25 Jul Influencer marketing. What is it and how can it be utilised to grow your business?
With all the big brands with big budgets all utilising social media to advertise their products and services, how can smaller businesses make their mark and be heard in a market already so noisy? Word of mouth!
The same way that you recommend a product or a service to your inner circle of family and friends, there are people on social media who have created their own ‘social circles’ with thousands (or millions) of followers or “friends”. These people are called ‘influencers’.
WHAT IS AN INFLUENCER?
Influencers are people who have built themselves ‘a name’ or a brand and talk to other people on different social media platforms. Many started out just by creating content about products and services they liked and their content attracted users who were interested in what they had to say, and they just kept growing their following and growing their influence with their online communities.
Some of these social media influencers are even making this their profession and they work with brands to promote different products or services (as long as it resonates with their audience and content).
MICRO AND MACRO INFLUENCERS
Usually Micro influencers have less than 100,000 followers on their accounts. They could be anyone from a student who enjoys eating outside and knows the best food places in the city, to a mom who decided to share the best places to go with kids. They also tend to have a bigger interaction with their followers as it is more personal.
Macro influencers have more followers and even go beyond one million. They are superstars in the digital world and pretty much like celebrities on different spheres.
HOW TO CHOOSE WHO TO WORK WITH
Who is the best influencer to promote your brand? It depends on several things. Who are you trying to reach? Young high school students? Women in their 30’s who love sports? Men who love fashion in a local area? What are you trying to promote? Is it your brand in general or are you planning to launch something new? There is a niche for everything and everyone.
It is important to make sure the influencer’s content truly resonates with your brand values. Study their daily content and how they interacts with their followers. If you think your brand could use his influence on social media, contact them! If you want help finding the right fit for your brand Digiseed can help finding you the right people for you.
IS THAT IT?
Collaborations with influencers do help your brand to have more followers on social media, increase awareness and even get very creative and nice photos or videos for your content. However, this is not enough. You need to have good quality, consistent content for people to enjoy and interact with, or else the collaborations won’t be worthwhile.