Influencers. Considered to be one group of people that have a strong persuasive power over the online population.
Influencer marketing refers to the use of influencers to market a product or brand. Influencers refer to social media users who have the ability to influence the decisions and shape the perception of others online.
Influencers are especially active on social media. A quick scroll through your news feed, you will most probably be able to spot them. Be it the comments they leave, the updates they give, the videos they upload – influencers are everywhere on the internet.
Therefore, today we would like to bring attention to the individuals you see online.
Today’s influencer guide hopes to give you a better understanding about who these online personalities are.
5 Thing influencers wish you knew about them | An influencer guide
Influencer marketing insider secret #1. Influencers do place emphasis on their relationship with their followers
source: Salesforce.com
The first point on this influencer guide is an important one. As you might have guessed it, many influencers highly value the relationship they have with their followers online. After all, they have invested a lot of effort in building these relationships.
Be it replying to comments, messages, regularly uploading content. These are some of the many things influencers invest their time in to build a community of followers online.
Therefore, the trust followers have for influencers is extremely important for influencers.
But why do we have to know about this? While you might think influencers tend to take up jobs that pay well, think again. More often than not, influencers prioritise the trust they get from their followers over the financial benefits from a campaign.
Therefore, when brands select influencers, they should prioritise influencers who have indicated an interest in the brand previously. For example, they might have mentioned the brand online before this.
These influencers are more likely to agree and be more enthusiastic about a collaboration, since they are recommending products that they believe in.
Furthermore, there is an additional benefit of the campaign being seen as more authentic. Picture this, a fashion influencer that has never talked about sports on social media suddenly comes up with postings about her favourite sporting attire. Looks fake, does it not?
The lack of authenticness could possibly account for a less successful campaign. According to research by Bloglovin’, 61% of women would not engage with an influencer’s sponsored post if it didn’t feel genuine.
Influencer marketing insider secret #2. Self expression is important to them
source: Medium
By nature, influencers are content creators. Their job revolves around the constant production of new content, be it in pictures of videos. This means that they are highly creative people, with the ability to produce visually appealing images.
Therefore, influencers do have the ability to come up with their own content. In fact many of them do enjoy the creative process of content creation.
A campaign with excessive restrictions on what an influencer can and cannot do might therefore make it harder to find the best fit influencers.This is because cases of influencers rejecting jobs due to the lack of creative freedom awarded is not unseen.
While the livelihood of influencers is important, they do value being able to work their creativity. A study by eMarketer has revealed that 77% of influencers would work with a brand if it gave them creative freedom.
Furthermore, awarding influencers space for artistic freedom comes with an additional benefit of authentic content. Content that has been produced by them would naturally seem more authentic, as it is in line with what influencers post on a regular basis.
As mentioned previously, authentic content is important in the world of influencer marketing. After all, users are more willing to believe in the campaign if it seems genuine.
Influencer marketing insider secret #3. Support given by brands is highly appreciated
source: lisa.olssons, Hm Instagram
While brands might think that their job ends after hiring an influencer for a campaign, this is not the case. Influencers do appreciate it when brands help out in a campaign.
This can be as easy as reposting the content of collaborating influencers on the brand’s home page. This helps influencers expand the exposure and at the same time, followers of influencers would start noticing the brand’s own social media account.
Brands that have done so include H&M which often repost the images of influencers in H&M products, with the hashtag #regram. Doing so has contributed to the brand’s success on social media.
Influencer marketing insider secret #4. Engagements are important
source: JUST™ Creative
Engagements include actions like a like, comment or share on social media. A comment or a simple like is highly rewarding for influencers who have dedicated hard work in working their craft.
Furthermore, due to the new algorithms on certain social media platforms, postings with high engagement are prioritised. Therefore, your like can help an influencers post appear higher on the news feeds of others. Allowing more to enjoy the postings of these influencers.
Therefore, do remember to support your favourite influencers with a like, comment or share!
Influencer marketing insider secret #5. It is hard work
source: CommBank
The last on this influencer guide might come as a surprise to some of you. Influencers are often seen on Instagram attending fancy events, trying out appetizing food, or reviewing the PR packages companies send them. Sounds like an easy job, does it not?
Well, that is not the case. Being an influencer is so much more than that. It involves hours of behind the scenes work that is often not captured.
As mentioned before, influencers have spend a lot of time building up their following on social media. From constant research, to brainstorming for content ideas and finally producing the said content. Behind that insta-worthy picture is hours of hard work.
Therefore, do appreciate the work influencers put in. While the end product might seem effortless, hours have been dedicated to producing such content on social media.
In conclusion, behind their insta-worthy feeds, influencers are so much more than a public figure. Their strong bond with their followers is what makes that unique!
Anyone working with influencers should never fail to consider their perspective of things. After all, they have spent a significant amount of effort building up their following base. Therefore, they would know how to best engage their followers.
We hope that this influencer guide awards you a better understanding of the influencers you constantly see online.
Sources
Stephanieprosa, what-social-media-influencers-want-you-to-know/
Relevance, 4-quick-facts-you-should-know-about-influencer-marketing/
