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How Influencer Marketing is Evolving in 2022

If you really want to grow your Instagram 5account so it becomes a recognizable, influential platform for your business or brand, you might want to hear about Influencer Marketing and how it’s looking in 2022.  One thing’s for sure, Influencer Marketing is always evolving, and your Influencer Marketing Campaign should reflect this (more on Influencer Marketing Campaigns later).

Let’s find out about Influencer Marketing and Influencer Marketing Platforms.  Your Influencer Marketing Campaigns will be up and running in no time and you’ll identify potential customers for branded content.

It’s about Influencer Marketing Tactics for your target market. Many brands use Influencers for campaign results, to promote products, share unique links, and highlight discount codes and branded content, you can too.

What is Influencing and What Influencer Marketing Involves

When you buy Instagram likes, you’re essentially paying to have your content seen by more people. In other words, you’re paying for influence. And while there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, it’s important to understand what you’re getting into before you commit any money. m

Unsure what Influencing is all about and want to know more about Influencer Marketing Campaigns? We’ll give you a brief overview.  It’s simple really – Influencing is subtly persuading others to do something by creating content, it’s social listening and social proof.

there is a phone that a hand came out of Instagram live getting likes and emoji's

And Influencers?

Influencers are those that subtly persuade you to do something, they have large followings and loyal followings.  In fact, even if you don’t have a huge presence on social media, you’re still an Influencer.  We’ll give you an example.

Let’s say you post a picture of somewhere that you’ve visited.  It might be a vacation destination.  It’s hot, the sand is creamy white, the sea is a turquoise oasis of calm and you’re laying in a hammock enjoying some R&R.  Suddenly, five comments appear under your Instagram post or Instagram stories.  It’s your friends, they LOVE your picture, where are you?  What’s it like?  And they want to visit too.  So they look at your destination as their future vacation choice and book it.  See, you’ve influenced them and you’re an Instagram Influencer or one of many social Influencers.

That’s influencing and that’s why everyone has the potential to be an Influencer, most Influencers are regular people with social influence!

There are also thousands of potential Influencers, it’s a growing market.  There are also lots of Influencer types.

there are two influencers that they are getting likes, comments and new followers.

Working with Reputable Influencers for Your Influencer Marketing Campaigns

Without doubt, working with reputable influencers and their influencer content/content creation helps to boost your social network account, increase sales, generate new leads, discover more Instagram followers, gain more Instagram likes and grow your audience.

Here’s another example of Influencing. Think about it this way, we’re sure that someone notable, perhaps a personality or a famous person has encouraged you to buy something because they’re using it themselves, they’ve influenced your purchasing decision.  This is exactly what Influencer Marketing does.  It uses the power of influence to gain more consumers or users.

So Influencing is Advertising?

No, don’t get confused.  Influencing is not quite the same as advertising or online ads, although it is a form of advertising.  In fact, if your close friend buys a pair of jeans that you love and want for yourself, so you go out and buy them, that’s also influence.  It’s not advertising as such because it’s not in-your-face paid for advertising.

Influencer Marketing has become a hugely powerful marketing tool using content creation thanks to the rise of social media.  If you’re not using it, you’re missing out on opportunity.  Let’s go into more detail because while what we’ve described above is true, it’s slightly more complicated.

Reinforcing Brand Messaging

there is a lifestyle blogger with a phone in hand, who has got three stars for his brand

Influencer Marketing uses specific content creators and the right influencers to boost brand awareness and increase traffic.  It also reinforces messages to a brand’s target audience.  You might hear it described as a collaboration – or a collab – between brands and influencers.

It’s used in various different social networking channels, such as social networking platforms, blogs, articles, digital advertising, offline advertising, and television.

It is the perfect route for businesses and brands to get their products and services right in front of the audience they want.  It uses word-of-mouth and images to influence others and boy, does it work!

