The digital landscape is rapidly changing. Gen Z is increasingly gaining more purchasing power, and there is a clear demand for new, engaging marketing platforms and channels.
Instagram is IN, TikTok trends are taking off, and YouTube is everyone’s trusty infotainment tool. Yet, we’re still asking the question- Is Influencer Marketing Effective?
In this article, we’ll break down everything you need to know about influencer marketing and how to create an effective influencer marketing strategy.
What is Influencer Marketing?
Picture this- Your parents’ anniversary is coming up in three days. You’ve unfortunately fallen victim to your procrastination again, and are yet to buy a gift. Desperately on the lookout for a unique, thoughtful present, you remember your favourite YouTuber’s recent vlog where they used a new service to create a personalised scrapbook for their Best Friend’s Birthday in just two days! The gift looked gorgeous, and the personalisation was an absolute hit with the friend! Not to mention, with the unique discount code in the influencer’s video, it’s right within your budget! Sounds like the perfect solution, doesn’t it? So the only question that remains is – how fast are you whipping out your wallet?
That’s influencer marketing in action! It’s when brands collaborate with individuals who hold- well, influence, over a specific audience on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, and Podcasts. It involves brands using the influencers’ image, reputation, and testimony to create authentic audience connections and effectively influence purchasing decisions!
Why is Influencer Marketing Important?
Influencers are trusted and admired by their audiences. This means their testimonials are far more believable than brand-produced advertisements. With many digital ads being branded as ‘intrusive,’ the usage of ad-blockers is also increasing, with over 37% consumers worldwide now using blockers.
In this changing digital landscape, influencer marketing can be an effective channel to reach your audience whilst maintaining a positive brand sentiment!
Influencers also know exactly what sort of visuals, messaging, tone, and style of content appeal to their audiences. This means every influencer adapts your brand message to their viewers. The outcome? A wide-reaching campaign that still resonates with diverse consumer sub-groups!
How does Influencer Marketing Work?
Influencer Marketing essentially involves contracting influencers to include a segment in their posts talking about or displaying your product or brand.
Creating and executing an influencer marketing strategy broadly involves the following steps:
- Establish a target audience profile.
- Compare influencers’ audience profiles with your target audience profile to find a match.
- Choose and recruit your influencers
- Prepare a creative brief for your influencers
- Approve your influencers’ draft posts
- Track and Measure your Influencer Marketing Campaign
Seems fairly straightforward, doesn’t it? So why do brands choose to work with an Influencer Marketing Agency instead of managing their Influencer Marketing campaigns in-house?
The truth is, there is a lot of nuance behind each step. Many brands still struggle to drive measurable results with influencer marketing or find the right influencers. The likely missing links? Performance data analytics and robust networks.
Influencer Marketing Agencies have advanced AI influencer databases which streamline the influencer search process. On an advanced level, Performance Influencer Marketing Agencies like Media Bodies have additional, robust analytics tools. These can transform the selection process by adding additional data parameters for consideration, which primes an influencer marketing strategy for maximum effectiveness.
Agencies are also in constant contact with Influencers and keyed into pricing standards. This enables them to provide accurate CPM estimations to help you make informed choices.
Additionally, Influencer Marketing Agencies like Media Bodies are also able to negotiate extremely competitive prices by creating economies of scale. Every dollar saved can make a massive difference to your campaign ROI!
Influencer Marketing can be strenuous on internal resources, especially without the right tools and networks. Longlisting, recruiting, contracting, negotiating, coordinating timely draft delivery, payments- everything becomes highly streamlined and efficient when working with an influencer marketing agency.
Finally, Influencer Marketing is a dynamic industry. Each platform requires a slightly different creative and data analysis strategy. Agencies have instantly accessible knowledge, experience, and resources to adapt your strategy for various platforms!
See the various influencer marketing services Media Bodies has to offer.
Finally, the million-dollar question—does influencer marketing really work?
The answer: a resounding YES!
But like any marketing strategy, success hinges on collecting and analysing data-insights. Performance data, Engagement data, Audience demographics, Competitor data, Creative Data, and Conversion data allow us to optimise campaigns in real-time, ensuring maximum impact and ROI.
See how we used data-analytics to deliver positive ROI for a leading mobile game brand.
Understanding various data parameters and influencer marketing industry trends can also help make performance predictions. This is another touchpoint to creating a well rounded influencer marketing strategy primed for effectiveness.
At Media Bodies, we don’t just ride the wave of influencer marketing; we master it. Through a strategic blend of performance data analytics and creativity, we craft influencer marketing campaigns that drive measurable results, resonate with audiences, and leave a lasting impact.
Are you ready to unleash the true potential of influencer marketing? Get in touch today!