Last week I spoke about „ Successful Influencer Marketing: What Do You Need And What To Consider For A Successful Campaign?“ at eTravel World, ITB Berlin.
From my experience there are still a lot of question marks when it comes to Influencer Marketing and I want to change that as I think it is one of the most important components for a successful online marketing.
I started with a definition of influence. So what is influence?
“ The capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behaviour, opinions, etc., of others.“ – Quelle: http://www.dictionary.com/
Key takeaway: Influence means more than a Like or Share. It means to engage or react on something, e.g. to buy a product or make a booking.
Afterwards I asked the audience: What is Influencer Marketing?
„Partnering with individuals who have significant audience and influence with a particular consumer segment.“
Key takeaway: Influence with a particular consumer segment! Thousands of followers are useless if they are not your target group. Who is the community of the influencer? Does they or could they have any interest in my brand or product?
And last but not least: Who is an Influencer?
Very often influencers are described as famous people or people who have a big fan or follower base. Of course a big community can have an influence but there is a huge difference between traditional marketing with testimonials and the more present approach with successful bloggers, video bloggers or instagramers. You will definitely recognize Michael Jordan (see presentation) on an advert worldwide but would you recognize a Lea Green or Ann Tran with over 500,000 followers on Twitter? No.
And that is ok because that is not the point. Influencer are not just a face of a brand. Influencer are building relationships and so we might call it relationship marketing. That is the real value behind it because with relationships you build trust and with trust you build an influence.
So here are my 6 key advices for a successful Influencer Marketing:
- Set goals (KPIs), measure and adjust them– As soon as you know what you want from an influencer and hence collaboration, e.g. reach, branding, content etc., as soon as you will see the benefits for your digital marketing. Do not be afraid to define your goals. Professional influencers will speak about it and not neglect them.
- Think long-term and along the customer journey – Long-term collaborations are building trust with the community and this is what you want for your brand. You can use that trust to engage along the customer journey and you will be able to serve the demand of “Transmedia storytelling”.
- Think in campaigns and stories – Collaborations in form of campaigns are much more suitable to benefit from all the potential of influencers. The story is often already there and so is maybe the hero. Important: The influencer is telling the story not the company!
- Know your tools – Know what you as a company can provide for a successful collaboration and take advantage of the knowledge by the influencer. Find synergies.
- Stop doing marketing at people and start doing marketing with people. – Jay Baer – Relationship marketing is key and the only way to build trust in this competitive digital environment. You do that with people, e.g. influencers, not without them.
- Be authentic – The influencer is telling the story because that is authentic. So take your time to find out before whether you like the storytelling of a specific person or not. If not, then maybe this one is not your influencer.
