Influencer Marketing Guide

What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is where brands collaborate with influencers across platforms such as Instagram or Youtube to promote their brand, product or service. Influencers shouldn't be confused with celebrities. Most influencers are experts in their field. Unlike celebrity endorsements, they will have some level of knowledge/experience relating to the product or service. Sometimes, however, they may not have this experience; in such cases, it's vitally important to ensure they are well-trusted by their followers to promote something new. 

Things to Consider When Using Influencer Marketing:

1. Influencers Operate Independently 

When working with brands, influencers will create content, considering any advertising specifications the company sets. This means that the influencer ultimately has complete control of how they portray the brand's message. Therefore, you must carefully choose which influencers you want to work with for your brand. For example, younger influencers may lack maturity and professionalism - any bad press could seriously impact your brand. However, a positive of influencers having control of their content is that this will help to improve authenticity making it more trusted by their following. 

2. Popularity Isn't Everything

When choosing who you want to work with your brand, don't just base this off number of followers; although this does have a bearing on the reach of their content, it's far more important that their audience represents your target market as this will likely lead to more engagements and conversions. 

There are 5 main types of influencers, these are: 

• Mega-influencers - over a million followers
  These influencers are usually celebrities and have a high following, with that will come high levels of reach; however, it has been found that once an influencer reaches a certain amount of followers, engagement tends to drop off. A significant factor to consider if you want to use mega-influencers is the cost, as they will often set a higher price.
  
  
• Macro-influencers - 500k - 1 million followers
  Macro-influencers will be cheaper than mega-influencers but can still be costly. With their amount of followers, working with them is likely to have a high reach, but the engagement may not be at the level your company is after.
  
  
• Mid-tier influencers - 50K to 500K followers
  These influencers can still provide a good reach and offer higher engagement rates. They are often better connected to their audience with fewer followers, making them more trusted.
  
  
• Micro-influencers - 10K to 50K followers
  Although they have fewer followers than above, they still provide a good amount of reach; their posts tend to be more authentic and relatable to their following. 82% of consumers are more likely to buy a product recommended by a micro-influencer (Simplilearn). 
  
  
• Nano-influencers - 1K to 10K followers
  Reach may be less with nano-influencers but engagement is often relatively high and can even be the highest of any other influencer type.

When choosing which type of influencer you want to work with, you should consider your brand's goals for this marketing campaign. Do you want it to reach lots of people, or is engagement more important? Another factor that should be considered is cost; often it helps to have a separate influencer budget with your standard marketing budget to work out exactly how much you can spend.

3. Fake Followers 

You should also be aware that it is possible for 'influencers' to purchase fake followers to try to build their follower base. These won't add value to your brand, so it is important to avoid these to prevent wasting money. To check if someones following has been gained organically, it is possible to use tools such as Modash. There are many services on the market, some of which can be expensive, so make sure they are legitimate before making any purchase. There will often be variations in results as it can be challenging to measure.

4. Influencers Recieve Lots of Brand Offers... Make Yours Stand Out!

Influencers, particularly those working in a popular field with a large following, are likely to be of interest to multiple brands looking to incorporate them into their marketing strategy, so you need to stand out against the competition. To do this, you could start by simply interacting with them online, such as liking or commenting on their content for a period of time before approaching them. This isn't directly promoting your brand but will help get you recognised and trusted, allowing you to become part of their community. This will let an influencer know more about your brand and if you're the right fit for their audience. 

5. Influencers Aren't Other Brands

When working with influencers, it's important to remember that you are working with individuals instead of businesses. Therefore, there isn't a one size fits all approach when trying to incorporate influencers into your marketing strategy. You need to tailor interactions to fit each influencer, which will help build the high level of trust needed between a brand and an influencer.

How Much Do Influencers Cost?

Different influencers' prices vary hugely; according to Forbes.com, a suggested price for Instagram campaigns is $1,000/100,000 followers, whilst, on Youtube, it's $100/1,000 views. Factors that can impact the cost include: 

- Which social media platforms are used

- Follower engagement 

- Influencer reach 

- The industry or specialisation 

- Types of content wanted 

- Influencer demand 

How Do You Measure Influencer Marketing?

Measuring the impact influencer branding has had on your brand can be tricky but it is possible. Here are the main figures to focus on to able to see if it is having the desired impact on your company: 

1. Audience reach

2. Impressions

3. Engagement (e.g. likes, comments, shares etc.) 

4. Conversions (e.g. growth in your followers, brand mentions, traffic to the website etc.)

5. You could also create a specific hashtag to be used on influencer posts which you can track to see how it's performing

We hope you found this blog useful to think about how you can start incorporating influencers into your business' marketing plan. 

If you need any further help with any other areas of marketing get in touch with our team!