Current Influencer Trends - part 3

Welcome back to our CEO’s Guide to Influencer Culture! In our first post, we offered a brief overview of the history of influencer culture and how it rose to popularity in the marketing industry. If you’d like a recap, you can click here. Next, we took a closer look at current trends and how you can mimic them (click here to read more). Today, we want to provide some practical numbers and information that will help you get started with influencer marketing.

The Value of Influencer Marketing

You’re a CEO, so your number one concern is the growth of your company, which often comes down to the bottom line. In fact, chances are that you read last week’s blog post with one thought in mind: “That’s great, but how much does it cost? And is it really worth it?” Let’s evaluate…

Like we talked about last week, using influencers and affiliate marketing has become more popular than ever in recent years, for both small companies and large global brands. For example, in 2018, Walmart cleared a big space at their figurative marketing table for influencers, sponsoring posts and even sharing lifestyle content from influencer partners on their website. Searching their designated hashtags on Instagram will bring up thousands of posts, from both small-time and large-scale influencers, each sharing their favorite Walmart finds.

Similarly, Disney rallied influencers that catered to their chosen demographic to help market the launch of their streaming service, Disney+, at the end of 2019. Disney-focused bloggers, fashion bloggers and former reality television stars alike united to showcase their families enjoying nostalgic movies and original series within the Disney+ app. What can you learn from these brand giants? That in today’s market, influencer marketing is for everyone.

In fact, according to research done by MediaKix, “89% of marketers say that ROI from influencer marketing is comparable or better than other marketing channels.” Their 2019 Influencer Marketing Study also found that some brands are devoting as much as half of their entire marketing budget into influencer marketing. This is supported by a study done by TapInfluencer, which found that “influencer marketing generates as much as 11x banner ad ROI” and that “households exposed to influencer marketing purchased 10% more Silk products than the control group.”

Expected Costs

If your marketing budget pales in comparison to that of the Waltons or the Mouse, don’t worry: there’s an influencer marketing strategy for you, too. But, what does it cost? On average, you can expect to pay anywhere from $1000 to $1 million per sponsored post. That rate is dependent on a lot of factors, like:

• Reach: Influencers with larger audiences have a larger reach, making them more expensive to partner with. WebFX gives the following approximate price breakdown for sponsored Facebook posts:
  • An influencer with 10,000 followers could charge $250 per post
  • An influencer with 100,000 followers could charge $2500 per post
  • An influencer with 1,000,000 followers could charge $25,000 per post
• Platform: Price is dependent on where your message is marketed—be it YouTube, Instagram, on a personal blog, etc. Right now, Instagram posts attract some of the highest rates in the industry.
• Length of Campaign: Do you want to establish a long-term partnership with an influencer, or just use them for a single post? Are you interested in a video shout out in their stories, or will a grid post suffice? The more you expect from an influencer, the more they’ll charge.

Measuring ROI

Measuring the return on your investment is an important aspect of every marketing campaign, and the same is true of influencer marketing. Measuring the value of your investment can prove to be one of the most difficult aspects of implementing an influencer marketing campaign, but it doesn’t have to be.

Of course, how well you can measure your ROI will depend on the overall goals of the campaign. If you’re looking to simply increase exposure of your brand, you may have a more difficult time ascertaining its worth—unless you’re going strictly off of unique site visits or ad clicks. Conversely, if you’re looking to increase overall sales of a specific product, you should be able to see a clear picture through affiliate marketing. Utilizing unique links model can make it easy to see where traffic comes from and whether or not your campaign is effectively driving purchases.

Agency Partnerships

When considering influencer partnerships, there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Their audience. If the potential partner’s audience isn’t part of your own demographic, chances are slim that they’ll be able to attract new customers on your behalf. Additionally, they may be wary of cheapening their own brand by aligning with companies that market outside of their traditional sphere of influence.
2. Their reach. Are you looking for widespread impressions, or is your message geared more to a grassroots effort that can be accomplished by a handful of nano-influencers? Considering this is an essential part of your planning process.
3. Monitoring mentions: How heavily do you want your influencer partner to engage in discussion with followers about your message? If you’re expecting a negative backlash or a series of important questions as a result of your campaign, it may be worth it to invest in an influencer who is willing to go to bat for you by addressing concerns in their comments space. Alternatively, you can negotiate a temporary “account takeover” in order to have full control of your story.

If researching the right fit for your campaign sounds like a lot of work, rest assured that you don’t have to do it all yourself. Recent insights suggest that more influencers than ever before are partnering with agencies, which can work in your favor. They’ll be responsible for matching you to an appropriate influencer (or group of influencers) and negotiating the terms of your contract. If you’re on a time crunch, or unsure of exactly how to get started, this can be a great option.

Conclusion
Congratulations! You’ve reached the end of our guide to influencer culture, and hopefully feel a lot more confident in your ability to integrate this rapidly evolving concept into your marketing strategy. Using influencer marketing is a great way to boost your personal influence, drive sales and position yourself as a leader in your field. Do you think you’re ready to take your first steps into implementing an influencer-driven marketing campaign? Reach out if you need help, or if you’re looking for other suggestions to boost your marketing efforts!

- verb