October 4, 2022
There isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ mentality when it comes to choosing which influencer to use; it all depends on your budget and your campaign objective – meaning bigger isn’t always better…
If you’re not already using influencer marketing in your B2C social strategy; stop what you’re doing, close your other tabs and have a read of the below – all will be revealed!
First of all, what are the different types of influencers?
Nano: They have a smaller following than other influencers, however, their audience is highly engaged with their content and they hold a high level of authenticity – often, Nano and Micro-influencers are your true brand advocates, which makes them great for peer review!
Micro: These are steadily growing accounts with a loyal and engaged audience, and are likely to already have existing and positive brand relationships.
Macro: They’re usually seen as having ‘expertise’ in their chosen area of content, and their high following count is great for brand exposure, whilst offering a slightly higher level of engagement than a Mega influencer.
Mega: These are your ‘celebrity’ type influencers of the world, and so their fee will be the highest of them all, however, the fee may pay off as their audience may be likely to blindly follow their endorsements.
Okay, so we know what the different types of influencers are – but you may ask yourself ‘what are the benefits of using influencers overall?’
- Building Brand Trust
Influencers are great for building brand trust – the important part here, is to choose credible influencers that align with your brand values, and appeal to your target audiences’ online behaviours – are they someone your target audience already follows, or someone who makes content that your audience engages with?
2. Social Proof
Coined in 1984 by author Robert Cialdini, social proof is a term used to describe the psychological phenomenon where people copy the behaviours of others because that behaviour is validated by others – it’s all about fitting in and following the herd.
When we use this approach in marketing, influencers are a great ingredient in driving social proof; by sharing honest peer reviews, and recommending your product to their audience.
Social proof can be amplified further by a multi-layered approach to the types of influencers you use e.g. including nano, micro, macro and mega, all talking about your product in the same campaign period, generating noise and hype for your brand or product, and creating a community of followers who ‘want in’ on the action too. Think about it like playing into a consumer’s level of FOMO (fear of missing out).
3. They Know Your Audience
Who better to talk to your target audience than the people who are already influencing it, and sitting inside of your target themselves?! Influencers understand how to create content that resonates with their audience, which makes them a powerful asset to your social strategy. All that it requires from your brand, is the product and your agreement with the creator.
4. Reaching new audiences
Dependent on the size or type of influencer you include in your strategy, you can use them to help leverage your brand or product to new, undiscovered audiences in your target markets – this is usually where mega or macro influencers come in… and sometimes they might have a bigger audience than you!
5. Authentic Content
In addition to using credible influencers, it’s also important to use authentic influencers; those who make original content and are known to be a trustworthy source of recommendation by their audience. Once this type of influencer is on your roster, you’ll have access to great content that you didn’t have to shoot, and can be slotted neatly into your content plan, with the knowledge that it will perform well for you too.
6. They May Help Your Product Go Viral
Earlier, we mentioned social proof and peer review – when these components are put together with multi-layered types of influencers in a big burst campaign, the level of frequency that a consumer sees information and conversations about your product in a short space of time can give the illusion that your product is a viral or trending – the more people that talk about it may also encourage others to talk about it too; leading to a higher frequency of impressions and exposure.
TikTok especially, is notorious for creating viral trends from popular culture, as it has changed the way that Gen-Z and Millenials search for information about products, and the way that they consume content – add this to the platform’s concept which relies entirely on a clever algorithm and user-generated content – and you’ve got yourself the makings of a hot spot for peer review, and consumers looking specifically for that peer review.
Sounds good, right? We think so too
All in all, influencers are a great option for most brands’ social strategy – no matter what your budget or objective is – and there are many amazing benefits to be had. It’s just about finding the right influencers to suit your goal and align with your values and audience!
And the next time you’re about to click checkout for a trending product, ask yourself ‘is it really viral or am I being influenced by a clever strategy?’.
