Meaning of Influencer Marketing

I remember when I was younger it was very common to see on television different brands announcing their products with celebrities like actors, singers, sport stars; and although that still happens, the common denominator is somewhere else.

According to Hubspot, 90% of all online impact is created only by 3% of people; thus, they are usually well known, and, especially, influencers. That is why we are not surprised now brands want to take this opportunity.

What is an influencer?

We know influencers are plenty in social networks, but what are they? Influencers are those people with certain credibility and whose presence in the social networks is important.

An influencer tends to represent novelty and they are constantly creating new content, which generates a dialog with their audience. They have earned a reputation in the virtual (and real) world. All of the above makes influencers gain the trust of their followers, which turns them into the ideal ally of brands, since people tend to hold their words to a high esteem.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer Marketing was born from the relevance and importance of influencers’ opinion. Influencers’ relevance lies on the fact that:

• They are not unattainable celebrities.
• They are closer to regular people; people can identify and empathize with them.
• They share personal aspects of their daily lives.
• Provide more “personal” advice and dialog with people interested in them.

Therefore, if any influencer recommends certain product, their followers will be very tempted to use it. To take advantage of their influence can be a wise move for your campaign, mainly when looking to reach more people.

Influencers, although it may not seem so, are not universal, they belong to very closed niches and if brands want to reach them, they know who can open the door in order get more traffic and, if all goes well, more conversions.

Via influencer marketing, we can reach the audience from a more emotional and personal perspective; it is basically, as if the best friend of each member of an audience recommends them to buy and use a product.

We should note that there are all kinds of influencers: in fashion, automobiles, theatre, gastronomy, travel, geeks, etc., the range is huge, and the decision on which to turn to will depend on their closeness and similarity with your brand and the campaign objectives.

Types of influencers

While we have seen that influencers, as Internet personalities, can be categorized based on their specific topics, in marketing is better to do so by their number of followers, that is, the number of people they reach.

Types of campaigns for Influencer Marketing

Although in the world of marketing the imagination is the limit, currently, the potential campaigns to conduct with influencers are well identified. Some of the most common are the following:

• Launch of a product: You are a brand positioned in their sector, but you would like to give a boost to your new product, here’s the solution. For example, if a brand of beauty products were to launch a new conditioner, a beauty vlogger may be an excellent option to make it known.
• Promoting a new brand: An influencer may help your brand enter the market with certain reputation, whether backed by their experience or acknowledged by their freshness and youth. A new clothing shop is to open their first branch in the city, and they would want to have several influencers in the event.
• Promote an action: If you are planning an important dynamic or activation for your campaign, an influencer will help you achieve a greater number of attendees or participants.
• In events: Any type of event you want to conduct with your brand will have an important reach if you invite influencers to share it in their networks.

How to choose the correct influencer?

It may seem as if influencer marketing is a formula for guaranteed success; however, there are several aspects to consider. We share some advice here:

• Their conversation level: The number of likes is not the only thing that matters, but their capacity to generate conversation, opinions, and reactions every time they say anything. There are many influencers that people like to watch, but they may not want to listen to them.
• Audience: Not only quantity, but quality is what matters. Currently, accounts with fake followers abound, thus a big number is not everything.
• Relevance: Influencers are plenty in almost any topic; therefore, you need to look for those that, within your budget, have a privileged spot with their audience, that are famous and loved in their sector.
• Avoid those with lots of sponsors: There are already many Internet celebrities known for sharing only sponsored content. If they post about you, you will just be one more of the pile. Look for those with high interaction levels with their own organic content.
• Engagement: Maybe the most fundamental aspect is their participation rate. There might be accounts with 50k followers, but whose post do not even get 10% engagement, then, it may not be worth it. Again, quality over quantity.

Once all of this is taken care of, do not forget these important points:

– Be fair with what you offer to influencers but demand just the same.

– Monitor constantly people’s response in social networks.

– Set objectives and review them at the end to see if they have been met.

– Get learnings that allow you to improve for the next campaign, since both, us, and the influencer, can always improve our work.