Both content marketing and influencer marketing efforts drive organic traffic to a brand’s website. These two marketing tracks should not be independent of one another. When running an influencer campaign, the type of content, angle, and content’s tone is imperative to its success.
61 percent of marketers finding it challenging to find the right influencers for a campaign
At the best of times, marketers are cautious when running an influencer campaign. Many variables come into play when deciding what type of influencer to pick, on which platform, and how to meet your overarching campaign’s needs. It is never ideal to run an influencer campaign in isolation but rather as part of an integrated campaign.
If you refer to our previous blogpost on a Strategic Marketing Plan, you will see that the marketing plan campaigns need to tie back to the project/product brand essence. Written and visual content must support the brand and be tailored to the specific audiences you want to reach.
Whether you run a radio advert, a newspaper print campaign, a Facebook PPC campaign, or an influencer campaign, the same golden thread must run through them to effectively build the brand. There has to be a synergy in the content, and the content should inform the go-to-market strategy every step of the way.
An influencer marketing campaign is no different from other campaign activations. Influencers are categorized according to their area of specialty, their following, and engagement levels. Influencers range from Mega to Macro, and then Mid-tier influences and micro-influencers or very niche influencers called Nanos. These different tiers have different audiences, which must be taken into account because that is who you will reach.
Depending on your product or project and your budget, you need to pitch yourself in at the right level. For example, as a blockchain start-up, there would be no point paying a large sum (probably your entire marketing budget) to Beyonce to post, once-off about your project. There is a mismatch between a blockchain project, Beyonce’s brand, and more importantly, her audience.
Influencer marketing will grow to be worth $13.8 billion in 2021.
The blockchain and crypto environment has many rockstar influencers willing to tout projects from their platforms. They have built their reputations over time but, beware that they have the best interest of your project in mind. Ideally, the influencer you approach should have a vested in your project with the view to build a long-term relationship. If not, the campaign will come off as a cheap sales pitch with no weight. And the blockchain audience will sense this from a mile away.
The key to any influencer marketing campaign is authenticity.
The two examples above point to the necessity of authenticity. An influencer campaign cannot rely solely on that person’s reputation or following alone. They may have high engagement rates, and they may even drive the organic traffic you are after to the pages you have specified but, is it quality traffic?
Are the people being sent to your page genuinely interested in your project or product, or is it just curiosity and a reaction to the hype created by one of their favorite social media personalities? It may be better to recruit four micro-influencers to post and share content consistently than a once-off post because this will garner more quality organic traffic.
AmaZix can weed out the influencers that are merely posers or those out to make a quick buck. We will help your brand build a relationship with influencers that will grow brand loyalty. The key areas we address in this process are:
Choosing the right influencer for your brand
Contract and pricing negotiation
Proper influencer briefing that includes:
Brand background
Brand purpose
Brand’s roadmap and future intentions
Campaign objectives and timeline
Content briefing
Outline of audiences to be reached and why
The brand’s written tone and content guidelines and tracks.
Brand’s visual language
Provision of visual materials
Content engagement strategies
Guideline for audience engagement directives and referrals to the brand.
When done correctly and authentically, influencer marketing has massive potential. If not, it can merely be a waste of your budget, garnering only fickle web traffic with a potentially detrimental effect on your brand. Influencer marketing needs to be managed appropriately within the context of your overall marketing and branding strategy. We are experts and can assist, so reach out to us not only for a marketing plan and content strategy but to orchestrate them effectively!