All About Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is like a combination of old and new marketing tools, adopting the idea of celebrity endorsement and applying it in a modern-day marketing campaign. The point of difference is that the results of the campaign are mostly collaborations between influencers and brands.

In simple words, influencer marketing is a technique of marketing in which the main focus is made on influential people rather than the target audience as a whole on social media.  Even though influencer marketing is not the latest technique but it is experiencing great popularity since last few years and is considered to be very effective in terms of digital marketing. Many top companies are using this technique to take advantage of the technology and the influence on people, a person has. Influencer marketing needs the identification of the individuals influencing potential customers, thus orienting marketing activities around them. It acts as a trustworthy aid in digital marketing to promote and market brands effectively. As the world is becoming more technologically advanced, influencer marketing has made its way to the forefront and companies are putting a lot of time and effort into the tactic than ever before. Social media is at the heart of influencer marketing and plays the role of an essential element to promote good and services of a firm effectively. Influencer marketing is all about a relationship between an influencer and a brand. The influencer then promotes the brand’s products or services using different social media channels such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Influencer marketing is different from celebrity endorsement conceptually as it does a lot more things than just attaching a well-known personality to a brand. Functions also include overseeing all aspects of an influencer marketing campaign and the rest of the team working on it. It involves building relationships with industry influencers, setting goals for influencer marketing.

Types of digital marketing

1. Host giveaways - It is an essential form of influencer marketing. It involves partnering with an influential person capable enough to influence the potential customers and allowing them to post the internal content of the organization for a period of time. 

2. Sponsored Blog Posts - A sponsored blog post appears to be any other post on a blogger’s website. Also, it should have the editorial feel and same tone. The big difference is that the blogger is being paid by a brand to create the post.

3. For example, a makeup related blog can create a sponsored post around a particular cosmetic.

4. Brand Ambassador Programs - They are a very impactful form of advertising where a brand is promoted using the word-of-mouth technique. They are very helpful in boosting existing marketing campaigns. 

5. Guest Blogging - Guest blogging is a technique adopted by owners of the blog to increase traffic to their sites. Guest bloggers offer to write content for other, similar blogs in their industry as guest bloggers. In return, they receive links to their own blogs with an opportunity to promote their own name and blogs in their chosen sectors. 

Influencer marketing | Image Resource : freepik.com

Selecting the influential person 

In influencer marketing, one of the main factors is to choose the right person for influencing the customers to a great outcome. The one affecting should be a trustworthy personality having a huge and positive appeal among the people positioned as a real and honest personality. If a person with fewer levels of trust and appeal is selected for the marketing, it will not only affect the output of the firms but also to its image at large. It necessary for the firms to research, compare and then select the influential personality for the marketing of their brand. The prominent person should be able to inspire and persuade people to take peculiar actions, from filling a simple lead form to buying a product or service. The one should be passionate and confident about what he or she is doing and how his or her thoughts are going to impact. The personality should have good networking skills, should be capable of connecting with people easily and striking a friendly conversation. 

Why influencer marketing?

1. Influencer marketing enables a company to reach its target audience and market quickly and effectively. 

2. It is a better alternative to paid ads thus being more efficient resulting in a high return on investment due to targeted exposure.

3. Influencer marketing is an excellent strategy for positioning the brand image and its identity.

4. It is a safe and smooth way of marketing goods and services through trusted and influential people in the industry as a well-known person talking about a particular brand makes a difference and helps to create a good image.

5. As a matter of fact, Influencer marketing gives 11X higher ROI than other old forms of digital marketing and around 94% of marketers who used this form of marketing believe the tactic to be extremely effective.

6. It is believed that 71% of marketers that the technique of using ambassadors is the most effective form in influencer marketing.

7. Influencer marketing helps in increasing consumer loyalty towards a particular brand, and marketing professionals state it. 

8. Influencer marketing is an effective technique as a massive opportunity for increasing a company's brand awareness, growing the following and increasing the engagement.

Conclusion

Unlike the other marketing strategies, a high level of trust between the brand and the third party is required in influencer marketing. Utmost care of the brand's reputation should be taken in spite of the influencers signing legal contracts. Many factors are taken into consideration before selection of an influential person so that they do not affect the company negatively. But the fact of influencer marketing being one of the best features of digital marketing cannot be denied as it results in bringing optimum output to the firm thus increasing its sales. Influencer marketing majorly focuses on relationship building as one of the main objectives for effective persuasion. It has emerged as a significant player in the field of marketing and is preferred a lot these days and will be for an extended period as long as social media affects consumer behavior.