Why Brands Should Activate Influencer Marketing This Holiday SeasonThe season of giving is a profitable one, but it is also one of the most competitive times of the year. Brands should activate influencer marketing to help them stand out. By collaborating with the right influencers, you will access an engaged audience that will pay attention to your brand.
1. Online shopping is on the rise In the last year, 1.66 billion people worldwide bought products online. During the same year, sales were estimated to hit $2.3 trillion with increased projections of up to $4.48 trillion by 2021. As the holiday season approaches, consumers start to look for the perfect gifts, meaning they will be turning to social media for recommendations and inspiration. Therefore, the festivities are the perfect opportunity to increase your sales and generate more brand awareness. 2. Brands can be Creative with their Holiday Campaign Establish what is important to your audience and what would inspire them to purchase your service or product. If you are creative and add a holiday spirit to your Instagram influencer marketing initiatives, you will be noticed! For the 2017 holiday season, the jewelry company Zales Jewelers collaborated with the Instagrammer Jaci Marie Smith and her husband to promote their holiday necklace. Instead of creating an ordinary Instagram post, they created an engaging video. This memorable video received over 65,000 views and many comments.
3. Influencers will Help your Brand Stand Out If you want your holiday influencer campaign to have the biggest impact, let the influencers do what they do best. They know how to connect with their audience and positively tap into their emotions. Aim to build a relationship with your influencers so they have the chance to understand your brand’s goals and target audience. Your brand will benefit when influencers can explore creative ways of making you stand out. Aerie is a good example of a company that took the 2017 festive season by storm on Instagram. They collaborated with influencers such as Nichole Ciotti last holiday season, which helped them stand out from their competitors.
4. You can Target all Ages including Millennials
Influencers already have a large, loyal base of millennial followers who trust them. Millennials are influenced by an influencers’ recommendations in their buying decisions. Therefore, the holiday season is the perfect time to activate an influencer marketing strategy. Millennials do not want to be blatantly advertised, influencer content allows you to reach these audiences in an organic way. Allow your Influencers to create and tell a story that engages their audience while respecting your brand’s values. An influencer is like a trusted friend to Millennials, so they are more likely to buy a product recommended by them. Create your influencer marketing strategy this holiday season with In/Spree Brands. We match you with your perfect influencers after understanding your brand’s goals and objectives. Schedule a demo with us here to spread some holiday magic. How Influencers Help Brands Build the Ultimate Holiday Marketing CampaignInfluencer marketing requires some unique forms of preparation for the upcoming holidays. Therefore, if you haven’t started planning your influencer marketing campaign yet, now is the time! We’ve outlined how influencers can help you build the ultimate marketing campaign during this festive season and beyond.
1. Planning your Campaign Ahead The first step for a successful holiday marketing campaign is by planning beforehand. The National Retail Federation revealed that 40% of shoppers start their holiday shopping before Halloween and we know that most holiday wish lists are made while scrolling through Instagram. It is crucial to have the right influencers for your brand, so you can decide on the Instagram content together. Setting realistic goals and crafting a thorough plan with relevant content to maximize interest and sales is key. Your influencers will be able to help design an original and creative concept. They will help you decide on the vision of the holiday campaign, including its complete feel and look. 2. Incorporating a Fun Holiday Giveaway Influencers know their audience well, so they will know exactly how to incorporate a fun giveaway that will increase engagement for your brand. Having influencers offer free products to a lucky winner or providing their audience with a 25% discount is a great way of growing. For the 2017 holiday season, Viktor&Rolf collaborated with the Instagrammer Victoria to promote their perfumes. She offered one lucky fan who commented on her photo and tagged a friend an opportunity to win a perfume or give as a gift during the holidays.
3. Enhancing your other Instagram content with stories The influencers you collaborate with can dedicate Instagram stories to support your other Instagram content on the important days of the holiday marketing push. Instagram has a feature that makes tagging brands super easy in the influencer’s sponsored stories. Instagram Stories provide influencers a chance to show the products in action or promote limited time and special offers. Influencers can also engage their followers by sharing behind-the-scenes videos and photos. The poll and question stickers made Instagram stories more interactive, so influencers can easily engage with their audience and collect feedback for your brand. 4. Capture the millennial market share Influencer marketing is a proven way of capturing the millennial market share. Influencers have a large millennial follower base who are actively online, and scrolling through Instagram. Millennial buyers spend around $600 billion each year, a large part of it during the holiday season. Influencers can create fun content and spread some holiday merriment, which catches a millennials’ attention. For instance, Kylie Cosmetics collaborated with Brooke Tiffany, who primarily targets a millennial audience, to promote their products.
