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!