We’ve
all come across the term influencer marketing in some way or
the other. Be it in a newspaper, in a magazine, at work, or just browsing on
the internet. If not influencer marketing, you might have come across the term influencer
for sure. But what exactly do people mean when they say influencer or
influencer marketing? What are the things that affect campaigns like these?
What are their benefits? What are the disadvantages? Let’s discuss them.
Who is an influencer?
By
definition, it means a person or thing that influences another. We
come across influencers regularly in our day-to-day lives, in the form of
family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances that influence a few of our
decisions but are on a personal level. That’s because we trust them. Now, when
we put this on a large scale of the digital world, it can have a massive
impact. By that logic, a digital or a social media influencer is someone who
has managed to amass an audience that trusts them. These influencers have the
potential of driving up awareness and revenues of products and services when
they talk about them.
Now, let’s take a look at Influencer Marketing.
By
definition, Influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing
involving endorsements and product placement from influencers, people, and
organizations that have a purported expert level of knowledge or social
influence in their field.
What does this mean?
Social
Media platforms have been around for a while. There’s a set of people across
industries who have built a significant audience and a community. These people
have managed to build trust because of the knowledge they share, the content
they create, and the authenticity they bring to the table. Besides these, some
people (actors, writers, artists, industry leaders, etc.) have developed that
same trust in the offline world. This recognition and fame are replicated on
social media platforms too. When these individuals (from both the categories)
talk about a product or service, their audience would consider opting. It is
because of the trust that has been build over the period.
Sounds
about right, no?
But a
sizeable number of influencer marketing campaigns doesn’t give good returns.
There are various factors involved in the overall success of an influencer
marketing campaign. It is bound to fail even if one piece is missing. What are
the key things that influence the success of an influencer marketing
campaign?
1. Have a clear objective: Setting a clear and defined
objective is the most overlooked aspect while opting for influencer marketing
campaigns. Brands end up burning their money in influencer marketing because
they’re not entirely sure what they want from the activity. You cannot say you
want results – the results need to be well defined. Having multiple objectives
is a recipe for failure. You can’t go about saying you want X reach, Y
downloads, Z signups, W orders.
2. Build a strategy: Okay, you’ve got the objective
clear, now what? Now you need to decide how you’re going to go about it. What
kind of influencers you’d like to bring onboard? What would be the type of
content? What would be the timelines? The budget? Logistics? The story? The
clearer you are with this, the better is the chance of the campaign being a
success.
3. Pick the right influencers: Be it picking the
celebrity or influencers, you need to find the right ones. Many accounts end up
talking about multiple things, so they don’t have the level of authority and
trust. Some profiles only promote random stuff that makes their account look
spammy. Some accounts buy followers and likes. Some might not be the right fit
for your product or service in general. If you don’t get the right influencers,
your campaign will fail.
There
are a few more factors involved, but these are sufficient to understand the
basics.
There
are so many things involved, and the possibilities of it going wrong are high.
So, is Influencer marketing still worth it?
YES!
Totally! Influencer marketing is a great mix to incorporate for various brands,
and if done correctly, it will deliver desired results. It works on the simple
basic ‘word-of-mouth’ phenomenon that has existed even before the marketing
field was officially incorporated. There’s absolutely no reason to believe it is
a dying trend, or it might not work anymore. The influencer marketing industry
could grow to USD 24.1 Billion by 2025.
Have
you considered influencer marketing but aren’t sure how to go about it? Get in
touch, and we’ll help you with that.