Influencer marketing is all about influential people (influencers) bringing a product, service or brand to the attention of the audience you want to reach. It is a very popular form of marketing that many companies use to create more value. In this blog, we take a closer look at why influencer marketing is a good outcome for your business and discuss how to get started with it step by step.
Why influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing can do a lot for your business when you partner with the right influencers. This is a quick way to reach your target audience, build trust and increase brand awareness. In the paragraphs below, we elaborate on these three benefits.
Reach your target audience
When you want a quick way to reach your target audience, but don’t have an email list or little reach on social media yet, influencer marketing is a great solution. By choosing an influencer who has a good relationship with your target audience, or even has built an entire community, you ensure that your product or service reaches the right group of people directly.
Build trust and credibility
Many people tend to believe influencers more than the company itself. Because an influencer spends a lot of time connecting with his or her followers, people are more likely to purchase the product if they see their favorite influencer using it. Indirectly, this creates more trust and credibility towards your company. Actually, you should think of an influencer as an online role model for many people within your target audience.
Increase brand awareness
Influencer marketing also plays a big role in gaining more brand awareness. Influencers often have a much greater reach than your company on social media, so when you collaborate, your name is shared with thousands of new people. This will bring you to the attention of a large group that probably does not yet know your company.
Do make sure that the company’s own social media pages also look good when you hire an influencer. Should this new group of people click through to your page, ideally you want them to follow you or click through to your website. This does not happen when your page is not set up properly.
Getting started with influencer marketing step by step
Research shows that 88% of all consumers trust influencers’ opinions as much as the opinions of their closest friends. So plenty of reasons to start it. But where do you start? Here’s how to get started with influencer marketing in 5 steps.
Setting a budget
Before looking for the right influencer, decide what budget you want to spend on influencer marketing. There are several ways in which an influencer sets the price.
- Per post: the influencer has a set fee per photo or video.
- Per view: this looks at the average number of views / views the influencer grabs on the content.
- By number of followers: the influencer determines how much she/he charges based on the number of followers. The annoying thing about this method is that you don’t know if all these followers are actually seeing the content.
When we look at different types of categories of influencers, we arrive at the following average:
- 1,000 – 10,000 followers: 50 to 150 euros per post.
- 10,000 – 100,000 followers: 150 to 750 euros per post.
- 100,000 – 500,000 followers: 750 to 3,000 euros per post.
- 500,000+ followers: more than 3,000 per post.
In addition, the price will depend on the engagement rate (the involvement) of the followers.
Looking for the right influencer
A company that partners with the wrong influencer can lose a lot of money. Each brand has its own values and identity. It is important that you pick an influencer who matches this and exudes the same. If you don’t do this, you will lose much of your credibility.
So finding the right match is crucial. To do this, look at gender, age, interests, their target audience and the type of content they post. It’s best to work with an influencer who may already be using some of your products or is super excited about your company. This way, the content comes across as genuine.
Also be sure to check that you are not dealing with a fake influencer who has bought all her followers or is posting other people’s content. You can check this by looking at the list of followers and possibly requesting certain statistics.
Managing expectations
To ensure that the chosen influencer and the company share the same values and expectations, it is wise to schedule a call in advance. During this online meeting, you can discuss what kind of content you would like to see, what message you would like to convey and possibly show some sample posts that appeal to you.
Also note that most influencers have a certain house style on their social media. When they create content in partnership with your company, it will align with this. For example, an influencer who often uses dark colors and filters will adhere to this in the photo or video for your business. Would you prefer this to be different? So indicate this clearly in advance.
Establishing effective partnerships with influencers
In doing so, it is wise to establish an influencer contract. In it, you include the duration of the collaboration, what kind of content the influencer is creating, the compensation, who has copyright over the content created and that the content must be verified first. With a properly drafted influencer contract, you are less likely to suffer reputational damage.
In addition to the influencer contract, you can also choose to create a separate brief on the assignment. In this briefing you reiterate the main expectations discussed and make sure the assignment and the purpose of the assignment are clearly identified. This gives the influencer a handhold while creating the content.
Reviewing content and analysis
Once the influencer has started working on the content, it’s time for you to review it. You assess the content created based on two pillars; the photo/video and the caption. For the image, it is important that your product comes across naturally and it does not become an overly posed photo. In doing so, the caption should feel as personal as the photo or video itself. Ask yourself if this text gets the company’s message across properly and doesn’t feel too much like an advertising spot.
After the content is checked and posted, you can analyze the statistics. In doing so, you can ask the influencer to send a screenshot of the number of views, likes and comments, among other things. In doing so, it is also good to compare the post to previous collaborations the influencer has posted.
Are you happy with your influencers and would like to work with them more often? Then cherish them! Respond with a heart or nice comment under their posts and check in regularly to see how they are doing. This way, you build a long-term relationship and you can be sure that they will enjoy working with your company in the future.
The dangers of influencer marketing
We rave about influencer marketing, but it’s also good to understand its dangers before you get involved. This way you will have realistic expectations and not fall into the same traps as other companies.
- Influencers are often inauthentic: do you personally believe that all influencers share a photo with a mascara because they are genuinely so happy with it? Many people immediately see that a photo serves as an advertisement. It is difficult to find an influencer who eliminates this feeling as much as possible.
- Micro budget creates micro impact: influencer marketing with a well-known TikTokker or Instagrammer can quickly run into the thousands of dollars. An expensive joke when you want to do multiple collaborations. In the process, many smaller companies operate with smaller budgets. Where only the micro-influencers with less reach are available.
- Difficult to measure: it is often difficult to determine whether the results that month are due to the influencer, or to the regular marketing resources you deploy.
Whether influencer marketing suits your business is a choice best made by yourself. Where for one company Facebook ads work best, for another influencer marketing will be a good solution.
After reading this blog, you have answered the question “what is influencer marketing?” and learned more about its many benefits. Will you get started with our handy roadmap? Then you won’t make the most common mistakes and pick the wrong influencer.
