Ira Belsky, Artlist cofounder and Co-CEO.
Influencer marketing has become a central pillar of every marketer’s toolkit over the past few years. However, as more brands jump on the trend, consumers have become increasingly skeptical about influencers promoting products.
As we begin a new year, here are five tips to help you choose the right partners and build a holistic 360 strategy to build authenticity in this important channel:
Invest in micro-influencers for more credibility.
People can be quick to judge when they see a social media account with millions of followers promoting a product or brand. Overmarketing, together with paid ads and promotions associated with large accounts, can suggest a lack of credibility.
Micro-influencers, topic specialists with engaged audiences of 10,000 to 100,000 followers, may be seen as more credible because they have their unique voice and clear passion for their niche.
We’re currently seeing a pronounced shift in marketing partnerships from mega-influencers to micro-influencers. A HubSpot report indicates that 80% of partnership marketers work with small creators and influencers.
This is because a recommendation from a micro-influencer is seen as similar to that of a friend. With 81% of U.S. purchasing decisions influenced by social media posts by friends and family, according to a report by Signpost, we can see the potential in partnering with the right micro-influencer.
Walmart offers an interesting case study. In 2022, they launched the “Walmart Creator Collective” program as an affiliate marketing tool. This gives influencers tools and resources to collaborate directly with third-party brands, monetizing their content through affiliate links.
The program shows how brands can work with smaller content creators just like they do with established influencers.
Find the perfect match for your brand.
The most authentic brand ambassadors are influencers who genuinely love your brand. Seek out the people who want to share their passion for your product with their audience, even without a partnership. Their enthusiasm will come across in their content and remove any skepticism from their followers.
For example, my company works with an influencer who fits the profile of our target audience, which means customers can see themselves in his content. Since we started partnering with him, we’ve found that his authentic voice and passion for the product have been a powerful endorsement.
This works well for more established brands that already have a customer base. But what if you’re a smaller brand expanding into a new geography or you’re launching something completely new?
Finding the right influencers can be a huge help in building awareness and establishing trust for new products. You just need to involve them at the right point in the process. As early as you can, identify potential partners and reach out to get them on board with your project. Share your vision and mission with them, ask questions and leverage their responses in your messaging. You can send them prototypes, give them beta access and incorporate their feedback into product development.
Getting influencers engaged and excited about your brand pre-launch will transform them into genuine brand partners, building a strong long-term relationship and helping them create authentic, passionate content.
Go local to reach global.
Global brands can localize their messages more easily by using local micro-influencers who understand their own unique culture and can convey your product’s value in a way that’s adapted to their market. For example, creating content in a local language, using local cultural references or leveraging local insights into how your product can be used.
Although these partnerships may be highly localized to start with, the world is more and more open to international cultures. After a while, you can support successful local micro-influencers to help take your brand global.
Create 360 Partnerships.
Once you’ve found the right micro-influencers who “speak” your brand and who are accurately conveying your messages in a culturally relevant manner, now what?
This is your opportunity to turn the relationship into a true partnership. Move beyond creating specific, dedicated posts to thinking about how your product integrates into all their content without even calling it out.
You get to this point by creating a product that they believe in and want to use, so that it can be ever-present, whether a physical object that’s always visible in their videos or, for software, by showing it as part of their workflow.
There are lots of things you can do to create and enhance 360 partnerships. For example, if your product is a kitchen knife, you could partner with a chef who has a loyal following of foodies. You could involve the chef in the knife’s development and even create a branded knife with their signature—it could then be used prominently in food preparation.
You could even create a social media contest which they announce on your behalf and then judge the entries. Long term, you want to turn your micro-influencers into true ambassadors, fully integrated into your brand activity.
Conclusion
As with anything in business, you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. You can’t rely on a micro-influencer to create content forever or stick with your brand in the long term. In an extreme scenario, they could even start to work with a competitor.
So, it’s important to keep scouting all the time and building new partnerships so you have a strong pipeline of emerging influencers to partner with. By identifying them early, you can help them grow, creating a strong partnership and loyalty to your brand.
Influencer marketing, and particularly partnerships with micro-influencers, will continue to grow in importance as part of the marketing mix this year. When brands focus on long-term 360 partnerships with micro-influencers who have a loyal following, they’ll grow awareness and build trust in their most important target audiences while bridging gaps between global products and local preferences.
Just remember, while you’re rolling out your 2024 plans, keep scouting for your next partners in the years to come.
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