No matter how you feel about them, social media influencers are even more valuable for marketing campaigns today than they were ten years ago. The truth is influencer marketing has been around far longer than social media has. Before Facebook, companies were hiring celebrities to promote their products and services—and to great effect!
However, a profitable influencer marketing campaign requires more than hiring an internet celebrity to promote your business. It takes a complete understanding of your business goals, savvy marketing and a lot of research.
Read our influencer marketing guide to learn all about the dos and don’ts of creating a successful influencer marketing strategy.
If you have any social media accounts, you’ve seen influencer marketing at work, either in your feed or as a promoted ad. Whether you love the personal flair this content provides or find it disingenuous, the influencer marketing trend is too big to ignore and will continue to grow this year.
Several trends show how influencer marketing is shaping up. Here are just a few:
It’s clear influencer marketing shows no signs of slowing down, but what should you consider when deciding if hiring an influencer is right for your company?
Influencer marketing isn’t something you can just throw into your marketing strategy and see immediate results. Smart marketers first identify whether hiring an influencer will have the potential to create benefits. If social media isn’t a major part of your overall strategy or hasn’t made a large impact on your business goals, simply hiring an influencer is not going to change things suddenly.
For influencer marketing to make an impact, you must first build a strong social media strategy that aligns with your overall business goals. Once you see that your new strategy is starting to move numbers, weaving the influencer component into your overall content and marketing strategy will help further support your goals.
If your social presence impacts the success of your brand and business, influencer marketing can help improve your results further. A smart influencer marketing strategy can fully drive a brand’s social presence and also supplement an existing one by branching out to new platforms, reaching new audiences and targeting potential consumers.
You want to be sure you choose the right influencer that is aligned with your business. This means thoroughly researching the influencers out there to ensure they will drive results. For example, if your company sells healthy snacks for hikers, hiring a musician for your campaign is really not going to connect with your intended audience. Find an influencer that is not only in your space but also has the same values as your brand.
Every influencer engagement is different, so having an experienced influencer marketing strategist work with your team is essential. Many marketers think that they need one big star to create one piece of content that will go viral. However, the reality is that your business might benefit from several micro-influencers and expect to develop a series of content just like you would with any other marketing campaign.
The process of developing an influencer marketing campaign all the way through to the first customer clicking a link can take months of planning.
Here is an example of some of the things we do when creating an influencer marketing campaign for our clients:
Influencer marketing can be as organic or as strategic as you want! As a brand, you can choose to use influencer marketing as you see fit.
Influencer marketing can be a valuable component of your overall marketing strategy if you integrate it effectively to ensure your influencer campaigns feel genuine to your audiences and create more interest and loyalty for your brand. If you have questions about incorporating influencer marketing into your business and what it can do for your organization’s goals, contact the influencer marketing team at Agital to learn more about what influencer marketing strategy can do for you.
