From The Blog

Influencer Marketing


As a video production company we have noticed that more and more brands are seeking influencer marketing as a tool for endorsing a product.

An influencer’s opinion will affect the decisions that others make. Be that whether to try a new product or whether or not to trust a brand. Lots of brands are moving towards having influencers, and the number of influencers is only increasing. With more and more time spent on social media, it’s inevitable that this is where we will start seeking advice and opinion.

What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing is working with respected influentials with devoted, engaged followers, to connect those followers with your brand. This can result in dramatically increased engagement with your brand story and products/services. If an influencer trusts a brand and a follower trusts an influencer, it’s easier for the follower to trust the brand. You can think about it in terms of word of mouth marketing. If I am knowledgeable on a product and my friends and family trust my opinion, it will be easier for them to trust your brand and they will be more likely to buy your products.

Influencer marketing may not be so much about coercion and persuasion, but more about information and advocacy. It’s worth remembering that influencer marketing may not always be 100% positive. In a bid to make sure they are giving a truthful review on a product, negatives may be included. But the influencers personal opinion is what makes the difference here – because who reviews products and can never a find a bad to say about them or a criticism? Someone who is paid to only speak the positives, that’s who.

Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing

Influencer vs celebrity

Influencers aren’t always celebrities. In fact, it can work better if they are not. People have got wise to celebrity endorsements for products, and they realise that this is a paid for service. People trust influencers opinions on things. They trust that they are being truthful and that they have done the research required to come to a conclusion on a product. They trust that they aren’t just saying they like something for the money. Influencers also have more two-way communication with their followers in comparison to celebrities. Influencers will respond to comments left by followers and make deeper connections with them.

Celebrities don’t have the same level of connection with followers as an influencer does. There is no way that an A list celeb could reply to all the comments left and answer all the questions posed. It simply isn’t possible. Celebrities often endorse more than one brand, which can lead to them having less of an impact on your potential customers. Seeing that a celebrity is endorsing 6 brands could cause them to lose credit. A celebrity can also overshadow a brand, with people paying more attention to the person advertising the product, rather than the product itself. For example, do you remember David Beckham or the underpants he was advertising? Do you remember Kate Moss or the perfume she was promoting?

Getting a celebrity to endorse your product is a great way of getting your product out there and well known, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that people are going to trust your brand or product as a result. If we consider this in the terms of reach/engagement, celebrities are your ‘reach’ and influencers are your ‘engagement’. Influencers are more specific and celebrities are more general.

So here is how a guy in his bedroom in his white socks and slippers can help you choose the right tripod –

What do you want from your influencer?

Do you want someone with a huge amount of knowledge on your brand or your products? Do you want someone who is a trendsetter? Are you after someone who writes in a particular way or someone who has a certain ‘voice’? Are you looking for someone with a certain type of follower/audience? Are you searching for a certain personality type? Clearly there many things to consider when you are looking for an influencer.

Thinking about how well they fit with your brand is very important. For example, if you got Harry Styles to endorse your financial services company, you probably aren’t going to get much interest from his followers when he shares your brand story video. This is because his followers aren’t interested in the service you are providing. Yeah, he has a huge reach and loads of people are going to see his endorsement, but they aren’t going to do anything about it, because you are reaching out to the wrong people.

You will want someone that is invested in your brand and brand story. If they don’t believe in you and your ideals, why are they going to want to market your product? