It is no secret that social media marketing remains one of the dominant online marketing platforms in light of the current state of events. Digital marketers have been called to be as creative as possible with their marketing strategies in order to compete in this already over dominated market.
However, the pandemic has not only forced brands to be more open to social media marketing but has also created the opportunity for new influencers to take to the stage.
Social media influencers are digital content creators that develop content on social media relating to various topics of interest. These influencers can become very influential in their relevant areas of interest because of the large number of followers that they attract with their content.
In short: associating your brand with an influencer gives you access to the influencer’s followers and helps to build brand loyalty and brand trust by using the influencer as the middleman.
Recent research revealed that up to 75% of brands have allocated their digital marketing budgets towards influencer campaigns for the upcoming year.
Thinking of planning an influencer campaign?
Then you will be interested to read these tips for engaging in a successful partnership with a social media influencer.
- Proper Planning
This tip may come across as cliché but it is definitely one of the most important considerations when planning an influencer campaign. The first big question that you need to ask yourself is:
“What are my goals for an influencer?”
The reasons for wanting to involve an influencer in your digital marketing strategy will help determine the type of influencer to choose for the campaign and this will help to narrow down the influencer search.
Your campaign goals will also help to determine what you would like to achieve with said influencer. If you are launching a new product perhaps you would like the influencer to do an unboxing highlighting the important features of the product or to even show the product in action.
By being prepared you can give the influencer a clearer vision of what you would like to achieve with the campaign which helps provide them with a clear direction to move towards. The clearer your goals, the better the influencer can work to achieve them and the more engagement you will receive from the target audience.
And this all starts with a well-structured content brief.
- Content Type
Once you have found potential influencers that resonate well with your brand and target audience, it is time to determine the type of content that you would like the influencer to create for your campaign.
Now that social media algorithms have placed a high importance on video content, like unboxing videos and live demonstrations, this type of content is king. But, even if video content is highly ranked by the algorithm, you need to ensure that the angle is correct for your target market and the influencer audience in order to maximise results.
Social media offers various forms of content including generic picture posts, stories, videos, reels, carousels and much more.
So which format is the right format?
This will depend entirely on the message that you want to send and this is the type of discussion that you can have with your chosen influencer.
Keep in mind that each influencer has their own types of content that they produce which responds well with their following. In this case it would be best to stick to that type of content format if you would like to achieve the highest engagement from their following.
At the same time it is important to remember that all content types are important as each individual responds to different types of marketing techniques; the same as with traditional marketing methods.
- Reach
When selecting an influencer it is not always good to base your choice on the size of the following alone. While a large following is enticing it is more important to evaluate the engagement statistics of the page.
Most influencers provide a media kit upon request which contains important statistics including engagement statistics along with other important demographic information like gender and location data. This media kit will help you to achieve a better understanding of the type of engagement that the influencer receives on their profile.
If the influencer does not have a media kit simply look at how many likes, comments, shares and mentions the influencer is receiving per post delivered and this will also help give an indication of what type of content performs better with the influencer’s audience.
It is also important to keep in mind that influencers with a large following charge more to gain access to their large following. Be sure to weigh out the benefit of more content versus access to a larger audience.
- Open Lines of Communication
As with any partnership it is important to maintain an open line of communication with the influencer(s) you partner with. Whether you communicate via phone call, email or face-to-face always be sure to be upfront and to be accommodative.
If questions arise answer these as clearly and quickly as possible so that the influencer has as much time to meet the requirements of the campaign as possible. It is also important to discuss deadlines ahead of time to ensure that both parties are clear about when content needs to be delivered.
At the same time it is also good to draw boundaries.
If you do not want to be contacted by specific means, like WhatsApp, be sure to be clear about this. By establishing these boundaries and sticking to them a good relationship can be maintained and conflict avoided.
- Discussing Compensation
As with making use of any service it is important to be upfront about compensation and how this compensation will be made. Not all influencers want monetary compensation. In fact, some influencers are happy to do trade exchanges or to be compensated with products.
Other influencers prefer to become brand ambassadors by entering into an annual contract instead of simply agreeing to a once-off collaboration.
And, for those who do require monetary compensation, it is important to determine how payment will be made. Some influencers require a deposit while others only expect compensation once the content has been handed off.
This is an important conversion to have before entering into an agreement to ensure that both parties are comfortable with the remuneration that has been agreed upon.
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In conclusion, influencer partnerships can be highly beneficial to establishing brand loyalty and gaining brand trust from an audience that resonates with your product or service offering.
According to research conducted by Influencer Marketing Hub, 90% of their survey respondents believe that influencer marketing is a highly effective form of digital marketing.
With proper planning, concise content briefs and by maintaining open lines of communication you are on the way to achieving a successful influencer campaign.
Need help orchestrating influencer marketing campaigns?
The digital marketing team at Online Innovations will be happy to assist with planning your influencer marketing campaigns from start to finish. Contact us on 041 365 4919, email sales@onlineinnovations.com or visit our website at www.onlineinnovaitons.com to find out more.