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Month: May 2020

Influencer Marketing 2020

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‘Influencer marketing 2020’ is a phrase we hear a lot of in the world of social media but what exactly is it? At its basic level, influencer marketing is a type of marketing used on social media platforms where your business, product or service can be endorsed publicly by people who have a strong following and who have social influence. 

What does influencer marketing do?

Influencer marking can remove the need for direct marketing to a large group of consumers, allowing a business instead to inspire an influencer to spread the word to a more relevant target audience.  

Why is influencer important in marketing?

Influencer marketing creates trust. In 2018, research showed that almost 90% of millennials rely on endorsements and reviews to inform their purchasing decisions. In this age of following our favourite celebrities on every social media platform, what is more impactful than your favourite popstar, film star or TV personality telling you that a certain blend of coffee, or a particular brand of shampoo is great enough for them to use/buy it? This increased trust factor for your brand/product/service will improve conversion rates. Furthermore, the targeted exposure that influencer marketing gives will raise ROI (return on investment) and will increase your reputation online and off.

What is the point of influencer marketing in 2020?

Influencer marketing relies on the power of a given individual’s influence and that individual’s ability to influence the action of their followers. With over 17 million followers on Instagram, James Charles, the teenage make-up artist, has cosmetics brands falling over themselves to enter into partnerships with him. A single post showing him using a certain brand of brush can easily gain 2 million likes and with exposure like that, even the smallest conversion can lead to huge sales! 

What is an influencer marketing strategy?

An influencer marketing strategy will identify people who have a strong influence on your industry or target audience. A partnership is formed with the influencer who will agree to show your brand or product to their audience. Influencer marketing often works alongside content marketing, social media marketing, and other similar forms of brand promotion on social media channels.

How to find the right influencer for you?

With in excess of half a million influencers active just on Instagram, the opportunity for collaboration is vast and the need to find the right influencer is vital. These tips will help!

  • An influencer has to be relevant to your brand and their audience needs to be your target audience.
  • The size of your influencer’s following is crucial – it represents the potential audience you can reach, but bigger isn’t always better if the audience isn’t relevant.
  • In much the same way as you create personas when formulating a content plan, audience personas are a great way to work out who you want to target. With this in place, you can then create a corresponding set of influencer personas.
  • Engagement. If your influencer has lots of likes, comments and shares then their audience trusts them and a healthy and consistent engagement rate means the influencer has a loyal following.
  • The influencer’s tone and style should align with and complement yours. How they present their content will reflect directly on your brand/product.
  • Sponsored content is important to watch for too. Too much and an influencer may lose their engagement rate. Sponsored ads are fine in small quantities but your influencer needs good quality organic, non-paid for content, as well as UGC (user generated content).
  • Do your homework – show your preferred influencer that you have made the effort to learn about what they do, what their chosen channels are and who their audience is. And don’t forget to engage with your influencer too – like their posts, comment on them. Appreciate them.
  • Think about budget. When working with a large influencer, you need a budget. Think about payment structure – would your influencer prefer a one-off, flat fee or would a commission structure work for them?
  • Make your initial contact personal – no influencer wants to receive a generic or mass email that they know has been sent to a hundred others. Taking the time to send a personal message will show you are serious and that you have done your research. Include information about your brand and share your goals for your campaign so that they can make an informed decision.

The Complete Guide To Social Media 2020

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Social Media 2020

Social Media 2020

 

So, what exactly are Social Media? Simply put, social media enable us to keep in touch – with family, friends and, more so now than ever before, customers and clients. Sites such as Facebook and Instagram are designed to let you share content in real time and it is this ability to share images, views and events which is transforming the way many small, online companies do business in 2020.

With approximately 40% of the world’s population using social media networks, businesses now realise the importance of their social media marketing, understanding that the use of these platforms will heighten brand awareness, increase website traffic and lead to customer acquisition and retention. But which platforms to use? And how do you use them? Do you need a social media strategy?

There are so many social media platforms available that it can be hard to decide which will suit your business best. There are no right or wrong answers – different channels will yield results for different businesses and the content you publish will depend on the platform you use. 

Facebook

By number of users, Facebook is the largest of the social media platforms with a user base of over 2 billion and counting. The introduction of Facebook business pages transformed it from a purely social network to a legitimate marketing platform. 

Short videos work well on Facebook but they need to be engaging and relevant – live videos are really popular, as are posts that feature pictures and not just text. 

A Facebook business page will help drive traffic to your website and is invaluable for increasing your organic reach.

Instagram

Giving Facebook a run for its money with more than 1 billion active users, Instagram is one of the most current social media platforms. As a visual platform, Instagram needs high quality, stunning pictures and videos to really work well and attract immediate attention for your business. 

Hugely popular on Instagram are live videos which can be adapted for question and answer sessions, as well as interviews and how-to tutorials. 

Business friendly shoppable posts and stories make Instagram a relevant platform for today’s businesses and offer a versatile approach for your marketing. It is also the most popular channel for influencer marketing as over 65% of marketers choose it. 

LinkedIn

As a professional networking platform, LinkedIn wins hands down for B2B marketing. Industry experts and field leaders come together on LinkedIn to share their expertise, knowledge and opinions and it is THE place for current, informative, industry content. 

Opinion pieces are popular on LinkedIn, as are information articles and industry headlining news. For any B2B business, Instagram is second to none for key lead generation. 

Twitter

Originally a text-only platform, Twitter’s strength lies in short, frequent and relevant tweets. Twitter’s dynamics rely on regular tweets and for it to be used successfully as a marketing tool, you will need a timetable for scheduled posts. Without this consistency, you will lose the interest of your audience. SproutSocial cites the highest global engagement on Twitter to be from 08.00 to 10.00 on a Friday morning. 

Successful content on Twitter includes updates on the latest from your brand, witty jokes and memes, and crisp one-liners. It is also a great platform to link through to content on your website. 

Social media 2020 can be a minefield for the uninitiated so put the legwork in before you launch yourself  and your business out there. Look at your competitors (their audience is your audience!) – which platforms are they using? What are they posting? What’s their engagement like? Are they using hashtags? Which ones? What tone are they using with their audience? What calls to action are they using? 

Taking the time to conduct your research will help to inform your social media marketing strategy by helping you to choose the platforms which will work best for you. 

Have fun!