When it comes to Instagram, users follow accounts because they like what they have to say, and they follow influencers because they aspire to be the same.  Perhaps they like their style, or they follow their workout.  It’s about target audience.

a women holds a cart in her hands that it wrote trust on it

It’s Very Much About TRUST

Maybe they tune into their lifestyle, or they want their homes to look the same.  Lots of people follow influencers to feel inspired, to get new ideas and be more creative.  The important aspect here is trust.  Instagram users trust the influencers they follow because they get an insight into their day-to-day lives, and they want to be like them.

Is Influencer Marketing The Only Way to Grow Your Social Network Following?

No, absolutely not but it is an effective, powerful way to grow a brand or business on social networks and reach your target audience.

There are other ways to grow your following on Instagram, for example, you could buy Instagram followers in 2022.  It’s fast becoming a popular way of increasing brand engagement and reaching target audience. It is paramount that you choose a quality, reputable business to do so because you want genuine followers that align with your business or brand.

Don’t fall victim to companies promising to supply you with a load of Instagram followers that aren’t real.  You might end up with fakes, bots or inactive Instagram accounts and this could damage your status on Instagram, even lead to account suspension.

There are quality companies out there who use proper market research techniques to pair your business or brand with reputable Instagrammers who WILL engage with you and stay loyal and will be your target audience.

buy Instagram followers is one such trend, as many companies are now purchasing large quantities of followers in order to give themselves an air of credibility.

Let’s get back to Influencer Marketing to grow target audience.

Instagram Influencer Marketing – Brand Ambassador or Brand Influencer?

It’s likely that you’ve heard the terms Brand Ambassador and Brand Influencer and maybe, you think they’re the same.  They’re not.  There’s a difference.  We’ll explain.

Brand Influencers

two Instagram influencers using their devices to advertise for new brands and gain money.

A Brand Influencer relates to a person who has a following in a certain niche and they engage with their following and that niche area regularly.  This means they’re pretty powerful and can persuade people to make purchasing decisions.  Examples of Brand Influencers:

  • Micro-influencers or Nano Influencers (different to Macro Influencers which are really Celebrity Influencers with massive following)
  • Celebrity influencers for celebrity endorsements.
  • Blog influencers and lifestyle bloggers.
  • Social media influencers.
  • Leadership influencers.
  • Opinion leaders.

Lots of big brands use Brand Influencers and partner with them so they promote their products.  On social media, these Brand Influencers are called Social Media Influencers.  To get in touch with an Influencer, you could use an Influencer Marketing Agency or talent agency.

Brand Ambassadors

a brand ambassador is trying to increase the rate of Instagram business by giving stars to it.

These people partner with businesses usually with a contract in place.  Their job is to help the business increase brand awareness, encourage conversions and, most importantly, generate more sales.

It’s Brand Ambassadors’ job to represent the brand and emulate the lifestyle that fits with the brand.  They’ll have strong knowledge of the business, its products, or its services in order to do so.  Influencer Marketing Agencies also supply Brand Ambassadors.

Now you know the difference, we’ll focus the rest of this guide on Brand Influencers.

Influencer Marketing Statistics

If you’re still not convinced that having a Brand Influencer for your product or service is going to work, check out the stats from last year (2021):

  • 58% of marketers said that in 2021, Influencer Marketing was the biggest social network marketing trend and worked better than SEO, offline marketing, and even short video content.
  • 80% of marketers believe Influencer Marketing to be highly effective, if not better than any other form of online marketing (offline too).
  • In 2022, the same marketers plan to invest in Influencer Marketing, many of them increasing their budget in the area.
  • The biggest platform for Influencer Marketing is Instagram whereas Facebook is perceived as the best platform for Influencer Campaigns and TikTok is fast becoming a notable social network platform for Influencer Marketing.
  • The lowest performing social channels for Influencer Marketing are Snapchat and Twitch, but this year, 70% of marketers plan to invest in Clubhouse.
  • GenZ trust Influencer Marketing more than any other demographic.
  • Cost is the biggest problem for Influencer Marketing, it can be very expensive.
  • You can find good Influencers from an Influencer Marketing Agency.

