Influencer Marketing & How Brands can use it ?
Influencer marketing is not new to us it has been here for far to many years now. Lately it’s become a popular topic for marketers purely because we have realized how powerful it is turning out to be, with so many viral concepts promoted by them directly or indirectly. it has become an alternative to traditional advertising which is expensive and inefficient. More importantly, consumers don’t like to be pushed on advertisements and marketing messages which have less credibility in present day, they very old and outdated, influencer marketing has evolved in to new phrase thanks to social media houses and creative platforms which allow people to be has versatile has possible.
Who is an influencer?
A common misconception about influencers is that they are someone with a large social media followers. This thinking creates confusion of influence with popularity, meaning they are just popular not influencers. The act of influencing commands a specific result: a change in thinking or perhaps in behavior. An influencer, therefore is someone who has the power to influence the perception of their followers or gets them to do something alternative.
When applying this definition to marketers, an influencer is someone who helps other people buy from the brands directly. How do they do this? Influencers must have a combination of three key factors: reach, credibility and good marketing skills. The higher these three factors, the higher the influence potential of an individual.
• Reach: Their ability to deliver a message to a large number of people. This can be the readership of a publication, the audience of a TV host or the number of social followers someone has. They know their audience and hence they can design their way to reach them. Reach is important but falls insufficient to those with small reach but high credibility and salability skills they are called micro-influencers.
• Credibility: The level of trust and authority given by the audience based on the influencer’s perceived knowledge and expertise on a specific topic. A celebrity chef will have high credibility in recommending meals but low credibility in politics, likewise fashion blogger for latest trends, travel blogger for exploring unknown places or events in other places. This knowledge comes from their own experiences or they come aware from actual reliable sources and pass it to their audience which is important for cementing their credibility
• Good marketing skills: The presence and communications style that gives the influencer the ability to understand and embrace a particular point of view. There are some people who seem to have an extraordinary power to convince people of their point of view. They have an ability to explain things in convincing ways, are clear with their messages and deliver their points of view with confidence. Apart from this, people with right knowledge and honest opinions and good oratory skills, will always turn out to be good influencers.
how to do influencer marketing right.
The simplest way to work with influencers is to pay them money.
Another way to work with influencers is to borrow their reach. Look for someone with a lot of Instagram followers and pay them to advertise a product. This is really sponsored advertising and does not maximize influencer marketing opportunities.
The best influencer marketing does not involve financial compensation. Instead, it requires understanding that influencers want to be recognized, have access to information and be the first to know of any news in their space — they need this to strengthen their influence. It is here that brands tend to familiarize themselves to the concerned consumers. therefore earning loyal customers.
Good influencer marketing is centered on building sincere personal relationships with influencers and sharing useful, unique, exclusive or early information. The good news is that influencers are curious. A brand with an interesting, useful product should have no problem finding information and knowledge of value to influencers.
The goal of influencer marketing is advocacy. Influencer marketing should be authentic and brazenly honest. An influencer speaks about the product not because they are being paid to do so, but because they want to — because they find the brand in sync with their needs which also replicate their follower’s needs too and the information useful to their subscribers.
Therefore, influencer marketing takes time, dedication and focus, and it must be transparent and honest. An influencer will speak about the good and the bad of your products. But they will do in in a way that is far more credible and useful than any ad could do.
When done right, influencer marketing is a multiplier: It leverages the reach, credibility and salesmanship of a community of influencers to advocate your product to consumers, and it results in awareness, improved perception and action.
