As the word says, it is a form of marketing, therefore promotion aimed at the sale of products or services that, unlike old advertising systems, is directed to the web, relying on the figure of the influencer.
Simply put, companies that choose influencer marketing instead of focusing on the entire target market rely directly on some specific individuals, the so-called influencers.
Where does influencer marketing originate?
In reality, influencer marketing is a phenomenon that has roots far back in time. In the sixties, influencers were the subjects belonging to the supply chain.
In our country, for example, automobile manufacturers gave significant discounts to taxi drivers for the purchase of taxis, focusing on subsequent customers, even if only as passengers, having the opportunity to test the quality and comfort of the cars. .
Therefore, influencer marketing as a concept has existed for some time, but it is clear to everyone that with the arrival of the web, and especially with the spread of social networks, it experienced its maximum expansion. The main difference with the past lies in the fact that if before the individuals who trusted companies to promote their products were (as in the case of taxi drivers) anonymous workers, today they are increasingly showbiz characters (actors, singers, choristers).
The evolution of influencer marketing
According to surveys carried out by companies in the sector, in the last year 90% of the activities that operate in marketing and communication have launched at least one campaign that involved the use of an influencer. The reason is quickly explained. The peculiarity of the influencer lies in the fact that they are perceived by potential clients as one of them and not as a testimony. Therefore, when advertising campaigns are well designed, the one starring the influencer will never be perceived by consumers as a commercial, but as trustworthy advice.
This effect then quadruples in strength when the recipients of the message are the most avid fans of the character in question. In fact, who can doubt a product highly recommended by their idol?
However, we should not make simplistic arguments, such as trusting only the number of influencers' likes. Above all, the ability to establish a relationship of trust with users must be taken into account, verifying, for example, the number of comments and other interactions (number of participants in live streams, tips, stories, raffles, etc.).
In short, being an influencer is not easy, as is choosing the right one for your campaign. You need to know your sector well, identify the appropriate target and provide the protagonists of marketing operations with the appropriate tools to hit the target.
What are the sectors that take advantage of influencer marketing the most?
As anticipated, one of the most common mistakes that companies make is taking into consideration only a few numbers, without verifying whether the followers and interactions can represent the appropriate catchment area for their brand. What's the point of hiring an influencer who has followers with fake profiles or who have nothing to do with interests and consumer habits with the sector in which your company operates?
Speaking of sectors, we can take influencer marketing usage data as a reference to realize how much and how this practice can affect the number of sales, which is the ultimate goal of any brand. On Instagram (and it was expected) the most in-demand sector is Fashion with 35% of the publications destined for it. It is followed by Beauty with 22% of the publications and Food and Drinks with 16%. The three sectors mentioned above together account for more than 70% of sponsored posts on Instagram. Then there are the fast-growing sectors, such as travel, home care and fitness. Whatever its sector, a brand that intends to seriously invest in influencer marketing must base its promotional activity on the following points: frequency of exposure, proximity and belonging.
- As for the first factor, it goes without saying that the more time users spend viewing and interacting with the influencer through sponsored content, the more influenced they will be.
- Proximity means the influencer's ability (with the help of a suitable campaign) to appear human and break the barrier that separates testimonial from consumer.
- While by membership, we mean the ability to add and make users feel part of a group rather than just consumers.
Therefore, there is no single social media strategy to follow, just as there are many types of posts you can choose to publish. It is up to the company, in collaboration with the agency and the influencer, to adopt the strategies that are considered most appropriate for the sponsorship of its products.
However, there are some rules that apply to all types of brands that are approaching web marketing or trying to step up their social media presence. The cardinal principle is not to focus exclusively on numbers and therefore quantity, but on quality.
The key is to always keep the target audience in mind.
Focusing on this point means that influencers should not only serve to increase site visits, but to ensure that your brand is able to capture consumer needs (the goal of all marketing strategies). The objective of influencer marketing is, therefore, the same as always, but it is the medium that represents the novelty. The good news is that communities are the sounding board of the online marketplace, and with good work, you can likely reach the right people. But what are the most effective strategies?
