A Guide for Brands
Maximising ROI through influencer marketing is not always straightforward or easy.
The fact that when brands collaborate with other creatives and their audiences, rather than their own customers, inevitably some control will be lost.
In this article we are going to take a close look at what influencer marketing is and give you our top tips for ensuring you maximise ROI through influencer marketing.
What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing has always existed to a certain extent, with Hollywood stars being seen to wear certain brands or types of clothing (think Audrey Hepburn and pedal pushers, or the little black dress in ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’!), and other celebrity endorsements or product placements in Film and TV programmes.
However, the creation of social media platforms has taken influencing to a whole new level.
One major advantage is that it doesn’t necessitate a large investment up front, unlike celebrity endorsements.
Furthermore, the metrics exist on social media platforms to measure the ROI on campaigns, information that isn’t readily available for other kinds of placement or endorsement. To gain an insight, listen to the Marmalade Pod about influencer marketing.
Influencer marketing as a form of brand marketing on social media channels has been emerging since 2009/10, but during the pandemic, when brands had to find new and more positive ways of engaging customers, it really gathered pace.
It is a powerful strategy for building brand engagement and connectivity with a target audience by leveraging the reach of people who have a significant following on social media platforms.
According to a Hootsuite survey of more than 1,200 marketers worldwide, the main social media platforms used for influencer marketing are:
72% of marketers surveyed said they worked on this platform with influencers.
30% said they get the highest ROI for influencer marketing on Instagram, while 32% citied it as the easiest platform for working with influencers.
YouTube
Here, the figures were slightly less, with 58% using this YouTube for influencer marketing.
20% said it yielded the best ROI with the same percentage citing it as the easiest platform for collaborating with influencers.
Interestingly, 18% of marketers surveyed said that they are planning to use this platform for influencer marketing.
TikTok
Of those taking part in the survey, 61% said they work with influencers on TikTok, while only 14% said it resulted in the highest ROI and the same number cited it as the easiest collaboration platform with influencers.
57% of marketers surveyed cited Facebook as the best platform for influencer marketing, with 20% citing it as having the best ROI, while only 18% said it was the easiest platform to work with on influencer collaborations.
The crucial thing to remember with influencer marketing is that it is normally the influencer who creates the content for their audience, not the brand providing the products.
The brand will then pay the influencer to use their products on social media, incorporating them into their content.
Who are influencers?
An influencer is someone who has a large social media following and can sway the behaviour of their audience by using certain products, wearing certain items, demonstrating how to use products etc.
Their followers will watch these videos, stories, reels, or posts, then buy the brands, products, and clothes themselves.
You can see how this can be a powerful tool in brand marketing?
Maximising ROI through influencer marketing
Top tips for success!
Before you even think of building an influencer campaign, it is crucial that you know who your target audience is in order to reach them.
You want to make sure that your marketing spend is being used to reach potential customers for your products.
1. Choose the right platform
If your target audience consists of mainly Facebook users, a TikTok campaign may not reach them.
Or if they are spread across different platforms, you can tailor influencer campaigns to resonate with followers on different platforms.
2. Choose the right influencers
When researching influencers, there are some factors you need to take into account before choosing someone:
- Their values align with your brand values
- Ensure their target audience will be interested in your products
- Look at previous content, you need someone who creates good content
- Who posts consistently
- And who has a strong connection with their followers
In influencer marketing, authenticity really matters.
It is, therefore, important to make sure that both the influencer and their followers align with your brand values as any sign of falseness or insincerity will be spotted by the audience and may potentially harm your brand.
3. What are your goals?
You need to be clear about the objectives for any marketing campaign, including one with an influencer.
There can be any number of goals, depending on where influencer marketing fits into your marketing strategy.
These could be:
- Increasing brand awareness
- New product launch
- Driving more traffic to your website
- Boosting sales
You can then use metrics to measure the ROI against your chosen objectives.
4. Transparent communication
Once you have chosen your influencer and established the objective, be clear about your expectations and timeline and what the influencer can expect in return, i.e. free products and the level of compensation.
Good communication lies at the heart of building a strong relationship.
5. Collaboration
Some influencers prefer to make all their own content, so make sure they have everything they need to promote your brand positively.
If they are open to collaborative working, develop engaging content that talks to their audience while seamlessly incorporating your brand values and products.
6. Measure the results!
Maximising ROI through influencer marketing is not possible without tracking performance and measuring results.
Use the key metrics available on social media platforms such as engagement, reach, and conversion rates to measure the success of the campaign.
7. Refine
The social media landscape is very dynamic, constantly changing.
Use the data gleaned from metrics to refine and adapt your campaign to make sure it keeps delivering results.
Use the data from each campaign to inform the next one, so you can see what worked, basing future content on consistently good results.
When used as part of a brand strategy, influencer marketing can be a persuasive factor in boosting brand awareness and driving results.
You must have clearly defined goals, choose the right platform and influencer for your target audience, and continually track performance to ensure it resonates with your target audience.
Maximising ROI through influencer marketing depends on establishing meaningful connections with your target audience through a social media presence whose values closely align to your brand values.
We hope that this guide to maximising ROI through influencer marketing has given you an insight into how this effective marketing tool can be used to market your brand effectively to your target audience. If you would like to talk learn more about how you can use influencer marketing as part of your brand strategy, you can send an email to the Make a Brew team or book a brew with me, Clare Froggatt to talk everything branding. The kettle is always on, so let’s start the conversation over a brew?
