Find out what influencer marketing is, the types of influencers out there, ways to start using influencer marketing in your business, and the advantages & disadvantages of influencer marketing.
Glossary
What is Influencer Marketing
The rise of Influencer Marketing
Types of Influencer Marketing
Types of Influencers
Five Advantages of Influencer Marketing
Five Disadvantages of Influencer Marketing
What is Influencer Marketing: The Advantages and Disadvantages
Influencer Marketing is a strategy where brands use public figures with a following to reach their customers. These public figures have built a loyal audience on their platform. Through their content on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, or even LinkedIn. They appeal to audiences as a trustworthy sources. Working with influencers allows your businesses to gain several benefits. Build your customer’s trust, expand brand awareness, and promote your products with influencer marketing.
Influencer marketing on Instagram alone accounted for over $1.6 billion dollars in advertising spending in 2018. One of the most mentioned brands on Instagram is Zara, which is estimated to have reached over 2 billion people. Influencer Marketing is projected to reach over $16.4 Billion dollars in 2022. Another interesting statistic is that brands have utilized micro influencers ten times more than mega influencers. This is because brands are seeing the value of spreading their budget among many micro influencers, compared to paying for one partnership with a mega influencer (which can be very expensive). Over 80% of consumers have bought something because an influencer has recommended it. These impressive numbers are only growing, and influencer marketing is projected to continue growing in double digits. It is estimated by Insider Intelligence that spending on an influencer marketing campaign is predicted to approach $5 billion in 2023.
Types of Influencer Marketing
Here are a few examples of Influencer marketing methods and techniques for inspiration!
Social media takeover: This is when an influencer will “take over” the brand’s social media platform for a set period of time. Many benefits of a social media takeover include: Brand exposure, new followers, a chance to share a new perspective, and a great method for a campaign or special events.
Guest Blogging: Similar to a social media takeover, guest blogging is when you invite someone from outside of the company to write a blog for the brand’s website. In the case of influencer marketing, it would be a blogger who is already in your niche or industry who is the guest.
Giveaways: Giveaways are when brands partner with an influencer and work together to raise awareness for their products. Giving free products away to their followers with certain rules and guidelines (such as sharing the post with their friends, posting it on their own profile, etc.). Giveaways have been known to increase user engagement, and it has been a trend within the influencer marketing industry for a while.
Sponsored content: Sponsored content or advertisements are when an influencer posts content that has been endorsed by a company. Paid sponsorship or partnership posts must be disclosed in the post themselves, as the FTC demands. This is to protect all parties involved.
Unboxing: This is another great way to create engagement with your audience! Unboxing videos are when the influencer unboxes or opens up a product (that was most likely sent to them from the brand ), and the whole process is documented and uploaded to their platform.
Brand ambassador programs: Brand ambassador programs are a process where brands find, recruit, manage, pay, and track brand ambassadors. These ambassadors can drive sales, boost brand awareness, and develop a community around your brand.
What are the different types of influencers?
There are many types of influencers out there. Depending on your strategy, you will want to work with different types of influencers. For example, if you are marketing towards a niche target, you might want to focus on Micro and Nano Influencers. On the other hand, utilizing macro or mega influencers can allow your brand a greater reach.
Mega-influencers
Mega influencers are those who have over 1 million followers. Celebrities like Kylie Jenner, David Beckham, Selena Gomez are all mega influencers. With over 1 million followers, these influencers are professional and have high visibility on social media. This also means that they are very expensive.
Macro-influencers
Macro influencers have between 500,000 to 1,000,000 followers. Macro influencers have a large and diverse audience. They tend to be TV personalities, athletes, or opinion leaders in their community. They are recognized and their audience acknowledges their standing within the community. They most likely have experience working with brands and partnership deals.
Mid-Tier Influencers
With a following of 100,000 to 500,000 followers, mid-tier influencers have a high amount of loyal audiences. They’re considered to have experience and built up an audience on their platforms. Mid-Tier influencers also tend to have more experience than nano and micro-influencers.
Micro-influencers
Micro-Influencers are those with 10,000 to 50,000 followers. Regarded as experts in their respective fields, followers trust them. Additionally, micro-influencers have a higher engagement rate compared to mega and macro influencers.
