Influencer marketing is one of the most common types of marketing in today’s world. Oversaturated with advertisements for just about everything, clients are looking for a good reason to buy something new, not the same advertisements they’ve seen 100 times over. Influencer marketing could be the right choice if you’re trying to reach out to a new audience.
Here’s what you need to know about using influencer marketing for your needs.
Recognizing the Three Audiences for Your Product
Different types of marketing will help you reach out to different “types” of audiences. You could think of your product as having three main audiences to reach out to:
- People who have shopped with you before.
- People who already want the type of product you sell.
- People who would want the product you sell if they knew about it.
To an extent, these three audiences showcase three “levels” of familiarity with your brand. Reaching out to that last audience is one of the biggest components of influencer marketing. You’re trying to reach the people who don’t even know that your product exists. Through influencer marketing, not only can you show your audience that this product exists, but you can also show your audience that someone they trust approves of the product.
Top Value Points of Influencer Marketing
There are many strong reasons to consider building an influencer marketing program. However, just saying, “It works” isn’t always the proof you’re looking for. There are four specific value points that you might see from influencer marketing.
1. General Visibility (Social Proof Theory)
Word-of-mouth marketing is extremely effective. The social proof theory is a social concept that says that individuals choose to copy others’ behaviors around them when they’re not sure how to act in a situation. Many people extrapolate it to takeaways like, “It’s easiest to do what your peers are doing.” If people see that an influencer they relate to is engaging with your product, they may be more likely to look into that product.
2. A Higher-Quality Audience
When you engage with influencer marketing, you get immediate access to a high-quality audience. People who follow a specific influencer are following that influencer because they care about what they’re saying. In the world of influencer marketing, it’s absolutely quality over quantity. Micro-influencers, which Forbes identifies as accounts underneath about 50,000 followers, often have a better ROI than macro-influencers, which are typically defined as accounts with at least 500,000 followers. That’s because the smaller a page’s audience, the more people will typically be actively engaged with what the influencer posts and talks about.
3. Trust and Authenticity
Whether or not a person trusts an advertisement is a huge component impacting whether they’re likely to follow that advertisement to make a purchase. According to Sprout Social, 40% of customers use recommendations from friends and family to decide what brands they should follow online, and 82% ask for referrals and recommendations from friends and family when they make purchases. Sure, you can’t always get potential customers’ friends and family to sing your praises, but influencer marketing can basically be the next best thing.
4. Generalized Content Quality
Influencers have experience creating high-quality content. Their content is available like a portfolio for you to scan through, seeing how they’ve treated previous brand content and what their audience reaction has been. Even if you don’t personally enjoy the content, the number of followers they have makes it clear that other people do. Influencers can create high-quality content for your brand without you having to be the driving force behind it, and that can help you put a humanized face to your company.
How Can You Utilize Influencer Marketing Within Your Company?
Influencer Influencer marketing is a great place for many companies to start promoting their products (and getting those invaluable product reviews!), and it’s even better than other paid advertising types in many ways. Influencer marketing allows you to reach out to an audience that may not know about you yet, showing your products in big neon letters that say, “Someone you trust enjoys this brand!”
A tool like Refersion is a great starting point for influencer marketing. Refersion allows you to track your affiliate marketing across all platforms, including tracking different influencers and seeing their ROI, general commission, and more. This tool gives you more insight into what’s working and what you might want to move back on.
The Bottom Line
Influencer marketing is a great tool for businesses who want to get their product in front of new eyes. Whether you haven’t done almost any advertising or you’ve done paid advertising, but never influencer advertising, it might surprise you how effective this tool can become. It’s important that you have as much information as possible to create better influencer advertising campaigns, and with Refersion’s 14-day free trial, you can start accessing all of that information today.
FAQ
How does influencer marketing integrate with other digital marketing strategies like SEO or email marketing?
Integrating influencer marketing with other digital marketing strategies like SEO or email marketing involves creating a comprehensive approach where all elements complement each other. For instance, content created by influencers can be optimized for search engines or featured in email campaigns, which can drive both engagement and conversions by reaching broader audiences through multiple channels.
What specific metrics should businesses track to evaluate the effectiveness of influencer marketing campaigns?
To evaluate the effectiveness of influencer marketing campaigns, businesses should track a variety of metrics including engagement rates, traffic generated from influencer links, conversion rates, and the overall return on investment (ROI). Analyzing these data points helps determine how well the influencer’s content is performing and whether it aligns with the business’s goals.
Are there any legal considerations or guidelines that companies need to be aware of when engaging in influencer marketing?
Legal considerations in influencer marketing involve adhering to advertising standards and disclosure requirements set by regulatory bodies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the United States. Companies must ensure that influencers disclose their partnerships in their posts to maintain transparency with their audience. This includes using clear and conspicuous disclaimers that the content is sponsored or part of an advertisement.
