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Influencer Marketing Campaigns
Influencer Marketing Campaigns
In the last couple of years’ influencers have taken over with more businesses using influencer marketing to promote their brands. With 92% of consumers trusting recommendations from other people they don’t necessarily know but trust over the promotional content from those brands. By these brands teaming up with the right influencer they could reach hundreds and thousands more people than they do with their own content.
With the platforms that that are provided they will help businesses/brands make the most of advertising. The tools the platforms provide, help brands to find the best influencers for their businesses/brands, allocate their content, and target the right audience. Marketers can monitor and compare performance to ensure high returns for their businesses. Many influencers today have started their careers by being passionate about products from a detailed industry. They know a lot about your industry, and they have learned even more, including information on how customers see and shop for a product/brand. They are the missing connection on your marketing team. From statistics in a 2016 study: Influencers are more trustworthy and reliable than your average user with 94 percent more knowledgeable, 94 percent better at explaining how the product works or can be used. With the growth of influencer marketing more brands/businesses are starting to use influencer marketing to produce, distribute and promote sponsored content and is now one of the most powerful ways for brands to reach consumers. Influencer marketing is rapidly becoming one of the most significant online marketing networks. Budgets are growing fast, and marketers are seeing strong revenues. The clear majority of marketers are producing factual revenue from influencer marketing, with the top 13% making $20 or more for each $1 invested. With revenue like this, funds will keep growing in the future. As more people start to use ad blockers in the next couple of years we reckon that most businesses will be using influencer marketing to promote their products/brands online. With social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter allowing brands/businesses to successfully market to a wider audience than they would be using in their own promotional content. For the consumers, these platforms permit easy access to these products/brands, and help guide product choices and purchases. On Twitter 53% of customers recommend products/brands in their tweets. With 48% following through with the intent to buy the product/brand. The most effective platforms to talk about products are Facebook with 86%, followed by Twitter at 65%, blogs and reviews are tied at 55%, and videos come in last with 50%. You should have a social presence on these platforms, and make sure to monitor them closely for mentions of your products/brands. With marketers becoming more aware of influencer marketing, 2017 will be the year that it displays the strong point of influencer marketing. With businesses and brands becoming more keen to understand influencer marketing they will need to be more willing to reveal point of sale data and influencer marketing companies will need to get a handle on and a better understanding of the influencer’s audience. The brands that will find achievement with influencer marketing in 2017 are the ones that will approach their relationships with their influencers as business organisations. Brands often use influencers as an opportunity to promote their business/brand to a larger audience. And they ask the influencers to share about their brand in exchange for some of their products. But as influencer marketing is starting to grow, influencers are now able to earn money while talking about their interests. Creating a connection with the influencer means co-operating with them and getting their ideas on what will work with their audience to guarantee a good relationship between influencer and business/brand. Due to the huge demand for influencers and their rate which can quickly rise into the tens of thousands — the topic of influencer marketing has become more appealing to business/brands looking for a more reliable image. 2017 should be the year we end all the confusion of what influencer marketing is and how to thrive in it. We can already see many businesses/brands, both B2B and B2C, taking a serious look at their influencer marketing funds and setting up agendas to estimate their initiatives. In 2017, these businesses/brands will make calculated choices on their investments in influencer marketing. This will cause the roll out of business methods and strategies in the run-through. Hopefully the normalization of influencer marketing in 2017 will lead to huge results for 2018. Almost 60% of marketers had increased their influencer marketing budget by the of 2016 as it became more accurate with targeting consumers than the traditional marketing approaches, like Television and radio. As the online ad blockers and other issues continue to weigh down the effectiveness of traditional marketing methods, more businesses/brands are distributing ad dollars to influencer marketing. Sources:
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Harvey Leibenstein, an American economist, has identified and analyzed the phenomenon, which is now known as „imitation effect”. It occurs when customers want to buy some goods, even at higher prices, only for the fact that others are buying. This stems from a desire to imitate the people who they want to be identified with.[1]
