Influencers = Effective Content Marketing

BY Rachel Cagle
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Does your client consider influencers effective content marketing? Influencers aren’t just people who turned their hobbies into a living. According to WARC, influencers view themselves as “experts with unique and engaging content to share.” And their followers agree. Consumers only trust brands, especially ones they’re unfamiliar with, so much. Having a “real person” like an influencer vouch for a brand in a field they’re an expert in can aid a brand’s reputation significantly. “Influencers represent a brand, speak on their behalf and offer an authentic voice that helps brands connect to their audiences with credibility – regardless of the audience size or creator status.”

Influencers = Effective Content Marketing

Who Should Your Client Work With?

The Influencer Space

Not all influencers will be able to create effective content marketing for your client. For example, many brands focus on reach rather than the influencer’s specialization. According to WARC, there are four sizes of influencers:

  • Celebrity Influencers: Influencers with at least one million followers (3% of influencers)
  • Macro Influencers: Between 100,000 and 999,999 followers (18%)
  • Micro Influencers: Between 10,000 and 99,999 followers (46%)
  • Nano Influencers: Fewer than 10,000 followers (32%)

Sometimes, Smaller is Better

Your client may think that partnering with a celebrity influencer is the best way to promote their product or service. If the influencer’s niche is in the same category as your client, then that may be so. However, if your client specializes in, for example, agricultural products and tries to partner with a celebrity makeup influencer, that partnership won’t produce effective content marketing. Even if the influencer agrees to a partnership, it will be obvious that the random product or service they somehow work into their videos, podcast, etc., is not something they actually use and trust themselves.

WARC touts the power of nano influencers. “Brands might prefer to use macro influencers for a big product launch to help them drive awareness. However, where brand advocacy is required, working with nano influencers on an ongoing basis can be more effective. Nano influencers have very active communities of followers, increasing their potential to influence purchase decisions.” So, if you want to find an influencer who can create the most effective content marketing for your client, you should look into the smaller influencers within the same niche as your client’s products and services.

Which Social Media Platforms to Use

When you think of influencers, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are probably the first social media platforms that come to mind. But are those the best ones to place effective content marketing for your client’s brand? According to WARC, your client’s influencers should keep the target audience’s age top of mind when placing content.

According to WARC, the favored influencer platforms within the U.S. by generation are:

  • Consumers Ages 18–29: YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat (in that order)
  • Ages 30–49: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
  • 50- to 64-​year-​olds: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
  • Over the age of 65: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter

So, no matter which age group your client is targeting, the best social media platforms to post influencer content to are YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

More Info

Age groups are a great jumping off point, but which social media platforms are your client’s target customers frequenting? You can find out on their audience profiles on AudienceSCAN on AdMall by SalesFuel. There, you’ll see which social platforms they’re the most active on, as well as which types of ad media they’ve been the most likely to take action based off of within the last year. You’ll also discover the motivations behind the audience’s purchases. For example, Cosmetics Shoppers want to make purchases that help them feel more healthy, comfortable, relaxed, and attractive. With those motivators in mind, you, your client and influencers can work together to make effective content marketing.

Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe

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