Influencer Marketing Chapter 1 PDF

INFLUENCER MARKETING by Kristy Sammis, Cat Lincoln, and Stefania Pomponi with Jenny Ng, Edita Gassmann Rodriguez, and Judy Zhou Chapter 1 INFLUENCER MARKETING 101 LEARNING OUTCOMES IN THIS CHAPTER: Getting the lay of the land Approaching social media platforms like...

INFLUENCER MARKETING by Kristy Sammis, Cat Lincoln, and Stefania Pomponi with Jenny Ng, Edita Gassmann Rodriguez, and Judy Zhou Chapter 1 INFLUENCER MARKETING 101 LEARNING OUTCOMES IN THIS CHAPTER: Getting the lay of the land Approaching social media platforms like a pro Redefining “influence” Knowing what your business needs to launch successful programs DEFINING INFLUENCER MARKETING Influencer marketing is the art and science of engaging people who are influential online to share brand messaging with their audiences in the form of sponsored content. Advertisers have always used celebrity endorsements as a way to increase awareness and improve perception of a brand, because people tend to trust celebrities they admire, and sometimes aspire to be like them.  Of course, influencer marketing is not quite that simple, and these are actually quite time-consuming and involved, but the idea is sound. So why a whole book about influencer marketing? What makes it so impossible to have done before and so hot right now? Social media today gives access to anyone to become an influencer; anyone who builds an audience can influence that audience. This means there’s a huge pool of influencers available for brands to work with There are more tools than ever before to help brands find and engage with influencers. There are resources for turnkey influencer programs now that simply didn’t exist a year ago. Influencers exist on any channel or platform; they aren’t limited to one format or another. Consumers have little trust in advertising. No one clicks banner ads anymore! But consumers do trust their friends and family when it comes to product recommendations and purchasing decisions — and consumers consider social media acquaintances to be friends When executed well, influencer marketing programs have proven to be one of the most cost-effective and powerful tools in a marketer’s arsenal.  Identifying the Primary Influencer Platforms THE MOST ESTABLISHED: THE MOST MARKETING- Programs on these platforms are replicable FRIENDLY: and scalable based on years of data and case Marketers know they can expect good results studies. from programs on these platforms. The Snapchats of the world are fun, but they haven’t yet proven to yield demonstrable results for most businesses.  Regardless of how many new tools emerge, when you’ve mastered the basics of these six platforms, you can manage influencers anywhere. Blogs were arguably the first form of user-generated content that attracted advertisers. 1. Blogs When the web evolved from top-down editorial content (content that was published on websites, much like magazines and newspapers were published, without any way for audiences to interact or respond to that content). Blogs are still a mainstay of influencer programs. Here’s why: There are popular blogs for every topic under the sun. Traffic and activity from blogs (page views, visits, time on site, and so on) are easy to measure. Influential bloggers can create gorgeous content and tell beautiful, true stories in a way that brands simply can’t. The “evergreen” nature of blog content means sponsored posts will be discovered long after programs have been completed.  Instagram is fun and easy to use, and though marketers were once hesitant to believe that fleeting photos on Instagram could do much for brands, nearly 95 percent of retailers are now on Instagram! 2. Instagram People of all ages (especially under the age of 34) love perusing and sharing snapshots of people’s lives, whether they know them IRL (in real life) or not. Working with influencers on Instagram is fabulous. Here’s why: Users want visual content that’s easy to digest, which is why Instagram is so popular. Engaging Instagram influencers to ensure that brand content is prominent on Instagram is a no-brainer Simple photos are a great way to bring your product to life, for others to see it in action. A picture really is worth a thousand words. Many tools are available to track Instagram programs simply by using a unique hashtag, so measuring program success is easy (and some of these tools are even free!). Instagram’s audience is broad, and often different from the audiences who are reading story-based blogs. Instagram offers a fantastic additional channel to get sponsored content in front of as many people as possible. 