Find the Right Influencer for your Brand

How to find the right influencer for your brand

In the past couple of years, there have been various predictions about influencer marketing. Some have predicted that this type of digital marketing strategy is dead while others say we’ve yet to see the full power of the influencer.

According to statistics, 70% of millennial consumers are prompted into making buying decisions based on influencer marketing. And  when you factor into the equation that Millennials are set to outnumber Baby Boomers in 2019, this means that you should be directing a good portion of your marketing budget to getting influencers to endorse your brand.

Social media is about influence

Social media marketing is about influence that very much works its way into your psyche without you knowing it. You take as much of it in as you want to, not what you’re told to do. This is very different from other forms of advertising such as adverts on television or billboards along the highway.

To show the effectiveness of marketing on social media:

• It is reported that in 2015 Facebook influenced 52% of customers’ online and offline purchases.
• Instagram is giving brands a 4.21% per follower engagement rate – this is 58 times higher than on Facebook and 120 times higher than on Twitter.
• In 2015, YouTube reported that it had 40 billion views of branded content.

Social media marketing has muscle

Every digital marketer will tell you about how social media has revolutionised marketing. Influencers are a key ingredient of this. The evidence is all around. Something goes viral, it’s not that it has been marketed to death – it’s the way that it has been marketed and, naturally, the clever content. (The hashtag is a concept that is closely related to influencer marketing. Read more about it here.)

Remember to always choose an influencer who speaks to your brand and whose following is relevant. For example, if you’ve just launched a brand-new coffee shop don’t choose an influencer whose main focus is on make-up to help promote you. This just won’t make sense and – most probably – you’ll end up wasting a lot of money.

Keep your budget in mind

Influencers come in all shapes and sizes – and with varying price tags. Celebrities in South Africa and abroad use their star power to help certain brands gain notoriety. For example, South African athlete Caster Semenya has used the fame that she has gained on the track and has joined the team at Discovery Vitality to help them promote a healthy lifestyle among their members. And there are many more examples like this.

However, if you’re a small business owner you will probably not have the deep financial pockets of the big brands. This doesn’t mean that influencer marketing is totally out of your reach. We suggest that you look at non-celebrity influencers, who have large followings in your particular subject area, and choose one who best fits you. Chances are very good that they will either ask a very nominal fee or will even assist with a small gift as compensation.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

To be highly effective at influencer marketing, you need to be very aware of how the various social media platforms work and how these can be used optimally for your business. The Digital School of Marketing’s Social Media Marketing Course will help you gain this understanding and become a social media expert. As this is one of the only digital marketing courses to be accredited by the Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (MICT SETA) you can be assured of getting only the very best. Read more here.