The term ‘influencer’ is thrown about a lot in the marketing world. To understand how an influencer can become a part of your social strategy, we first must iron out exactly what they are.
In marketing, an influencer is:
“a person with the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting or recommending the items on social media.”
Essentially, an influencer is an individual or group with a loyal following or fan base. Followers believe and trust the influencer's thoughts and recommendations and therefore their actions are able to ‘influence’ a purchase.
If you use social media, you may very well have seen a minor celebrity posing with a product and recommending it to their followers. This, in a nutshell is how influencer marketing works and businesses reap huge sales increases when using influencers correctly.
However, influencer marketing isn’t as novice as we think! It has been around years before social media, with large brands using high end celebrities to wear or advertise products on red carpets and TV advertisements. The difference nowadays is that anyone can become an influencer… all you need is a loyal following on social media.
There are many types of influencers, however we will focus on three types:
Mega Influencers - A-list celebrities or those with 1 million+ followers
Macro Influencers - A notch down from A-list and usually 100k-1 million followers
Micro Influencers - Not usually celeb status or have less than 100k followers
Influencers either come with a price tag or they want something in exchange for the exposure (i.e. to use the product or service for free). Having said this, for small businesses, the Micro Influencer route is usually the best and most plausible option.
To know how to utilise an influencer for your business, follow our checklist:
1. Decide on the right influencer to use. There’s no point promoting your beauty salon in Liverpool if the influencer you want to use has a million followers in London. Utilising a micro influencer in your niche and area can be far more effective than a large influencer who’s audience won’t resonate with your brand.
2. Ensure you know what you want to achieve from your ad. Are you looking for more followers, to sell a specific product or simply brand exposure?
3. Know that there is no set price and no rule book when it comes to influencer marketing. Everyone is different and it also depends on which social media platform is being used to promote the product or service.
4. Approach your influencer via Direct Message or through their agency. Outline exactly what you’re looking for and a budget you have in mind. Influencers are people, so get to know them and they’ll be more likely to to want to work with you.
5. Set out a clear agreement before you send any items off in the post or part with money. Are you looking for 1 feed post and 2 stories? Make this clear and have it in writing before commencing the promotion.
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