Over the last few years influencer marketing has exploded, thanks to the almighty powers of the internet. Because social media is integrated into almost every aspect of our lives, a new marketing layer has emerged for companies to disseminate their message through, thus the appearance of ‘the influencer.’
Who is an influencer? How do you identify appropriate influencers in your industry? What are the benefits of utilizing influencers?
Who are influencers?
Social influencers or web influencers are individuals who hold a certain status in the social media sphere and have notable influence over potential buyers. Influencer marketing is basically peer recommendation amplified for the internet age.
Influencers have the ability to magnify the product or brand over their network of followers.
There are different dimensions to influencers, some may represent a specific brand, or some may just do product endorsements, some are experts or have special insights into specific market. With social media such as Instagram, Youtube, and Twitter, a mention of a product or pushing brand content on their profiles can yield massive results.
How do you identify appropriate influencers for your industry?
There are plenty of people with large robust followings, but that does not necessarily determine their applicability to your brand. Here are some steps to help you identify potential influencers.
- Context– Establish the brand context. You want to be able to seek out individuals who will fit contextually with what they would be representing. Do your research! Who are the industry bloggers and where are they engaging their audience.
- Where-You can monitor different social media networks to search for interesting leads to individuals. Monitor hashtags on twitter and organize users into groups accordingly. You can also develop content that would appeal to specific people, to make your brand more attractive. Google is great for finding mentions with Google alerts. You never know who is already talking about your brand or product!
Linkedin is also a great resource for the b2b and b2c community. Not only is it great for networking, but also for finding leaders and experts in specific industries. Search for authors of articles that are well shared, often these are people who can provide visibility, and who you want to endorse your product or company. And Linkedin is platform where you are more likely to find industry experts who are more easily accessible and applicable to your niche audience.
What are the benefits?
Linking up with industry experts and influencers provides endless possibilities and can spell real growth for your brand. When conducting your search for such individuals remember that influence is not just about reach and how many followers a person has.
It is more to do with the credibility and relationship the individual has with their followers, and how much their followers are engaging and listening to them.
With their help you can expand your reach, broadcast your message, and gain an ambassador. Ultimately you want the relationship to be mutually beneficial. Many companies compensate their influencers through their alotted social media budgets, and amounts usually vary depending on social reach.
With Limber, collaborating with ambassadors is simple. Limber provides you with the tools to push content onto your ambassadors social network channels and boost the visibility of your brand.
Alanah Campagnuolo
Latest posts by Alanah Campagnuolo (see all)
- Productive community management - 08/29/2016
- How to create a publishing scenario - 08/17/2016
- New features- Targeting for Facebook and Linkedin Pages! - 08/17/2016
One comment on “The basics of influencer marketing”