With more companies looking for exposure online, influencer marketing saw a huge growth in 2017 and our expectations are that this will only increase further in 2018…..
So first of all – what is influencer marketing?
This is a marketing strategy that uses an individual (influencer) with a large social media following base to sell products or services. A brand will carefully choose an influencer (also known as brand ambassador) that fits well with its products or services but also their following base.
A recent stat highlighted that 74% of people trust social networks to guide them to purchase decisions and that 49% rely on influencer recommendations, this is particularly high with millennials, as they have grown up in a digital age.
How can you successfully implement influencer marketing as part of your 2018 strategy? Here are some of our top tips:
- Choose an influencer that is right for your brand – make sure they have the right personality and the right social presence. They’re going to be one of the faces of your brand.
- Don’t limit yourself to just one platform – your chosen influencer will have a different group of followers on each of the social media platforms – so choosing a combination of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube will help you to reach a wider audience.
- Set clear goals of what you would like to achieve with the campaign – make sure these are measurable and time specific.
- Measure ROI – depending on the goals of the campaign, make sure you set up a branded hashtag to provide you with an easy to use monitoring tool. Make sure you also set up a specific URL for your influencer which can then be tracked in Google Analytics. If the campaign goals are conversions why not set up a specific voucher code for your influencer followers as this will give you a clear trackable ROI.
- Creative content – an influencer just holding your product is boring and will not achieve high engagement rates, so for a successful influencer marketing campaign think about how your post will stand out from others. Get your influencer to come up with ideas – they are after all the experts.
- Get a contract – this may sound dull but putting your expectations in a contract will benefit both you and the influencer. Make sure you include: payment details, do’s and don’ts on the post, the use of agreed # and urls and when to post where and costs.
If you are looking to implement influencer marketing in 2018? We can help! Speak to us today for more information.