In/Spree Brands can match you with quality influencers who will make your brand stand out during the holiday season. Schedule a demo with us here to kickstart an amazing holiday marketing campaign initiative.
5 Influencer Marketing Strategies You Need to KnowDeciding on your campaign goals and finding appropriate influencers to work with is key in creating a successful influencer campaign. Your goal as a brand is to communicate your message as clearly as possible to potential customers. We’ll help you achieve the best results from your influencer marketing campaigns with the following strategies.
1. Clear Goals and Effective Publishing Schedule It is important to have your objectives clear before the publishing stage. Setting realistic, quantitative goals that will be measurable in the future. A good start is to plan a campaign that will be maintainable over time. Outline your campaign before launching to receive the best results. Tamara is a fashion blogger who is paid to advertise some major brands, we can see from her posts that she genuinely enjoys wearing the particular items she features. By setting clear goals and publishing schedule, Tamara can gear her post around key seasons and really try the product to make sure it aligns well.
2. Long-term Partnerships with Influencers You should look beyond the value from a single campaign and rather more toward a year long or even longer ambassadorship as the influencers will represent your brand in a more organic and seamless way. In these partnerships, influencers involve the brand into their usual content, showing how they use your services or products on daily basis. They will be more involved in your brand and will provide valuable insights from a consumer perspective. The consumers may not buy the product or use the service the first time they come across your brand; however, they are much more likely thereafter. 3. Product Giveaways and Social Media Contests Instagram accounts that hold contests with the support of their influencer to market the products achieve 70% faster follower growth than the accounts that don’t hold contests. Voting, photo, selfie contests, tag to win, like to win are some options for your social media contests. Keep in mind that your contest will generate better results if you’re giving away relevant prizes to an influencer and their audience. A good example of a photo contest is from IGersBoston. They encouraged artists and photographers to take pictures of Boston and if their photo wins the contest, they're invited to attend their events.
4. Company Events
If you want immense media attention, your company needs to organize influencer events for brand awareness and product promotion. You can take an example from Tarte Cosmetics, which dedicates a huge part of their budget to influencer events. They regularly fly Instagram beauty gurus and YouTube vloggers on paid holidays. They unify these travel events under the hashtag #trippinwithtarte. The influencer voices are both far-reaching and powerful, so Tarte’s marketing team designs these influencer events to maximize exposure. 5. Measure Results Precise measurement of results are a fundamental part of any campaign. In this phase, you're able understand which campaign aspects should be improved and if your efforts have paid off. You can analyze if your campaign was successful, how much gain the brand made from the campaign and if the return met your expectations. If you want to estimate the effect the message had on your brand, consider variables like the generation of online traffic, mentions for your product or brand, subscribers or followers on social networks. Create your influencer marketing strategy using In/Spree Brands. We delve deep into your brands' goals and objectives to facilitate collaborations with proven influencers; schedule a demo with us here. 5 Mistakes You Are Making With Influencer MarketingInfluencer marketing is an effective strategy for marketers to build a stronger brand. When performed correctly, it creates greater impact than any other advertising methods. We've outlined five influencer marketing mistakes that can easily be avoided.
1. Engaging with the Wrong Influencers When choosing the right influencers, you need to consider the demographics, common interests, market segments, and the influencers' knowledge in a specific field. You need to do background research and screen the influencers for online reputation. One excellent example of engaging with the right influencer is Whole Foods collaboration with food and wine personality Antoni, from Netflix’s Queer Eye. Of course, he is being paid for shopping at Whole Foods; however, his caption feels heartfelt and passionate, so he's more likely to attract potential customers to Whole Foods.
2. Failing to understand your audience Once you truly know your customer, it is easier to find the right influencers and create a longstanding influencer marketing campaign. You need to understand your brands' audience pinpoints, purchasing habits, psychographic, and demographic information. A good example of a brand understanding their audience is Airbnb. Their Instagram page truly feels reflective of who their customers are. Airbnb works with strong micro influencers such as Chelsea, who gives her followers an incredible opportunity to experience the places she travels and stays through her photography.
