Influence marketing: how to increase sales and strengthen your brand
Marketing
The impact of social media on consumer behavior cannot be overstated. With the growing popularity of social networks and online platforms, influence marketing has become a powerful tool for brands looking to boost their sales and strengthen their image. Collaborating with influencers — bloggers, celebrities, and opinion leaders — allows brands to build closer and more trusting relationships with consumers.
In this article, we will explore the key aspects of influence marketing, its benefits, and practical recommendations for effectively using this tool to increase sales and strengthen your brand.
In this article, we will explore the key aspects of influence marketing, its benefits, and practical recommendations for effectively using this tool to increase sales and strengthen your brand.
INFLUENCE MARKETING AS A STRATEGY
Influence marketing, or influencer marketing, is a promotional strategy based on collaboration with influencers (bloggers, celebrities, opinion leaders) who use their authority and audience trust to promote brands and products, creating personalized and relevant messages.
Over the past eight years, the global influencer marketing market has grown almost 14 times, providing access to a new audience that has shifted from television and print media to bloggers.
Over the past eight years, the global influencer marketing market has grown almost 14 times, providing access to a new audience that has shifted from television and print media to bloggers.
Influence marketing works effectively for businesses of all sizes, from local small companies to large international brands with a wide range of products. The key is the right choice of concept and promotion strategy.
Here are six reasons why you should include influencer marketing in your marketing strategy:
1. Access to a Wide and Targeted Audience: Influencers have a significant number of followers, allowing brands to reach a broad and specific audience that trusts the recommendations of their idols.
2. Increased Trust and Loyalty: Recommendations from influencers are perceived by the audience as more sincere and reliable compared to traditional advertising, which helps strengthen trust in the brand.
3. Increased Sales: Personalized and authentic recommendations stimulate interest and purchasing activity, directly influencing sales growth.
4. Brand Strengthening: Joint campaigns with well-known influencers help improve the brand's image and increase its recognition.
5. Creation of Unique Content: Influencers create original and creative content that can be used by the brand across various marketing channels.
6. Increased Engagement: Interactive and visually appealing influencer content actively engages the audience, increasing the level of interaction with the brand.
All this ensures an influx of new active audiences, increases reach, and addresses image issues, even when traditional traffic sources are exhausted.
Here are six reasons why you should include influencer marketing in your marketing strategy:
1. Access to a Wide and Targeted Audience: Influencers have a significant number of followers, allowing brands to reach a broad and specific audience that trusts the recommendations of their idols.
2. Increased Trust and Loyalty: Recommendations from influencers are perceived by the audience as more sincere and reliable compared to traditional advertising, which helps strengthen trust in the brand.
3. Increased Sales: Personalized and authentic recommendations stimulate interest and purchasing activity, directly influencing sales growth.
4. Brand Strengthening: Joint campaigns with well-known influencers help improve the brand's image and increase its recognition.
5. Creation of Unique Content: Influencers create original and creative content that can be used by the brand across various marketing channels.
6. Increased Engagement: Interactive and visually appealing influencer content actively engages the audience, increasing the level of interaction with the brand.
All this ensures an influx of new active audiences, increases reach, and addresses image issues, even when traditional traffic sources are exhausted.
HOW TO CHOOSE AN INFLUENCER FOR COLLABORATION
One of the most important aspects of influencer marketing is choosing the right influencer. This step can be a decisive factor for the success of an advertising campaign. How do you find someone who best reflects the spirit of your brand and effectively interacts with the target audience? Here are some steps to help you make an informed decision:
1. Define Your Goals: Before you start searching, clearly define what you want to achieve with influencer marketing: increase brand awareness, attract new customers, boost sales, or improve the image.
2. Understand Your Audience: Analyze your brand's target audience. Determine its demographic characteristics, interests, and behavior. Look for influencers whose audience matches your target market.
3. Analyze the Influencer's Content: Study the style, quality, and themes of the influencer's content. Ensure that their content aligns with your brand and resonates with your values.
4. Check Engagement: Evaluate the level of engagement of the influencer's audience. A high number of followers does not always guarantee campaign success. It is important that the audience actively interacts with the content through likes, comments, and shares. For example, in 2024, the average engagement rate on Instagram can vary from 2.66% to 6.08% depending on the number of followers.
5. Tone of Voice: Before making a decision, analyze the comments and behavior of the blogger: how they communicate with the audience, whether they use profanity, and what they promote. The tone of voice is important if it contradicts the brand book, positioning, or principles of the company.
6. Establish Contact: Reach out to the influencer and discuss the details of potential collaboration. Pay attention to their professionalism, willingness to cooperate, and understanding of your brand.
7. Monitoring and Evaluation: After the campaign starts, monitor its progress and evaluate the results. Use analytics to measure effectiveness and achieve set goals. Surveys show that about 54% of respondents evaluate the success of an influencer marketing campaign by the number of views, reach, and impressions, 23.5% by engagement or clicks, and only 22.1% by conversions and sales.
