Exactly how does the Influencer Marketing Strategy function?
Brands can use influencer marketing to get the word out about their products and services by paying popular social media users to make positive comments about them. A video can be sponsored for a set amount of money, an affiliate link can be provided, or a free product could be offered in exchange for honest reviews.
Influencers on social media are users who can sway the opinions of others. To become an influencer, one must first establish credibility with one’s target audience through consistent content production in a narrow field. Influencers gain credibility over time as people come to recognise their expertise, good taste, and overall seriousness in a given field.
For a brand to launch an influencer marketing campaign, it must first identify a relevant influencer within the target market. The next step is to contact this potential business partner in order to strike a deal. The goal of this strategy is to have the influencer introduce a brand to their audience in such a way that their followers are more likely to either make a purchase or become familiar with the brand.
Is there a reason why this method produces such good results? It’s the genuine enthusiasm of a regular person advocating for a product they like and think other people will too. Brand managers, on the other hand, care only about making a profit for their own products.
Which Kinds of Influencers Are There?
We discussed the latest trends in influencer marketing, and it’s important to remember that there are various forms of influencers to tap into. For the purposes of this discussion, we will use a type’s fan base size as the primary descriptor. That’s why some of the explanations won’t match up with your initial assumptions about the term.
Public Figures With Influence
When most of us hear the word “celebrity,” we immediately think of someone who is well-known in the public eye, whether through their work in the entertainment industry, their athletic prowess, or their political leanings. However, that is not the sort of fame to which we are referring.
Anyone with more than a million followers on their most popular social media platform is considered a celebrity in the field of influencer marketing. Accordingly, we would look at an influencer’s Instagram following if that is where they primarily publish their content. We wouldn’t give a hoot about how many Twitter or Facebook followers they have, for instance.
Global Factors
Someone with between 500,000 and 1,000,000 followers on their most popular social media platform is considered a macro influencer. These influencers typically have a more devoted fan base than their celebrity contemporaries. A possible explanation for this is that many fans of a celebrity will listen to what they have to say just out of curiosity, even if they have no real intention of acting on what they hear.
Macro-influencers tend to be either moderately prominent figures in their fields or die-hard enthusiasts for a particular cause. It may also be challenging for an influencer to rise above the macro level in more specialised niches. For this reason, it’s important for marketers to think about how big their target audience is in comparison to the total size of their market.
Partway-Ranked Swayers
After that, there is the section of moderately influential people. These people can boast anywhere from 50,000 to 500,000 devotees. Those who fall into the “middle influencer” category have spent some time cultivating their following and are now respected authorities in their field. Their fan base is still relatively small, so they don’t attract many casual observers. Actually, it’s the middle-tier influencers who have the most invested followers. Regardless of how the influencer marketing industry evolves, middle-tier influencers will continue to serve as a valuable resource.
Micro-Influencers
Micro-influencers are the most influential of the “small-time” influencers. This is a marketing term for accounts with 10,000-50,000 followers. In most cases, the followers of micro-influencers are extremely devoted to them. Because their followers are so likely to act on their advice, they can be a powerful sales force. However, a smaller fraction of those who follow the most popular influencers will end up buying because of their recommendations.
Another advantage of working with micro-influencers is the low cost at which they can be hired.