Is Time for Your Business to Invest in Influencer Marketing?
How to use a following to grow your brand
The ways we market our businesses are changing.
It’s common knowledge that advertising has grown beyond flyers, posters, and printed adverts.
In the digital age, it’s no good-looking “last century.” We can now market in more targeted ways than ever before.
We can reach an audience by their location, demographic, or even the kind of TV they watch.
This has opened new and exciting opportunities.
For the first time, small businesses can be on a level playing field with larger competitors. You probably already use email marketing and monitor its effectiveness.
But is this enough?
Advances in marketing just keep coming. If your business is not alert to changes and new developments, it will get left behind.
This brings us to influencer marketing.
Over the last ten years, this method has become more and more popular. Today, almost every successful business is doing it.
Used correctly, influencer marketing can boost your name recognition and grow your brand.
But what is influencer marketing, and how can you use it to help your business? We’ll explore that and more below.
What Is Influencer Marketing?
Brands have long used celebrities to promote their product. An endorsement by a familiar face with legions of fans can work wonders for a business.
80% of surveyed marketers find this strategy effective.
Influencer marketing is simply the latest iteration of this form of advertising.
It began with YouTube, the video-sharing platform, which today has over 100 million users.
Over the years, YouTube has been joined by other platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok.
Creators on these platforms have amassed large followings.
It’s no surprise that brands have tapped into this and are now sponsoring creators to promote their products.
In fact, influencer marketing campaigns earn $5.78 for every dollar spent. So, if you’re not currently investing in influencer marketing, now is the time.
Is It Just for Big Businesses?
In the past, gaining celebrity endorsement for a product was only affordable for big companies.
The great thing about influencer marketing is that it’s available to all businesses.
While the biggest influencers may be out of a small business’s price range, using smaller influencers is still an effective way of marketing your brand.
How Do You Categorize an Influencer?
Since smaller businesses may have a limited budget, it’s vital that they choose wisely.
That’s why it’s important to identify a creator that will be affordable and effective for your business.
Influencers fall into three brackets. These are micro, macro, and mega. Let’s look at each:
- Micro — These creators have followings ranging between 5,000 and 100,000.
- Macro — Will have a following that ranges from 100,000 to a million.
- Mega — The biggest and most expensive influencers, having over one million followers.
Where Should You Start?
As with any marketing campaign, you should start with a thorough plan. Before contacting any influencers, ask yourself the following questions:
- What are your goals for the campaign?
- What Key Performance indicators will you be tracking?
- What is your target market?
- What is your timeline?
- What influencer platform will you use?
With a clear plan from the outset, your influencer marketing will be much more effective.
Planning Your Budget
Part of planning should include a review of your budget.
You don’t want to overspend on marketing, only to find that you’re lacking funds for other vital activities.
Influencer marketing can be costly. Big names expect big paychecks. Make sure that you’ve properly budgeted for this.
It’s a good idea to research influencers before you approach them. The website Social Blade helps you learn about influencers before you make any decisions.
With proper scrutiny, you can find the right influencer at a price you can afford.
Is Influencer Marketing for Everyone?
Before making any investment in influencer marketing, you should first ask the question, “Is it right for my brand?”.
It’s important to remember that influencer marketing focuses on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
Related: Should Your Business Be In TikTok?
These platforms are most popular, by far, with the younger demographic.
For example, a stunning 95% of young adults (aged 18–29) use YouTube. Just 49% of older people (65+) use the platform.
Because the majority of users are younger, influencers are less likely to reach an older demographic.
If your product is designed for older customers, influencer marketing might not be the answer for you.
Choosing the Right Influencer
Choosing the right influencer isn’t just a case of finding a creator with a large following.
After all, if a video receives a large number of views, but no one buys your product, you have wasted money.
It’s far better to choose an influencer that is likely to cut through to your target audience.
Luckily, even the most niche subjects are covered online.