3. Twitter Twitter has changed the news cycle, and the way social media-savvy users consume news Twitter is the platform for the world’s social commentary. Twitter is where users go to find out — or share — what’s happening in the world at large with thousands of users they (mostly) don’t know. Twitter is great for the following: Hosting chats or “parties” with a wide cross-section of people who have a common interest. Disseminating information about a new product launch or anything newsworthy. Twitter users expect responses quickly. As a brand, if you can’t engage in near real-time conversations with followers, working with influencers who can do it on your behalf is a fantastic option. 4. Facebook Facebook changes its algorithms, policies, and ad serving regularly — what worked today may not work tomorrow. It’s tough — but critical — to keep up. For that reason, when it comes to Facebook, working with influencers is fantastic. Here’s why: People who are popular on Facebook know how to navigate the tool to ensure that their posts are seen as widely as possible. Working with influencers means working with experts. If you’ve already created branded content and you just want to disseminate it, engaging Facebook influencers is your perfect solution. Facebook is incredibly powerful for sharing brief, to-the-point messages, such as coupons, in-store sale info, or branded images or videos. 5. Pinterest Pinterest has established itself as an absolute must for any product- based brand. Pinterest drives more traffic to online retailers than any other site Here’s why Pinterest is great for influencer marketing: Influencers love to create beautiful content and post it to Pinterest. The more beautiful the content, the more extensive the pin’s reach will be. Working Pinterest into an influencer marketing program means thinking about the brand in a visual way, which ultimately makes the program more successful. Unlike other platforms, pins tend to live on and on and on, because they’re are pinned and re-pinned in perpetuity  Video influencers are, in some ways, the holy grail of social media influencers. In some cases, their videos reach millions of adoring viewers who can’t wait for the next installment — and to be told what 6. Video products to try. In the influencer marketing world, video is its own special entity. The most popular video influencers are often quickly scooped up by agents or agencies, which makes it difficult for brands to work directly with them. To make the most of video influencer programs, Don’t focus too narrowly on YouTube stars. There is video talent everywhere! Keep your eyes open for new talent. When a video talent is discovered by the masses, she’s less likely to work one-on-one with brands or marketers. Allow influencers great creative freedom. Building up a video audience isn’t easy to do, and the influencer knows her audience best. If you want her to incorporate brand product or messaging into her work, you have to be willing to allow her the flexibility to do it her way.  1.START WITH WOMEN This doesn’t mean you should ignore male ENGAGING influencers in favor of working with female ones. It just means that it makes sense to start by STELLAR identifying female influencers. The good news here is that women use every social INFLUENCERS media platform as much as (if not more than) men, share more product information online than men, and make a greater number of purchases as a direct result of social sharing than men do.  2.FIND PEOPLE WHO CREATE GREAT CONTENT ENGAGING Search for influencers who create great content that is (at STELLAR least somewhat) related to your brand and who demonstrate engagement with their audiences — as evidenced by INFLUENCERS comments; followers on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter; and social shares per post. If you’re tempted to find the biggest influencers, keep this in mind: Relevancy of a blog or influencer content is more important than size Prominent influencers often command much higher compensation. Popular influencers are routinely inundated with brand offers. Your offer needs to be compelling. The audience of prominent influencers who do a lot of sponsored work get fatigued by sponsored messages and start tuning them out.  3.PERFECT YOUR PICKUP ENGAGING Influencers are human beings. You want to approach working STELLAR with influencers professionally, but not so professionally that you come across as a robot. INFLUENCERS 4.SIGN A CONTRACT Bringing a contract into your influencer relationship makes sense for myriad reasons: You’re emphasizing that this is a professional relationship between the influencer and your brand. You want the influencer to create authentic content that will resonate with her audience, but you don’t have to lose complete control of the entire creative process. You’re not leaving deliverables up to chance. A contract ensures there is no ambiguity about compensation  5.PAY INFLUENCERS FOR THEIR ENGAGING TIME AND EFFORT Influencers expect to receive compensation in return for their STELLAR work. Plus, compensation should reflect that the influencers are doing work on behalf of brands regardless of how the INFLUENCERS content “performs.” 