What is influencer marketing and how can you use it for your brand?

Have you ever wondered how some brands effortlessly capture attention and loyalty?

In a world driven by social media and digital connections, the art of marketing has taken on a new dimension that feeds into this: influencer marketing.

In this article, we’ll dive into what influencer marketing is and how you can elevate your brand's influence with it. This is your chance to see what is the premise behind influencer marketing and how to make it work for you.

What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is a strategy in which brands collaborate with individuals who have a significant and engaged following on social media platforms or other online channels.

The main idea behind influencer marketing is to leverage the influencer's reach, influence and credibility to advertise a brand through paid endorsements and/or sponsored content.

The role of influencers in digital marketing is multifaceted. Not only can they draw attention to your brand (build brand awareness) but they also give you credibility by showing others that they are doing business with you.

This is one of the main answers to the query “How does influencer marketing help businesses”. It encourages people to try a brand’s products or services based on the fact that someone they trust has already done so!

Popular Social Media Platforms for Influencer Marketing

You’ve probably seen businesses using social media influencers for marketing. Even among these, some tend to be more popular than others, however.

To be precise, Instagram, TikTok and Youtube are arguably the top 3 most popular platforms for influencer marketing at the moment.

All three have their virtues and areas of specialisation. For example, let’s say you want to focus on visuals, aesthetics, and lifestyle content while leveraging influencers’ personal connections. In that case, you’d go with Instagram.

But what if you want longer, more in-depth content in video form than what Instagram encourages? What if you want your influencer to provide reviews, tutorials, vlogs, and long-term-discoverable content? That’s when YouTube enters the picture!

Finally, if you want to tap into quick trends more to target younger audiences, seek viral potential, and create fun and engaging short videos that align with pop culture, you’d go with TikTok. It’s the best option if you’re targeting Gen Z, particularly.

Types of Influencer Marketing Content

Now, influencer marketing can be used to promote a business in many ways. There are a lot of different content types that you can ask an influencer to use for your collaboration.

Above all, it’s important to bear in mind that no matter which content type you use, you should think of the influencer as more than a promotion person. The influencer is a bridge – one connecting you to their followers and building credibility for marketing purposes.

That said, let’s go over the most popular influencer content types and how to use them for your marketing.

Sponsored Posts

To make these, influencers create content that features your brand’s products or services and share it with their followers.

These posts are usually paid, with the content aligned to the influencer’s usual style. The influencer is generally up-front with the audience about it being sponsored by your brand and intended for promotion.

While this might not seem like the most useful content type at first – because people might be wary of something that is clearly a paid promotion – it can actually still work.

That’s because it still says something to them that an influencer or personality they trust or admire is willing to work with your brand. Hence, it can still pass on credibility despite being overt as a paid arrangement.

The most typical payment arrangement for these is known as “pay per post”. In other words, you pay the influencer for each sponsored post they make for your brand.

Product Reviews

Influencers will offer in-depth reviews of the brand’s products or services in this content type. That means they will usually highlight features, benefits, and their personal experiences with the product or service.

These reviews often come across as authentic and provide valuable insights to audiences. As such, when they’re positive, they’re hugely powerful and can get a lot of people trying your offerings in no time.

Just remember that these are typically most effective when you give the influencer less instead of more direction. That’s because reviews that audiences recognise as genuine and unscripted are generally more effective.

Giveaways and Contests

This is one of the most popular types of content you can find on all social media influencer marketing platforms. Brands give influencers either funds, products or services that they can use to do giveaways or contests.

These are usually very good at boosting engagement and brand visibility because most people love contests and prizes.

Unboxing and First Impressions

For these, you typically get influencers to showcase their excitement while unboxing and trying out your products for the first time.

Unboxing and first-impression videos usually highlight the unpacking process itself as a way of relating to people (most of whom know the anticipation and excitement of unwrapping a new item).

These videos are particularly good when you want authenticity. People respond positively to influencers sharing their honest initial reactions and experiences to a thing or brand.

Tutorials

Brands can work with influencers to create educational content that guides the audience on how to use their products effectively.

This content type is good for doing more than educating people on how to properly use your products: it’s also a great way to showcase their value even to those who have not bought them yet! They’re basically demos of what you have to offer.

Affiliate Marketing

This type of collaboration provides influencers with unique affiliate links or promo codes for their followers. The influencers typically earn a commission for every sale generated through their link or code.

So, instead of paying a flat fee, you only pay if their endorsement leads directly to a sale, referral, etc. This is a good way to maximise your influencer marketing spend, as it ensures you only pay for quantifiable results.

Brand Ambassadors

You can also establish long-term relationships with influencers who become brand ambassadors. When that happens, they consistently promote your brand and its offerings over an extended period.

This is obviously a mutually beneficial partnership. Usually, brands sponsor influencers in some way for this. However, keep in mind that you should only do this with influencers whose lifestyle and ideals align with your brand’s values and identity.

Get started on influencer marketing today

Influencer marketing can do a lot for your brand when done right. However, it may be daunting to dive into it if you’re not sure what you’re doing.

Fortunately for you, we can help! Contact us to kickstart your influencer marketing campaigns or if you need help figuring out what else your brand might need to reach the next level.