Social media changed Traditional word-of-mouth marketing: Influencers with high follower numbers play an increasingly decisive role in digital brand communication. Consequently, Influencer marketing is one of the hottest trends and is likely to become one of the core topics in digital marketing.
In a study, 84 percent of all brands estimated they would launch at least one campaign with an influencer. Eighty-one percent of participants who had already gained experience with such influencer partnerships find influencer marketing as an effective marketing measure.
So far, so good, but how to find the right influencers for your product or brand? Please read our written article on it! But every journey starts with a first step, and that’s why you should read three questions & it’s answered before you start looking for the influencer who is right for you.
Whom do you want to influence?
This seemingly simple question is very profound. Most brands can quickly answer them at a high level: “We usually want to influence our customers, prospective buyers, and the industry community.” But a significant and intelligent answer requires a little more sense. It should include a well-developed customer profile where customer behavior is analyzed.
Maybe you want to influence people who work in a specific profession – such as social media users or specific communities who spend a lot of time on social media daily. Influencers can influence each of your customer groups differently. And only those who understand these behaviors and preferences can do effective influencer marketing.
Who do my customers, potential customers, and social media community trust?
Trust is the most crucial prerequisite for real influence in marketing. Your target audience respects and trusts the opinions of the influencers. Without the element of faith, all results of marketing actions will always remain superficial, and you will have a hard time achieving concrete economic benefits with your efforts.
Suppose you have a concrete idea of who you want to influence. In that case, you should go one step further and identify the most influential opinion leaders. Such leaders whose targeted audience considers them as guarantors of truthful information. There’s a good chance that Influencers on social media are already acting as thought leaders and opinion makers for your target audience. These people are the real influencers you should partner with to achieve measurable success. And we’ve already collab with 50k influencers and categorized them by their expertise in different niches, such as Youtubers, Instagrammers, and bloggers from various fields (gaming, beauty, fashion, lifestyle, food).
Influencer profiles are compelling if they are real people. Such as “Russ”: Russ is an influencer in the field of a specific professional competence whose opinion leads to fundamental, measurable changes within his network. In this case, the Russ profile builds quite freely on Russel Lolacher – an influencer passionate about customer service and heavily involved in his local social media community (#yyj). When dealing with real influencers who correspond to the Russ profile, you have to ask yourself: “Would Russell like what we are doing here?” The answer to this question should then guide you in your marketing efforts.
“Russ” is just one example of a profile that intelligent marketers can use to create a definition of an influencer personality that resonates particularly well with their target audience. Just about any brand that focuses on this problem will be able to create three to five influencer profiles with which they can enter into different partnerships. These profiles can (and should) cover personalities from well-connected customers to complementary brands.
Influencer profiles allow intelligent marketing experts to clearly define what an influencer actually is and – crucially – what he is not. Without a series of precisely crafted profiles, it is elementary to measure influence by flattering metrics such as the number of followers or engagements and measure reach. Such numbers are relevant to achieving your goals.
How can we work together for mutual benefit?
When people discuss influencer marketing today, they mainly limit themselves to the question: “What does the influencer bring to your brand?”. As a brand, you are expected to find these personalities and then use them to reinforce or validate your brand message. The focus is always on the value individual influencers can have for your brand – and not the other way around.
However, those who assume such prerequisites ignore an important aspect: The influencer must also derive value from the partnership with your brand. Without collaboration for mutual benefit, you’ll have difficulty forming beneficial long-term partnerships and incorporating influencers into your activities.
“Value” does not necessarily mean financial compensation – although sometimes it boils down to it. Value means that the perceived benefit of a partnership is equally important to both sides and that both derive a similarly high value from their exchange. For brands with a high level of awareness, this value for the influencer can be that by working with your brand, they reach many more people and gain validation for themselves. For others, it can also be about exchanging content: you make your content available to the influencer’s networks and vice versa. However, this exchange may also take place quite differently; for example, by presenting your brand to a unique community and giving tailor-made giveaways in return. Think unconventionally and let your creativity run wild – but never forget that mutual benefit is the driving force behind long-term relationships with influencers.
Conclusion! Get started with your first influencer marketing ad campaign with us
Now you know the questions – so set out to find answers to them. Identify and analyze your customers’ behavior and the things that could affect the buying process. Consider who your customers trust and find out what opinions they are already guided by today. And determine now what values you have to offer; so you are well prepared for negotiations with influencers with whom you want to build long-term relationships.
As soon as you have answered these three questions concretely and in detail, you will be able to develop a much more targeted, concentrated, and successful strategy and have good prerequisites for successful influencer marketing.