6.OUTSOURCE YOUR INFLUENCER MARKETING TO A MARKETING FIRM Much like social media marketing in general, influencer marketing takes time, resources, and strategy. Although there are many tools on the market now to help brands manage their influencer marketing programs, any successful program still requires a lot of planning, and — when it comes down to it — a lot of hand-holding of the influencers.  7.MEASURE THE RIGHT STUFF ENGAGING Measuring the right stuff doesn’t just help your influencer STELLAR marketing programs; it helps you recruit the right kind of influencers. We devote Part IV of this book to dealing with metrics INFLUENCERS and return on investment (ROI) of influencer programs, but here are some guidelines to consider: You can only truly measure ROI if you take the cost of your entire marketing program and its effect on sales into consideration. “Success” can be measured in sales results, but linking purchases back to a series of blog posts is incredibly difficult. Success” can be measured in ways other than sales results, including the amount of content created, increases in a brand’s social followings, site traffic, coupon downloads, engagement. "MAKING INFLUENCER MARKETING WORK FOR YOU" 1. IF YOU’RE AN ESTABLISHED CONSUMER BRAND LEVERAGING YOUR ADVANTAGES Think of influencer marketing as an addition to your current programs, not a standalone effort. Start with your overall marketing plan: What are your goals? Your key messages? Your key milestones? Influencers should amplify your efforts, not compete with them! 1. IF YOU’RE AN ESTABLISHED CONSUMER BRAND (CONT.) AVOIDING COMMON MISTAKES FINDING AN APPROACH THAT WORKS FOR YOU Even if you build your own internal pool of Your overall marketing initiatives can lay the influencers, or outsource your programs to an foundation for hugely successful influencer influencer agency, don’t underestimate the amount marketing campaigns. of work that goes into making influencer campaigns Don’t limit your perception of influencer marketing successful. to “something someone else creates over there.” Don’t under-budget! Don’t try to control everything. Treat your influencers like individuals. "MAKING INFLUENCER MARKETING WORK FOR YOU" 2. IF YOU’RE A SMALL TO MIDSIZE CONSUMER BRAND LEVERAGING YOUR ADVANTAGES Instead of breadth of programs, focus on depth of relationships. In other words, do more with less. Spend time upfront identifying influencers who really embody your brand, and develop true, one-on-one working relationships with them. If you can’t pay them in cash, “pay” them with valuable products, insider information, and attention. Treat them as extensions of your workforce. Consider developing brand ambassador programs that span several months. 2. IF YOU’RE A SMALL TO MIDSIZE CONSUMER BRAND AVOIDING COMMON MISTAKES FINDING AN APPROACH THAT WORKS FOR YOU Don’t underestimate the cost of running influencer Given your more limited resources, focus on marketing programs. influencer marketing programs that truly amplify Ensure that influencer marketing is only a portion of your other marketing efforts rather than programs your marketing budget. that operate completely independently from them. Think about what your success metrics are going to Use influencer marketing to increase awareness of be and how you’ll get there. and followers to your social media channels or to increase your email marketing list. Keep your goals realistic, measurable, and short term. Nurture the relationships you develop with your influencers. Reuse the content that your influencers create! "MAKING INFLUENCER MARKETING WORK FOR YOU" 3. IF YOU’RE A STARTUP BRAND LEVERAGING YOUR ADVANTAGES You don’t have to limit your influencer activity to writing reviews of your product. Consider reaching out to influencers and using them as beta testers. Bloggers can make amazing virtual focus groups. Sometimes, early feedback makes all the difference between a startup succeeding or failing. If you don’t have the resources to pay an influencer to write a public-facing review, the influencer may still be willing to work with you to give you private feedback. 3. IF YOU’RE A STARTUP BRAND AVOIDING COMMON MISTAKES FINDING AN APPROACH THAT WORKS FOR YOU Assuming influencer marketing is quick or cheap. If you’re limited in resources and budget, be very Trying influencer marketing if your product is an app. deliberate in how to leverage influencers and know exactly what you’re going to get out of a program before you start one. QUESTIONS...