The last thing you’d want is to end up in the top influncer marketing campaign fails, right? Here’s a guideline of when to use influencers, in getting Michael Jordans for your Nike and avoiding Kendall Jenners for your Pepsi.
The influencer marketing industry is expected to grow into a 13.8 billion dollar industry in 2021. In addition, businesses are earning $5.12 per dollar spent on influencer marketing. With this, more brands are dedicating bigger budgets for content creation and influencer marketing. So, when to use influencers for your brand?
When to use influencers: the michael jordans for your Nike
#1 When you need to earn the consumers trust
In a world wherein people are bombarded with millions of information, including both facts and fibs— integrity is everything. Influencer marketing is relevant to earn trust through the psychological hack of using social proof or social influence. It is basically capitalizing on people’s tendency to copy the behaviors of people they admire. Your consumers already trust these micro to mega influencers to give honest feedback when using your brand. By using influencer marketing, you’ve done half the job in converting them as leads.
#2 When you want to introduce a new product or service
Using influencers and would be effective in launching new products or campaigns. They’re one of the best avenues to gain exposure. Influencers know trends in the market probably more than you do— it’s their job to keep up. Tapping influencers to feature your product, it’s the same tactic as using word-of-mouth. Before buying a product, people would watch or read reviews on the products first. Doing this saves them time, effort and money. Hence, approaching social media influencers is a pretty sure bet in increasing awareness for your product.
Check out this review for an M1 Macbook sponsored by Apple.
#3 When you’re targeting a niche market
Both brand influencers and brand ambassadors already have a strong following of people who relatively have the same interests. Whether their platforms are on Tiktok, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook or all of the above, these influencers already have a dedicated amount of followers and are sure to consider the content they produce. Like you, these micro and mega social media influencers also have niche markets. Reaching out to influencers or influencer agencies would give you a solid consumer base to start with or to further expand the reach of your brand.
when NOT to use influencers: the Kendall Jenners to your Pepsi
#1 When their followers are not your target market
Sometimes, brands tend to focus more on how popular they are without taking into account their current fanbase. They forget who they are targeting and simply rely on random followers. It’s effective for some brands, but having someone promote your product to a group of people who isn’t your target audience can lead to a waste of effort and money. Finding an influencer with the right fanbase will be more effective since they will be promoting your brand to people who are likely to be interested in your brand.
#2 When they cause a lot of controversies
One of the biggest factors in establishing your brand is maintaining its good healthy image. This includes choosing the right people to represent your brand correctly. You want to stay away from influencers that can possibly harm your brand’s image. With the rise of people in the market judging brands based on their ambassadors, you want avoid controversies that can be linked to your brand’s image. Preserving your image should be your priority since it distinguishes you from other brands. You can drop an influencer, but these situations should be avoided from the start.
#3 When their values don’t go with your brand’s message
Being cohesive is one of the most important strategies in improving your brand equity. Tapping into influencers that do not align with your company values can confuse your consumers. Since the followers of these influencers idolize them, marketing something that does not match with the influencer’s personality will be ineffective. You should avoid going off-brand by finding an influencer that shares the same branding as you.
Thanks for reading! Check out our other blogs too!
