More than 75% of consumers made a purchase based on a recommendation from an influencer in the last 24 months according to Retail Dive. Influencer marketing is leveraging someone else’s network to sell your products or services. Influencers act as brand advocates and create authentic messages and content about their experience with your products to help sell those products to others.
More and more consumer brands are adding Influencer Marketing to their toolkit. Some brands are new at Influencer Marketing, so they build the program from the ground up or learn from others in their industry. There are services like Impact or Meltwater that can be used to help identify and partner with influencers and measure the effectiveness of their campaigns. Large brands frequently have in-house teams or use their advertising agency partners to do influencer research and uphold their brand standards.
Most often, the influencer is paid in product, paid a commission rate (Also called an Affiliate Influencer), or paid a fee for producing content that they share with their audience on your brand’s behalf. Depending on the size of the brand, a combination of these options can make sense to help build out an Influencer Marketing program over time. Some brands only want to partner with celebrities, in which case every partner will either be paid for content or will be given free products. Most celebrities do not work on commission. Micro-influencers with an engaged following are more likely to work on a commission basis. For some brands, affiliate marketing is the most cost-effective way to build an influencer program.
Regardless of the potential sales upside and the size of the influencer’s audience, Influencer Marketing is risky for brands. Even the “Nicest guy on the Internet” who has millions of followers is currently under fire as of this writing. All influencers are subject to scrutiny by the public and all influencers are humans. Which means they are also capable of making mistakes. A successful Influencer Marketing strategy requires planning, contracts, and thoughtful PR. All of these are achievable for any brand.
With strong influencer partnerships, a brand can typically reach a larger audience than other digital marketing channels. By partnering with authentic brand champions, the messages your influencers create will advocate for your brand and increase your reach and conversions. Influencer Marketing can be managed internally or externally, but it should be reviewed monthly or quarterly as part of your larger marketing strategy.
If you need help to get your Influencer Marketing program off the ground, reach out! We’d love to talk about your goals and help you determine what kind of influencers might be right for your brand.