The brand ambassador
There are many companies that have one or more brand ambassadors to sponsor their business, but not all of them establish the same type of relationship with them. Some brands prefer to opt for sporadic collaborations, but the reality is that these have much less weight than those in which the influencer becomes a true brand ambassador. This relationship is not easy to create because a real and total union must be developed between the brand and the influencer.
If this happens, consumers will not perceive the idea of being in front of an advertisement, but rather a testimony of loyalty from the influencer, renewed day after day. In this case, choosing the right person plays a fundamental role since betting on a random name, even if it is famous and with dizzying numbers, can turn out to be a bluff, if the correct feeling that makes the difference is not established.
Gift
Focusing on the giveaway does not mean giving away products at random or based on an approximate rating, waiting for the influencer's reactions. Therefore, an in-depth analysis of the contacts must be carried out, sending, if possible, also a presentation email that includes a collaboration proposal.
For greater effectiveness of this strategy, you can opt for personalization of the gifts, instead of sending a standard box to all participants and without any message addressed directly to them.
In short, regarding the draw we can say that the key word is implication, which among other things is the peculiarity that most differentiates this strategy from the others.
Take the control
This influencer marketing technique not only requires the main actor to be the influencer, but the company even allows you to manage your account directly. It is something revolutionary if we think that we are still talking about marketing. It is logical that such collaboration should be regulated (leaving a brand account in the hands of a single person without written agreements, and also outside the company, would be a crazy risk), managed and monitored.
Another example of an acquisition is one that refers exclusively to Instagram stories. It is, therefore, a softer version, given that the collaboration has a smaller space and runs out in twenty-four hours (precisely equal to the length of the stories).
Travel blog and travel blogs
Blog tours are a strategy that is gaining strength and has dominated Instagram in the last year. In this case, the protagonist of influencer marketing should not be a simple influencer, but more precisely a travel blogger.
The most important companies also have more than one, always chosen based on their competencies, which allow them to develop a narrative tour of the territory. The ideal for a brand would be to be able to coincide the start of the blog tour with a particular event, such as a fair, exhibition or other important event in a specific city or region.
A little data
That there is a wide range of options among the various influencer marketing strategies is now a fact.
But, what are the types most chosen by companies?
After a quick look at the data, we can certainly put giveaways first, as they make up almost 4% of social media posts. Immediately after we find the posts of the ambassadors and on the last step of the podium of our ranking they resist the posts of simple product promotion, to which, however, as already mentioned, collaborations via blog tour or the that are anticipated. presence of important influencers during special events such as parties, open days, aperitifs or gala dinners.
Influencer marketing agencies: What are they and what do they do?
As we have seen, one of the decisive factors in consumers' choice is the so-called trusted advice, which today passes through social networks through user exchange.
The main objective of an influencer marketing agency is precisely to intercept the trend to give visibility to the services or products that a company offers.
However, the task of a social agency is not only to maintain a dialogue on the web referring to a single sector. In fact, they also identify and contact the appropriate influencer based on the brand and the strategy to be implemented or provide effective support to the company in managing the customer relationship.
Then, the brand is guided within the community before and after the presentation, allowing the influencer to better integrate with the product and breaking that veil linked to notoriety, to the point of turning them into a consumer like the many users of the brand. community.
This is the key step that makes the difference between a simple product promotion and trusted advice from the influencer.
Becoming a social influencer is not easy. To achieve this, you must first be willing to work hard. The final objective is not to reach a certain number of followers, but rather for them to trust the advice of the social influencer, who thus becomes a reference for them.
As we have seen, influencers are not always VIPs, but are often ordinary people and it is precisely the fact that they lead a normal life that makes them valuable in the eyes of companies.
These are basically boys and girls next door who have been able to build their own identities online. Brands are not at all looking for the profile with the most followers on Instagram, but rather people who have an active and loyal audience whose purchasing choices they can really influence. This is precisely the point that makes the difference between a social profile with a good number of followers and that of a true social influencer.