1. Define Your Goals: Before you start searching, clearly define what you want to achieve with influencer marketing: increase brand awareness, attract new customers, boost sales, or improve the image.
2. Understand Your Audience: Analyze your brand's target audience. Determine its demographic characteristics, interests, and behavior. Look for influencers whose audience matches your target market.
3. Analyze the Influencer's Content: Study the style, quality, and themes of the influencer's content. Ensure that their content aligns with your brand and resonates with your values.
4. Check Engagement: Evaluate the level of engagement of the influencer's audience. A high number of followers does not always guarantee campaign success. It is important that the audience actively interacts with the content through likes, comments, and shares. For example, in 2024, the average engagement rate on Instagram can vary from 2.66% to 6.08% depending on the number of followers.
5. Tone of Voice: Before making a decision, analyze the comments and behavior of the blogger: how they communicate with the audience, whether they use profanity, and what they promote. The tone of voice is important if it contradicts the brand book, positioning, or principles of the company.
6. Establish Contact: Reach out to the influencer and discuss the details of potential collaboration. Pay attention to their professionalism, willingness to cooperate, and understanding of your brand.
7. Monitoring and Evaluation: After the campaign starts, monitor its progress and evaluate the results. Use analytics to measure effectiveness and achieve set goals. Surveys show that about 54% of respondents evaluate the success of an influencer marketing campaign by the number of views, reach, and impressions, 23.5% by engagement or clicks, and only 22.1% by conversions and sales.
Trend Towards Micro-Influencers
Influencers are classified by audience size, content type, and industry.
Mega-Influencers are celebrities with a million-plus audience. Advertising with them is very expensive, so only large brands can afford to collaborate with them.
Macro-Influencers are bloggers with several hundred thousand to a million followers. They are suitable for promoting both niche services and mass-market products. Bloggers are often given unique promo codes that allow their followers to get a discount. This is not only a bonus for potential customers but also a convenient way to track campaign effectiveness. The more followers a blogger has, the higher the cost of advertising.
In 2023-2024, a key trend in advertising is collaboration with nano- and micro-influencers, who have up to 10-20 thousand followers. Why is this beneficial?
1. More Accurate Targeting: Companies have a better chance of reaching their audience, especially if it is tied to a specific region.
2. High-Quality Followers: Microbloggers have a more genuine audience, the likelihood of fake followers is lower, and trust relationships are easier to establish.
3. Low Cost: Most nano- and microbloggers are willing to work for barter or small budgets. Collaborating with 30 microbloggers can be more beneficial than with one large blogger.
4. Minimum Restrictions: These bloggers are less picky, readily promote products, and do not delete sponsored posts after 24 hours, as celebrities often do.
Mega-Influencers are celebrities with a million-plus audience. Advertising with them is very expensive, so only large brands can afford to collaborate with them.
Macro-Influencers are bloggers with several hundred thousand to a million followers. They are suitable for promoting both niche services and mass-market products. Bloggers are often given unique promo codes that allow their followers to get a discount. This is not only a bonus for potential customers but also a convenient way to track campaign effectiveness. The more followers a blogger has, the higher the cost of advertising.
In 2023-2024, a key trend in advertising is collaboration with nano- and micro-influencers, who have up to 10-20 thousand followers. Why is this beneficial?
1. More Accurate Targeting: Companies have a better chance of reaching their audience, especially if it is tied to a specific region.
2. High-Quality Followers: Microbloggers have a more genuine audience, the likelihood of fake followers is lower, and trust relationships are easier to establish.
3. Low Cost: Most nano- and microbloggers are willing to work for barter or small budgets. Collaborating with 30 microbloggers can be more beneficial than with one large blogger.
4. Minimum Restrictions: These bloggers are less picky, readily promote products, and do not delete sponsored posts after 24 hours, as celebrities often do.
MAIN PLATFORMS FOR INFLUENCE MARKETING
Platforms differ in target audience and content delivery. The top three in 2024 are TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
TikTok. A source of young audiences, with the largest user segment aged 12 to 24. TikTok's global monthly reach is about 1 billion active users, making it one of the most popular platforms for promotion and audience interaction.
Instagram. A platform where visual content is crucial. Instagram's monthly reach is about 2.35 billion active users. The largest user segment by age is 25–34 years. Influencers use photos, videos, reels, and stories to reach their target audience.
YouTube. A diverse platform offering everything from humorous videos to scientific lectures and training. YouTube's monthly reach is about 2.6 billion users worldwide.
Telegram. Suitable for working with text formats, attracting a reading and interactive audience. The predominant age group is 25 to 34 years.
Facebook. Less effective as an influence platform, more suitable for classic targeted advertising.
