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If you are a marketer, or don’t live under a rock, chances are that you have heard of influencer marketing and seen it in action. We are talking about instances when instagrammers, youtubers, bloggers and twitter folks with a ton of followers tell you how amazing a product is and that your life – even though you may not realize it – is utterly incomplete without it.
The rise of this particular type of marketing is in part due to the social media revolution, where consumers look towards their counterparts for purchasing decisions, the more famous the better.
Influencer marketing is a form of marketing that has emerged from a variety of recent practices and studies. The focus is placed on key individuals, who are thought to represent the target market as a whole.
If done right, it is inconspicuous and THAT is the point. It’s about leveraging the power of a social community to drive business. So how can you make sure that your next influencer marketing campaign is on point? Try these five tips.
Target the right Market
Develop a persona and know your customer inside out. Then, based on that, choose the right individual to be a representative. Bear in mind, though: numbers lie. You’re better off choosing someone with 3000 followers with the right demographic of viewers, as compared to someone who has 30,000 followers but they a) have no idea what your product is about and b) no interest in it.
Truth: Every time we see the wrong representative for a product, we die a little inside.
Personalize
The blogger is in no way obligated to review your product. To increase your chances, cater to their tastes. For instance, if you are a company that produces backpacks, find out what the blogger’s colour preferences are and send them the product in that colour.
Be Authentic
This is one of those things that is easier said than done. This goes back to targeting the right market representative. The point of choosing an influencer is that the product or service fits seamlessly into their lifestyle. Don’t send a fashion blogger cooking utensils, unless they have specific interest in it.
A word of caution, though: don’t force them to review your product. That is a whole other can of worms that we shall open another time but for now it is good practice to let the reviewer specify that the product is sponsored. And never force anyone to review your products. The relationship between influencers and their audience usually holds a lot of trust. Don’t ruin that.
Celebrity isn’t always a necessary influence
An influencer marketer does not necessarily need to be someone famous. You do not even have to send products to influencers. You can subtly encourage people to be ambassadors for the brand by creating an experience around your offering. MINI does it really well, whereby driving their car is a lifestyle choice, and owners of their vehicles are part of a larger community that are always willing to spread the word. Remember, people trust their friends more than anybody else.
Create an influencer marketing campaign around a service
It is a myth that only physical product based companies can have influencers or brand ambassadors. You can be a service oriented business and launch a successful influencer program. The easiest way to do this is to offer a sample of your services to people but you can sweeten the deal with exclusively branded merchandise.
Look around you. See a branded item? Exactly. We guarantee that following these guidelines will yield targetable and trackable results.
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About the author: Ria Riaz is the Marketing Manager at RIGHTSLEEVE. She’s an avid reader, a woman in tech, has a penchant for cookies, and thinks writing bios in third person is rad.
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