Everyone can have influence, but not everyone can be an influencer. And I say this as someone who has participated in several influencers campaigns but would never claim the label. (influencers marketing)
This title “influencer” rightfully belongs to an elite group of people who can reliably elicit interest or action in others. And if you’re a marketer, this power of influencer marketing strategies is not one you can ignore.
According to Influencers Marketing Hub, the influencers marketing industry is set to grow to approximately $24 Billion by the end of 2024. Yup, that’s “billion” with a B, and it’s with good reason.
Influencers are proven to foster engagement, drive traffic bel.and clicks, and generate conversions and sales. But before your brand can reap any of these benefits, it needs a well-thought-out influencer marketing strategy. I’ve got you covered there.
According to Aspire, 63% of marketers say influencer-generated content performs better than other brand content.
Consumers trust influencers more, finding them authentic and relatable. In fact, Sprout Social has found that 49% of all consumers make daily, weekly, or monthly purchases because of influencer posts, and 30% say they trust influencers more today than they did just six months ago.
This might be why 85% of marketers believe influencer marketing is an effective strategy, and 60% who already invest in it intend to increase their investment.
Even companies that hired smaller influencers got impressive results. Aspire found that “Nano-influencers” (people with fewer than 1,000 followers) consistently achieve the highest engagement across all platforms, at an average engagement rate of 4.39%.
So, the possibilities are vast. Speaking of possibilities, influencer marketing strategies can contain a variety of different types of campaigns.
Influencer Marketing Strategy
Influencer marketing is a strategy where a business partners with influential personalities to promote and reach its target audience. These personalities usually have a large, engaged following on social media, established in a particular industry, or impact a particular market segment.
According to aspire, 63% of marketing say influencer-generated content performs better than other brand content.
Consumers trust influencers more, finding them authentic and relatable. In fact, Sprout Social has found that 49% of all consumer make daily, weekly, or monthly purchases because of influencer marketing is an effective strategy, and 60% who already invest in it intent to increase their investment.
Even companies that hired smaller got impressive results. Aspire found that “Nano-influencer” (people with fewer than 1000 followers) consistently achieve the highest engagement across all platforms, at an average engagement rate of 4.9%.
So, the possibilities are vast. Speaking of possibilities, influencer marketing strategies can contain a variety of different types of campaigns.
Type of Influencer
In addition to different types of influencers campaigns, it’s important to understand the different kinds of influencers.
There are influencer with different subject matter focuses, such as food, fitness, finance, and fashion (yes, I did love that alliteration). But these don’t require an explanation.
The influencers types we’re discussing here involve audience size and reach. With that in mind, there are four main types of influencers: mega, macro, micro, and nano.
- Mega-Influencers: 1M+ followers (𝑨𝒋𝒆𝒚 𝑵𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒓 or Bhuvan Bam). Yes, technically, celebrities can also be considered mega-influencers. But since their audiences and impact extend far beyond social media, we’re going to keep them in their own category in this article.
- Macro-Influencers: 100,000 – 1 million followers (Αnil or THAKUR)
- Micro-Influencers: 10,000 – 100,000 followers (Sanya Maini or AADITYA PREETI)
- Nano-Influencers: Fewer than 10,000 followers (Amann or me, I suppose — Hi!)
The size of an influencer’s audience gives you a better idea of your initial reach by working with them.
Of course, hashtags and other things can always get in front of more people. But knowing how many people they already have following them (as well as their level of engagement) will help you set goals, performance expectations, and compensation.
Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns
Over the years, I’ve done a number of gifted campaigns for brands. Many also offered an affiliate or discount code like this one for Lady kind CBD. (influencers marketing)
93% of creators are willing to do campaigns like these so long as they’re fans of the brand and can stand by the product’s quality. But this may not be the best option if you’re trying to partner with someone unaware of your brand.
Thankfully, influencer marketing campaigns come in all different shapes and sizes.
Some popular types include:
- Affiliate or Discount Codes: Influencers are given a unique discount code to share in their content to drive sales for your brand and earn them commission. This is best for driving sales.
- Contests and Giveaways: Influencer gives away one of your products on their platform. This is especially great for growing both of your followings.
- Sponsored Posts: Influencer posts about your product for a fee. This is great for reaching an influencer’s audience and building awareness.
- Gifting: Influencer posts about your product in exchange for a free product. This is also great for building awareness.
- Takeovers: Influencer posts from your brand’s social media. They can post in-feed posts, go LIVE, or do a series of posts on a specific topic. This is best for building awareness and engagement.
- Collaboration: Working with an influencer to deliver your target audience a new product, service, or content. Collaboration is a good option for generating sales and awareness. influencers marketing (More on these in the next section.)
All of these are effective and beneficial in their own right. However, what you choose depends on what makes sense for your audience, budget, and the influencer you’re working with.