How would you compare Influencer Marketing vs. Digital Advertising?
Both types of marketing utilize the content. Both can help increase a brand’s reach. Both can help a brand stand out from competitors. I think influencer marketing can sometimes be less disruptive but also carries more risk. For instance, I feel choosing the WRONG influencer can hurt a brand’s image more than a bad digital advertising campaign.
Which social platforms do you think will be most popular in the next five years for influencer marketers?
Instagram/YouTube/TikTok
How do you currently find relevant and high-quality influencers for your marketing campaigns?
By conducting a competitor analysis.
How would you decide which influencers to work with?
Track their performance over time.
For e-commerce businesses, what are trending social tools and strategies to get traction via Instagram? Are you currently using any tool yourself?
I don’t personally market on Instagram and neither do most of my clients. With that said, it’s essential to have eye-catching posts on Instagram. Using Instagram stories, keeping track of trends, and following industry leaders is super important for gaining competitive content ideas. E-Commerce brands should take advantage of Instagram Stories, Shopping, Live, IGTV, and Ads to sell directly from the platform.
Which content categories (i.e. verticals) are likely to become the most popular on Instagram for influencers?
Hands down, the categories that perform best are Travel and Leisure, Healthcare, and Fashion/Beauty. All of these benefits from the use of great photography and video content.
What advice would you give to a new business that wants to gain and grow its paid sponsorships?
Every new business needs to understand who its customers are. They need to know where their target audience hangs out online. For example, it may be more beneficial for a woman-owned business that sells kitchenware to find paid sponsorships on Pinterest (a platform dominated by female users) than it would for them to find a paid sponsorship on Snapchat … a platform dominated by teens and early twenty-somethings.
How do you think Influencer Marketing will grow among small businesses in the near future?
I don’t think most small business owners understand influencer marketing. In my view, influencer marketing agencies need to do a much better job of educating these people if they want a significant number of small business owners to adopt it.
Unless that happens, influencer marketing is going to remain a marketing avenue that’s (mostly) dominated by larger brands.
How do you currently collaborate with and pay Instagram influencers? Name any tools and strategies that you use.
I don’t use Instagram to market my company or those of my clients.