You should be able to find an influencer that relates to your field and has an audience that will respond to your product.
Take the time to do the research and find the best option for your business.
What to Do When You Contact an Influencer
Once you’ve chosen an influencer, make sure you properly know and understand their content before you contact them.
It’s important that you can build up a rapport if you are to work together effectively.
Once they have accepted your offer to work with them, it’s a good idea to organize a conversation.
Avoid email exchanges. Your creator needs to properly understand your brand if they are to sell it effectively.
What if your creator is in a far-off location? No problem, this is just one example of where video calls online can take your business communications up a level.
Whilst it’s a good idea to explain your company, products, and general ethos, don’t tell a creator how to make their video.
They will know their audience better than you and understand the kinds of content that appeal to them.
After your initial link-up, you should keep in contact.
Dialogue is important in all business relationships, and this is no exception.
Investing in flexible VoIP phone systems could be just what your business needs.
Run Discounts
In a sponsored video, an influencer will likely show off your product to their audience.
At the end of the video, they will encourage fans to visit your site and browse your catalog.
For a higher chance of sales, send a discount code for the influencer to share with viewers.
This adds a sense of exclusivity — only viewers of the video can take advantage of the discount.
You could even offer further discounts if viewers share your site with friends and family.
Once you have engaged an influencer, you will want to check the effectiveness of your investment.
There are many ways you could do this, but something that is vital to all online businesses is increasing the volume of your website traffic.
Make sure you monitor the impact your influencer is having on this.
Examples of Influencer Marketing
Sometimes, it’s useful to look at real-world examples of influencer marketing success.
Some of the examples listed below might help you to structure your marketing plans.
Audible
Anyone that watches YouTube regularly will be familiar with Audible’s marketing efforts.
Amazon company has poured huge amounts of cash into growing the audiobook company.
A large part of this advertising has been allocated towards influencers.
Because audiobooks focus on different genres, Amazon could work with a variety of influencers, each with its own audience.
This included creators whose content focused on varied topics such as gaming, arts and crafts, and entertainment.
In each video, a creator would talk about Audible and offer the chance for a user to receive a free audiobook.
The success is clear to see. Combined, sponsored marketing videos received over 84 million views.
Related: 8 Types of Video Content Every Business Needs to Create
Adidas
Adidas is one of the most globally recognized clothing brands.
Yet success didn’t prevent the company from turning to influencer marketing to receive further growth.
The brand created a team of 25 female influencers.
These creators would produce content designed to promote Adidas’ women’s sportswear.
The result of this campaign was a big boost in sales. Adidas reported record sales of €19.3 million.
Subaru
Subaru’s #MeetAnOwner campaign was designed to promote the new Impreza. It’s a prime example of how transformative influencer marketing can be.
The car brand worked with 20 influencers, each with its own audience and niche. Influencers would show themselves driving the car in various locations.
Of all the influencers, the biggest names were Zach King, who has over 24 million subscribers on YouTube, and Devin Super Tramp, who has 4.6 million.
The campaign was a resounding success, with posts attracting 1.9 million likes and 9k comments.
Start Planning Your Influencer Marketing Today
It’s clear that more and more businesses are using influencers to grow their brand.
The simple reason behind this is that they can be hugely effective, driving both growth and profits.
There are plenty of influencers to choose from.
If you select carefully, you’ll be able to team up with someone who will reach your potential customers in a way that traditional advertising won’t.
If you add incentives to entice customers, it will be a winning combination. Perhaps it’s time to give your marketing a boost? Join forces with the right influencer and reap the rewards for your business!
Author: Jenna Bunnell — Senior Manager, Content Marketing, Dialpad
Jenna Bunnell is the Senior Manager for Content Marketing at Dialpad, an AI-incorporated cloud-hosted unified communications system that provides valuable call details for business owners and sales representatives. She has also written for sites such as Traffit and CBNation. Check out her LinkedIn profile.
