It was just a few years ago that only actors, TV stars, musicians, authors, or business personalities paraded around the country using their fame. Only these handful of celebrities had the power to influence the minds of the masses and brands used them as their tools for marketing.
But with the arrival of social media platforms, everyone is on the internet. According to a Statista report, in 2022, an average person spends around one hundred and forty-seven minutes per day on social media platforms worldwide. In 2021, it was one hundred and forty-five minutes. This number is growing every day.
This means that brands should utilize social media platforms. They should connect with their existing customers and attract them to new promotions or products or services. The same can be done with new customers as well. For instance, Xfinity is one of the largest and most widely available internet service providers in the US. Along with providing internet to hundreds of households around the US, the brand has been using social media platforms to promote and market its Xfinity internet services.
This is a good example of a marketing strategy, but what if there was another way? Consider this; everyone is on social media now (almost 4.8 billion users worldwide and growing) and the internet has given them the power of content creation. This has resulted in many internet users gathering a large following. No longer are just movie stars, singers, etc. famous now. Internet users, having a large following, are now termed influencers, mainly because they can sway or attract the attention of their audiences.
Tried and Tested
How these internet users with large followings are linked to brands is the fact that brands can use them to attract the masses to their products or services.
You can use an example of one of the earliest brands that made use of social media influencers for the same purpose back when it was all new. When Daniel Wellington was launched in 2011, the founder of the brand chose relevant Instagram followers and gave them free DW watches. In return, these influencers were asked to post pictures while wearing the DW watches on their Instagram. They were also asked to use the hashtag: #DanielWellington.
Each of these influencers was given a unique promo code that they were sharing with their followers to make use of the discount from DW. Naturally, this attracted followers. But the whole point of providing a promo code was to determine the effectiveness of each influencer. The brand was able to track the behavior of followers through these influencers i.e. how ‘influential’ was the influencer.
This success story makes a solid case for why using influencers for your brand’s marketing is worth all your time and effort.
Types of Influencers on Social Media
Influencers don’t necessarily have to have a million followers. They can be just 10k and still have a dedicated following. Hence, as a brand, you need to consider what factors you need to consider for your brand promotion i.e. do you need to have a large following, do you need an influencer that is focused on a specific region, etc.
In case you need an idea, let’s look at the types of influencers you will find on social media platforms;
- Nano-influencer; with 10,000 followers or fewer
- Micro-influencer; 10,000 to 100,000 followers
- Macro-influencer; having 100,000 to 1 million followers
- Mega-influencer; more than 1 million followers
An influencer with 10,000 followers might have the highest engagement, just the one that your brand needs. Hence, your brand doesn’t necessarily have to find a macro-influencer or higher as long as the engagement with followers is allowing them to spread their reach.
How to Create an Influencer Marketing Strategy?
The first thing to do is the most apparent; you need to create goals i.e. what are you going to achieve for your brand with the influencer marketing strategy?
- You need to find a way to connect with influencers first. Scour the social media platforms to find the right ones that you think should be able to attract your ideal customers. Next, you need to convince the influencers why you are the right one for them. They have worked so hard to create a large following, which is why they need to be provided incentives and propositions.
- Using influencers to promote your brand will get you brand awareness. Their large following, some of who may never have heard of your brand, will be learning about it. This is where your brand starts gaining new customers.
- With the help of these influencers, you will be able to generate leads for your brands. You will be able to track your progress throughout the whole campaign.
Final Thoughts
The number of users on social media platforms is growing every day, which means an opportunity for brands to gain more customers. Influencers on social media can help your brand to strengthen its reputation, spread reaches to more customers, and generate revenue. It’s high time marketers like yourself realize the importance of influencer marketing for your brand.