The Types of Influencers

There are many different types of influencers in today’s digital age, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Some influencers focus primarily on their Instagram views, posting aesthetically pleasing photos that attract large audiences of followers. While this type of online presence can be effective for some brands or businesses, for others it may not be enough.

Let’s investigate all the different types of Influencer Marketing Influencers.

Micro-Influencers

an influencer account that has got more than 3k followers working for social media marketing

These aren’t the biggest influencers and usually have a few thousand followers.  They have a good following, and they communicate with their audience regularly using social media platforms, social media channels, blog posts, forums and also through the written word.  Some Influencer Marketing Agencies supply Micro Influencers.

Use Micro Influencers for Influencer Campaigns.

Small But Beautiful

While they’re smaller, they do have impressive engagement and their smaller following means they can interact with their fans which is easier because they don’t have millions of follower count.

So, they’re good to work with if you’re a business or brand wishing to develop personal relationships with your followers.

There are a few ways to work with Micro-Influencers, they could blog about your business, post an online review, or just post an image on Instagram or Facebook highlighting your product or service.

As they’re small, any engagement is easy to manage and respond to, so if your audience has a question, they can be answered relatively quickly and comments can be liked, shared, or replied to.

They’re great for small Influencer campaigns.

Celebrity Influencers

there is a celebrity girl coming out of post frame calling people for attention.

As the name states, you can imagine how big Celebrity Influencers are!  They have a huge following, often with millions of fans and there are these types of Influencers in every single industry.

Often, they’re household names and that means they’re highly sought after for marketing – because when they do something or wear something, millions of people want to do the same or wear the same.

You’ll Pay BIG BUCKS $$$!

However, they are notoriously expensive so normally, only big brands work with Celebrity Influencers.

They’re good for big budget Influencer campaigns.

Examples of Celebrity Influencers

These types of Influencers could be an actor, a singer, a band, a footballer, a soccer player, a tennis player, a TV chef, a famous hairdresser, and others too.

It is hard to work with one if you can’t afford one!  However, if budget is no issue, they could post a picture promoting your products or services or do the same with video content.

They could also offer exclusive discounts on your behalf and tell people why your product or service is so good!

The opportunity for sales here is enormous but the outlay is also enormous, you’d need to weigh up to see if you can afford it.  The likelihood is that if you can afford to use a Celebrity Influencer, then you’ll reap the reward.

To find one, you will have to use an Influencer Marketing Agency.

The Blog Influencer

there is a boy with green sweatshirt who is checking his Instagram posts

As it sounds, this is a person with a very influential and long-established blog.  They will have thousands or even millions of people subscribed to their blog, and they have a huge reach.  Some will be niche content creators so useful if you’re in a niche industry.

Guest Posts and Sponsored Posts

They work differently to other influencers in that you could ask them if you could post a guest post on their blog (usually paid partnership).  You could also pay for a sponsored post and sponsored content, so they write about your product or service for a fee.  Or they might write about your product or service in exchange for free products or free services.

An Influencer Marketing Agency can help you find a Blog Influencer.

Social Media Influencers

there is a girl with black hair and glasses that there is a phone in her hand.

Social media influencers are individuals who have a large following on popular social platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. These influencers are typically well-known in their given field, whether that be fashion, beauty, or travel, and have the ability to reach and engage with a large audience. One of the reasons that so many people buy Instagram followers cheap is the ability of social media influencers to promote products, brands, or ideas in an engaging and authentic way

These types of Influencers have a strong presence on social networking platforms and usually, more than one.  They have hundreds of thousands of followers, sometimes millions and their job is to share content about their life.  It usually involves their health, how they keep fit, their diet, the cars they drive, where they travel to, what they wear, how they style their homes, beauty and more.

