Harnessing the influential power of ‘Social Sirens’

Influencer Marketing beyond Social Media

This article was originally featured in Issue 13 of Benchmark Magazine, Titans of Search. 

Myth: Influencers are only effective on social media
Reality: Influencer marketing has been around much longer than Social Media, and continues to be an effective form of marketing across multiple channels

An enticing individual that influences others to take a specific path, or engage in a behaviour they might not otherwise do – a siren, right? Or in the modern world, we might call them Influencers.

The sirens of Social Media, influencers, are individuals who have built a level of credibility in a specialised niche, earning a significant number of followers who they have sway or influence over, in regards to engaging in a behaviour, taking specific action, or making a purchase decision. Digital marketers collaborate with influencers who operate within their niche, and use their authentic and engaging relationship with their followers to promote their products or services and expand their reach.

Whilst partnering with Influencers to gain access to a mutual target audience on social channels can be beneficial on its own, can these social sirens use their influential powers beyond the familiar waters of Social Media?

Constructing a heroes strategy: redefining influencer marketing

Whilst the term ‘Influencer Marketing’ may have become popular with the rise of Social Media, the concept of collaborating with influential people to promote your brand long predates this.

Digital marketers have been collaborating with bloggers, or have sought celebrity endorsements for decades before Social Media marketing was mainstream. Now, when we think about Influencers, our mind automatically turns to Social Media, however traditional influencer collaborations are far from ancient history.

Digital podcasts and webinars

Including Influencers in digital content creation can be a good way to entice your target audience to explore your brand beyond Social Media channels, and direct additional traffic to your website.

Hosting a webinar, or podcast on your website and inviting an influencer to be a part of the discussion can be beneficial for your brands in several ways:

• Promotion of your content across channels other than your own by asking the influencer to invite their followers
• Increasing the authority of your content by associating with a figure known to be a leader in your common niche
• Expanding your target audience for your digital content by encouraging the influencers followers to interact and engage

Guest blogs, and website contributions

Another way to drive Social Media traffic to your website through Influencer collaborations is by inviting them to write a guest blog, or contribute to website content. This type of collaboration can benefit your brand in a similar way to those mentioned above.

Real-time engagement at events

Some influencers have become so well known that their status is akin to that of a ‘celebrity’.

As an example of this, in the 2023 series of the popular British reality TV show, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Nella Rose, an online personality known for her lifestyle vlog on YouTube, joined the cast as a contestant.

Furthermore, in recent years internet personalities have been receiving invitations to some of the most A-list events on the social calendar – including the Met Gala, the Oscars, and the Grammys.

Inviting influencers to attend as a guest to your brand events, to engage real-time with your audience could have a profound effect. The presence of celebrity-like individuals can significantly enhance the visibility and credibility of your event, and their endorsement can lend an air of desirability to your brand.

As an additional benefit, influencers are skilled at creating engaging content that resonates with the audience you are trying to target. They are likely to generate engaging content leading up to, during, and after the event. This can generate a buzz or excitement, as they share their experiences with their followers across their social channels.

Product collaborations

In recent years, brands have been collaborating with influencers to develop certain products or collections – much like they have with celebrities in the past. Some of the more popular Mega Influencer examples include:

Madison Fisher & SHEIN: Lifestyle and mum blogger, Madison Fisher, collaborated with fast fashion clothing brand SHEIN to create a stylish and affordable mum&me summer clothing collection.

Molly Mae & PrettyLittleThing: Molly Mae, fashion influencer and Love Island star, partnered with PrettyLittleThing to collaborate on a range of stylish clothing items suitable for a number of different occasions, and seasons.

Stacey Soloman & Primark: Mum influencer, and reality TV star Stacey Soloman teamed up with Primark to release a range of kids clothing and accessories, including matching sibling outfits for boys, girls, and babies.

Affiliate marketing

A final way you could involve an influencer with promoting your products or services is through Affiliate Marketing. This is where you provide influencers with a link to a product or service of yours that they use in their daily lives, and if they promote the product on their platform they can share an affiliate link; they will then make a small commission against any conversions that are made through that link.

Navigating uncharted waters: how to approach influencer marketing for your brand

So, you’re enticed by the sirens of Social Media? But what is the best way to navigate the waters of Influencer Marketing without going out of your depth?

Influencer categories

There are several types of influencer categories.

• Nano: below 10k followers
• Micro: between 10k to <50k followers
• Mid-tier: between 50k to <500k followers
• Macro: between 500k to <1 million followers
• Mega: 1 million + followers.

The cost of collaborating with influencers often correlates with their level of popularity and recognition; Mega Influencers with an international following, are likely to require a much larger investment than a Micro Influencer with a national, or local audience.

While this is not always the case – the greater the influencers reach and reputation, the more likely you will see an increase in sales and conversions, leading to a larger return on investment.

Depending on your available resources, budget constraints, and projected ROI, determining the optimal influencer level for your brand is essential.

Finding the right influencer for your brand

Finding the right ‘muse’ for your brand or campaign goes beyond looking at the influencer level and your budget; while these are clearly quite important and relevant factors, there are several other elements you would need to consider.

Audience: You’ll want to make sure that their followers are within your target-audience; this isn’t just whether their interests align with the product or service you’re offering, but you’ll also want to consider demographics such as the location of their audience, gender, and age ranges of those who watch their videos. For example if you wanted to partner with a beauty influencer to promote an anti-aging cream, but the majority of their audience is between 18-30, they might not be the right fit for your brand, even if they fall within your niche, level, and budget.

Values: Do the values that your desired influencer represent align with those of your brand? For example you might want to partner with a food and healthy lifestyle influencer to promote your new vegan product – but if their diet consists of both plant and meat based products you might want to choose an influencer who is more prominent within the plant-based community.

Engagement rates: The influencer might have followers that establishes them as a Micro or Macro influencer, but they might not get the type of engagements you’re interested in. For example they might get a lot of views, but potentially don’t get high click through on the links they share. Or if your goal is to get people to comment for a competition – but they get more likes than comments, again a partnership with them might not be the type you are looking for.

Nurturing & maintaining strong influencer relationships

Once you have chosen the right influencer for your brand or campaign, you should start by trying to build an authentic and genuine relationship with them. Follow them on their Social Media channels and engage with the content they post; this will also give you a feel for the type of content they post, and the level of organic engagement each type of post receives too.

It is ideal to do this before pitching any collaboration ideas. This will give the influencer a sense of familiarity with your brand before you reach out for business propositions, establishing a connection with your brand, and genuine confidence with your products and services before promotion, leading to more authentic content creation.

Apotheosis

The realm of Influencer Marketing has long extended far beyond the boundaries of Social Media. In parallel with their mythical counterparts, influencers wield significant power to impact consumer behaviour and brand perception across various channels and mediums.

With a strategic approach, marketers can leverage the influence of these individuals across numerous avenues. By navigating these uncharted waters, brands can harness the power of these social sirens to drive engagement, enhance credibility, and ultimately achieve their marketing objectives beyond the confines of social media.

 

For more Olympian digital marketing insights check out the latest issue of Benchmark search & digital marketing magazine, “Titans of Search.”