What is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is when brands partner with influencers or creators to promote a product or service to their audience, leveraging their credibility and influence for brand promotion.
Influencer marketing is just people posing on social media, right? Wrong! Studies show that 61% of consumers trust the product recommendations they get from influencers. Meanwhile, only 38% trust branded social media content.
Influencer Cheat Sheet 101
There are 4 types of influencers depending on their audience size:
- Mega Influencer – 1 Million +
- Macro Influencer – 100,000 – 1 Million
- Micro Influencer – 1,000 – 100,000
- Nano Influencer – Less than 1,000
Their audiences can differentiate across platforms, for example someone who is a Mega influencer on TikTok might be Micro on Instagram.
The key is to understand the value of each type of influencer and make sure you know who you want to use. Micro and Nano influencers often have more connected and engaged audiences, as we will explain more below. Whereas, a Mega influencer might give you extensive reach to a wide and diverse audience.
Where can you find influencers?
Almost all social media platforms will have influencers – people who create content to educate and entertain their audience. Here are some of the most common platforms:
- TikTok
- Twitch
- YouTube
- Snapchat
- X (Twitter)
Now you know who are influencers, let’s explore why you should be using them.
The Power Of The Influencer
Influencers provide something unique, personal experience. We all trust something more if it has been recommended or reviewed with actual usage experience. Influencer marketing is a strategic collaboration between brands and individuals who have established credibility, trust, and a loyal following within a specific niche or industry.
Through influencer marketing we can showcase products or services as desirable, relatable and reliable. Seamlessly integrating products or services into the routine of everyday life. Through their authentic and relatable content, influencers help audiences envision how a product can genuinely enrich their lives, making it more than just a purchase but a valuable addition.
Not only though, does Influencer Marketing expand market reach for businesses, it can also bring benefits such as:
- Increased customer loyalty – a sense of connection is created when seeing themselves represented in a brand
- Better brand reputation – demonstrates a commitment to social responsibility and equality
- Improved employee morale and productivity – seeing that their company values diversity and inclusion
- Partnerships and collaborations – open door to collaborations with other organisations, influencers, and community groups
Influencers or Creators – what’s the difference?
Most creators can be considered influencers, but not all influencers are considered creators. A lot of creators prefer the term because it is more reflective of what they do. A creator is someone who primarily produces and shares original content, such as videos, photos, art, or written material, often showcasing their skills or creative talents. Their main goal is to produce content that entertains, educates, or informs their audience.
An influencer, on the other hand, is someone who leverages their online presence and the trust they’ve built with their audience to promote products, services, or brands. While influencers may also create content, their primary goal might be to showcase aesthetically appealing aspirational and entertaining content to their audience. Influencers can subliminally integrate products or brands into their feed, positioning them as aspirational or as a ‘must have’ brand or product.
Connecting with your audience
Influencers often have a well-defined niche, ensuring that your message reaches a highly relevant and interested audience. This precision targeting can result in higher conversion rates. Therefore, compared to traditional advertising, influencer marketing can be a cost-effective strategy, especially when working with micro-influencers or nano-influencers.
Diversity is power – Inclusive Influencer Marketing
Speaking of connecting with your audience, one of the most important considerations in connecting with your audience is representation.
When your audience sees themselves or their experiences represented in your content, they are more likely to relate to it. When people see themselves represented, they often experience a deep emotional connection with the content. This emotional connection can lead to increased brand loyalty and brand love, and a stronger bond between your audience and your brand or message.
As we say “nothing about us, without us”.
When does influencer marketing go wrong? Common mistakes marketers make with Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing may seem quite simple, but it is easy to to make mistakes here are just a few you should look out for:
Only using Macro or Celebrity/Hero creators: Many nano creators focus on niche topics meaning you can reach a targeted and highly engaged audience. Nano and Micro creators often build a community with their audience. Although smaller, their audience is trusting, dedicated and highly relevant, meaning their purchasing decisions may be more easily swayed by creator recommendations.
Not doing your research: Influencers audiences and engagements is really what you’re paying for. You don’t want to spend thousands on an extensive audience if they are not relevant or engaged in your brand and products. You want to make sure the influencer’s audience is aligned with yours to make sure you conduct your research on audience demographics.
Not doing your research can also result in negative press and representation for your brand. Being in the public eye, we know that influencers can often get mixed up in controversial situations. By partnering with creators it can often result in the controversy being transferred to the brand and it appears that the brand supports these controversial views or opinions. So it’s highly important to do your research and make sure that influencers’ views align with your own.
Not providing enough creative freedom: The power of the influencer is in the authenticity of creator content. Making sure the content aligns with the influencer, their style and their audience will make a bigger impact with relatable and relevant creative. However, taking control of the brief and being specific around how you want content to look can make the content dishonest, switching off audiences as the commercial style interrupts their organic feed.
However, giving influencers too much freedom can result in content needing lots of amendments or not aligning with your overarching campaign goals. Best practice is to provide a tailored brief identifying targets and goals with a clear call to action, alongside creative ideas and content inspiration that matches your wider campaign.
How can your brand get involved?
Influencer marketing has emerged as a powerful tool for brands to connect with their audience in an authentic and engaging manner. By strategically partnering with influencers, your brand can harness the trust and reach these individuals have cultivated, ultimately driving brand growth and success in the digital age.
When it comes to inclusive marketing, there is no such thing as ‘one size fits all’, and we will always advocate for listening, learning and iterating practices over time. Purple Goat Agency can help connect you with the most relevant creators bringing you authentic, diverse and impactful content with amazing business results.
We support brands through the process of becoming more inclusive from the ground up, with a range of services from content creation and influencer activation through to consultancy, training and insight projects. We curate marketing strategies that are bespoke to each client – and fundamentally look to create a safe space to foster inclusive practices from the inside out.
As you embark on your influencer marketing journey, remember that authenticity and collaboration are key to reaping the full benefits of this dynamic strategy. Purple Goat Agency are inclusive influencer marketing experts, helping global brands (like Currys and Virgin Media to name a few) connect you with the most relevant creators, bringing you authentic, diverse and impactful content with amazing business results!
Get in touch to discuss how we can work with your brand.
