[Image via: Spiceworks.com]
What is Influence Marketing?
Also known as, influencer marketing, influence marketing is a marketing topic that is gaining importance to marketers. Most people, however, don’t know what it is and might not even realize it exists. According to Forbes.com, it “can be loosely defined as a form of marketing that identifies and targets individuals with influence over potential buyers.”
There are nearly 50,000 influencers on Instagram whose interests lie in many industries such as, fashion, sports, health, fitness, beauty, food and more. Using influencer marketing on Instagram is a great way to target your ideal customer. Influencers on instagram understand their audience and your customers better than any brand could. They know what will drive engagement and interest. The fact that there are people with a substantial following who have the power to impact their audience’s purchase decisions is something that should be utilized by all marketers.
Famous Sponsors
Whether it’s a famous celebrity or someone who is #instafamous, there are many accounts that have mastered the art of brand sponsorship on Instagram and it’s worth taking a tip or two from them.
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Kylie Jenner has become a standard when it comes to celebrity brand endorsement on Instagram. It’s no wonder when she has a following of almost 53 million people on Instagram. Recently, she showcased the product @FitTea on Instagram commenting that, “the results are worth it!” Kylie has been known to sponsor many products from beauty, fitness, and the fashion industry. Celebrities sponsors are the most common and expensive form of influencer marketing. Potential customers are extremely impacted by celebrities like Kylie Jenner and open to the suggestion to buy what they buy.
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Similar to Kylie Jenner, Bretman Rock, recently posed with a different fitness tea called, @Teamiblends. Rock is what we like to call someone who is #instafamous. He may not have as many followers as Kylie, but almost 5 million is more than enough to be a great sponsor. Rock showcases the product in a different way than Kylie. He captions the picture with a lengthy but real explanation of why he drinks Teami. His story is relatable to followers and, therefore, has a huge impact on their purchase decisions.
Contests, Campaigns, and Giveaways
It can be costly to use influencers as sponsors. Luckily, there are easy and inexpensive ways for brands to interact with their influencers. Common strategies used in influence marketing include contests, campaigns, and giveaways. There are even ways for customers to create content for your brand which also expands your brand awareness.
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GoPro is a great example of a brand which has mastered Instagram influencer marketing and incorporates all of these strategies into their account operations. Their #PhotoOfTheDay campaign is a contest where GoPro will showcase one user’s photo everyday on their account. They took it one step further by launching their #GoProAwards campaign in which participants are awarded for the best content and win up to five million dollars. While it’s true GoPro is a camera company and Instagram is all about taking pictures, they are doing the best job at mastering the art of influence marketing of any other camera brand out there.
A photo posted by Dogs of Instagram (@dogsofinstagram) on Feb 25, 2016 at 10:05pm PST
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@DogsofInstagram, an account that showcases the best pictures of dogs on Instagram, recently launched a giveaway. Dogs of Instagram uses their account and large following to promote many businesses including the online shop, @Lucyand.Co For their most recent giveaway, two winners will be able to select their favorite item out of the most popular items from the shop. All you need to do to enter the contest is to comment on your favorite item below a picture of it. This is a great example of an account that uses giveaways to promote another account.
The Future of Influence Marketing
The future of influence marketing is unknown, but it’s likely we’ll see a shift from celebrity sponsors to micro-influencers, a social media trend that is gaining popularity. They are the people who have close relationships with your customers and therefore have a great influence on their buying decisions. Targeting Instagram users who might not have a huge following, could have a huge impact on your potential customer. We will most likely see more #TagAFriend campaigns which allows for those micro-influencers to influence their friends’ buying decisions.
How does your brand utilize the power of influence marketing? Comment below!
LUC Marketing 399 