In fact, you only have to take a look at Instagram to realize that there are a large number of guys who post photos and videos every day. There are those who are passionate about fashion, those who love cooking, those who love to travel, etc.
But why do some become "famous" and sought after by companies, while others do not? The fact is that Instagram has over 500 million users every month, so it goes without saying that to become an influencer you must stand out from the crowd and create original content.
The first step, therefore, is knowing how to choose your own niche. This is because generic profiles tend to become large containers in which you can find everything from selfies, to styling photos, to vacation photos or birthday photos with friends. In short, it is not exactly the profile of a user who aspires to attract the attention of companies, whatever their type of business. Therefore, assuming that receiving offers from brands for a social influencer remains the most effective way to monetize on Instagram, it is necessary to improve the profile numbers from both a quantitative and qualitative point of view.
It is not the followers that represent the fulcrum of this work, but the interactions (and therefore the likes, comments and exchanges of opinions). Instead, the most common mistake is to stop at appearances, for example, buying followers or trusting bots, which automate interactions. On the other hand, whoever is willing to dedicate time and effort to achieving their goal, which is to become an influencer in the strict sense of the word, must proceed in an organized manner, studying the most appropriate campaigns to increase followers. .
Now we can list some practical and effective tips to follow in order to capture the attention of users and, perhaps, even some brands.
The first may seem very trivial, but it is the basis of all the paths of those who have managed to make their way in this field and it is simply that of “getting noticed”. But in what way? Well, first of all, creating your own community, made up of people with whom you can interact and who have passions and interests in common. That is why being a social influencer also requires great responsibility.
Additionally, focusing on something specific is a great strategy to decrease competition and become the best “answer” in your industry. Another simple but essential tip is to be available.
As we have seen previously, followers do not perceive the influencer as a testimonial for a product, but as one of them. That's why they expect their web friend to be willing to interact as often as possible, providing appropriate advice. It is from this last observation that we derive our third suggestion, which is actually more of a quality that should be placed next to determination, namely patience. Yes, because the results, unless you decide to take the easier but ultimately less profitable path, will not come immediately.
To be alive and consistent, the community will inevitably have to grow over time – a long-term strategy that will make a difference. Finally, an often underrated trick when it comes to growing your followers could be curating (like posts) your own Instagram Stories. Updating your followers almost in real time about what you do day after day, showing them how you work and why not, even some curious or fun aspect of your daily life, undoubtedly helps break down barriers and build a more human relationship with your followers. followers.
How much does an influencer earn?
After talking at length about influencer marketing, the doubt clearly arises. Let's say right away that giving an accurate answer is difficult because how much an influencer earns depends on several factors.
However, a distinction can be made between the so-called medium-small influencers and the largest ones. The first, or those with a number of followers that can range between one hundred thousand and five hundred thousand, can earn up to five thousand euros with a single publication. The latter on the other hand, but in this case we are talking about influencers with more than five million followers, with a single piece of content they can receive more than one hundred and fifty thousand euros.
The relationship between influencer and company
Obviously none of these influencers became rich suddenly or received thousands of euros for the first post. Their goals are the result of a journey and certainly at the beginning they were not as well versed in the world of social media as they are now. The process that leads a boy or girl to become an influencer is more or less the same (although there are rare exceptions, as in all fields). Usually, we have seen that it is companies or communication agencies that look for influencers.
The first collaboration often happens for free: the company gives some of its products to the influencer, the latter does it to us in a publication perhaps by inserting a discount code for followers. Finally, on purchases made through this code, the influencer earns a percentage that is usually around 5%. When collaboration works, it is very likely that the relationship between brand and influencer will be continuous over time. Profits at this point are obtained on the number of publications published. Logically, they must be provided with one or more elements that remind us of the brand they are promoting.
Conclusions
In this article we discuss the dynamics of influencer marketing and show some of the most relevant data. The strategies we have talked about are increasingly used by large and small companies around the world. However, there is no magic formula and it is necessary to understand how to plan your efforts for optimal return on investment.
