People are known as influencers when they get to significantly influence other people’s opinions and decisions due to their personality and social skills. These qualities are perfect to become a representative of a brand or product. With this in mind, strategies are implemented to identify the right influencer taking into account the product, the region, and the target audience.
In this article, we’ll tell you about influencer-based marketing strategies, how you can start one and what benefits you can get from it.
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Find an influencer who connects with your audience
The first step you have to take into account when starting an influencer strategy is that there are all kinds of influencers. Before starting a campaign with an influencer, you must know your target audience, the better you define your audience, the easier it will be to find an influencer that fits your brand.
In addition, you must know the type of content that the influencer generates. Influencers build their audience by producing specific content that their followers like, which is a starting point to be influenced, this ensures that the one you choose will promote your brand and your products in the best way.
Another point is related to the geographic market segment you want to reach with your brand. A clear example of this is the company PlayStation, when they wanted to launch a campaign for the game God of War Ragnarok in Mexico, they hired influencers from that country or who had great recognition there, and in this way generate greater acceptance of the product.
Any company, no matter how large or small, can benefit from this influence. As influencers are not only those who have millions of followers, it is possible to reach any audience.
Influencers are those who can communicate with an audience, elicit their desires and actions, and have an impact on their perceptions, opinions, and personal preferences. This effect is possible because influencers are people who matter in their respective market areas thanks to previous work or audience-building processes.
So, focus on finding an influencer not by the fame they have, but by the recognition they have in a specific area.
Influencer assessment for your campaign
Influencers are usually placed in class levels according to their characteristics and number of followers. For a campaign, a certain number of influencers of different levels are usually used depending on the characteristics of the product or service. Each influencer who is at a respective level can help you in different ways, and below we will talk a little about them so you know which ones are best suited for your campaign.
Nano-influencers (between 2K and 5K)
The term “micro-influencers” refers to social media users who have a small number of followers, typically between 1,000 and 5,000. They are the ones who influence opinion in the networks.
Their small follower base means they have a higher percentage of engaged fans, making them an invaluable resource for brands looking to reach a specific audience, especially on networks like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
Micro-influencers (between 5K and 100K followers)
Some micro-influencers reach a small audience but can generate a high level of conversions, benefiting companies with a small target audience.
Although they are not celebrities, they have more authority than many famous influencers when it comes to giving professional advice in their field. In fact, their opinions are often highly valued. Due to their authority and authenticity, these people are the preferred influencers for brands and, consequently, their followers trust each of their recommendations.
Macro-influencers (between 100K and 500K followers)
They are people who have a wide range of followers and are positioned as specialists, this gives more credibility to your campaigns, but it is usually complicated to communicate with them and they also have a higher cost.
The use of this type of influencer is more recommended for large campaigns and usually works with one or two of them.
Media influencers (between 500K and 1 million followers)
People who, in general, already had exposure and certain visibility in other media in which they have had diffusion and therefore were already somewhat famous or known before entering social networks (artists, journalists, politicians, among others); so, this network is only an extension of their respective fame quotas.
Mega-influencers (Over 1 million followers)
They have a large following simply because they are celebrities, who have wide public exposure in numerous media, countries, and languages. These types of influencers are often effective in publicizing a product or service but do not guarantee public acceptance.
You will also find influencers who only specialize in social media, as well as those who focus on working directly with the brand. If you want to learn more about this topic and more, we invite you to see our article on influencers.
What content is used for Influencer Marketing?
It is important that you know which platform your audience spends the most time on, to know what type of content is most effective. Also, influencers are characterized by making a style of content frequently, so setting up the platform will let you also choose an influencer who excels at making a certain type of content.
The main types of content that tend to be most effective are:
- Instagram posts and stories
- Social media posts
- YouTube blogs
- Podcasts
- Blog posts
Market segments
You need to know that in some markets, influencers tend to have more reach, as well as they may not be very effective in other areas. So, once you establish the platform where your target audience is, you should analyze whether your product or service will be able to benefit from influencer advertising.