Find a Social Media Influencer Who Ticks Your Brand’s Boxes

To work with a Social Media Influencer, you need to find one who resonates with your business or brand.  You also need to check that their followers are the right target audience.

A Social Media Influencer, like a Celebrity Influencer, can share images about your product or service, post videos and talk about the benefits too.  They can also tag your own social media accounts so their followers can easily find you and hopefully, you will grow your own Instagram followers.

Get Influencers to explain why they love your product and share content showing them using it.

Add this type of Influencer to your Influencer Marketing Strategy and find an Influencer Marketing Agency for Social Media Influencers.

Key Opinion Leaders (KOL for short)

there are two persons that they are pointing to KOL

This term refers to people who are highly knowledgeable on a specific topic.  Greta Thunberg is a KOL – she is highly knowledgeable on climate change and the environment and is a good example.

There are also KOLs on beauty, lifestyle, yoga, football, soccer, politics, travel and pretty much every industry sector.  People follow them because they trust their judgement and are interested in their opinions.

Key Ways of Working with Key Opinion Leaders

There are lots of ways to work with KOLs.  Through blogging, in written publications and through social media.  Perhaps they could review your product or service or share an image of your product or service on Instagram or another social media platform?

An Influencer Marketing Agency can help you to find a KOL for your industry.

Find Influencers to Work With

there is a girl holding a magnifier in her hand, trying to find influencers.

There are lots of different Influencers. With so many different types of Influencers – and so many Influencers, it can seem like an impossible task finding the right Influencer for your brand:

  • Do an Influencer Search on Google.  Type in your industry niche and the word Influencer to see what the search results suggest.  The top Influencers should appear on page one.
  • You can also narrow down your search and search the Google results’ names to find out more about each Influencer.  Review what’s written about them as well as what they’ve written and look on Social Media to see the engagement they have when they endorse a brand or business.
  • Social Media.  This is the obvious place to search for Influencers.  Almost every Influencer will have a social media platform and reading their profiles and noting their followers should give you confidence that they are (or aren’t) a good fit for you.
  • Do read the comments on the biggest performing Influencer posts too, to see how the Influencers interact with the audience.
  • Check out your competitors, see who they use for their Influencer Marketing campaigns.
  • Get a Referral.  Why not reach out to your current social media and other networks to ask people for referrals?  You could also ask business associates who they use or if they know of anyone suitable to boost your brand awareness.
  • Read Blogs.  Pick out some blogs in your industry niche (you can find these by performing a Google search) and read them.  See how many people read the content and read the comments too.  It’s a great way to find a Blog Influencer, and lots of Blog Influencers also use social media so cross-compare.
  • Find a reputable Influencer Marketing Agency to help you identify Influencers for marketing campaigns.

Crafting an Influencer Marketing Strategy

there is a girl with blue shirt who is trying to attract the audience and get their likes.

When crafting an effective influencer marketing strategy, it is important to start by identifying your target audience and the types of content that will catch their attention. In particular, it is essential to buy Instagram likes PayPal in order to increase visibility on social media and attract new followers.

If you’ve decided you want to use an Influencer for your business or brand, you need to create an Influencer Marketing Strategy that will fit in-line with your overall marketing strategy or marketer’s plan:

  • Set some goals.
  • Define your audience.
  • Set a budget.
  • Choose your Influencer type.
  • Choose your Influencer.
  • Create a campaign message for your Influencer to use.
  • List your expectations and share them with your Influencer.
  • Pay your Influencer.
  • Perform some analysis.

Set Your Goals

there is a todo list, hour glass and targets that they are showing goals.

Your goals are what you want to achieve by using Influencer Marketing and you’ll measure your success at the end according to whether or not you achieved your goals.

Keep it SMART

We recommend the SMART system for Influencer Marketing, which involves reach, relevance, and resonance.  Your reach is the ability to reach your audience by using an Influencer.  You’ll want to know how many people view the content the Influencer posts about your business or service.