The imitation effect is visible especially in the world of fashion. Whenever designers, celebrities and famous people dictate wearing new cuts or colors, people who want to belong to the fashionably dressed group will purchase such things. It happens because for people the most important are security, acceptance and the need of affiliation. People are imitating others because they are afraid of social exclusion but also because they need role models and they are looking for new sources of inspiration.[2] Once, this role was performed (especially for women) by models who were presenting new trends on the catwalk, or movie stars who encouraged us from the tv screen to purchase the right products. Nowadays, the technological development and a success of social media has contributed to the emergence of a new opinion forming group, with the potential to be reckoned with- influencers. They are individuals that affect people by expressing their views, opinions and preferences using social networking sites such as Facebook, Tweeter, Linkedin, Snapchat, Instagram, You Tube etc. We can see what important opinion role they play in the lives of the mass by analyzing statistics of the number of subscriptions they have and the crowd of their faithful fans – followers. For the last several years, we can observe the growing importance of influencers. They are starting to play the same important role as the resilient and well – known fashion magazines. An example which can confirm the above ascertainment is a collation of the amount of followers. The Vouge Magazine, being a powerful institution with decades of tradition, has 12.6 million followers on Instagram. Having a considerably smaller base, fashion influencers do not lag behind. Fashion Influencers, such as Chiara Ferragini - has 7.5 million of followers, Amie Song - 3,9 million, or Kristina Bazan - 2.4 million of followers.[3] No wonder that influencers are seen as children of a marketing strategy. Influencers are the new celebrities, entailing the crowds who want to imitate them. „The effect of imitation” is one of the key points in the marketing stategies of companies, and the changing, dynamic media reality has forced deeper reflection and modification of strategic assumptions among the producers. Many brands have recognized large potential in influencers and it may be used to achieve their own marketing purposes. Nobody else but influencers are able to reach the millennium generation which like no other before grew up and is still growing up in the digital age, being more susceptible to the impact and assessment of social leaders.[4] Changes in media preferences in the age structure of consumers have been noticed by such well known companies as Ester Lauder, Lancome and Clinique. They have also realized that building solely on high budgetary fashion shows and traditional advertising on TV or in Magazines, they are able to reach only the older age group 45+. The brands ( especially fashion ones) do not want to lose the young generation of consumers. That's why they have decided to discontinue using the traditional models of marketing, making significant reformulations. Currently they are spending 70 per cent of their budget on promotion in social media and are hiring the fashion influencers as their creative employees. Only 30 per cent is spent on traditional advertising.[5] The importance of influencers and their role in global phenomenom of imitation and creating demand has become an indisputable fact. It is worth considering what makes their opinion vital to other people and why many fashion houses are beginning to take into account the opinions of fashion influencers, counting that they will show up in the first row at fashion shows. Also, many other companies offer them free samples hoping they will share their product - experience with their followers.[6] There are a lot of reasons. First of all, the influencers are the people with specific knowledge of a given subject, in a way, they are profiled. The large competition on the market cause that many influencers are investing in themselves and learning how to use the new social media tools. They are also looking for ways how to stand out from the others. Currently, displaying a photo on Instagram is not enough, it is simply passe. Therefore, besides the basic tools, such as Facebook, Instagram, You Tube, Printrest, Snapchat or Tweeter for example, the fashion influencers are using additional applications and tools such as POLYVORE (fashion collage), Google analytics, Bloglovin, google Plus, Latergammie, Shopsense, IFB (Independent Fashion bloggers – advice and tips), an Onlooker, Comb or Iconsquare, etc.