Everyone is aware of the fact of changing digitalisation of each and everything be it marketing, creating, or influencing people. With the ever-revolutionising concept of making people aware of one’s brand or presence, influencer marketing is a must.
The question that may arise when one tries to learn digital marketing is What is influencer marketing? Well, the concept is quite simple. Influencer marketing is a tool of marketing that collaborates with people who have a strong social media presence. These people are known as influencers. These influencers have a significant hold on the audience they cater to. They are basically the celebrities of their forte be it fashion, technology, travel and many more. Influencer marketing makes use of such influencers’ hold by collaborating with them. By collaborating with influencers, brands promote their products or services by trying to grasp popularity and awareness through the influencer’s audience.
Influencer marketing is of great importance if one wants to increase their online presence. Collaborating with influencers who have substantial reach on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, etc. brands can gain a diverse target group. The reach of influencers can be global too, which helps brands in getting a wider reach. Influencer marketing if done rightly can get brands organic sales.
Table of Contents
In this blog, we will learn all the things we need to know about influencer marketing starting from its importance and how to implement it.
The Importance of Influencer Marketing
If the definition of influencer marketing is clear, let us take a look at how influencer marketing is important in business.
I. Building Trust and Credibility
Influencers have an established relationship with their audience. By showcasing natural and personal life experiences, influencers connect naturally with audiences. The biggest reason why influencer marketing is important for brands or businesses is that influencers are trustworthy people whom their audiences look to. Hence, if by the use of influencer marketing, a brand reaches out to influencers for promoting their products, audiences are likely to make a purchase.
According to market research, more than 50% of audiences trust influencers. Thus, influencer marketing becomes more useful than traditional marketing.
For example, leading influencer Prajakta Koli, a famous YouTube creator makes funny videos. By building an entrusted audience, she gained wide popularity and also engaged with esteemed representatives like Michelle Obama.
By collaborating with such influencers, one can take full advantage of the positive sides of influencer marketing.
II. Targeted Audience Reach
Influencer marketing is also important for a business as it can get businesses to reach a specific target audience. Every influencer has their specific forte on which they rely. Therefore, if you are a beauty brand, collaborate with influencers whose niche is beauty. Similarly, businesses in the fitness products industry must collaborate with influencers who are more into fitness as their niche.
By incorporating influencer marketing with influencers whose forte matches your business, you can get a higher return on investment than any other type of marketing. Influencer marketing with niche influencers can attract better rates of conversion.
III. Amplifying Brand Awareness
Influencer marketing ensures increasing a brand’s visibility. Influencers have a wider reach these days. Hence, applying the strategy of influencer marketing can help you amplify your brand awareness. Through collaborating with influencers you can reach an untapped audience.
Anomaly by Priyanka Chopra: When the Indian actress Priyanka Chopra launched her hair care products brand, she created a strong buzz among the influencers. With the help of influencer marketing, Priyanka Chopra invited influencers to her product launch and thus gained high popularity and created brand awareness.
IV. Authenticity and Relatability
Influencer marketing is a reliable tool for online marketing. Influencers share their personal experiences and audiences trust them.
Famous Indian tech influencer Gaurav Chaudhary talks about the latest technology. When brands collaborate with him and promote their products, audiences are likely to make a purchase due to his authenticity.
Thus by making the best use of influencer marketing, brands can get high conversion rates and increase their brand awareness.
The Benefits of Influencer Marketing
Since the importance of influencer marketing is clear, let us now dive into the benefits of influencer marketing.
I. Increased Engagement
Influencer marketing is an authentic and reliable source of marketing. Influencers have a personal connection with their audiences. Implementing influencer marketing in promoting products, can help increase engagement with customers. When a high-valued influencer promotes any product or service, their audience is likely to make a purchase as they have a sense of trust in the influencers.
Influencer marketing also helps in getting an insight into the engagement with the customers. For example, when a fitness clothes brand collaborates with fitness influencers, it can check sales and increase engagement with customers.
