- More than 94% of marketers recommend using influencer marketing as a brand strategy.
- Influencers build trust with your audience and connect with users who frequently spend time on social media.
- Test out different influencer campaign types to find the one that connects best with your target audience.
In a recent study comprising marketers from various industries, 94% of study participants recommended influencer marketing as an effective strategy. However, in another study conducted by Adweek, 78% of marketers said that measuring the success of an influencer marketing campaign remains a major challenge.
While influencer marketing has definite benefits, proving that in terms of traffic, leads and revenue can be tough. That's why it's essential to craft a foolproof plan for influencer marketing that will yield results.
Benefits of incorporating influencers into your marketing strategy
According to Social Media Today, influencers provide trust to your brand. The influencer is projecting that your brand is credible. Influencers also increase brand awareness by reaching your target audience. For instance, Instagram influencers can work with makeup brands to highlight their products within their posts. Influencers are connecting with audiences who spend a lot of their free time on social media.
Here are five influencer marketing ideas based on social media campaigns that have already established their effectiveness for other businesses.
1. Newsjacking
To celebrate International Women's Day and show its data analytics capabilities, Google Alphabet promoted a series of videos narrating the stories of everyday women.
The campaign was launched with a Google Doodle featuring 12 female artists, including the likes of actress/film producer Charlize Theron and professional wrestler Ronda Rousey. Each of these powerful and influential women shared their stories and answered questions on video.
Alphabet simultaneously released a global search trends report on gender equality, which included the top search questions and issues related to the topic. Their "Searching for Gender Equality" video went on to earn over 36 million views.
Takeaway tip: To apply newsjacking, curate content related to your niche, and make the most of the trending news and topics.
2. Giveaways
Marshalls, a popular chain of stationery, arts, and crafts stores, ran a phygital (physical and digital) marketing campaign that was well received.
To recreate the experience of visiting a Marshall's store, which involves being surprised each time by restocked merchandise, Marshalls developed a plan through Pinterest to have popular YouTube celebrities boost the visibility of the retail chain.
Marshalls targeted the Pinterest pages of several loyal customers, creating a box of products based on what the shoppers had "pinned" to their Pinterest pages. The complimentary box of custom-designed goodies was then delivered to customers by the YouTube star, all of which was captured on video. Marshalls earned 475 million impressions, 12 million video views and 143,000 engagements.
Takeaway tip: Combine influencer marketing with an exciting offline activity that your influencers will be enthusiastically engaged about.
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3. Community building
Chance hotels wanted to apply influencer marketing to achieve certain social media goals, such as increasing positive perception and customer consideration for their brands Cambria and Comfort Inn.
To do so, they worked with influencers across diverse categories, such as mothers and business travelers. Influencers belonging to these categories and located across India were invited to Chance hotel properties located in different parts of the country. Inspired by their stay, these influencers reflected on their experience at Chance hotels.
As a result of the campaign, the hotel chain gathered more than 250 reflections from influencers and earned over 40 million impressions.
Takeaway tip: Create unique experiences for influencers that they authentically talk about on their social media pages.
4. Cause marketing
Another smart influencer marketing strategy is to humanize your brand by partnering with influencers and a cause. Pedigree Petfoods worked with both influencers and showed their support for a pet-related cause through their "Buy a Bag, Give a Bowl" campaign.
For every bag of dog food pet owners bought, a bowl of Pedigree dog food was donated to an animal shelter. Influencers helped create further buzz by writing blog and social media posts about the campaign. Influencer Kristyn Cole shared a touching story about rescuing her dog while encouraging others to participate in the campaign.
Pedigree generated 43 million impressions and over 62,800 content views.
Takeaway tip: Give your target audience the opportunity to contribute to causes they care about through your brand and involve influencers in the campaign-promotion process.
5. Event marketing
Influencer marketing can also be a valuable tool when you need to quickly change the audience segment that you're targeting.
Pala Casino Resort and Spa wanted to attract a younger consumer demographic. To achieve that goal, they shortlisted and invited 21 young trendsetters to an event on their premises. Each attending influencer was asked to publish three pieces of content during the event. Influencer Lisa Linh posted a simple photograph of herself sipping wine at the resort. The picture alone earned nearly 2 million likes.
The 21 influencers invited earned a total of over 28 million impressions and 50,000 engagements. The resort's page gained over 1,000 new likes on Facebook.
Takeaway tip: To attract a new consumer demographic, choose influencers from the desired target segment and engage them in online or offline activity during which they’re likely to post content authentically.
Influencer marketing is an effective tactic that can help you reach new and existing targets. All you really require is the right strategy and influencers. The above five influencer marketing ideas can act as a great start for your business.