[7] Such impact on collective consciousness can be atributed to their reliability and authenticity. Most influencers started their activity under the influence of their own passion and curiosity. Blogies and vlogies were just an additional job - that's why they could criticize what they liked and openly praise the advantages of the products. By the way, they posted anecdotes from their life and scrupulously responded to the comments in various social media channels. This normality, naturalness, devoid of advertising trends, has created a great contact with customers. This has caused the situation that despite signing the lucrative contracts with well- known brands, the influencers don't lose their credibility – quite the opposite - they confirm the quality of products with the brand they reached on their own. The influencers are careful with signing contracts. They know that their popularity and credibility might be at stake, that's why it's optimal for them to promote the products in line with their preferences, consistent with their network image. Their actions reveal what customers want and their leadership generates an increase in demand in the mass of the followers. They may have a large influence on the purchasing decisions of customers, especially women. It is the women who have declared that they have a tendency to buy something what they have previously seen at other people. Therefore, they are often inspired by what they saw on the community forums. They suggest that fashion blogs are used not only as sources of information, but these imitations may be the expression of social acceptance. With the development of social media and resilient activity of influencers, we can clearly see an increase in online sales. This type of shopping is preferred especially by young women aged 18-34. They themselves admit they have made the purchasing decisions on the basis of tracking their favourite fashion influencers. One third of women included in the millennium generations is visiting Instagram (33%), You Tube (34%) every two days and up to 71% keep track of Facebook every day.[8] It is safe to say that the trend, which began in 2008, is developing with great momentum, choosing social media and influencers as main tools which generate increased demand thanks to function of imitation. 1) http://wikipedia.org/efekt_owczego_pędu 2) http://wyborcza.pl/wszyscy-się-naśladujemy 3) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/people-meet-fashions-super-influencer 4) http://mediakix.com/2016/06/brand-influencer-better-then-celebrites 5) http://www.thefashionlaw/home/influencer-marketing-get-up-to-speed-or-get-left-down 6) http://www.businessfashion.com/articles/influencers-are-the-new-brand 7) http://theluxeedition.com/2015/04/fashiontechnology-12-top-tools-for-fashion-bloggers.htm 8) http://www.mintel.com./press-centre/fashion How to find the best Influencer for campaign? Find out more here:
Nowadays, influencers seem to run the world of social media, and their followers seem to be obsessed with their engaging content. People love their honesty, personality, and their hustle in the business. They have all made a name for themselves on their various social media platforms by simply talking to their audience and sharing what’s on their mind.
Brands have now realised that by utilising these influencers in their monthly marketing campaigns, they are able to bring their products to life in a more organic way. Influencers are seen as a trusted source on social media and by tapping into their audiences; brands can exponentially expand their reach. How do you find the perfect influencer for a specific campaign? Check out our tips below:
The key mistakes when targeting influencers and how to avoid them?It’s easiest to influence the less influential who you have more personal contacts with, this means that it would be a mistake to not target the more major influencers. If you are strategic, you should put your effort into reaching the more influential. This is where direct and traditional PR approaches will work the best. I feel this form of online PR is under estimated by many companies. Chaffey says that directly contacting the influencers by messaging won’t usually work and that the best way to do so is by instead meeting in the real world at a conference, as this would be an effective way of building strong rapport and trust with a perspective client. Perhaps contacting direct is a mistake, ask ‘who can I use in my network’ to form the initial relationship with the influencer. Klout and LinkedIn can help here to find out the influencers current contacts. It can also be a mistake to think that traditional and online publishers in your market aren’t influential just because they may not have a well-known face behind them. It’s not just the well-known influencers who influence by their blogs, most traditional publishers have blogs and there is an opportunity here to have an audience through using their platform. A lot of people syndicate their content on SmartInsights.com to iMediaConnection.com and MyCustomer.com which allows them to reach and influence a wider audience with only limited repurposing of existing content. Thinking of all influencers: it is important to thank or reward influencers, it’s natural in the real world, but there often isn’t time to thank everyone, but I’ve found that thanking other social network users does help continue their recommendations of your content. Reciprocating is also a natural thing to do which is effective, but may not happen due to a lack of time. Another way to avoid these mistakes is to have a good process. Danyl Bosomworth of expert SmartInsights.com has 5 Steps to an Influencer Strategy which is great help. These steps are:
3 - 5 Steps to an Influencer Strategy - http://www.smartinsights.com/online-pr/online-pr-outreach/5-steps-to-an-influencer-strategy/ Well, we hope this helped you understand some of the basics of Influencer Marketing! Just know, it’s the wild-wild-west out there and trends are constantly changing, so it is important to keep up and do your research.