Nano-influencers
Nano Influencers are influencers with less than 10,000 followers. These influencers have the highest engagement rate. They have a close connection to their fans and followers. Followers tend to view their recommendations as more trustworthy and authentic. The downside is they have a small reach.
Keep in mind: Interaction and engagement tend to drop with higher reach. There’s only a 1.6 percent engagement rate with Instagram influencers who have more than 10 million followers.
Before you start searching for influencers, ask yourself these 4 questions
Do I know my customers well enough to find an influencer they might follow?
Will I be able to find an authentic influencer that my potential customers trust?
Does the influencer have the same values as my business?
How will I measure my ROI?
If these weren’t enough for you, we’ve gathered five pros and cons of influencer marketing for your consideration:
Five advantages of influencer marketing
Influencer marketing can be the solution for your business. Depending on your brand and what type of influencers you use to promote your products. Below are five factors that Influencer Marketing can provide for your business.
Reach your target audience faster
Businesses spend a lot of resources on curating the perfect persona and customer profiles. Partnering with the right influencers will allow your business to reach your ideal customers, and expand your reach. As mentioned above, influencers can have anywhere from 1,000 to over 1 million followers. The right influencer will expose your brand to your ideal audience.
Build trust and credibility
Partnering with influencers who are authentic is crucial. Authenticity and similar core values are what you should look for in the ideal ambassador. Influencers are often trusted by their followers on social media. That’s why they follow them to begin with! Partnering with these public figures will build your brand’s credibility, and instill trust in your ideal customers.
Chance to support niche influencers
It’s becoming more common for brands to work with smaller influencers. As influencer marketing has been on the rise, brands used to mostly work with big influencers. Nowadays, brands are recognizing the impact of small influencers (nano and micro influencers) and how much their followers trust them.
Expand your content’s creativity
A good influencer marketing campaign will encompass your ideal brand image, along with the message you wish to convey to your customers. Influencers know their followers, and what they want to see. High-quality content creation is in the job description. This means that with the right influencer, your campaign will be carefully crafted to cater to the target audience. Allowing your brand to draw inspiration from the content the influencer has created. Picking the right influencer will also mean expanding your brand’s content and creativity.
Suitable for many types of businesses
Whether you are a start-up or a Fortune 500 company, influencer marketing is flexible for any business. As we’ve mentioned, there are many types of influencers. The costs also vary depending on the number of followers they have.
Five disadvantages of influencer marketing
High Risk: Fake Influencers
Influencers are usually paid depending on the number of followers they have. The more followers, the bigger the paycheck. This introduces a new problem: Fake Followers. Many Instagram “influencers” have bought their followers, but instead of gaining them, organically Fake influencers are false advertising to companies who seek out partnerships with them. This makes it difficult for companies and brands to find influencers who they can trust.
Oversaturated Influencer Posts
Influencer marketing has skyrocketed in recent years. A person's feed is often filled with sponsored or promotional content. Many consumers feel overwhelmed and annoyed if an influencer posts too much sponsored content. As they feel like the content is less genuine and too repetitive. Keep in mind that more is not always better when it comes to influencer marketing.
Strict guidelines
Brands used to have much more freedom with their campaign. But the popularity of influencer marketing has increased dramatically over the years, guidelines have been put in place. The FTC stepped in and made new laws that center around influencer campaigns. Influencers must explicitly state as sponsored content, or advertisement.
Can be expensive
Since many influencers determine their rates depending on the amount of followers they have, influencer marketing can be expensive. Many companies are resorting to influencer marketing, meaning that influencers are in high demand. High demand also means higher prices. If your brand is looking for mega-influencers, be prepared to deal with mega-price.
Success can be hard to monitor
Measuring success when your brand is utilizing influencer marketing can be tricky. Compared to other traditional marketing methods, determining the success of your campaign can be difficult. There are analytical tools such as engagement, reach, and impressions that brands can utilize, although marketers must acquire the data they need, and audience insights. It is not impossible, but it is an extra step to measuring the true effects of the campaign.
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Bird Vision Media is a startup creator network that helps individuals, brands, and businesses with their creative work, social marketing strategy, branding, and business strategy.
We also help businesses cultivate relationships between their brand and brand ambassadors.
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