A study published in eMarketer showed that nearly 85% of marketing and communications professionals worldwide expected to launch at least one campaign involving an influencer in the next 12 months. If you look at Google’s keyword search for influencer marketing, it’s increased more than 90 times since 2013, according to Adweek.
With the rise of ad blockers, the decline in traditional TV viewership, and the steady rise of social media, marketers need to fully embrace influencers in order to get their message heard in 2017 and beyond.
What you need to know about Influencer Marketing
It’s Here to Stay
If you’ve been thinking a, “watch and wait” approach to influencer marketing is safest, think again.
It’s No Longer About Celebrities
The media hoopla around celebrities like the Kardashians has created misconceptions around influencer marketing that remain, even now that it has become mainstream. While the early days of influencer marketing were all about celebrity influencers and social media stars, people soon realized an influencer’s ability to reach and influence an audience of your target consumers, and carry your brand message authentically was far more important than their reach alone. True optimization means brands can understand and optimize the performance of the right group of influencers, at the right time, to meet
their goals.
Who’s Doing It?
While it seems that some companies don’t want to let go of their outbound marketing practices, fashion ecommerce sites are targeting influencers like pros. Many are reaching out to reputable fashion bloggers and sending them clothing and accessory items to be reviewed. The blogger then posts photos and writes about the garments, often linking back to the site where their audience can buy the items being reviewed.
Set expectations
What are you hoping to accomplish with your campaign? Do you want to drive sales, traffic, or create brand awareness? Marco Hansell states that, “You need to focus and have only one goal. You can’t try to do everything. Remember that a person may only engage one way with a post. They’ll retweet it but not like it. They’ll like it but not comment.”
Since influencer marketing is a discipline all its own, you’ll need a few unique components to build an influencer campaign. Here are the steps we teach to help our clients build influencer campaigns:
Planning Your Influencer Marketing Strategy
Influencer Identification & Selection
Program Workflow and Automation
Monitor & Track Key Metrics
Optimized Distribution
However, before you start looking for influencers or create a strategy, you’ll want to determine a few key things to help set the stage. You’ll need to know your audience, set clear goals, and define how you’ll measure success.
Let’s Wrap it Up
Now that your idea of influencers isn’t so elusive and you know where to start looking for them, don’t let your outreach campaign slip by forgetting to use tact. With any interaction, imagine yourself at a cocktail party saying what you are emailing or tweeting. Would you run up to someone and list off all of the cool things about yourself and ask them to check out your brand? I really hope not, so don’t be abrupt in your communication with your list of targeted influencers.
With the rise of ad blockers, the decline in traditional TV viewership, and the steady rise of social media, marketers need to fully embrace influencers in order to get their message heard in 2017 and beyond.
What you need to know about Influencer Marketing
It’s Here to Stay
If you’ve been thinking a, “watch and wait” approach to influencer marketing is safest, think again.
It’s No Longer About Celebrities
The media hoopla around celebrities like the Kardashians has created misconceptions around influencer marketing that remain, even now that it has become mainstream. While the early days of influencer marketing were all about celebrity influencers and social media stars, people soon realized an influencer’s ability to reach and influence an audience of your target consumers, and carry your brand message authentically was far more important than their reach alone. True optimization means brands can understand and optimize the performance of the right group of influencers, at the right time, to meet
their goals.
Who’s Doing It?
While it seems that some companies don’t want to let go of their outbound marketing practices, fashion ecommerce sites are targeting influencers like pros. Many are reaching out to reputable fashion bloggers and sending them clothing and accessory items to be reviewed. The blogger then posts photos and writes about the garments, often linking back to the site where their audience can buy the items being reviewed.
Set expectations
What are you hoping to accomplish with your campaign? Do you want to drive sales, traffic, or create brand awareness? Marco Hansell states that, “You need to focus and have only one goal. You can’t try to do everything. Remember that a person may only engage one way with a post. They’ll retweet it but not like it. They’ll like it but not comment.”
Since influencer marketing is a discipline all its own, you’ll need a few unique components to build an influencer campaign. Here are the steps we teach to help our clients build influencer campaigns:
Planning Your Influencer Marketing Strategy
Influencer Identification & Selection
Program Workflow and Automation
Monitor & Track Key Metrics
Optimized Distribution
However, before you start looking for influencers or create a strategy, you’ll want to determine a few key things to help set the stage. You’ll need to know your audience, set clear goals, and define how you’ll measure success.
Let’s Wrap it Up
Now that your idea of influencers isn’t so elusive and you know where to start looking for them, don’t let your outreach campaign slip by forgetting to use tact. With any interaction, imagine yourself at a cocktail party saying what you are emailing or tweeting. Would you run up to someone and list off all of the cool things about yourself and ask them to check out your brand? I really hope not, so don’t be abrupt in your communication with your list of targeted influencers.