YouTube. A diverse platform offering everything from humorous videos to scientific lectures and training. YouTube's monthly reach is about 2.6 billion users worldwide.
Telegram. Suitable for working with text formats, attracting a reading and interactive audience. The predominant age group is 25 to 34 years.
Facebook. Less effective as an influence platform, more suitable for classic targeted advertising.
BRAND AND OPINION LEADER COLLABORATION
Campaigns involving opinion leaders are becoming increasingly popular and diverse, covering various industries and target audiences. Let's look at a few examples of influencer marketing campaigns to demonstrate the wide range of approaches and creativity in this strategy.
Barbie
The marketing efforts for this movie began long before its release. The campaign started on Instagram, involving all sorts of influencers worldwide, including celebrities like Dua Lipa, who posted their photos with the unique "This Barbie" template.
Internet users worldwide joined the trend, posting their photos using the movie's hashtag #BarbieTheMovie, making the campaign a huge success.
Internet users worldwide joined the trend, posting their photos using the movie's hashtag #BarbieTheMovie, making the campaign a huge success.
Campaign Statistics: The hashtags #BarbieTheMovie and #BarbieMovie exceeded 1.5 million posts on Instagram alone. More than 1 million unique users created content for Barbie. Such active social media presence helped the brand create an unparalleled buzz around the movie, contributing to its huge success and making it one of the highest-grossing films.
Key Takeaways: Barbie's marketing strategy proves the importance of starting promotions early and creating pre-release buzz with influencers as one of the most effective strategies. The campaign encouraged fans worldwide to share their versions of Barbie through diverse content. Collaborations were not limited to social networks but also included traditional marketing strategies, making it one of the most powerful examples of influencer campaigns of all time.
Key Takeaways: Barbie's marketing strategy proves the importance of starting promotions early and creating pre-release buzz with influencers as one of the most effective strategies. The campaign encouraged fans worldwide to share their versions of Barbie through diverse content. Collaborations were not limited to social networks but also included traditional marketing strategies, making it one of the most powerful examples of influencer campaigns of all time.
Burger King
In its campaign, Burger King used a unique approach to partnering with influencers to promote its world-famous Whopper burger. In 2020, Burger King launched the #WhopperDance on TikTok, inviting popular opinion leaders to teach users a fun dance move and encourage their followers to repeat the dance and post it on TikTok. In return, Burger King provided participants with a promo code to get a Whopper burger for just $1.
Campaign Statistics: Burger King's collaboration with popular creators helped the #WhopperDance become a trending dance on TikTok, garnering over 47 million views under the hashtag. The company noticed a significant increase in the average check, as users actively participated in the challenge.
Key Takeaways: Burger King's influencer marketing campaign helped the brand gain a loyal customer base and fans. The dance challenge helped Burger King increase user-generated content (UGC) on TikTok, allowing the brand to attract more followers and boost engagement on the platform through the dance challenge.
Key Takeaways: Burger King's influencer marketing campaign helped the brand gain a loyal customer base and fans. The dance challenge helped Burger King increase user-generated content (UGC) on TikTok, allowing the brand to attract more followers and boost engagement on the platform through the dance challenge.
Subaru
In the #MeetAnOwner campaign, Subaru used videos featuring influencers to showcase the new Impreza in various locations, hoping to attract the attention of millennial buyers. Devin Graham (@devinsupertramp), a YouTube influencer with nearly 5 million subscribers, posted a video where he and his friends take turns sliding down a water slide.
Key Takeaways: Influencer content was built on emotions rather than facts and figures. Despite the importance of features like safety functions, engine power, and fuel efficiency, the automotive industry has long used the emotional aspect of car buying in TV commercials. Graham's video shows that influencer marketing is a natural extension of this same concept, especially at a time when many millennials admit to scrolling through social media during TV commercials.
IN SUMMARY
When approached correctly, influencer marketing is a powerful tool for promoting products and services through opinion leader recommendations. This method stimulates audience engagement, creates a sense of community around the brand, and allows for maximum impact on the target audience.
To achieve long-term results, it is important to choose influencers correctly, considering their alignment with the values and interests of the target audience, and to do this:
Explore our case studies on promotion and launching advertising campaigns in various verticals.
To achieve long-term results, it is important to choose influencers correctly, considering their alignment with the values and interests of the target audience, and to do this:
- Pay Attention to Analytics: Many influencers resort to fake followers. Before starting a collaboration, conduct a thorough analysis of their account.
- Study Case Studies: These practical examples of solving various business challenges will help you master influencer collaboration methods.
- Expand Your Reach: It is important not only to be visible but also to be memorable. Collaborate with multiple bloggers, experiment, and be creative.
- Consult Experts: AdSkill managers will ensure successful promotion and brand recognition, provide agency accounts for advertising platforms, and offer support at all stages of work.
Explore our case studies on promotion and launching advertising campaigns in various verticals.