3. Being Disorganized with your Strategy
If you want your brand to be successful, your influencer marketing campaign will need a proper, strategic plan to avoid this mistake. You need to plan carefully, every aspect of your campaign so you can start with clear goals. Knowing how you will measure the success of your campaign and what exactly you want to accomplish is very important. In addition, you will need to have an organized payment plan for your influencers. 4. Not Using the Right Metrics You need to analyze all metrics, including the social sentiments, the shares on all your social media platforms, and engagement of clicks and comments. With these metrics, you will easily understand what worked and where you need to invest your budget. You can use our analytics to measure performance and to understand if the influencers you're working with are generating the needed engagement and reach, in addition, to other incredibly useful data points. 5. Influencer Marketing on the Wrong Channels The effectiveness of your campaign depends on understanding your target audience and customer focus. You need to reach the largest number of people, who will be passionate about engaging with your brand. Instagram one of the most engaging social media platform in the world. A recent study with 2,500 micro-influencers revealed they preferred Instagram to others platforms. 59% of the influencers said Instagram is the most efficient platform to engage their desired audience. Using information like this to better understand where your brand should be positioned is key. Start creating your influencer marketing strategy today using In/Spree Brands. We'll help you stay clear of these five mistakes! Schedule a demo with us here. Why Your B2B Needs Influencer MarketingB2B Influencer marketing drives greater credibility and visibility for B2B companies. It is about creating constant engagement through content and building a long-term relationship with your customers.
Many B2B companies desire credible recognition, thus influencer marketing is a useful tool for them. Once you look at the following stats, you will not ignore the likely effect of a B2B influencer marketing strategy. 1. Influencer Content Provided Great ROI According to a study led by Nielsen Catalina Solutions, the content created and shared by influencers provided 11 times higher ROI than the average display advertisements after one year. This means the influencer content has about 4x the ROI from traditional ads. When a trusted Influencer talks about the benefits of your product to better-informed potential consumers, it will eventually lead to more sales. 2. Influencers Help Communicate Your B2B Product in an Easier Way B2B products may be complex, thus it is sometimes challenging communicating the advantages of the product. Here is where you need your influencers the most since people confide far more in a genuine influencer than they do in brands. For instance, the influencer marketing strategy of LaCie is to collaborate with social media influencers. Their ambassador Ben Brown, who is a popular vlogger and Instagrammer, explores interesting places featuring LaCie, and publishes about it on his Instagram.
3. B2B influencer marketing allows your brand to tap into the authority of the influencer If the customers respect the influencers, they are likely to look at your brand in a more confident light. Influencers know well their followers and know what type of content works best for them. The respected influencers will paint a flattering picture of your brand and make it more desirable. WeWork is a co-working startup that supplies businesses with office space. They collaborated with several of their members and J.Crew to highlight their community and the difference that these entrepreneurs are creating. Working with other businesses is a great way of expanding your reach, while creating meaningful partnerships.
4. Types of B2B Marketing
The influencer’s opinion and voice comes across as more authentic than a commercial or banner advertisement for your product. A good example of this is American Express, which invests greatly in its influencer B2B marketing. They collaborate with influential bloggers such as Emily Henderson to reach small businesses. Their campaign “Love my Store” aims to clarify that even a small business accepts credit card and to promote their brand, received 5 million impressions and 400,000 Amex decals. They employ many influencer-marketing campaigns for gaining both consumers and corporate clients. From collaborating with celebrities to micro-influencers, American Express is extremely successful at influencer marketing. 5. Influencers put you in touch with an audience you otherwise could not reach Finally, B2B influencer marketing helps your brand to reach a larger audience. Video Fruit is a company that coaches businesses how to grow their email lists. Their founder, Bryan Harris, wrote a guest post on an influential website. The post exposed him to an audience he would not have been able to reach on his own. They received 1,086 visitors with this post (the average visitors were 285 before his post). Also, in 2 days, 215 people subscribed to his website. Concentrate on influencer marketing; maintain a great relationship with the influencers and your brand will be promoted in the best possible way. In/Spree Brands makes the collaboration between brands and influencers quite easy. You can choose from thousands of incredible influencers who will drive proven results. We offer you a perfect influencer marketing campaign, schedule a demo with us here. How to Maximize ROI from your Influencer Marketing Campaigns in 2018Return on investment is one of the most effective tool for measuring the success of your influencer marketing activities. Your ROI goals are key in sustainable success of your marketing efforts.
Therefore, you should design and plan properly in order to ensure your business is driving maximum ROI from your influencer marketing campaigns in 2018. We’ll show you few strategies on how to maximize ROI for amazing results. 1. Choose the Right Influencer First, you must know exactly who your audience is so that you can more easily choose the right influencer. For your campaign to be successful, it is important to know your target audience. You’ll have to choose the right influencers who can connect with the audience in your niche. Choosing the right influencers is one of the hardest aspects of influencer marketing with 67% of marketers stating that finding the right influencers is their largest influencer marketing challenge. However, once you’ve chosen the right influencer to work with the payoff can be incredible. Statista published an overview of Instagram accounts with the largest following worldwide as of June 2018. While targeting macro influencers and celebrities can be enticing, it’s best to aim for a mid-level reach with influencers who best suit your demographic. A large following has a wide demographic which can be too great for a specific product. Some important items to note when selecting the right influencer is one who displays qualities such as consistency, authenticity, strong engagement, and domain expertise. 2. Research Your Influencer’s Feed Thoroughly researching an influencer’s feed is important to see if the content they produce and overall style works well with your brand. Brittany Maddux is an American influencer who shares her lifestyle with her 125k+ followers base. Her content is relevant to all her fans that seek beauty and fashion tips. Her followers see even her sponsored content as pieces of advice on which services and products to use.
