Influencer marketing: If you're not doing it, you're doing it wrong

In a time when social networking accounts for 30 percent of people’s online activity (according to data from GlobalWebIndex) and more and more consumers turn to their Instagram and Pinterest feeds for purchasing inspiration and recommendations, influencer marketing is an increasingly valuable tool for brands.

And while "influencer marketing” has just started to be another buzzed-about term, not everyone is clear on what it influencer marketing actually is or what role it should play in a brand’s overall digital marketing strategy.

So, what is it?

Think of influencer marketing as a hybrid of traditional PR and digital marketing: You’re making sure that your brand gets in front of the right audience on social by incentivizing people who have followers in your target audience.

Who is an influencer?

The definition word "influencer" is a broad one, and that's a good thing. No two clients need the same type of influencer. One might need fashion bloggers with a presence on Instagram, another might need CEOs who are active on Linkedin. Permutations and qualifications to this definition? There are a lot.

Very generally, the influencers we usually work with tend to have follower counts between 5,000-50,000. We find this is the "sweet spot" of ultra-engaged influencers who are on the cusp of being the next big thing. Their audiences tend to be focused, genuine, and therefore the most valuable to brands.

Bonus: we maintain these relationships for you, so that once they hit it big, they want to continue working with you.

What do you guys do that's different?

For one, we custom-tailor a list of influencers who fit your needs. While other agencies rely totally on their existing pool of influencers, we tap into our influencer network as well as identifying the perfect new people with our proprietary tool, Daily Density. We built Daily Density to grab social media users by a variety of factors, including location, interest/expertise, and follower counts, meaning you get the most targeted list possible.

The way we conduct outreach is also different. Since our team is comprised of copywriters, journalists, and even novelists, we're able to craft the most persuasive messages to maximize influencer participation in your campaign. This also means you're able to sit back and relax while we go about courting and signing on influencers.

What can I expect to see in terms of KPI alignment? And how do I know it's working?

Clients have approached us in the past to align campaigns to metrics like clicks to websites from social, growth of social media channel follower counts, event attendance/promotions/engagement, and good old-fashioned sales. Since we're data-driven, we can give you tons of information by tracking hashtag performance in real time (impressions and reach), traffic, promo codes, or ticket sales. Another perk of working with Obviously Social and letting us execute an awesome influencer campaign is that we can give you feedback on which audiences are most responsive.

How does it work?

First, we gather information about your goals and objectives. Then, we find you the best batch of influencers to help you accomplish them. We design and execute a campaign, usually based around a trackable hashtag. Campaigns can be concentrated around an event like a conference, store opening, or the release of a product or film -- and they can run for the length of time of a day or a year.

One of the most important components of designing a successful campaign is deciding what's appropriate to incentivize influencers with. In the past, we've used gift cards, free product, exclusive event invites, ad spends, and monetary compensation to influencers based on client budgets. We're adept at discerning what's appropriate based on the level of influencer

Who can you find me?

In terms of finding people, we're on Liam Neeson in Taken's level. We have found influencers as specific as surfboard enthusiasts on the East Coast with presences on Instagram and Kabuki lovers in Japan. Trust us, there's not much you can throw at us, or Daily Density, that we can't reach out to.

How many influencers can you find me?

We recommend starting with at least 50 per month, per campaign, though it's not uncommon for clients to have us find 200 or 300.

Want to take your brand to new heights? We know you do. Get in touch with us at info@obviouslysocial.com and we’ll be happy to show you the way.