Influencer marketing at its most opulent
When Apple is ready to debut a new product, the first people they contact are those who want to listen. People who have opted-in to receive Apple’s message.
When Tim Cook takes the stage at the WWDC conference, he’s not speaking to the general public; instead, he’s speaking to innovators and early adopters in the hopes that what he says would inspire them to share the information with their peers.
These innovators and early adopters care about Apple so much that they’re willing to give up their time to see a whole keynote address devoted solely to Apple products. It makes far more sense for Apple to speak directly to influential people who care than than broadcast a message to the general public.
After the WWDC presentation, Apple knows that material created by journalists and social influencers will spread their message and news about their new goods to the masses.
Try to consider about the innovators and early adopters in your target demographic while you’re thinking about marketing your company: Who genuinely cares about the issue that your product or service addresses? That can you talk to who will actually listen to you?
What distinguishes an influencer?
“An someone who has a significant audience, who listens and makes decisions based on his/her thoughts,” according to SocialChain. Influencers come in a variety of sizes and shapes:
- Journalists and professionals in the field
- Celebrities
- Editors of widely read blogs, as well as highly seen YouTubers such as MKBHD, can be influencers, and influence isn’t solely reliant on follower counts and audience size.
A celebrity may have a large following just due to their celebrity, or someone may have amassed hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers due to their ability to curate information. A great following, on the other hand, does not always imply influence.
Influence measurement
T-Score is a simple way for assessing impact across major platforms developed by SocialChain (Twitter) Y-Score (YouTube) F-Score (Facebook) (Youtube) The I-Score (Instagram).
According to SocialChain’s founder, Steve Bartlett, the scoring system is designed to determine how much of the relevant engagement you’re actually paying for and how cost-effective an influencer is.
Here’s an illustration of how the T-Score works:
– Tom is a real YouTube influencer with whom we’ve collaborated on a number of influencer marketing projects with [SocialChain].
Influencer – Tom’s past 50 tweets have had a total of 17,600 interactions (replies, likes, retweets).
– He has 210,409 Twitter followers.
– Each tweet costs £100.
17,600 (previous 50 tweets’ aggregate engagements) / 50 = 352 (Average engagement per tweet)
3.52 = 352 (avg. interactions per tweet) / £100 (total following)
Tom’s T-score is 3.52, meaning you’re effectively paying £1 for every 3.52 engagements he generates.
(This doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get 3.52 engagements every £1 spent on sponsored content, but it does give you a good indication of what to expect.)
Where can you look for influencers?
The type of influencer you seek will be determined by the campaign’s objectives.
“You need an in-depth grasp of your own brand and how you want to be seen to locate influencers that fit your business,” Anna-Marie Odubote noted.
“There are numerous influencer finding tools available online that can help you find influencers in specific categories and countries. The best way to locate more specialised influencers is to personally explore social media.”
Content
The heart and soul of every influencer marketing campaign is great content.
Most influencers have built their following by developing their own distinct brand of material, so just asking them to share a piece of content you’ve made can feel inauthentic and come across as an advertisement or sponsored post.
In an ideal world, you’d like to work with influencers who can help you develop content. You’ve already made stuff, so instead of just sharing it, you’ve actually created it.
Distribution
I prefer to think of distribution in terms of reach (audience size) and engagement. It’s common to mistakenly believe that someone with 100,000 Twitter followers or 10,000 email subscribers is an influencer. But, in the end, it makes little difference how many people follow someone. What matters is the number of people who interact with them. And how many people actually click on the links they send out?
The above-mentioned SocialChain rating system might be a useful tool for determining how much interaction particular influencers’ content receives.
How to Develop Influencer Relationships
The next stage is to start creating relationships with your influencers once you’ve identified them.
“You must constantly be personable and make the influencer feel valued and distinct if an influencer controls themselves and all of their enquires.” The majority of influencers aren’t businesspeople, despite the fact that they run their own company. “Too much corporate jargon can frighten them away, so set up a face-to-face meeting/Skype conversation as soon as possible,” Odubote advised.
“Depending on the reach of the influencer [some larger influencers have management teams], you’ll frequently speak with their management (the influencer will notice the initial inquiry and transmit it to their management if it’s something they’re interested in).”