Looking at past collaborations can highlight successes in addition to how an influencer incorporates a brand into their feed. It’s important for influencers to seamlessly integrate sponsored content and not look promotional when doing so. Successful influencers work with brands that not only resonate well with their audience, but feature products that influencer would normally use. 3. Reward Your Influencers Building relationships with influencers is an important way of curating a group of standouts for your campaigns. Some of the ways of achieving this is by providing rewards. These rewards can be in the form of discount codes, shout-outs, commissions, and products. The more an influencer feels appreciated by you, the better they’ll respond to your brand.
At In/Spree Brands we facilitate collaborations with star influencers who drive maximum ROI. We’re happy to walk you through our platform where we match brands with proven influencers. Schedule a demo with us!
5 Influencer Marketing Stats on Instagram |
 Unsplash / @petebellis |
Hence why you should consider making influencer marketing an important strategy in growing your business. We've highlighted 5 powerful Instagram influencer marketing statistics to help your campaigns deliver impressive results.
1. Influencer Marketing Budgets are Projected to Increase in 2018
Budgets for influencer marketing will continue to increase due in part to the increase in Instagram use. According to research by Statista, 39% of marketers plan to raise their budget in 2018. It’s predicted that businesses will spend more than $1 billion on influencer marketing in this year alone.
2. Instagram is a Preferred Social Channel
In the previously cited study, 92% of marketers choose Instagram as the most significant social network for their influencer marketing efforts. Many people have learned about a service or product on Instagram.
A recent study by Bloglovin’ discovered that 60% of influencers picked Instagram as the most helpful platform for attracting their target audience. Additionally, more than 50% of influencers picked Instagram as the topmost platform for publishing branded content.
1. Influencer Marketing Budgets are Projected to Increase in 2018
Budgets for influencer marketing will continue to increase due in part to the increase in Instagram use. According to research by Statista, 39% of marketers plan to raise their budget in 2018. It’s predicted that businesses will spend more than $1 billion on influencer marketing in this year alone.
2. Instagram is a Preferred Social Channel
In the previously cited study, 92% of marketers choose Instagram as the most significant social network for their influencer marketing efforts. Many people have learned about a service or product on Instagram.
A recent study by Bloglovin’ discovered that 60% of influencers picked Instagram as the most helpful platform for attracting their target audience. Additionally, more than 50% of influencers picked Instagram as the topmost platform for publishing branded content.
 Unsplash / @erik_lucatero |
3. Micro-influencers’ Posts are More Effective Than Macro-influencers’
Macro-influencers such as Aimee Song and Kendall Jenner have millions of followers and can thus present your brand in front of an enormous audience.
However, micro-influencer marketing is a great choice too. These influencers have only a few thousand followers, so their audience is typically more defined and targeted. Additionally, a review can feel more genuine.
Beti is the micro- influencer behind makeupsessions. Beti features beautifully photographed beauty images and reviews to her 70k followers. Beti’s followers are not only captured by her unique photography, but reviews of larger and indie beauty and skincare brands.
Macro-influencers such as Aimee Song and Kendall Jenner have millions of followers and can thus present your brand in front of an enormous audience.
However, micro-influencer marketing is a great choice too. These influencers have only a few thousand followers, so their audience is typically more defined and targeted. Additionally, a review can feel more genuine.
Beti is the micro- influencer behind makeupsessions. Beti features beautifully photographed beauty images and reviews to her 70k followers. Beti’s followers are not only captured by her unique photography, but reviews of larger and indie beauty and skincare brands.
 Instagram / @makeupsessions |
4. Instagram Stories Reach 300 Million People Daily
Many of these users choose to view Instagram Stories created by brands. According to Instagram, 1/3 of the most popular stories have been made by brands. Instagram Stories has rapidly become famous among brands as they increase engagement.
Instagram Stories are constantly introducing new features that can be helpful for your brand. Airbnb incorporates links and polls into their stories to increase their engagement. In addition, by engaging an audience through different polls, you can measure follower engagement accordingly.
5. 60% of Instagram Users Discover New Products on Instagram
Instagram discovered that 60% of users discover new services and products through Instagram. With 80% following at least one brand. This demonstrates why Instagram has become popular with more and more companies, who look to showcase their products and services in creative ways.
There are many different ways to drive engagement on your Instagram account, but having an influencer working for your brand is a must.
