What is an influencer marketing strategy?
Recent years have seen a shift in recommendation-based marketing. Sometimes influencers, as people of influence, become celebrities in their own right. This happens because of their growing fame and authority online. On the other hand, traditional celebrities are embracing a more authentic, imperfect version of themselves, which they show online ever more boldly.
Brands have come to accept that working with up-and-coming influencers is more effective, because they know how to harness the power of social media and use their credibility to influence their followers’ views and potential purchasing decisions.
THE THREE-TIER PYRAMID
1. Finding the right influencer
Making sure that the influencer and the brand share the same values and interests is essential in a partnership. It creates a fundamental level of authenticity when building new relationships with the audience. The messages should carry key benefits for the brand and be consistent with the influencer’s persona as it has already been shaped and presented. A natural message matters enormously for advertising and image, and has a big impact on the online community’s eventual behaviour and purchasing decisions.
2. Clear communication and a concise brief
Before starting work with an influencer, you should set expectations through agreed KPIs and outcomes laid out in the brief. This ensures a high level of professionalism. At this stage of the partnership, trust between the brand and the influencer is essential. Despite a defined brief, the creator must have room for their own creativity in order to produce material consistent with their values and one that fully resonates with their audience.
3. A multi-layered approach to influencer strategy
Brands are starting to take a mixed approach to campaigns in their influencer strategies, combining established celebrities with new and niche talent. This lets them reach a wider and more diverse audience, because celebrities have huge reach, but emerging influencers build lasting relationships with their followers, offering a higher level of credibility.
People value influencers for being genuine. Personal endorsement matters to audiences, which in turn helps brands increase their relatability through a broader marketing strategy. It is authenticity that allows brands to build trust among new audiences with the help of the perfect influencer.
An individual action plan
Using these principles, you can determine what you really want to achieve by working with influencers – above all, they help you set a plan of action and minimise the risk of mistakes. Every activation needs an individual approach both to the brand and its products and to each creator you want to work with and build a partnership with. Just a few years ago, influencer marketing appeared on the advertising market as a “newcomer” – an innovative and effective strategy. Today, audiences approach the product recommendations put in front of them rather more cautiously and attentively.
