Influencer marketing is becoming the norm for marketing campaigns. This type of marketing blends celebrity endorsement with everyday social media that audiences will continue to see.
Depending on what type of influencer you’re trying to hire, they may not necessarily be the traditional “celebrity”, in fact, they may have more influence and ability to sell your product/service than a celebrity.
What Is Influencer Marketing And How Can Marketers Use It Effectively?
Brands have nothing to lose with trying influencer marketing. It can produce so many positive effects such as…
- Improved SEO rating
- The more that influencers blog about your product and link your website, Google will increase your ranking.
- Increased product sales
- Working with an influencer who has a targeted audience that matches your brand’s personality, product sales can skyrocket, especially more seasoned influencer’s who already have a sales track record from other influencer campaigns.
- Online engagement
- Influencers use social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and more. With using a social media platform, it gives your audience a quick and easy way to connect with your brand one-on-one. An influencer will connect with your customers, create interesting content, and spread the word about your brand.
- Improved brand awareness
- When users are scrolling through Instagram and see your brand, more people will be aware of what your product is and will start thinking about it if it’s something they’re interested in.
- Ease of advertising
- Producers no longer have to worry about paying extensive amounts of money to advertise on television. They also don’t have to worry about producing a clever advertisement. Influencers do it all!
Consumers are responding positively to influencer marketing, because when they see someone they trust endorsing a product or telling a story about how a service made them healthier/happier, others want to try that same product and service.
Elaine Rau has been a long time affiliate with Revive Light, a red light therapy company that helps with acne scars and anti-aging solutions – all within the comfort of your own home. Elaine’s audience responded so well to Revive Light because:
- Her audience is mainly women
- The women are all around 25-45 in age
- They all love great deals and take advantage of her promo code VIPLADYBOSS for 30% off (a deal you can’t find anywhere else)!
1. What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing focuses on people who have created a personal brand around a targeted audience – a very specific audience that brands want to tap into.
Instead of paying for commercials and billboards that may or may not reach their target audience, companies pay these online leaders to get the word out on social media in front of their desired audience.
For example, Elaine Rau‘s audience consists of mainly current and aspiring female entrepreneurs which is why she was asked to promote the GirlBoss Workbook.
2. What do these influencers do?
These leaders are called influencers. Influencers use content marketing and social media marketing to show what they love about a brand.
Social media is a huge part of influencer marketing. Influencers will post pictures on a platform of them using a certain product to help educate (or entertain) their audience to determine if the product is right for them as well.
For example, Elaine Rau likes to mix education with entertainment and creatively pairs inspirational quotes with relevant images for her influencer campaigns. In this particular campaign with GhostBed she talks about the importance of communicating with the idea of pillow talk as she promotes GhostBed‘s new head-cooling pillow.
3. What are the key components of influencer marketing?
Make sure to choose influencers that are a good match for your brand depending on the type of content they post and who their audience is. If the influencer’s feed is all about health and you sell Heat Therapy Devices for wellness and pain management, it’s a really good fit! That way, when they endorse your product, it looks much more authentic.
For example, Elaine Rau is a full-time blogger and posts about her lifestyle and travels which is why she has worked with hotels all over the world and it’s really authentic when she talks about her experiences.
4. Anyone can be an influencer!
It’s not necessary to find huge celebrities to endorse your brand, in fact micro influencers are generally more effective. There are plenty of small influencers who have a high engagement rate who are more likely to get the word out about your brand’s products and services because their audience actually trusts them.
For example, Elaine Rau loves products that make her life simpler, so does her audience, which is why her audience responded so well when she promoted this extension cord from Chozn.
HOW CAN MARKETERS USE IT EFFECTIVELY?
1. Do right by your influencers
The simplest way to connect and work with an influencer is to compensate them.
Usually, influencers will require a certain amount of payment per post, but some influencers will be comfortable with any type of compensation (like free products or free services in exchange for content).
The reason influencers expect compensation is because essentially, brands are using the influencer’s credibility to sell their own product and come up with creative content.
Below is Elaine Rau‘s pricing + packages (negotiable according to your specific needs):
2. Influencer marketing should be authentic
When you find an influencer, you should make sure that they are very knowledgeable about your brand. A good way to find influencers is to look for people on social media platforms who are already talking up your brand.
Chances are, if they’re already talking about their brand, they’re a long time user and are knowledgeable about your product(s).
For example, Elaine Rau has already been promoting HealthyLine for a year which is why the brand sent her another one of their products to promote and gave her TWO promo codes for her audience:
- One for a free energy bracelet + free shipping (lbbfreegift)
- The other for free shipping + 10% off (ladyboss10)
3. Play both sides
In continuation with an influencer being authentic, they should talk openly and honestly about your product. This means that they might talk about the bad things as well as the good things.
The good thing about influencers being honest about your products is that they can do so in a credible and polite manner. This attributes to the influencer’s authenticity because the consumer assumes that they want to be honest with their audience.
Check out Elaine Rau’s influencer resume here: LadyBossBlogger.com/influencer.
Carly Hancock is a blogging and social media intern at LadyBossBlogger. She’s currently in her senior year at Minnesota State University, Mankato studying Communication Studies and English Literature. She will graduate in the spring of 2019 and is looking forward to a having a future in writing or social media. She enjoys learning new things about beauty products and fashion, and Instagram is her favorite social network!