If you’re looking to have influencers create stunning content and be able to track results with industry leading technology than feel free to schedule a demo with us. We’re happy to walk you through our platform and how our thousands of vetted influencers can be your brand ambassadors.
Many of these users choose to view Instagram Stories created by brands. According to Instagram, 1/3 of the most popular stories have been made by brands. Instagram Stories has rapidly become famous among brands as they increase engagement.
Instagram Stories are constantly introducing new features that can be helpful for your brand. Airbnb incorporates links and polls into their stories to increase their engagement. In addition, by engaging an audience through different polls, you can measure follower engagement accordingly.
5. 60% of Instagram Users Discover New Products on Instagram
Instagram discovered that 60% of users discover new services and products through Instagram. With 80% following at least one brand. This demonstrates why Instagram has become popular with more and more companies, who look to showcase their products and services in creative ways.
There are many different ways to drive engagement on your Instagram account, but having an influencer working for your brand is a must.
If you’re looking to have influencers create stunning content and be able to track results with industry leading technology than feel free to schedule a demo with us. We’re happy to walk you through our platform and how our thousands of vetted influencers can be your brand ambassadors.
5 Reasons Why Influencer Marketing is Worth it
Influencer marketing is a simple, inexpensive, and effective way of growing your business on social media. You can quickly boost your sales, increase your brand awareness and follower base.
 Unsplash / @peteballis |
With social media platforms changing their algorithm this year, reaching new customers and creating a fan base is harder than ever. That’s where influencer marketing comes in. If you’re still uncertain on whether you should try it out, we’ll highlight five great reasons to opt-in for it.
1. Brand Messages Are Presented Authentically
Influencers are real people with a passion for a certain subject. When creating original content, they put in their love for the products, and their followers can relate to that. If you choose the right influencers, they will not have to try hard to engage their audience, as their followers are already very interested in what they share on social media.
Laura Byrnes is the blogger behind Lauraslittlelocket.com, and if someone is seeking inspiration for an affordable, yet chic look, her Instagram feed is an ideal place to find it. She has an authentic style, and all her images have a certain retro-vibe that her followers can’t resist!
1. Brand Messages Are Presented Authentically
Influencers are real people with a passion for a certain subject. When creating original content, they put in their love for the products, and their followers can relate to that. If you choose the right influencers, they will not have to try hard to engage their audience, as their followers are already very interested in what they share on social media.
Laura Byrnes is the blogger behind Lauraslittlelocket.com, and if someone is seeking inspiration for an affordable, yet chic look, her Instagram feed is an ideal place to find it. She has an authentic style, and all her images have a certain retro-vibe that her followers can’t resist!
 Instagram / @lauraslittlelocket |
2. Target Audience Is More Active
People are on social media usually for three main reasons: social proof, engagement, and keeping up with the news. They look at reviews online before making a purchase. They also want to be aware of what brands are relevant at the moment, or what products, can improve upon their lives.
By partnering with influencers, you will be able to tell your brand’s story to a relevant audience in an authentic and natural way.
Becky LaChance is a nurse from California who shares her healthy lifestyle tips to her 60k+ followers base. Her content is relevant to all her fans who seek healthy recipe ideas and tips. Here and there, she slips in sponsored content for some of the brands she collaborates with, but the engagement does not decrease, as people do not see her content as advertising, but rather as friendly advice on which products to use.
People are on social media usually for three main reasons: social proof, engagement, and keeping up with the news. They look at reviews online before making a purchase. They also want to be aware of what brands are relevant at the moment, or what products, can improve upon their lives.
By partnering with influencers, you will be able to tell your brand’s story to a relevant audience in an authentic and natural way.
Becky LaChance is a nurse from California who shares her healthy lifestyle tips to her 60k+ followers base. Her content is relevant to all her fans who seek healthy recipe ideas and tips. Here and there, she slips in sponsored content for some of the brands she collaborates with, but the engagement does not decrease, as people do not see her content as advertising, but rather as friendly advice on which products to use.
 Instagram / @becks_liveshealthy |
3. Traditional Ads Are Ineffective & Influencer Marketing Is Native
With the recent updates to Facebook and Instagram algorithm, reaching a relevant audience organically is becoming increasingly difficult. That means that brands have to boost their social media posts to get noticed. According to a research by Statista, more than 30% of Internet users use ad blockers to remove ads from publishers’ websites.
That is the reason why native advertising tends to perform better than traditional advertising. However, there are issues with native advertising - the person presenting the content is not always known by the audience. Luckily, that issue can be easily eliminated with influencer marketing.
We can say that collaborating with influencers to promote a product or service is native advertising at its best!
