Nowadays, more and more businesses are finding themselves pondering a crucial question: Can my brand benefit from influencer marketing services? Despite its rapid surge in popularity, however, many businesses continue to underestimate the effectiveness of this strategy. For more B2B-focused brands, this is understandable. After all, how can highly followed Instagram accounts help your business supply construction materials to other construction firms? For consumer-facing businesses, however, this scepticism is lost on us. With sky-high ROI’s and the ability to reach untapped markets, if influencer marketing works for you, you can’t ignore it.
Whilst influencer marketing may seem appealing at first glance, it’s important to understand what it entails. At VerriBerri, our dedicated team specialises in influencer marketing, and are here today to help guide you through the process.
Firstly, what is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing has revolutionised the way brands connect with their target audiences. This marketing technique focuses on collaborating with ‘influential’ individuals to endorse a brand or product to their online audiences. How exactly this is done varies from one brand to the next. From Pretty Little Thing’s influencer affiliate program to TikTok star Charli D’Amelio promoting Dunkin’ Donuts, influencer marketing is everywhere. If you’d like to read about the success of these influencer marketing partnerships, click here!
But what makes an influencer? Influencers are those who have built a significant following on social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Due to the trust their audience bestows upon them, influencers typically possess the ability to sway their followers’ purchasing decisions.
Types of Influencer Marketing Services
Influencer marketing isn’t a one-pronged approach. Depending on your brand, product or budget, there are several strategies your business can employ. Also, it’s important to note that influencer marketing services isn’t suitable for every brand, not will every influencer prove beneficial. The success of this marketing technique rides a lot on selecting the right accounts to partner with. Choose the wrong one, and the impact on your business could in fact be detrimental.
Whilst the specifics of influencer marketing can vary, the main premise, however, remains the same. Primarily, brands collaborate with influencers to create content that showcases their products or services. This content can take various forms, including sponsored posts, product reviews, unboxing videos, tutorials, and endorsements. Influencers then share this content with their followers, with the aim of potentially driving awareness, engagement, and sales. Some of the main types of influencer marketing are outline below.
Gifting
For businesses with a lower budget for influencer marketing, gifting will typically be your go-to option. It’s a great way to introduce new products, create brand awareness, or build relationships with potential influencers or customers. Gifting involves sending free samples, trial products, or exclusive merchandise to creators. The aim of this is to generate positive reviews, social media exposure, or recommendations to their followers and networks.
With gifting, however, influencers aren’t always contractually obliged to promote or feature your products on their accounts. Often, this makes the technique more lucrative when targeting smaller influencers with higher engagement rates. Larger creators receive a constant inflow of products from brands every single month. Because of this, the likelihood your product is featured or linked is far lower. So long as you select relevant influencers with a strong engagement rate, gifting can prove fruitful, regardless of audience size.
Paid Collaborations
Paid collaborations follow a similar approach to gifting, aside from the fee you pay creators to promote your products. Why would you even consider paid influencer marketing services when gifting is often free? Well, with paid collaborations, your primary focus is on influencers with a far larger following. Because of the compensation paid to them, influencers are contractually obliged to share and link your product with their audience.
Paid collaborations can take different forms depending on the context and platform. For instance, on social media, it may involve sponsored posts, where content creators promote products or services to their followers. Paid collaborations may also include content creation, such as writing guest blog posts, co-creating videos, or hosting sponsored giveaways. How much exactly this collaboration will cost, however, will depend on a number of factors. Some of the most key considerations include follower count, engagement rate, industry status, and more.
Affiliate Partnerships
Whilst it can be its own technique, affiliate marketing typically works alongside gifting and paid collaborations. In an affiliate partnership, the advertiser provides the affiliate with unique referral links or promo codes. These track the traffic and conversions generated by the affiliate’s promotional efforts. Each time this link or code is used to make a purchase from the brand, the affiliate is paid commission. The structure of this commission will vary depending on the agreement between the influencer and brand. Typically, it’s based on a percentage of sale value, fixed amount per sale, or a combination of the two. By including links on sponsored posts, you can track how much traffic and sales come directly from the influencer. It’s a great way of determining how lucrative your partnership with them is, and whether it should be revisited.
Sponsorships
Sponsorships involve a brand providing support, financial or otherwise, to an individual, event, team, or project in exchange for promotion. Sponsors invest in this to increase brand visibility, reach their target audience, or align themselves with specific values or causes. For example, a sportswear brand may sponsor a professional athlete or a sports team to display their logo on uniforms. Similarly, companies may sponsor conferences, festivals, or charitable events to gain exposure and enhance their brand image. Sponsorships can include various elements like logo or product placement, naming rights, and more.
Contact Us
Hopefully by reading this, you understand that there’s more to influencer marketing services than meets the eye. From carefully identifying the best partnerships, to tailoring product packages, and more, it’s understandable if this feels slightly overwhelming. At VerriBerri, we’re here to help. If you’d like to know more about our influencer marketing services, get in touch! Reach our specialist influencer marketing team by calling us today on 01376 386850, or just click here!