In recent years there has been a lot of talk on the influencer marketing. Some brands had success and great ROI, others didn’t. Those that didn’t dismiss influencer marketing as something that doesn’t work have experienced tremendous success. There is proof that influencer marketing not only works, but may deliver high ROI if implemented successfully.
According to a recent Forbes survey, influencer content can not only “drive sales and increase basket size”, but also “directly impacts sales through redemptions for promotional offers” and “when measured with foot traffic data, influencer marketing increases engagement”.
Time and time again, here at Social Gamma we have seen that deep and meaningful relationships with a few well chosen influencers actually can do wonders for your lifestyle brand.
The key here is to make sure that this working relationship is more of collaboration between equals and not a boss-employer type of meaningless transaction.
Let the influencers manage their own posts in their own style because no one knows their audience as well as they do. There is a reason why they amassed such a high number of followers: it is due to their authenticity and their unique selves.
Make your aim to build a long lasting meaningful connection with your influencers. Allow them to get involved in the product development process, so that they can show off what they have learned with their fans. The journey is more important and more rewarding for them than the outcome.
Of course there are risks involved when using the influencers. Things like poor quality content, not a well fitted influencer, and legal issues that shroud influencer marketing can all negatively impact your lifestyle brand. It is very important that marketing departments are careful with this particular strategy and do their research before jumping into it recklessly.
The secret here is to be patient and decide first what you are looking to achieve first and who is your target audience. Once you have your answers to that, it is time to map our influencer strategy. Are you going to work with one mega influencer, like Kim Kardashian, or are you going to choose to work with influencers that are less known to the whole world, but have a very impactful following in their own niches? Then there are micro influencers. These type of influencers typically have less followers, yet a very high engagement rate.
A great example of an influencer campaign with one mega influencer is “Missguided”’s collaboration with Baddie Winkle that won them numerous awards on UK Social Media Awards last year. This was an unusual partnership and contained a wow factor to shake the audience’s expectations and deliver a powerful message.
Finally, a recent Target’s children’s apparel line Art Class used young social media influencers by allowing them to get hands-on while developing the designer line and even be part of the marketing strategy. In return, kids documented their journeys and shared their new learnt skills with their followers. The number of posts’ reach went up high rapidly and fans were commenting about how they would like to purchase the clothes. That’s exemplary influencer marketing right there!
Social Gamma is a marketing and social agency that provides marketing and content creation services. The team brings together creativity and aesthetic expertise to build beautiful brands. Services include social media management, PPC, content creation, and web/app development. Please check out the website for more information.