4. Brands Spend More On Influencer Marketing
Additional research outlines that 86% of marketers have used influencer marketing during the last year and 92% of them found it to be effective. Furthermore, 40% of those brands will increase their budget for collaborating with influencers. They will not only be relevant for social media channels, as many e-commerce business owners stated they will use influencers for their online stores, in order to help drive product sales.
As the influencer space matures and grows more complex and powerful, many brands who did not consider it before will start allocating its resources this year to engage with the relevant niche, despite Instagram’s constant decrease in reach.
5. ROI Is Higher Than With Traditional Digital Campaigns
Given that it is such a popular marketing strategy, a question arises - how do you know if your influencer marketing campaign was successful? Essentially, there are certain KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that help marketers determine whether their budget was well spent, including reach, engagement, impressions, content creation and conversions.
According to a case study by Nielsen Catalina Solutions, influencer content generates 11 times higher ROI than traditional digital campaigns.
With the recent updates to Facebook and Instagram algorithm, reaching a relevant audience organically is becoming increasingly difficult. That means that brands have to boost their social media posts to get noticed. According to a research by Statista, more than 30% of Internet users use ad blockers to remove ads from publishers’ websites.
That is the reason why native advertising tends to perform better than traditional advertising. However, there are issues with native advertising - the person presenting the content is not always known by the audience. Luckily, that issue can be easily eliminated with influencer marketing.
We can say that collaborating with influencers to promote a product or service is native advertising at its best!
4. Brands Spend More On Influencer Marketing
Additional research outlines that 86% of marketers have used influencer marketing during the last year and 92% of them found it to be effective. Furthermore, 40% of those brands will increase their budget for collaborating with influencers. They will not only be relevant for social media channels, as many e-commerce business owners stated they will use influencers for their online stores, in order to help drive product sales.
As the influencer space matures and grows more complex and powerful, many brands who did not consider it before will start allocating its resources this year to engage with the relevant niche, despite Instagram’s constant decrease in reach.
5. ROI Is Higher Than With Traditional Digital Campaigns
Given that it is such a popular marketing strategy, a question arises - how do you know if your influencer marketing campaign was successful? Essentially, there are certain KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that help marketers determine whether their budget was well spent, including reach, engagement, impressions, content creation and conversions.
According to a case study by Nielsen Catalina Solutions, influencer content generates 11 times higher ROI than traditional digital campaigns.
 Unsplash / @rawpixel |
It is clear that there are many relevant reasons why brands are choosing to use influencer marketing to overcome the challenges of digital advertising and get ahead of their competitors. Start crafting your influencer marketing strategy today using In/Spree Brands, and yield more efficiency and ROI than ever before!
Why is Influencer Marketing Important for Growing your Business in 2018
Have you considered using influencer marketing for your business? If so, now is the time to start! Adding influencer marketing to your strategy can further increase your brand awareness, expand your follower base, and drive major sales!
 Unsplash / @hipstermum |
A reason why influencer marketing is so big nowadays is that it eliminates the boundaries of traditional advertising and introduces your brand to a new audience via credible source - your influencer partner.
Having an influencer marketing strategy is one of the best ways to raise awareness about the new products or campaigns, delivered in a highly relatable way. When an influencer endorses a product or service on their social channels, it can come across as an authentic recommendation from a friend.
87% of marketers used influencer marketing for promotion in 2017, and 97% of them found it to be effective. We can expect to see those figures continue to increase in 2018, as the organic reach on social media declines. So, why is influencer marketing so big and how can your business benefit from implementing it?
1. Original Content on Social Channels is Paramount
When scrolling through social media feeds, people see many ads and other brands’ posts. If you want your content to be noticed, it has to be original and exciting. One way to achieve that is by hiring expensive teams to create it, but think twice before doing so.
A more convenient way of creating original content is hiring influencers to do that for you. According to research, the most credible form of advertising is a recommendation from friends, so when influencers talk about your brand, people find it easier to trust them. Good influencers create authentic, personalized and relatable content that can also double as user-generated content.
Em Frederick is a travel influencer with 16,000 Instagram followers, and she shares stunning photos of the places she’s visiting. You can also notice she’s tagging Airbnb in her posts occasionally.
Having an influencer marketing strategy is one of the best ways to raise awareness about the new products or campaigns, delivered in a highly relatable way. When an influencer endorses a product or service on their social channels, it can come across as an authentic recommendation from a friend.
87% of marketers used influencer marketing for promotion in 2017, and 97% of them found it to be effective. We can expect to see those figures continue to increase in 2018, as the organic reach on social media declines. So, why is influencer marketing so big and how can your business benefit from implementing it?
