A suggestion of a product or service from an influencer has more credibility than the brand itself.
4. Engagement
With a high follower rate comes higher engagement. A post from a social influencer reaches a wider audience thus more people are likely to engage with the post through likes, comments, and shares.
As already mentioned, partnering with the right influencer that matches your brand values is the right way to go with Influencer marketing. Yes, it can be a challenge to find such an influencer but with the following tips, you could excel without fail. When we say the right influencer, we don’t mean the ones with the most number of followers or the ones with make you pay the highest amount.
SELECTING THE RIGHT SOCIAL INFLUENCER
Below are a few things to keep in mind before selecting the right influencer for your brand.
1. Target Market
Go for an influencer whose niche is your target market. Different influencers have different types of followers. You have to ensure that the followers of the influencer you choose and the audience you are targeting are the same.
2. Authenticity
It is always recommended to go with an influencer who is known for offering honest and genuine opinions of products and services. If they have a bad reputation for being spurious, it might affect your business poorly as well.
3. Followers Count and Engagement Rate
The influencer must have a decent amount of followers. More importantly, you must make sure the influencer has a good engagement rate. A small influencer with a high engagement rate is better than a big influencer with less engagement rate.
4. Brand Value
Another critical thing to keep in mind is to select an influencer whose personal brand image matches your brand values and identity. Only such influencers would be able to create content that resonates with your brand message and thus connect with your target audience.
If you keep the above points in mind, it would be easier for you to select the right social influencer for your Facebook or Instagram influencer marketing. Marketing a product or service is getting more and more difficult by each day. Consumers are more focused on genuinity and honesty and brands that fail to offer traits like these are often neglected by consumers without a second thought. With consumers becoming more savvy and discerning, they wouldn’t be deceived by traditional marketing gimmicks or false promises. Transparency is what they expect from a brand and by partnering with the right influencer you will be able to show your consumers how credible, trustworthy, and transparent your brand is.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON INFLUENCER MARKETING
Finding the right influencer, creating engaging content with them, measuring the success of an influencer campaign, etc. can be challenging to a great extent. However, with the right assistance, you would be able to overcome such challenges and get benefitted from Influencer Marketing effortlessly. ODigMa is a digital marketing cum influencer marketing agency that offers services that help brands find the right influencer that matches their brand image. As a brand, it can be a time-consuming task for you. However, as one of the best agencies with years of experience in helping brands grow, ODigMa could help you find the perfect influencer marketing strategy that helps your brand connect with your target audience.
Just like any other marketing strategy, this one also needs to be measured and evaluated to achieve the best possible results. The performance and success of an influencer program can be measured by monitoring the reach, engagement, and conversions through likes, shares, and subscriptions. With this, you could evaluate the effectiveness of influencer marketing for your brand, optimise the strategies, and make informed decisions for the betterment of future campaigns.
Another pro tip for an effective and successful influencer marketing campaign is long-term partnerships with influencers. Consistency will enhance the authenticity of your brand among consumers. If you find yourself stuck at any stage of an influencer marketing campaign, you could reach out to the experts at ODigMa for professional support. Do not forget to keep track of the cost spent on influencer marketing campaigns and compare it with the revenue generated through it to make data-driven decisions quickly before it’s too late.