Influencer Marketing Boom
The influencer market is on an upward trajectory when it comes to growth, both in terms of financial and in popularity. At the simplest level, influencer marketing is broadcasting a brand’s message through creators and influencers, who are people with a large number of followers on social media platforms.
Whenever a business buys adverts directly from the social media platform, the only thing they receive is the audience’s views of the adverts, which can often be blocked with various software. However, when a brand buys a placement from an influencer, aside from the audience looking at the message, they get added benefits, such as more engagement stemming from the influencer’s relationship with their audience.
If a brand chooses to work with the right influencer, that doesn’t just have followers but also has actual influence over their audience, it leads to a stronger brand message. This is because the audience of the influencer resonates with the influencer’s ideas as well as the values of the brand.
Instagram as an Influencer Marketing Tool
The main platform for influencer marketing right now is Instagram, with TikTok and YouTube following in the second spots. The tools that can be used on this platform are the posts and the stories.
Additionally, the influencers themselves, can either be brands or personal accounts. However, there’s a further divide into many other subgroups from the main two, including beauty bloggers, travel bloggers, pet influencers, and a further division into the number of followers that each account has – mega, micro and nano influencers.
These accounts post about their lifestyles on the social media platform, or can simply be a part of the meme public networks that have their own set of followers that might end up overlapping.
When it comes to working with these influencers on a marketing campaign, they each have their individual prices. Aside from a certain sum, some influencers may even decide to work on brand promotion on a barter basis, such as getting certain items or services for free, in exchange for promoting the brand.
Choosing the Right Influencer
If a brand wants to incorporate influencer marketing within their marketing strategies, they need to be careful in choosing the right influencer.
The main goal here is to find the influencer who has an authentic community and an engaging audience, but who also fits into the brand’s industry. That way, if the brand’s messages fit into the influencer’s audience ideas and beliefs, the campaign is going to be a success.
However, finding and choosing the right influencer for an influencer marketing campaign is not an easy task. These days, brands either have to have their own in-house department that will be working with the influencers, or turn to either specialized influencer marketing platforms, or even public relations agencies to do the work for them.
If a brand has a smaller budget, the best choice would be going with a platform. Bigger businesses can easily outsource the work to a public relations agency or develop its own in-house department for the work.