1. Original Content on Social Channels is Paramount
When scrolling through social media feeds, people see many ads and other brands’ posts. If you want your content to be noticed, it has to be original and exciting. One way to achieve that is by hiring expensive teams to create it, but think twice before doing so.
A more convenient way of creating original content is hiring influencers to do that for you. According to research, the most credible form of advertising is a recommendation from friends, so when influencers talk about your brand, people find it easier to trust them. Good influencers create authentic, personalized and relatable content that can also double as user-generated content.
Em Frederick is a travel influencer with 16,000 Instagram followers, and she shares stunning photos of the places she’s visiting. You can also notice she’s tagging Airbnb in her posts occasionally.
 Instagram / @adventurisem |
Airbnb then shares Em’s photo on their feed as user-generated content. If you take a closer look at their posts, you’ll notice that most of their content is influencer-generated.
 Instagram / @airbnb |
2. Stories, Live and Video Are Having A Moment
The year started with a big announcement from Facebook that they’re changing their Facebook and Instagram algorithm in 2018. People will see more content from their family and friends, or from the brands and pages they search for frequently and with the content they’re engaging with.
What does this mean for brands? With organic reach dropping considerably, brands would have to use paid ads to reach more people. But we know paid ads are not the best way to reach your audience, especially on Instagram.
That is why brands have to be creative. Using Instagram stories, for example, is becoming inevitable if you want to catch people when they're looking for their friends’ stories. Furthermore, using videos on social media increases the time people spend on your post, and that can significantly improve your ranking on their feed.
Creating video and live content is much easier with influencers. For example, you can organize influencer takeovers, Q&As or behind the scenes that people love! The marketing team behind the Ward Village organized a takeover with an influencer from Hawaii, Anna Sachs. She posted stories from Honolulu Biennial, an international contemporary art festival in Hawaii, and people got a sense of what a day at the popular festival looks like.
The year started with a big announcement from Facebook that they’re changing their Facebook and Instagram algorithm in 2018. People will see more content from their family and friends, or from the brands and pages they search for frequently and with the content they’re engaging with.
What does this mean for brands? With organic reach dropping considerably, brands would have to use paid ads to reach more people. But we know paid ads are not the best way to reach your audience, especially on Instagram.
That is why brands have to be creative. Using Instagram stories, for example, is becoming inevitable if you want to catch people when they're looking for their friends’ stories. Furthermore, using videos on social media increases the time people spend on your post, and that can significantly improve your ranking on their feed.
Creating video and live content is much easier with influencers. For example, you can organize influencer takeovers, Q&As or behind the scenes that people love! The marketing team behind the Ward Village organized a takeover with an influencer from Hawaii, Anna Sachs. She posted stories from Honolulu Biennial, an international contemporary art festival in Hawaii, and people got a sense of what a day at the popular festival looks like.
 Instagram / @annasachs |
3. Influencer Marketing Tools Make Influencers Easily Approachable
The popularity of influencer marketing has resulted in a need to move away from traditional forms of online advertising.
In/Spree Brands is making the whole collaboration process between the brands and influencers quite easy. You have thousands of influencers at your disposal and you can choose from a broad range of influencers from the macro to micro-level in the fashion, beauty and lifestyle space.
Besides being matched with influencers for your brand in no time, the platform supports connecting with them, discussing their working process, launching campaigns and tracking post results. In short, it has everything you need to execute a flawless influencer marketing campaign in one place!
The popularity of influencer marketing has resulted in a need to move away from traditional forms of online advertising.
In/Spree Brands is making the whole collaboration process between the brands and influencers quite easy. You have thousands of influencers at your disposal and you can choose from a broad range of influencers from the macro to micro-level in the fashion, beauty and lifestyle space.
Besides being matched with influencers for your brand in no time, the platform supports connecting with them, discussing their working process, launching campaigns and tracking post results. In short, it has everything you need to execute a flawless influencer marketing campaign in one place!
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There are a many ways that you can leverage influencer marketing to help grow your business. Whether you’re a big or a small company, find out how to use In/Spree Brands to find influencers that will create beautiful, personalized and authentic content for your brand. Get your product in front of millions of targeted people and increase your brand awareness more than ever before! Schedule a demo with us here.
Why Should you Choose Micro Over Macro-Influencers
The success of utilizing influencers to increase social media metrics such as engagement, reach, impressions and consumers’ purchasing behaviors is no secret. The only question is - should you employ micro- or macro-influencers?
 Zeny Rosalina / Unsplash |
First of all, let’s explain the difference between micro- and macro- influencers. Micro-influencers are usually “regular” people, with no more than 50,000 followers. They will usually reach out to you and ask you something like “Hey, I love your brand and I’d love to promote your product on my page!”
