What Is Influencer Marketing?

Before social media and the widespread use of the internet, celebrities were our influencers, seen on adverts and billboards showcasing certain products and services. For a lot of companies, hiring these celebrities was not possible and it was very costly and unrealistic. Now that social media has become huge, there are now online influencers that found their following through certain social media accounts, blogs, or YouTube. Marketers have now begun to see the power of these influencers and seen the benefits of hiring them to advertise their products and services. There are many different ways you can use these influencers in your marketing campaigns that have different benefits and can work for different budgets.

Sponsorships

The most popular influencer marketing is through sponsorships where you send them your products or bring them in to use your services and then get them to post about it in a positive way. It is seen as one of the easiest and most effective influencer marketing. These posts are typically done on Instagram or SnapChat with the influencer taking a photo of themselves with the product or using your services and posting it to their own social media; however, it can be used for Facebook and Twitter too. Some companies will gift a product or service to an influencer in hopes that they will like it and post it without them paying for that post, which makes it a lot cheaper for the company. However, it can also mean that the influencer doesn’t post about it or worse, talks badly about it. Another type of sponsorship is through advertising in podcasts. Podcasts are becoming very popular with millions of people using them for entertainment and educational purposes, making it a great place to place an advert by either sending your own clip or getting the podcast presenters to create their own. It is cheaper than advertising on the radio or TV, so many companies are now turning to podcasts to advertise.

Social Media Takeover

Another way to use influencer marketing is through a social media takeover. Although this method isn’t as good as getting them to post on their account, as it will only be shown to your existing followers, usually the influencer will post on their social media sites that they are taking over a company’s social media, and this could bring you more followers as they want to see the content from this person by adding you, in turn potentially creating more leads and conversions. It can also increase your interaction and engagement, as successful takeovers offer exclusive content that your audience will love to engage with. Having an influencer take over your social media will also help show what kind of brand you are and help humanize you company, by relating the influencer to you.

Brand Ambassadors

If you want a long-term plan, then hiring an influencer to be a brand ambassador is a great way to use influencer marketing. Being a brand ambassador lets the influencer be the face of the brand for a period of time, lasting longer than a social media takeover or a sponsorship photo, so you will be benefiting from them for much longer, as they will be constantly promoting your company. People listen to celebrities, influencers, and their own peers more than they do to company advertising, so having a brand ambassador is a great way to gain trust in your brand. Pick somebody who is going to appeal to your target audience and fit in with the feel of your brand to bring in more business for you. Just like doing a social media takeover, having a brand ambassador is a great way to humanise your brand by looking at the qualities that your brand ambassador has and associating them with your brand. With all this in mind, you must ensure that the ambassador that you choose is a good fit for your brand.

Discount Codes

If the main goal of your campaign is to drive sales and convert leads into customers, then giving unique discount codes to influencers, who will then be able to give them to their followers, is a great way to do this. The influencer will be more inclined to promote this type of marketing, as it is helping out their following. In some cases, it can also benefit them more too, as some companies give the influencer a share of every sale done with that code or give them more money off their products or services every time, encouraging the influencer to promote it more. This form of influencer marketing can be very cheap as you don’t always need to pay the influencer to get this sort of promotion.