The phenomenon of influencer marketing is getting bigger and bigger. This trend will continue in 2019. This industry accounts for billions of dollars, and for many big agencies and brands, collaborating with influencers is a priority. Now it doesn't mean that only big companies can use influencer marketing. Small businesses can also do this through micro and nano-influencers. Are you curious how to use influencer marketing? Then read on.
What is influencer marketing?
Brands are increasingly looking for a different way of communicating and encountering people through social media. People who give others confidence and with whom others can identify. That's why influencer marketing is so interesting. The biggest distinction between influencers and brands is that influencers are better at branding and a brand is better at marketing. Branding means sowing and marketing means harvesting and that's why a brand and an influencer go so well together. Influencer marketing is not just about the reach, but above all about the involvement of the followers. If you want a wide range, you choose big influencers and want your involvement, you choose micro and nano influencers. In addition, as a less large company, you can also use micro and nano-influencers, as they are often cheaper than influencers with large following.
Why micro-influencers?
For most brands, it's all about authentic and therefore valuable interactions, which is why they will choose one or more smaller influencers. The followers of micro-influencers are often a niche that might be perfectly in line with your target audience. Moreover, micro-influencers make it less difficult to shape them according to your ideas. Micro-influencers are more in between the brand and the public and are seen as more approachable and reliable. Their followers really fit in with their interests and therefore there is a good chance that their followers are also interested in your product or brand if you choose the right influencer. Influencer marketing is like a relationship: a perfect match is important to have and keep it fun.
The perfect match
It's important to keep in mind first that your influencers choose not only on their reach, but also on their content. Influencers create content. Your content will be replaced or partially replaced by an influencer, which means that your content will not only become more authentic, but also shared equally on your influencer's channels. If you choose an influencer, you mainly look at the image and reach of the person. It is important that the image of the person and your product or brand match. And don't forget the concept. You often better approach a smaller influencer than a large influencer who has nothing to do with your concept or product. You have such a much greater involvement.
Find the right influencer
- Range: Look at the reach of the influencer, but don't forget the involvement.
- Niche: A lot of influence on a smaller audience can be much more beneficial than less influence on a larger audience.
- Other influencers: Also look at the contact of influencers among themselves, so you may be able to take even more advantage of this.
- Win-win situation: Both the influencer and your company must benefit from the cooperation.
- Demographics: Look where the influencer's followers are. Does this complement your target audience?
- Personality: make sure that the personality of the influencer matches your brand.
- Channels: Find an influencer who uses the channels that fit your message.
- Quality: The style and quality of texts, photos and videos suits your brand.
Measuring is knowing
There are several ways to measure the influence of influencers. And that is also very useful to be able to measure whether your cooperation is profitable. It's best to look at the engagement of visitors on the platform instead of viewing the number of unique visitors or views per month. The influencer can also use Google Analytics to see how large the number of repeat visitors is. This shows how much likes and how often a visitor visits the influencers' website. In addition, comments on a blog or post also show how big the audience's involvement is.
Some additional tips:
- It is important to give the influencer freedom. The purpose of the brand must of course remain the same, but the influencer must also stay true to the followers. No one knows their own audience better than the one who built it up. This creates authentic content and you need that as a brand.
- Lasting relationships are more important than temporary relationships with influencers. Results are often disappointing when using influencers temporarily. By avoiding peaks and troughs, for example, you can build long-term relationships with your key influencers and eventually create brand ambassadors.
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