The Influencer Marketing Guide For Everyone

Introduction

As the word suggests, on influencer is a person who can persuade their followers to change their behavior, which gives them a certain amount of control over the purchasing power of their audience on any given social media platform. There are three types of influencers on the internet today and it depends on the size of their followers.

Micro influencers have less than 10,000 followers and can help reach a specific niche audience. This might be a small club but the audience loyalty is strong.

Power middle influencers hove less than 250,000 but more than 10,000 followers. They are not as big as international celebrities but have a considerable amount of influence over their followers. These influencers also have partnered with brands in the post and have some of that commercial experience.

Macro influencers are the third kind and have more than 250,000 followers. Typically, they are YouTube or Instagram celebrities and have a huge followings. But it is possible that they don't have the same level of credibility as power middle influencers, which means their impact in terms of changing buyer behavior won't necessarily be directly proportional to the size of their following.

To begin with influencers came into existence because it is an incredibly difficult task for brands to get and hold the attention of users on social media. As Aaron Sorkin places it, this “theatre of brief attention span” is a hard one to capture.

It is also because there are a number of brands with an online presence and the competition is quite fierce .

With everyone bombarding customers with their products and services, it has become hard for users to make a decision. And the amount of self-promotion brands do. hasn’t helped their case much either because this has only made the customers skeptical.

So there came a need for an innovation marketing strategy that did not include them talking about themselves. In short, they needed someone that customers would trust to give them a thumbs up.

While celebrity endorsements have been around for that same reason, some influencers are more authentic with their followers for the sake of their own credibility. This has led to brands and influencers joining hands to make the best of the situation.

But every marketing strategy needs a plan and as popular or effective as an influencer might be, they are not the exception to this rule. Influencer marketing can achieve some very specific goals that are beneficial to both parties.

What Is Influencer Marketing

Customers ore moving away from traditional marketing because they understand that celebrity endorsement is a marketing strategy and doesn't actually mean that the celebrity recommends or has even used the product or service they are endorsing.

That's why they are more inclined to find fresh voices on the internet.

So, here are a few ideas in any brand's starter kit when it comes to collaborating with on influencer on a social media platform.

Paying the individual for sponsored posts that are clearly marked as such.

Give them exclusive access and striking a deal with them to post X number of reviews

which increases brand awareness and reach.

Give influencers merch or discount on merch and getting an honest review.

How This Works

Individuals who can recommend your brand in a way that makes it more palatable to potential customers.

This is how influencers deal with brand. They are essentially content creators that want to make stuff that is likeable and shareable. They create material that you can repurpose for your mainstream promotional channels like email marketing to name one. But influencer marketing is not restricted to social media posts and videos.

You Can Think Of:

• Product reviews

• Product placements in their content

• Unboxing videos

• Promoting your campaigns and new launches
• Sharing discounts and coupon codes
• Announcing giveaways
• Partnerships that go for more than one video or post
• Supporting influencer causes by taking part in their events
• Planting your product in their events

Types Of Influencer Marketing

Hear are five ways in which you can get started:

1. Contests

Depending on your pricing, you can allocate a portion of your budget to organize contest and giveaways. This can be a monthly event but you can make it more frequent if you can afford to do so.

2. Create Sponsored Content

This is another popular way of getting users to engage with influencers and through them with your brands. It is a common marketing technique too. It gives you the opportunity to ask the influencer to endorse a particular product or service through their blog posts, images or videos.

3. Content and Product Collaborations

This is a mirror image of celebrity endorsements. You can create products along with your influencer which benefits both parties very well. It's a common practice in the fashion industry where an entire line of products is launched with a celebrity.

4. Takeovers

This practice has been around for a while but is picking up pace quite rapidly in recent times. you allow the influencer to take over your social media channels for a period of time ( more often then not, it is for a day ) but you can do it for a particular season marking a special occasion.

5. Reviews

This takes us back into the realm of traditional marketing except, your influencer is the one reviewing the product. You can strike a deal to make it a favorable review or get an honest one. If you are gunning for a favorable review, you will have to offer a freebie but they will have to do a full disclosure to their audience.

3. What Is Social Media Influencer

The Influencer Marketing Guide For Everyone, influencer marketing, influence marketing, influence marketing strategy, influence marketing instagram, influencer marketing platforms, influencer marketing hub, what is influence marketing Influencer can come from many different sources online. Hear are the most popular avenues:

1. Bloggers

Micro-blogging is a big part of the influencer marketing pie. These individuals have a very active and credible relationship with their followers. Somethings that brands are actively looking to top into.

2. YouTubers

Since making videos is now an integral part of every marketing strategy, it is only logical that you explore this space with your influencer. In fact it is wise to remember that more people are inclined to watch videos on their phones than read text material.

3. Podcasters

This is the other half of the audio-visual spectrum. It is newer than some other forms of Creating content but it is quickly becoming very popular.

4. Social Posts

Now, you can't be a social media influencer without on active and dominant presence on social media. So, whether you are looking for a blogger or o podcaster or a You Tuber, you will find them on social media platforms.

What Makes Them Good Influencers

But how do know who is a good influencer? One who has their finger on the pulse of their audience and can help do the same for your brand ? Well here are few things that all good influencers know they need to do to keep their follower based happy.

1. Conceptualize Their Niche And Brand

They need to find a product and then sell it to their followers. But not everyone needs to reinvent the wheel. More often than not, they identify niches that are already popular and provide insights in their unique voice.

2. Make The Most Of The Right Social Media Platforms

Influencers find their audience on social media through trial and error . But once they start creating and posting content, a good one takes feedback from the followers. They ask them to engage with the post on both likes and dislike and take that into account while creating the next post.

3. Identify Their Target Audience Skillfully

The trial and error process mentioned in the previous step is critical to identifying the follower base no matter what the influencer's niche. Their ability to do that is what makes them good at their social media game. That is because influencers are brands themselves and they must be as good as you in identifying their audience.

4. Create Content That's Exciting and Marketable

And this is what makes or breaks an influencer. They need to be able to win the top-of the mind recall game. This means their content has to be both exciting and they need to have the ability to sell it to their audience.

5. Write Titles That Are Algorithm Friendly and Add the Right Tags

All the above-mentioned qualities will produce no results if the influencer is not tech-savvy. This Is entirely a technological game. So, if they have the best post or video of all time but do not know how to gain visibility on social platforms they lose game.

Why Influencer Marketing Works So Well For Business

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