On the other hand, macro- influencers are usually celebrities with millions of followers (such as Chiara Ferragni or Kylie Jenner), and brands have to reach out to them with very generous offers. Although macro-influencers expose your brand to millions of people and provide great visibility and awareness, there are many reasons why you should consider working with micro-influencers instead.
1. They have special connection with their niche audience
Let’s say that you’re a skin-care brand from the United States and that you cannot ship your products internationally. Working with macro-influencers will put your brand out there, you will reach many people from all over the world and you’re going to get lots of new followers. But is it worth it? Not really. From all the people you’ve reached, maybe 10% of them would be from the United States. And from that 10% of people, half of them won’t be within your target audience.
Macro-influencers have a diverse fan base, located all over the world. If you’re not a huge global company with offices in 120 countries, you should be using micro-influencers. They have a smaller, but a very specific audience, and you’ll reach the people you need for your brand.
On the other hand, macro- influencers are usually celebrities with millions of followers (such as Chiara Ferragni or Kylie Jenner), and brands have to reach out to them with very generous offers. Although macro-influencers expose your brand to millions of people and provide great visibility and awareness, there are many reasons why you should consider working with micro-influencers instead.
1. They have special connection with their niche audience
Let’s say that you’re a skin-care brand from the United States and that you cannot ship your products internationally. Working with macro-influencers will put your brand out there, you will reach many people from all over the world and you’re going to get lots of new followers. But is it worth it? Not really. From all the people you’ve reached, maybe 10% of them would be from the United States. And from that 10% of people, half of them won’t be within your target audience.
Macro-influencers have a diverse fan base, located all over the world. If you’re not a huge global company with offices in 120 countries, you should be using micro-influencers. They have a smaller, but a very specific audience, and you’ll reach the people you need for your brand.
Foot Locker is one of a few sports brands that collaborated with @theliveitup. The girl behind the brand shares her stunning and authentic photos of favorite sneakers. Her nicely curated feed will assure you that you can trust her when it comes to choosing a trendy pair sneakers for the season.
 @theliveitup / Instagram |
2. They are authentic
Because micro influencers are real people with a deep passion for a specific subject, they will create content that is more relatable. Their review of your product would be genuine and authentic, and people can sense that.
3. They won’t cost you a fortune (but they will be worth a fortune for your brand)
You don’t need to spend your entire budget to hire a micro-influencer. Some of them love your product so much, that they’ll post about it in exchange for getting the product for free, with no additional costs included.
Because micro influencers are real people with a deep passion for a specific subject, they will create content that is more relatable. Their review of your product would be genuine and authentic, and people can sense that.
3. They won’t cost you a fortune (but they will be worth a fortune for your brand)
You don’t need to spend your entire budget to hire a micro-influencer. Some of them love your product so much, that they’ll post about it in exchange for getting the product for free, with no additional costs included.
Two sisters from London, Olivia and Alice, are killing it! They are trendy, attend fashion week and are very committed to making their brand successful. Brands such as Reserved and TOPSHOP love working with them!
 @oliviaandalice_ / Instagram |
4. The will drive higher engagement
We’ll let the numbers speak for this one. According to HelloSociety, 60 percent higher campaign engagement rates are driven by micro-influencers. Those campaigns are 6.7 times more efficient per engagement than macro-influencers, which makes them also more cost-effective. Additionally, micro-influencers drive 22.2 times more weekly conversations than the average consumer.
We’ll let the numbers speak for this one. According to HelloSociety, 60 percent higher campaign engagement rates are driven by micro-influencers. Those campaigns are 6.7 times more efficient per engagement than macro-influencers, which makes them also more cost-effective. Additionally, micro-influencers drive 22.2 times more weekly conversations than the average consumer.
Do you need trend insights? Or maybe a suggestion for beauty products? Ulta Beauty knows how to choose the right micro-influencers because The Styled Seed does a great job when it comes to sharing her passion for clothes, beauty, and travel, while incorporating products she promotes.
 @thestylebreed / Instagram |
5. They are easier to connect with and the execution of campaign is simple
You can easily connect with micro-influencers via our influencer marketing platform, In/Spree Brands, as we have a vast influencer database and tools to streamline your efforts. It’s also much simpler to communicate with micro-influencers if you have to make any last-minute changes.
We hope that we solved your dilemma! In 2018, being authentic and getting the relevant audience is important, and you’ll get those with a tiny help from micro-influencers!
You can easily connect with micro-influencers via our influencer marketing platform, In/Spree Brands, as we have a vast influencer database and tools to streamline your efforts. It’s also much simpler to communicate with micro-influencers if you have to make any last-minute changes.
We hope that we solved your dilemma! In 2018, being authentic and getting the relevant audience is important, and you’ll get those with a tiny help from micro-influencers!