The term ‘influencer marketing’ must be quite familiar to you. It has after all developed into a buzzword and is now a mainstream form of online marketing. Despite being in the digital marketing spectrum for a while now, many people are not quite clear about its true meaning. So, this article will help you understand the concept of ‘influencer marketing’ and how it can be an effective marketing tool for your small business.
What is Influencer Marketing?
Simply put, influencer marketing is a type of social media marketing that utilizes endorsements and product mentions from individuals who have a vast and dedicated social following and are observed as an expert in their niche. It works on a high amount of trust that social influencers have developed with their following, and recommendations from them function as ‘social proof’ for your brand’s potential customers.
Understanding The Workings In Influencer Marketing:
To approach influencer marketing strategy for your brand, the following points must be carefully considered.
As a brand or a business, it is important to be organized. Therefore before approaching this strategy it is important to put together a strategy plan, a budget, and spend time on research.
A systematic approach must be executed to find influencers. They must be found organically, subscribed to a platform, or must be worked through an agency.
It is important to be patient and be human. Influencer marketing is all about people talking to people, and not companies to companies. Therefore, it is important that the human touch is put across in the approaching strategy.
Despite all this, influencer marketing is not just about finding someone with an audience and offering them money or exposure to endorse your products. Influencers are not viral celebrities. The former spend time building their own presence and cultivating their audience. Therefore, they are very particular about what, how, and why they will or are endorsing a product. It is not solely for the money that they get into collaborations with brands.
Moreover, influencer marketing is never about quick results. It is similar to social media and content marketing and hence involves a slow-and-steady approach. Influencer marketing is not about directly selling products or services.
Instead, it is more about demonstrating authority, credibility, and thought leadership within the niche.
Social media marketing is overall a slow game of acquiring organic kind of followers who are going to be loyal and engaged. Therefore, the temptation of joining forces with an influencer and witnessing a vast pond of potential followers or customers overnight is not the way of influencer marketing. To be able to collaborate with an influencer you need to gain their trust and respect and it is they who decide whether they want to endorse your product or service to their organic followers.