Influencer marketing is one of the newest forms of marketing used by many brands. It’s one of the forms of social media marketing that uses sponsorships and product used from influencers on their social media accounts. Influencers are “experts” within an industry that have a large social following. This form of marketing is seen as recommendations that are made by the influencers to their audience. Recommendations that are seen as a form of social acceptance for a brand to gain potential consumers (Links to an external site.). Brands have found value in the influencer marketing industry, but there is still a strategy they follow.
First, brands need to find the right influencers to fit their brand and determine how much they are going to offer them. (Links to an external site.) They pick influencers by demographics on each network, and industry. For example, fashion and beauty influencers are most likely to get more attention on Instagram and YouTube, so brands would pay them to promote on those social media channels. It depends on the influencers and how large their following is for the brand to set a budget. (Links to an external site.) For example, if an influencer has about 100,000 followers, they ask for $800 per post. That’s why brands have to set a budget and time frame for this strategy.
Since influencers have several partnerships at a time, you need to make sure that they plan ahead of time what days and what content they are going to post to promote the brand. (Links to an external site.) Brands need to also create goals and message. They need to make sure the influencer post, matches what the brand stands for and their message. Tracking the results for the campaign is also an essential element. Companies have to make sure it’s successful and gain customers from it. Overall, everyone has different opinions on whether influencer marketing is effective or not, but it grows more and more on a daily basis. It all depends on the brand, and if they believe it will be an effective strategy for their business.