Leveraging Influencer Marketing The Right Way

We’ve all heard about the influencer marketers haven’t we? They’re popular, especially on social media and the audience tends to listen to them. So, rather than directly asking the audience to buy your products, you get these influencers to subtly do it for you. They can help drive brand awareness, lift brand interest, and increase purchase consideration.

While people generally tend to raise their guards against advertisements or other direct forms of persuasion, they are more pliable to the messages of these influencers. A recent study of social media users found that over 50% of users prefer getting product information from influencers and other users rather than straight from brands or advertising. 

The ‘influencers’ are generally perceived as connoisseurs possessing a reliable ocean of knowledge. Their endorsements are considered highly credible and are likely to increase your visibility and consequently sales. However, before moving forward with full thrust to influencer marketing, consider the benefits and the costs involved.

What are you exactly looking to sell/promote ?

The first question to start with is defining your goals and identifying the characteristics of your product/service you’d like to sell/promote.  If the product you are trying to sell does not have a mass appeal, and holds significance for a very specific target audience, influencer marketing may not make sense for you. It would be futile information for the rest of the audience if they do not get to buy it or engage with it in some way. 

Is it a product that will sell more by the endorsement of a celebrity, blogger or a street stylist? Hiring an influencer whose beliefs and attitudes do not align with your brand’s would portray an image difficult for people to digest.

For e.g. Pepsi hired Kendall Jenner to publicize their product with a message of ‘overcoming communal tensions, more precisely about ‘Black lives matter’. The campaign was highly criticized for trivializing a social issue, especially because it was a white woman spreading across the message. It wouldn’t have been as harsh if the same message was spread across by an activist or a native african american woman.

This presents a big learning for marketers in their approach towards influencer marketing and the parameters to be considered before approaching an influencer. Putting due effort in exploring, defining and predicting an influencer marketing campaign is of paramount importance for its success. If there isn’t a strong correlation between the brand and the influencer’s attitudes and behavioral intentions, it will not have the desired impact on the audience and in fact may worsen your sales. It is important that you not mess up your reputation before establishing a renowned one. 

What will be the ROI and opportunity cost of Influencer Marketing compared to other channels ?

89% of marketers say influencer marketing ROI is as good or better than other marketing channels. With the amount of content available online, making your way to the top while waiting for organic traffic would take multiple years. While you can use paid media to increase your visibility on the search engines, influencer marketing helps your target audience believe in the superior quality and usefulness of your product.

Growing at a very rapid rate, the industry is fierce and competitive. With the demand for influencers increasing, it is time consuming to set up and  look for an influencer that fits your bill. The expense of hiring one is also on a rise and may end up costing you a fortune with no guaranteed results. According to a survey, 61% of marketers find it difficult to identify the right influencers for their campaigns. When you do not find a perfect influencer, it may end up doing your brand image more harm than good. 

If done right, with a budget between $1000 – $10,000, around 70% of the companies earn $2 or more for every dollar spent and the top 13% are making $20 or more for each $1 invested!

While choosing the influencer, assess the engagement an influencer has, not the number of followers. Ratio of followers to likes and comments should be above 5% for micro influencers and above 3% for macro influencers. The more the engagement, more likely will the audience relate to and be convinced by the influencer. 

Is Influencer Marketing the right channel for you ?

It would make sense for you to engage in influencer marketing when your content is outperformed. Influencers create a quality tribe of their own, that trusts and responds. This allows your brand to pick and choose the influencer according to the requirements of your product. 

Importantly,  before you engage an influencer, check if your brand and product is ready for the flight. Is your design and values in alignment with the preferences of a larger audience? Are all the technicalities of your website sorted? Do you have a clear message that is being reflected?  

Without having clearly defined goals and a strong foundation base, your influencer campaign will go in vain. A promotion might not yield positive results if you don’t have a good design and good content to show for it.

Influencer marketing relies on the charisma and the affluence of a person to get your message across. If implemented strategically, influencer marketing increases your brand awareness by an increase in your social media following, subscriptions, engagement in terms of likes and comments with posts and  media mention. It is also instrumental in inciting more direct behaviors like increase in the purchase of your product, leads and backlinks. 

Concludingly, We recommend that you do not engage in influencer marketing or any sort of marketing without optimally weighing all the associated factors. While the scale does tilt more towards the benefits of influencer marketing, it may not be the best choice for everyone. At the end of the day, don’t write cheques that you can’t cash.