Influencer marketing is a very effective method in digital advertising. In this method, brands collaborate with influential people or pages with many fans on social networks to promote their product or brand using the credibility of their opinions in the eyes of their audience.
According to research, social media users will be five times more likely to purchase the advertised product or service if they encounter effective advertising content.
Statistics show that 40% of people in the US have purchased a product online after seeing influencers use it.
Marketers should know many details and tips about influencer marketing to decide on the appropriateness of this advertising method for their brand. In this article on the smart strategy blog, we will dive deep into the influencer marketing campaign. Keep us.
Why is influencer marketing essential?
Influencer marketing is an effective way to attract the attention and trust of the young generation. Young people do not trust advertising in traditional methods, and they should see proof of the quality and efficiency of a particular product in the community, Before spending money. Therefore, these people turned to social networks and followed those they trusted. They read the opinions of influencers about different products and accept their suggestions. Meanwhile, they share their views with others. So what is influencer marketing?
What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing refers to activities aiming to promote a product by influential people. Influencers usually share their opinions and suggestions about using a particular product with their followers on social networks and promote brands in this way.
When it comes to influential people, first of all, their activity on Instagram attracts our attention; A social network in which the young generation is very active, and it is possible to advertise many products.
Although Instagram is considered a relatively more popular social network, influencers are also active on other social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Telegram, etc. In addition, the activities of these people are broader than just social networks. There are bloggers whose content is far more influential than other bloggers, and they are considered a perfect choice for promoting activities related to advertising.
Who is the influencer?
The most crucial feature of influencers is their ability to influence other people’s purchasing decisions. In addition, they can influence others because they are known as experts in their field.
Influencers generally fall into one of the following categories:
- Famous people or celebrities are the principal subcategories, and this category has the most significant number of followers and audiences. Still, cooperation with them will bring the highest cost.
- Well-known experts in different fields: these people are usually famous in a particular field for their experience and skill and can influence their audience and followers;
- Bloggers or content producers: These people’s content has many readers who follow them on social networks and use their suggestions and opinions when buying.
Of course, many followers indicate a person’s considerable reputation and are admirable. However, remember that being famous is not enough alone. Influencers must be trusted by their audience to influence the decisions and opinions of others.
Types of influencers
In general, influencers are divided into three categories. Your choice depends on your budget, brand, and product. For example, if your field of work is the production and sale of gardening tools, someone like Kim Kardashian will not be a good choice for you.
1. Celebrities
A celebrity endorsing products and recommending them to others is the oldest form of influencer marketing. This activity started when famous people like John Wayne, an American actor and filmmaker, and Paul Newman, an American actor and director, started advertising different products (John Wayne for cigarettes and Paul Newman for Coca-Cola).
Working with people allows you to reach many people and introduce your product to them. Still, there are also obstacles on the way of this activity that you should consider:
- This activity will cost a lot
- Consumers no longer trust such advertisements
- If your chosen celebrity has nothing in common with your target market, you probably won’t get the sales to boost.
2. Macro Influencers
These people have a large following (maybe millions of followers). Their difference from famous people is that they are experts in their field of work. Probably, if you share the name of such a person with others on the street, they will not recognize them, but they are famous in their field of work.
Cooperation with these people requires a high cost. In addition, they do not cooperate with anyone because any activity on their part can overshadow their reputation and credibility.
3. Micro-Influencers
Most of the influential people are in this category. Like the previous category, they are not famous among the general public but are experts in their field of work.
These people have more followers than you and me (10,000-500,000 followers), but ultimately not enough to demand astronomical salaries from you.
When choosing influencers, try to look for those with a loyal audience and strong influence. Additionally, their fans and followers must be similar to your brand’s audience.
How to get started with the influencer marketing campaign
After the activities related to influencer marketing are over, your brand will have more credibility and trust among your audience. In addition, audience engagement, conversion rate, and incoming traffic to your website will also increase. No matter how big (or small) your business and your budget, you can use influencer marketing and reap the rewards. In the following, we describe how to design an influencer marketing campaign.
1. Determine your goals
Launching any marketing campaign aims to prove that you can provide valuable content to your audience. The ultimate goal of the influencer marketing campaign is to confirm that you can provide valuable content to your influencer’s followers.
Why are you planning to launch an effective marketing campaign? What is your goal in doing activities related to it? The answers to these questions are essential, and you should consider them before planning. You need to specify a goal to have the necessary efficiency in choosing the right influencer, and you certainly will not be able to evaluate the results obtained.
- If your goal is to improve activities, you must specify the specific action you intend to strengthen. For example, increasing audience engagement, raising conversion rates, introducing more and better brands, gaining trust, or increasing site traffic; Which activities would you like to improve?
- increasing the number of followers on social networks;
- Are you planning to introduce a new product?
- Do you have an upcoming event that you want to promote?
