New to influencer marketing? To the average consumer, influencer partnerships might seem straightforward in grabbing celebrities to review branded products. The truth is researching, creating content, and drafting agreements to hire an influencer takes a lot of work. So, why is influencer marketing worth it?
Social media ad spending in 2020 was about $132 billion and is predicted to continue growing passed $200 billion by 2024.
More specifically, the influencer marketing industry is expected to be worth $13.8 billion in 2022.
Not every social media marketing campaign follows the same steps, but here are the basics to hiring influencers:
1. What Do You Want to Achieve?
The first step to developing an influencer campaign is outlining the goals you want to achieve. Do you want to build trust in your brand, increase visibility and sales, diversify your target audience, build a deeper relationship with your audience, create lasting partnerships, increase domain authority, or develop a multi-channel marketing strategy? These are just a few examples of the many different advantages influencer marketing can obtain for your brand. Naturally, your initial goal alters during the process, but keep your team informed so they can better support you.
2. Define Your Target
Your target audience is the people you want to connect to your brand or product. Define your buyer persona’s demographic, age range, location, interests, behaviors, etc., to focus your influencer marketing strategy.
3. Develop Your Campaign
There are a variety of ways to approach and design a marketing campaign with influencers. For product-specific marketing, try gifting, unboxing, or host giveaways. More general brand campaigns include takeovers, affiliate marketing, and brand ambassadors.
4. Selecting Your Platform
Before you select your platform, identify your audience. Social media platforms attract different audiences and it's best to align your brand with the appropriate influencer for your target audience on each platform.
According to eMarketer, there has been a gradual shift in marketing spend to TikTok, with an increase of 52% from 2019 to 2021 of marketers planning to utilize this platform for influencer marketing.
Interestingly, during the same time period, Facebook has dropped by 9% of marketers from 79% to 68% planning to use this platform for influencer marketing. It is unknown if these are new dollars or a shift away from Facebook with certainty, but it does seem to reflect a market trend.
5. Evaluating Influencers
Although it should go without saying, it's always a good idea to do your homework on an influencer first. Not only do you want to check for the correct platform and asses brand alignment, but also don't take their metrics at face value. Do a little digging to ensure they are getting good quality engagement and they didn't just purchase their following, but rather cultivated it over time to build up their audience. It's okay to ask about any of their existing contracts which may cause potential conflict with your campaign, say with a competitor. Read more about influencers on our blog!
6. The Fine Print
Say an influencer agrees to work with you, now what? A creative contract or agreement which outlines everything clearly is essential to managing expectations and clearly communicating deliverables. Common components may include campaign duration, type, salary and payment terms, creative briefing, approval procedures, ownership, due dates, disclosure, exclusions, and terminations. Read our blog for more information on common influencer rates. Not every campaign needs an agreement, but it can be helpful to specify in writing what is expected of the influencer and the company sponsoring them.
In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission Laws specify requirements for sponsored content to include in every agreement no matter what type of campaign. Turn to a legal team or consultant if the contract is with macro-influencers, as it is best to cover everything with a professional.
These steps can help you create a great influencer marketing campaign, but keep in mind not every company will proceed the same way. Tailor your campaign to your industry and brand to get the best outcome.
Want to start your influencer marketing campaign?
At ReelPaws, we work with our clients to find the best influencers for their goals. We bring together top-notch marketing minds, serious commercial photography & video production capabilities, and pet expertise, all under one roof. Reach out through our website to find out how ReelPaws can help your brand!