How to plan your influencer marketing strategy

As we continue to see social media dominate the narratives around current trends and events, influencer marketing is quickly becoming the best way to grow brands and solidify brand personality. Industries such as fashion, travel, wellness, food, and entertainment are taking advantage of users actively searching for content about these industries, and successfully conveying the key messages directly to the consumer.

Here we look at the main aspects of influencer marketing that agencies and creators will need to address to deliver the best results for their clients in 2022.

Set Clear Goals

Your goals should be broader than elevating brand awareness or increasing sales. You may want to increase your customer base in a younger demographic, or expand into a new user group with a new product. Influencer marketing can realign the perception around a product or service and relate it to your target market’s own needs. 

Accountability

While more brands embrace influencer strategies as a key aspect of growth, it is increasingly important to be able to accurately determine pricing and measurement of results. Influencer marketing requires accountability to gain credibility as a dependable arm of the marketing mix. Engagement metrics are straightforward to obtain, but outcome-based metrics paint a bigger picture about how effective your influencer strategy is. Read how to measure influencer marketing ROI here.

Platform Testing

It was reported that the video-driven social media app TikTok has overtaken Google as the most popular site in 2021, directing competitors to respond with similar features like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. Testing and adopting different strategies that match the idiosyncrasies of each individual platform is important, as what works on one platform may flop on another. Audiences are expecting a different experience on different platforms meaning that trial and error with what works is essential.

Going Meta

If you still don’t understand what a blockchain, an NFT, the metaverse, or even cryptocurrency is yet, that’s okay. These terms will start to make more and more sense as they merge with how we experience the online space, creating opportunities for influencers to showcase your brand in a multitude of revolutionary ways. Influencers are already taking advantage of NFTs by creating unique and personalised content which audiences and brands can be a part of.  

Collaboration

No one is interacting with your influencer’s audience more than the influencer themselves. They’re seeing what they get likes on and what types of comments they are getting. Just like the need for trial and error with different platforms, the same goes for testing out different approaches with the influencer(s) you decide to work with. Let them chip in on the key messages and showcase their skills to create engaging content. They have all those followers for a reason!

Conclusion

Once you get started on your influencer marketing strategy, be prepared to adjust for change at all stages of the process as you analyse the reception of the content. No one can predict what platform will blow up this year so stay on top of what’s fresh and topical.

Start your shortlist of influencers that will be a good fit to promote your brand, take the above points into context, and begin your campaign to shape your target audience’s perceptions. 

If you need help with creating your influencer strategy, get in touch with us today!