Relevance relates to how connected your target audience feels to your business or brand following you working with an Influencer.

Resonance is whether the Influencer generated an action by your following, so whether you gained more followers, they clicked onto your website, read a piece you promoted, purchased something and so on.

Specify Your Audience

Your audience shouldn’t really change unless you diversify so you need to make sure your Influencer is in line with your audience.  You also ne*ed your marketing team to understand who your audience is, how they react to social media, their buying patterns, and lifestyles too.

Set Your Budget

Every business, regardless of size, has a budget.  Find out what yours is and tailor the best Influencer to work with.

A start-up or a small business with a low budget might want to use a Micro-Influencer.

Sometimes, Influencers will work in exchange for freebies, free clothes, free homewares, free workout kit etc.

Mid to large sized businesses will benefit from a Celebrity Influencer or a KOL, perhaps a big Social Media Influencer.

Find Your Influencer

Research as discussed, a little earlier in this piece.  Select two or three and cross-compare by examining their social media presence and reach and use the right ones for your Influencer program:

  • Does the Influencer work with your competitors or have they done so before?
  • Do they fit in with your brand?
  • Who are their followers, and do they match with your brand?
  • Can you afford them?
  • Has the Influencer used your products or services previously?
  • Are they already a customer?
  • Do you think you could work with their personality?
  • Do they want anything specific from you to do the job?

Create Your Campaign Messaging

Your campaign needs a message for your Influencer to deliver.  Working with your marketing team, you need to create your messaging and specify what you want your Influencer to post about.

They’ll need your brand guidelines, the type of language you like to use, your tone of voice, any hashtags that you use and anything else that you think is useful for them to use when delivering the message.

Communicate what you want to achieve by using their influence and talk to them about anything specific you want to promote.

Finalize

You’re nearly there.  Conduct a review of all of the above and make sure you’ve covered everything.  Speak to your Influencer once again to review their understanding of what you want them to do for you and set an end date for the project to finish (it may be ongoing).

Pay the Influencer

No one works for nothing so make sure you know early on what your Influencer wants in financial terms, or in terms of free products/services.

Do Your Analysis

there are three people in the campaign that they analyze the ways.

Once your campaign is finished you need to perform some analysis to see how your Influencer impacted your sales/followers/social media presence.

Refer back to your goals and tick off what you’ve achieved, what underperformed and what over-performed:

  • Your Engagement, so how many followers, comments, shares, likes, direct messages, reposts etc, the campaign delivered.  Influencer Marketing is an excellent method to quite literally know how to buy likes on Instagram.
  • Your Reach, so how many people viewed the content and followed your brand after seeing what the Influencer posted.  Remember, Influencer Marketing is not a way to get cheap Instagram views!
  • Your Resonance, what actions did your audience perform after viewing content?  Did they go to your website?  Did they buy?  Did they book?  Did they read your blog or article?
  • Your Brand Awareness, was the content shared?  How many more people have shown interest in your brand or business since the campaign?
  • Your Clicks Throughs, how many people signed up or clicked into your website, or responded to a CTA?
  • Your Conversions, how many people 5actually converted, so bought a product, booked a service, used a coupon etc.
  • Your ROI (return on investment), did your Influencer grow your bottom line and was it worth the investment?
  • Your Followers, did you gain a significant increase of followers or subscribers after your Influencer marketing campaign?

 

Final Words on Influencer Marketing

Hopefully we’ve showed you the benefits of investing in an Influencer and the steps you need to take to employ the right type of Influencer for what you do.

It’s all about careful selection and communicating your campaign thoroughly to your Influencer of choice.

Performing quality analysis will give you a thorough understanding of the results of your Influencer Marketing campaign, Influencer Marketing will work well for every industry sector.  One thing is for sure, Influencer Marketing works!