How to measure influencer marketing campaign ROI...learn more
Influencer marketing and campaign ROI metrics
As social media marketing grow and evolve, it has triggered a lot of changes in how brands and in general marketers, advertise their products and services online.
The consumers have more power and influence than ever before: instead of looking at companies, as they did in the past, they now look at other consumers for their purchasing decision and at their favorite personalities with massive followings on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Youtube. While this makes it a bit challenging for brands to advertise, it’s also a trend that presents a lot of opportunity, called “influencer marketing”. “Influencer marketing places the focus on specific key individuals (or types of individual) rather than a target market as a whole. It opens up a new channel for brands to connect with consumers more directly, more organically, and at scale. By creating branded content with social media influencers, brands can amplify their message while seducing their target audience”.[1] However, influencer marketing is still new. Many marketers are still hesitant, they are uncertain what it is exactly, how to put it into practice and how it can benefit their company. In fact, a critical question still remains: how do you measure the ROI of a solid influencer marketing program? The purpose of this article is to outline several different techniques for collecting influencer marketing campaign data and how to use it to drive more sales. The rise of Influencer Marketing Influencer marketing is one strategy that not only magnifies a brand’s message, but it’s an approach that delivers ROI. Some trends are converging to make influencer marketing an increasingly important part of any company marketing program:
According to a poll of marketing professionals conducted by Tomoson, businesses are making $6.50 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing[4]. The poll also found that marketers rate influencer marketing as their fastest-growing online customer-acquisition channel, outpacing organic search and email marketing. The key is to build relationships between brand and influencers over time and to ultimately convert them into brand advocates. With that said, short-term campaigns are still relevant, however, rather than being the be-all-end-all of influencer marketing, today campaigns are seen as strategic touch-points for further developing relationships with key influencers. When it comes to measurement, which are the data to analyze and report to measure success for both short-term campaigns as well as overall long-term influencer program? Below the data you need to collect to evaluate an influencer marketing campaign: Impressions & Engagements Impressions measure the number of times an influencer’s post is viewed. How much are consumers talking? Where are those conversations taking place? How many people are involved? What brands are they talking about? What brands are they talking about? Are these conversations mostly positive or negative? How often are recommendations being made? The amount of impressions identifies the effectiveness of branding campaigns. This method is especially helpful when gathering data regarding the effectiveness of multiple influencers on a campaign. As it stands, impressions are the customary way of purchasing advertising inventory at scale. The old way of gauging the success of a post or campaign solely based on likes is out and measuring the amount of engagement is in. Engagement means taking a look at the shares, comments and likes as a whole. It provides deeper insights into how users are interacting and feeling about a post. Brand Mentions One way to increase the chances of a post going viral is to put it in the hands of a social influencer. Their reach, influence and recommendations to their influencer network is what will drive mentions, and hopefully sales too. Authenticity is the most important aspect of influencer marketing, and the only way to achieve authenticity is by owning relationships and building out an owned influencer network with brand mentions that are done frequently, and not once by a third party sending opportunities out to an email list. Conversions Savvy analytical marketers are quickly realizing the power of influencer marketing to drive sales, signups and app installs. They’re not just going on a hunch, there’s data to back up this potential power. In a recent study, McKinsey found that consumer-to-consumer word of mouth generates more than twice the sales of other forms of paid advertising. Below are three ways conversions can be tracked during an influencer marketing campaign.
[1] 10 Reasons Why Influencer Marketing is the Next Big Thing. (2015, July 14). Available at: http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/10-reasonswhy-influencer-marketing-is-the-next-big-thing/623407. [2] www.cluetrain.com [3] “A new way to measure word-of-mouth marketing”, McKinsey&Company, (April 2010). [4] http://blog.tomoson.com/influencer-marketing-study/ |
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