If you’re trying to grow your brand on Instagram, you may have some misgivings at the idea of using “influencers”, wondering if it’s even something that works. In truth, brands have been utilizing the influence of celebrities for decades and Instagram is no different. Though “Instagram famous” may not be exactly the same thing as being a world-famous celebrity, the result of their influence is the same. Read on to find out how Instagram influencers can help you to grow your brand.
What is Influencer Marketing and How Does it Work?
The recent popularization of social media makes it possible for anyone to create great content and use it to build a loyal following, which brands can then utilize. An influencer promoting your product WILL bring it to the attention of their followers. In fact, studies have shown that 70% of teenage YouTube subscribers trust the opinions of their influencers even more than they do world-famous celebrities. The reasons for this are manifold; one of the main ones being that influencers are more accessible to the general public. Brands pay influencers to either use, promote or mention their product – prompting their loyal fans and followers to engage and boosting your marketing reach by a long shot.
1.Expand Your Reach with User-Generated Content
The aim of any campaign is, of course, for it to go viral with maximum engagement and reach and one of the best ways to do that is to invite users to create their own content about your brand. Create a catchy hashtag that represents your brand message and a description that prompts users to post their own content using your hashtag. Once an influencer creates a post – perhaps a selfie of them holding or using your product – and encourages their followers to do the same, Instagram can soon be flooded with photos of users using your product. To boost your campaign even more, you can ask people to tag your brand in their posts, and even offer a reward for the most creative or most liked post. By making it a competition, you could see a significant boost in engagement and ROI for your campaign.
2.Experiment with Multiple Mediums
Another way to achieve that high ROI from campaigns using Instagram influencers is by utilizing their various platforms. Most influencers promote their content on multiple platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. Your campaign can grow from Instagram and reach thousands more followers by using different platforms.
3.Use an Influencer Marketplace
You will want to find the right influencer to help with the marketing of your campaign; so instead of doing a lot of tedious research, why not use an influencer marketing platform or tool? The advantages are:
- You can improve and narrow down your influencer search with filters and pre-vetted influencers
- You can easily access the analytics of the progress of your campaign
- You can automate your billing to make it easier
4.Work with a Team of Micro-Influencers
Since working with a high-profile influencer can be expensive, another alternative is to work with a number of micro-influencers, which can often generate the same reach you would get working with just one high-profile influencer. While reach is important, engagement is the Holy Grail of social media promotion.
You can measure your engagement with this formula: Engagement rate = # of likes + # of comments / # of followers.
Micro-influencers might have less reach but actually manage to engage their audiences a lot more (6% compared to the average 1.6% for celebrities). So, if you combine the efforts of the micro-influencers, you can end up getting a lot more actual engagement on your posts.
5.Position Yourself for Different Audiences
Your brand has its own story, but that story can be told from many different points of view to engage different types of audiences. When a brand can use different angles to tell their story, it can result in very powerful reach and engagement.
A good example of this is the campaign Mercedes- Benz launched last year for their 2017 GLS sport utility car. They used 2 separate influencers to create Instagram and YouTube content.
While one influencer photographed the car in the snow with a Siberian husky running beside it, generating engagement from animal lovers and the outdoors and outdoor sports lovers; the other influencer – chef Chris Coombs – created a post in which he drove the car around, assembling ingredients for a meal. This appealed to foodies, restaurant lovers and health food supporters. Together, the two posts generated 173 million impressions on Instagram and 2.3 million likes and comments. Impressive!
In conclusion, working with Instagram influencers could make the difference for any brand that wants to expand its reach and promote its products. Find the way that will work best for you and go for it!