Among the main areas in which influencers excel are:
- Fashion and beauty
- Sports
- Technology
- Games
- Food & Health
- Politics & News
- Level of influence
Establish the marketing campaign
Once you already know your target audience, the platforms they are on, and the influencers that can make your brand shine, now it’s time to establish the type of campaign that can be effective, here are some examples of campaigns you can run.
Affiliate marketing and discount codes
This is a commercial strategy in which the influencer will charge a commission if he or she is successful in selling your company’s products or services.
To do this, you must develop promotion strategies for your page, and the influencer’s job is to make this promotion known. Every time a sale is made (or a download, a conversion, a lead, etc.) the influencer will earn a small commission.
The success of affiliate marketing is that the commission is only paid when the expected result is achieved.
In addition, the influencers do not have to create or develop specific content for the product or service. They just have to promote it.
Sweepstakes and contests
This type of strategy is similar to affiliate marketing, with the difference that they are simple campaigns to reward your users with a gift for their loyalty, or perhaps for previous purchases made in your store. In addition, you are also looking to increase the participation of established brand contacts.
Executing this type of campaign helps brands better understand their target market, increase the number of leads they can attract, and keep users engaged throughout the buying process, converting them into customers. They are also very effective because they often involve simple engagement, offer a close brand experience, and can be integrated into blogs, websites, and social networks.
The use of influencers in this type of campaign helps to increase audience participation by reassuring them in a more personal way than you would with conventional advertising.
Mention in social networks
Influencers can use their social networks to mention their favorite products, brands, and even places they often visit or have business relationships with.
For this type of campaign, the influencer can use your company’s product or service to demonstrate it and generate public interest.
For this type of campaign, it is left open the possibility of offering discounted products or experiences in exchange for a mention to the influencers, in other cases you must pay a certain amount depending on the level, the more followers you have, the more likely it is that they will buy more.
In return, influencers must create specific content about the product or service you want, where they talk about their experience and show how you can live it too.
Therefore, a social media mention that also mentions blogging, multi-platform campaigns, and blogging will be much more successful in the long run.
Long-term ambassadors
A brand representative is someone who embodies the message the company wants to convey to its target audience.
This type of influencer brings the company’s products, services, and values closer to the consumer by capturing their attention through advertisements, publications, or offline promotional activities.
The ambassador shows the best representation of the company while representing it at fairs and events, using images and videos on the blog and/or on their personal and brand-related social media accounts.
Long-term ambassadors must guarantee that they will not promote another brand that is a competitor during their period of collaboration. Likewise, a campaign looks much more genuine when an influencer supports a brand they identify with for a long period, as opposed to when the collaboration is only for a few days.
Sponsored blog posting
A sponsored post is an article that a blogger or influencer who is an expert in a market area writes on their blog in exchange for a commission.
The objective of a sponsored post is to make an impact on a very specific audience without doing it aggressively, providing them with information that is of interest to them with valuable content.
Ideally, for this strategy to work properly, it is the blogger himself who develops his content based on your guidelines as a client.
Likewise, blog posts serve as support for your SEO strategy. Because influencers in most cases include a link that points directly to your website to generate traffic, improve your search engine rankings and increase sales.
What are the benefits of this strategy?
We have already talked about what you should do before starting a campaign and what types of campaigns you can run, but if you are still not convinced of the benefits here we are going to mention some of them.
High conversion capacity
Before being chosen as representatives or ambassadors for a given brand, influencers already have their own audience. As a result, companies only choose influencers from the sector in which they operate.
Working on this type of strategy will let you make an accurate investment with a greater chance of a successful return. Because they already have a strong relationship with their audience, influencers are free to recommend your company’s products and services.
This strategy may include purchases, website visits, or social media followers.
Brand awareness
Another benefit you can gain is brand awareness. There are people who are potential customers but do not yet know your brand, and this is where an influencer acts, introducing your brand in the area in which they have an impact.
People rely on the recommendations of influencers to buy. So, they are more likely to consume when influencers feature your brand.
Integrity
It generates greater confidence in the products and the public feels more confident to establish a relationship with your brand, it also adds personality to your company and therefore makes it more human.
