How would you compare Influencer Marketing with Digital Advertising?
Influencer marketing is far more engaging than digital advertising. I see digital advertising as a one-way road, leveraging pixels, lookalike audiences, and ad-sets to get customers to buy a product or service. Influencer marketing focuses on leveraging niche communities that already value the content produced by these content creators, focusing on a deeper connection.
Which social platforms do you think will be the most used by influencer marketers in the next 5 years?
Instagram/LinkedIn/TikTok
How do you currently find relevant and high-quality influencers for your marketing campaigns?
Influencer discovery platforms
How should brands use Instagram influencers to grow their business? What is your personal experience with Instagram influencing?
IG influencers are great, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg. An influencer with a 3K following on IG might have a 24K following on TikTok, and a Youtuber with a subscriptions base of 100K might not even have an IG account. Not all content transcends all social platforms, so it’s essential to understand your brand/product fit and where your audience consumes their favorite content.
What are some common tools and strategies to help grow your presence on Instagram? Are you currently using any tools?
Take branding and storytelling into consideration when mapping out your content. Yes, visuals are everything, but they’re not the only thing. Think about investing in a copywriter or content manager to repurpose your content across your social channels.
For tools, I would stay on top of these few: Hootsuite, Sproutsocial, Grin, Videoleap, and Canva.
Which content categories (i.e. verticals) are likely to become the most popular on Instagram for influencers?
Fashion and Beauty will consistently rank the highest but I’ve had clients that work in Sports & Fitness, Sustainability, and E-Learning. It all depends on whether your community is on Instagram or if you might be better off on other social channels like Twitch or Snapchat. Try to A/B your niches across a few platforms for the best performance.
What advice would you give to a new business that wants to gain and grow its paid sponsorships?
Every creator or influencer owns the rights and copy of their content. So, it’s natural for the topic of “usage & rights” to be part of the negotiation process. Most terms will revolve around a 3-6 month time frame for usage, but it will also depend on whether the content or creative will be used in paid ads or organic posts, website, and if the content will be used across brand channels. Take these terms into consideration before putting ink to paper.
How do you think Influencer Marketing will grow among small businesses in the near future?
Influencer marketing is going to be one of the best-performing marketing channels in 2022. With Facebook already investing $1 billion on creators and Apple’s iOS updates affecting advertisers, you’ll see a marketing budget shift towards influencer marketing, brand creatives, and content marketing.
How do you currently collaborate with and pay Instagram influencers? Name any tools and strategies that you use.
I’ve used anything from Google sheets to integrated influencer marketplaces like Grin and Upfluence. If you don’t have a big budget, a Google sheet to build your influencer funnel & Google Analytics to track your performance is an excellent place to start.
Payment will vary pending on your organization. You’ll have to check with your Finance and Operations team to develop a payment system that works best. Also, consider international tax and shipping when building your budget.
But typically, you can ask the influencer to invoice you. I’m sure they’ll know the drill. 😉
