Influencer Marketing 101: What You Need to Know
If there was one thing that I would hope you would know by now is that this industry is constantly changing. Before 2010 when Instagram was created, we had what we call celebrity endorsements, but the phrase “influencer marketing” was unknown - but could you imagine what the landscape of our industry would look like today without influencer marketing?
The influencer marketing industry, which is only a small portion of the Public Relation industry, is projected to grow from 6,015 million in 2020 to USD 24,076 million by 2025, so clearly, the trend is here to stay. Along with the increase in revenue being made by this industry, so has the acceptance in our society towards influencers and the idea that they could make a living through social media (for the most part). For some strange reason, when we as a society were introduced to this idea, there were always the people who “got it” and the people who didn’t and chances are if you were a part of the former, it was because you were working as an influencer.
There are some many aspects to the phenomenon that is influencer marketing and this ever-evolving world we live in, and so much uncertainty surrounding the topic in general, that it would be merely impossible for me to answer every single one of your questions however, I at least want to cover the basics:
What is Influencer Marketing?
The Value of Influencer Marketing
Understanding the Landscape of the Influencer Marketing Industry and Where It's Headed Today
Setting Up Your Own Influencer Strategy
You might not walk away from this article an expert, but you’ll have just enough knowledge to get started on the right track to your business’s first influencer campaign!
What is Influencer Marketing?
Defined by SocialSpout, Influencer Marketing is a “type of social media marketing that uses endorsements and product mentions from influencers – individuals who have a dedicated social following and are viewed as experts within their niche”. It’s been proven that a potential customer is way more likely to spend their money on you if they have trust in your brand and one way to build this trust is through influencer marketing.
Think about it: You’re in a bind - you need to get to work but your car won’t start so you know you’ll have to use a car service. On one hand, you remember your favorite YouTuber was talking about Uber recently and on the other hand, you have no clue what Lyft is… what app are you going to use? That level of trust that influencers have with their audience is the reason why this marketing tactic is so successful.
The Value of Influencer Marketing
We’ve mostly mentioned influencer marketing in terms of Instagram, but don’t forget that not only does influencer marketing exist on different platforms like YouTube, Tik Tok, Twitter, etc but the amount of money you are able to make as a creator on different platforms can vary widely.
To fully explain the value of influencer marketing, let me start off by saying that according to a 2019 survey by The Influencer Marketing Hub, businesses are currently making $5.20 per dollar spent on influencer marketing - that’s a +500% ROI for the business and that rate is only growing by the second. Influencer marketing has proven to be one of the most cost-effective efficient ways for brands to get in front of target audiences.
It’s clearer than ever that Influencer Marketing is not the trend that some once thought it was - it’s proven its value and it’s here to stay.
Understanding the Landscape of the Influencer Marketing Industry and Where It's Headed Today
The Influencer Marketing industry did not begin with the creation of Instagram, but the term was created right alongside Instagram. For decades, we didn’t refer to them as influencers (ie: Muhammad Ali in the 1970’s on the Wheaties Box, Michael Jackson appearing in the iconic Pepsi commercial, etc) they were just celebrities making an appearance, but these projects come out in present time, they would without a doubt be referred to as influencers. If you ask most digital marketing or social media expert, there are three clear cut stages in the history of influencer marketing:
Stage 1 begins when Santa Claus and Pepsi teamed up, or even when Tony the Tiger starts popping up on Kellogg’s Cereal boxes. WIth only few brands to choose from in each industry, buying decisions were considered easier
Stage 2 took place when more market options were available, so buying decisions started to be considered more complex. This is also the time that more and more celebrities were joining the trend (ie: Michael Jordan’s Gatorade campaign in 1992, or even Britney Spears' several year long partnership with Poloroid that began in 1999).
Stage 3, aka Marketing 3.0, is where we are today. This stage has two main themes, 1) the digital space has evolved to become the best platform for marketing/advertising and 2) we want to be able to include everyone in everything, so anyone can become a creator on the web at any time. Not only was this stage started by the rise of social media but it was also ruled and dominated by influencers and bloggers.
What is your favorite past example of a celebrity endorsement? Where do you see the industry being in about ten years from now? And what do you think will cause the end of Stage 3 and the beginning of Stage 4? In my opinion, we will be seeing another increase in the amount of influencers and their value over the next ten to twenty years, as the importance of the number of followers you have continues to decrease, and the importance of connecting with your audience continues to increase.
Setting Up Your Own Influencer Marketing Strategy in 3 Steps
For businesses new to the influencer marketing world, deciding where to start can sound like a daunting task.
Matchmaking - Find Influencers that Fit Your Brand and Budget
When you initially begin looking for the perfect influencer(s) for your campaign, one of the first things you should consider is your budget and what influencers rates typically look like these days. The rule of thumb for figuring out how much to offer an influencer is: for every 10,000 followers, the influencer should make $100. However, many different things factor into influencers rates, besides follower count like engagement rate, quality of content, amount of time spent on content creation, time spent in the content creation industry, etc.
For most businesses, setting aside around 5% of the annual revenue for your marketing budget is standard practice. With that in mind, you should be able to narrow down your outreach list for potential collaborations however, not all social collaborations have to be paid - sometimes, if you are able to make the offer enticing enough, a simple trade collaboration could be great for exposure and also creating relationships with influencers.
Apart from the budget aspect, another equally important thing to consider is how well said influencers aligns with your brand.
Setting Things Up - Strategically Design Your Influencer Program & Goal Setting
As a brand, you have many things to consider as far as the set up of your influencer program like niche audiences you’d like to get in front of, how long you’d like to work with said influencer, if you are going to offer paid, commission based or trade partnerships, etc.
Majority of the time, brands set out with the goal of increasing brand awareness/strengthening brand image &/or increasing conversions/sales and there are several ways influencers can help you reach these goals. In order to know how successful your campaign, or parts of your campaign preform, it is important to track key analytics like page traffic, swipe ups, new followers, etc.
Step 3: Starting Your Influencer Outreach - How & Who to Contact and What to Offer
The best place to start looking for influencers' contact information is Instagram (or maybe even other social media sites like Twitter/YouTube, etc), believe it or not. Many influencers will list either their personal or their manager’s email address, both of which are great resources.
If Influencer Marketing is something you’d like to utilize on a more permanent basis, you might want to invest in tools like Influence.co or AspireIQ.
When you approach an influencer, you should have all campaign details ironed out and a contract ready to be signed. The more prepared you are, the more likely an influencer is to join your campaign
Recap
To recap, Influencer marketing is a type of social media marketing that includes promotions and endorsements from influencers and is one of the most lucrative form of marketing/advertising. This type of marketing is only getting more important by the day, so it’s important to educate yourself on the topic, if you are new to working with influencers for your business. In order to set up a successful influencer marketing campaign, you should fit influencers that fit your brand and budget, make sure the influencers you are working with will end up helping you reach your goals and reach out to an influencer or their manager with all campaign details already in place.