The goals you specify for the activities must align with the key performance indicators (KPIs). Otherwise, it will not be possible to evaluate the success rate of campaign activities. For example, if your goal is to increase the number of people who sign up for the newsletter, you can use the same goal as a key performance indicator for evaluation.
Another point is that your goals should be as bright as possible. An intelligent plan includes these characteristics: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. For example, the purpose of introducing more and better brands could be more precise, and it is not possible to evaluate it. On the other hand, a twenty-five percent increase in Twitter followers over the next six months is a brilliant goal. By keeping these points in mind, you can determine whether your influencer marketing campaign has succeeded.
2. Know your target audience
Achieving the goal of your influencer marketing campaign depends on the message reaching the right audience. A target audience is a specific group of people interested in or who need your product or service.
Many businesses act recklessly and mistakenly target too many people. To determine your target audience, spend a little patience and answer the following questions very carefully:
- Who is your target audience?
Identify demographic characteristics such as age, gender, education, income, marital status, location, and more.
- What is your target audience interested in?
Specify the interests of your audience at this stage. You need to know what they are passionate about more than anything else.
- What stage of life are they?
You must know in which stage of life your audience is. Are they school-going teenagers or stay-at-home moms?
- What are their habits and behaviors?
What kind of products do they buy? What websites do they visit? How do they buy?
3. Choose your social network.
You need to identify demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and income of your target audience and know which social network they are on the most. Remember that only some social networks are suitable for you. For example, you should use Twitter or Instagram to attract young audiences.
Didn’t you know which social network is right for you? Do not worry! Social media listening can help you identify where your target audience is talking about your industry and brand. On the other hand, the field and sector in which you operate are also important. For example, Instagram is a suitable platform for beauty and modern brands. However, B2B businesses are better off going to LinkedIn.
4. Choose the best influencers
You defined the target, audience and social network in the previous three steps. Now it’s time to choose the best influencers to run your campaign. Therefore, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is the topic of my desired influencer’s posts relevant to my service or product? For example, the owner of a restaurant should go to an influencer who talks about the food he eats. Aligning their activity with your business means reaching an audience interested in you.
- Are their engagement rates realistic? It would help if you ensured that their engagement rate comes from organic and Instagram-approved channels. On the other hand, it is better to compare the number of followers with their likes and comments to ensure everything is correct.
- Have they worked with similar brands? Go through their previous posts and see if they have worked with a business similar to yours. Their experience can lead to cost reduction and the adoption of more suitable tactics.
- Do followers trust them? It would help if you had someone your target audience could count on and trust. The honest behavior of the influencer and the intimacy between him and his audience play a significant role in the success of the influencer marketing campaign.
- Are their followers whom you need? Don’t settle for the number of followers! Check the followers to make sure their characteristics match your target audience.
5. Contact selected influencers
Contact your chosen influencers and make your offer. The first thing you need to know is that influencers get a lot of requests from businesses. Hence, you are not going to get results with one call.
On the other hand, you may not talk to the influencer themselves and have to negotiate with their program manager.
6. Determine your campaign budget
You should determine the budget of your influencer marketing campaign based on the results of the previous steps. For example, what influencers should you work with to get closer to your goals? How much does it cost you to cooperate with them?
Most influencers’ bids are based on the number of followers, the current market rate, and what you want. Undoubtedly, the more budget you set aside for your campaign, the broader range of professional influencers you will reach. However, you can turn to micro-influencers to control your spending. Cooperation with them may not produce an acceptable conversion rate, But they help you attract a higher-quality audience.
Pay attention to the time when allocating the budget. Influencers may make mistakes and not implement your wishes correctly. Therefore, you need to take the time to educate them so that they understand what threatens your position and what you need to maintain it.
7. Produce quality content
Your content must be flawless. Otherwise, no reputable influencer will be willing to work with you. Publishing an article of six hundred words, full of keywords, irrelevant links, and spelling mistakes, will not bring any results. The content you produce should include the following features:
- In proportion to the purpose;
- Practical;
- Eye-catching;
- Useful for readers.
8. Analyze and refine the results of your influencer marketing campaign
After implementing your influencer marketing campaign, you should monitor the results to modify your strategy if needed. How you measure campaign performance depends on your goal. You may be looking to increase the number of your followers, But another business wants you to put your brand name on the tongue.
Campaign review will help you identify mistakes and improve your performance in future campaigns. You should evaluate the results from the first to the last day of the campaign to achieve what you want.
The following are among the most critical key performance indicators. You should measure your performance with the following metrics to know if you are approaching the goal of your influencer marketing campaign or going in the wrong direction.
- impression
- Click rate
- mention brand
- Follower growth rate
- The amount of use of campaign-specific hashtags
- Increase engagement rate
- Increase income
- User Generated Content
- Rich
- Number of new users
- Number of website visits
- Referral traffic
Conclusion
in this article on the smart strategy, we deep dive into different sides of the influencer marketing campaign.
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