II. Cost-Effective Advertising
Traditional marketing uses channels like television, and radio which can be expensive. On the other hand, influencer marketing can help reach a wider audience with a lesser amount of money. Influencers charge according to the brands and businesses. Thus, influencer marketing is a cost-effective way of advertising.
Influencer marketing generates a high return on investment (ROI). By collaborating with influencers, brands can track their website traffic, and engagement on social media. Not just this, influencer marketing also drives tangible sales by reaching a wider audience.
III. Creative and Diverse Content
Influencer marketing is beneficial for its diverse content. Influencers have a number of ideas in their bag which is new according to the changing trend. Through different content formats like Instagram reels, stories, and blogs, brands can get the advantage of delivering different content. They can tailor the content according to the various formats.
If you are a protein supplement brand, partnering with health gurus can help you catch the attention of a wider audience through their diverse content creation.
Influencer marketing thus gives the advantage of diversifying content and its formats.
IV. Measurable Results
Influencer marketing helps in measuring results. The ultimate goal of any brand is to get the maximum amount of sales. In influencer marketing, brands can track the performance of their influencer campaigns. This helps them in knowing what improvements can be made and make a mind of the future collaborations.
For tracking the effectiveness of the influencer marketing campaigns, several key performance indicators (KPI) must be kept in mind. Such KPIs are insights, conversion rates, and engagement. Using Google Analytics and regularly checking up on their social media insights can help brands measure the relevance of their influencer marketing.
How to Implement Influencer Marketing
Implementing influencer marketing must be done in the right way! Look at the following steps to implement it correctly!
I. Finding the Right Influencers
To make your influencer marketing campaign successful, finding the right type of influencer is the first and the most basic step. Make sure the influencer you are going to select has a niche that is according to the needs and goals of your business. Do not forget to check their authenticity and reach. The higher the reach, the higher the chances of conversion rates.
Different methods of selecting the right influencer for influencer marketing are:
1) Check for their social media platforms.
2) Search on Google by searching for the relevant query you are looking for.
3) Use hashtags according to the niche of your products or services.
II. Building Effective Partnerships
For reaching out for influencer marketing campaigns, always try to personalise collaboration messages according to the specialty of that influencer. Before directly pitching for a collaboration, try to start a meaningful conversation. While in a discussion for the final influencer marketing campaign, do it respectfully. Always be open to negotiations.
While finalising an influencer marketing campaign, always mention the perks and compensation clearly. Make sure to state the payments and their methods beforehand. Plan on the right type of content which is beneficial to both the parties included.
III. Campaign Planning and Execution
For a successful influencer marketing campaign, set the main goal of your business, whether it is brand awareness or driving high sales. Try to create content and strategies that match your brand goals. To measure the effectiveness of influencer marketing, collect the feedback and recommendations from the campaign.
The potential challenges that one can face while collaborating for influencer marketing are:
1) There are many influencers who engage in promoting a product or service just to gain authenticity.
2) Two-party collaborations work on trust. Trust the influencers you collaborated with for influencer marketing.
IV. Measuring and Analyzing Results
To know whether or not an influencer marketing campaign is running smoothly, keep a check on the click-through rates. Check on the likes and comments. Analyse sales, conversion rates, and website traffic.
Influencer marketing can result in high sales, and increased online presence of the brand and can ensure brands get insights of their influencer marketing campaign.
Conclusion
Influencer marketing thus can get a brand to increase sales. With the rise in online influence, influencer marketing is important to implement for a brand to raise its online visibility and hence create good brand awareness.
A brand must collaborate for an effective influencer marketing campaign to get its hands on its different advantages.
Learning from different successful influencer marketing campaigns, one can get an idea of how to use the strategies wisely and measure their results.
Thus, if you are a brand looking to take advantage of the various benefits of influencer marketing, implement it now through proper research!