Discover the Best Ways to Leverage Influencer Marketing for Your Brand

Influencers and influencer marketing have become a significant part of marketing strategies across the world, but what is an influencer and influencer marketing, and why should you care about it? In this guide, we take you through everything you need to know about the topic. 

Let’s get started by focusing on the question of what is an influencer. An influencer is an individual with the power to affect buying habits and decision-making of consumers due to their expertise and relationship with their audience. They have a large social media following and create content that generates significant engagement. 

The Importance of Influencers to Your Brand

Now that you know what is an influencer, let’s find out why you should consider working with an influencer for your brand. 

1. Reach your target and undiscovered audience: Knowing and reaching your target and potential audience is essential for successful marketing. As such, the social media presence and following of influencers help you connect with your ideal as well as the undiscovered audience.
2. Enhances brand awareness: Influencers with a large and legitimate following have a high engagement rate and this helps increase your brand exposure. 
3. Boosts your engagement: Influencers can create unique content for your brand that increases the following, shares, comments, and likes on your channel. 
4. Increases brand credibility and trust: The influencers’ expertise in their domain is one of the main reasons behind their impact on their audience. Working with influencers can help you gain credibility among people, which will enable you to earn their trust. 
5. Improved conversion rate: Influencer promotion and review of your brand can influence purchase decisions and drive more people to your products and services.

What is a Social Media Influencer?

Social media influencers are content creators with a large following and influence on social media platforms. These influencers build an established reputation by creating content on social media and showcasing their knowledge and credibility on a specific topic. 

What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing leverages influencers to endorse a product or service to a large audience. Its impact is profound and has become an increasingly popular marketing strategy for brands. Let’s take a look at some influencer marketing statistics collated by the Influencer Marketing 2022 report: 

• The number of influencer marketing-related service offerings globally grew by 26%, reaching 18,900 firms offering such services in 2021
• Influencer marketing-focused platforms raised more than $800 million in funding in 2021 
• The influencer marketing industry was projected to grow to $16.4 billion in 2022 

How to Get Started with Influencer Marketing

1. Define your target audience: Like any marketing strategy, defining and understanding your target market is critical. 
2. Determine your goals and objectives: Figure out your goals and objectives for undertaking influencer marketing. It is essential to have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish.
3. Find the right influencer: Decide what is an influencer for your brand. Ideally, they should be trustworthy and relevant to your brand and have a significant reach and engagement rate. Make sure they are the right fit for your product or service according to your target audience. 
4. Reach out to the influencer: As influencers typically get many brand deals, reaching out and convincing them can be complex. Have a good pitch and plan in place. You can provide compensation such as commission and cash. It is also possible to offer them free products instead of monetary payment. 
5. Create your marketing campaign: You can either create a campaign for the influencer or give the influencer a creative license—with some instructions—to build content for your brand. Letting influencers create content can be a good option to get unique content that looks authentic and increases your brand credibility.
6. Monitor campaigns: Finally, monitor the performance of the campaigns to see if your goals and objectives are met. 

ALSO READ: Should You Take up a Social Media Marketing Course? Will it Help Your Career?

Types of Influencers

1. Nano Influencers: Nano influencers like @youthsweets are new influencers who start their journey with a small number of highly engaged followers due to their expertise in niche areas. They have a following of 10,000 or fewer.
   

Credit: heather | home baker (@youthsweets) • Instagram 

2. Micro-Influencers: Micro-influencers like @tinasbeautytips have a considerably large following ranging from 10,000 to 100,000. 

Credit: Tina Le (@tinasbeautytips) • Instagram 

3. Macro Influencers: Macro influencers like @hyram have an audience size of 100,00 to one million.

Credit: Hyram (@hyram) Instagram

4. Mega Influencers: Mega influencers like @zoesugg have a super-large audience of at least one million followers. These influencers typically have a very high engagement and content visibility rate. 

Credit: Zoë Sugg (@zoesugg) • Instagram

How Much Do Influencers Cost?

Their rates are based on a number of factors, such as the demand for influencers in the market, the social media platform, reach, engagement, exclusivity, industry, and content. It also depends on how you pay them based on the marketing Return on Investment (ROI) by evaluating the campaign performance and impact. Some brands even offer influencers free products instead of monetary payment.

How Much Do Influencers Make Per Post?

According to Influencer Marketing Hub, here are some typical ‘per post’ rates charged by influencers on different social media: 

How to Find an Ideal Influencer?

Here are a few more tips on how to find an ideal influencer for your brand: 

• Research and list influencers who align with your goals and objectives
• Check their engagement metrics
• Look beyond their following/followers and focus on their content 
• Check the credibility and expertise of the influencer in your industry
• Ensure their audience overlaps with your brand to potentially expand your customer base 

Learning, the Emeritus Way

Now that you know what is an influencer and how essential it can be for your brand, it’s time to get started! Learn how to boost your engagement and sales with Emeritus’ digital marketing courses. 

By Krati Joshi 

Write to us at content@emeritus.org