The Intricacies of Influencer Marketing

Defining influencer marketing

Influencer marketing can be defined as a type of marketing where the concentration is placed on key individuals or types of individuals instead of the target market as a whole. The influencer marketing technique identifies those individuals who had a key role or ability to influence the buyers and as such, the focus of influencer marketing strategies is woven around those influencers. The basic concept of influencer marketing is to develop a healthy relationship with influential people who can help organizations/firms or clients in assisting them in creating visibility for their products or services.

Influence can come from a wide range of places such as any person, group, brand, or place that could potentially act as an influence. A common example of influencer marketing is when celebrities or high profile individuals or Very Important Persons (VIPs) recommend or use that product or service which in turn helps the maker of that product or service provider to get exposure for their products or services among the masses.

Marketing nowadays is usually conjoined with social media marketing and content marketing and that is why influencer marketing is termed a revolution of sorts in the arena of advertising. Influencer marketing is still in its nascent stage as many marketers are still confused about this type of marketing thereby getting lost on the way to the new generation of marketers who are using this new channel. marketing is a discipline that is not controllable as traditional marketing as it appeals to the needs of the influencer rather than to customers.

Firms as such require giving the influencers the much-needed respect forming an open and organic relationship for the influencer to endorse a product or service. This may include giving the influencer access to a soon-to-be-released product or service or inviting the influencer to visit the company premises where the concerned product is manufactured or service is being provided.

Strategies for effective influencer marketing –

Marketers or companies should develop influencer-marketing strategies that can be applied across all platforms that include social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. For large Multinational corporate or companies influencers should be an exhaustive and continuous process or effort to maintain existing influencer relationships.

The following strategies would help these companies/brands in reaping the benefits of marketing that can enhance the marketability of their products and services.

• Identifying the most relevant influencer by using digital tools like SocMetrics and Appinions helps in analyzing the social media landscape based on geography, demographic data, and other inputs.

• Easy accessibility of content through online tools like SocialChorus can help influencers in sharing content with their followers in the form of blogs, Facebook pages, and other social media portals.

• Building relationships with the influencers should be the first priority before asking them to advocate a product or service and it is important to create a secondary marketing campaign for the influencers to drive greater awareness about the product or service offered to large set target consumers.

• Goal revisiting is an important strategy every few months to track the success or failure of the influencer program.

The above-mentioned strategies if adhered to will help organizations in repealing the benefits of influencers.