What is Influencer Marketing and The Brands Nailing It and Making Millions

Influencer Marketing is the latest buzz-term but what is it really and how does it work? First of all, it’s really nothing new! Influencer Marketing has been around for some years now, but recently it has become quite a hot topic because people are beginning to realise how powerful it really is! Particularly when you look at it as an alternative to traditional advertising methods that are too expensive and not as effective. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the digital age, it’s that consumers don’t like to be transparently sold t0, therefore marketing messages are having less credibility each and every day.

There is no denying the endless ways that social media has transformed our world. It has broken down barriers for communication and has changed the way businesses grow and connect with their customers. Influencers are not a new concept. Brands have been using celebrities for years to endorse their products. However, now, social media influencers represent a whole new type of celebrity; one who is relatable and connected with their audience and can surpass the influence of the traditional celebrity.

How to do Influencer Marketing right?

The easiest way to engage influencers is to pay them. You are borrowing their credibility and familiarity to sell a product. This can be effective, particularly if you’ve done your homework! Good influencer marketing is centered on building sincere personal relationships with influencers and sharing useful, unique, exclusive or early information, making them feel a part of the brand. One of the greatest concerns I hear from brands is in regard to determining which influencers to collaborate with and how much to pay them. My advice is to first find a group of micro and medium influencers that share the same target audience as your brand. There is no point in engaging influencers with thousands of followers that are not interested in your brand. Second of all, you need to segment your influencer list:

1,000 – 10,000 – Micro Influencer (higher engagement rate)
10,000 – 250,000 – Power Middle Influencer (mid engagement rate, high reach, experienced in dealing with brand collabs)
250,000+ – Macro Influencer (cult following powerhouses)

Micro-influencers are likely to not charge a fee for a post and instead take the product or service, power middle will generally have a fee (approximately $1000 per 100k followers) and the Macro Influencers are extremely expensive, but also extremely effective. Assess your budget and make a plan of attack!

Influencers will generally make their media kits/fees available upon request as well which will make the conversation easier. Before you make your final decision, consider the following:

– What is the potential ROI?
– What is the potential reach?
– Will you have usage rights (this means more photos for your brand)
– How does the above compare to other marketing efforts?

The brands making millions with Influencer Marketing

For the ones that will inevitably question whether it actually works, trust me when I say, if done right, it absolutely does.

FRANK BODY

The OG coffee scrub that everyone knows and loves. Frank Body began as a small start-up with very little marketing budget, in fact, not enough to see them engage in traditional marketing and advertising efforts. Instead, they turned to social media and micro-influencers. They approached micro-influencers with free products and encouraged them to get involved on social media, posting photos covered in the scrub and tagging the #frankeffect – soon enough this snowballed, taking them from 0 to 350,000 followers within 12 months. In addition to the increased exposure, this initiative also provided user-generated content for Frank Body that they could use all over their social channels to further cement their presence and demand. The company now has over 1 million social media followers and has sold over 2 million Body Scrubs in 149 countries around the world, so I think it’s safe to say their Influencer Marketing Strategy worked!

DANIEL WELLINGTON

Perhaps one of the most recognized watch brands and best exampled of influencer marketing. Daniel Wellington started with a budget of $30k and focused it all on micro-influencers. They understood, back in the early days of Instagram, the power that it could harness. They also knew that 30k could not get them much in terms of traditional advertising, but could take them a long way with influencer marketing. They segmented their influencer by size and reach, some were simply gifted a watch and others were paid to collaborate. All were asked to offer their special code offering 15% off to their followers, which not only enabled them to offer more to their potential consumers but also enabled them to track the sales of the individual influencers. Fast forward 8 years and Daniel Wellington is a recognized name worldwide that is worth a whopping $228 million. This hasn’t slowed down their Influencer Marketing efforts by any means, in fact, they’ve aimed for bigger starts now working with the likes of Kendall and Kylie Jenner.

Influencer marketing takes time, dedication and focus, and it must be transparent and honest. A good influencer will speak about the good and the bad of your products. But they will do it 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.

Talk to me today about how I might be able to help you drive your Influencer Marketing campaign!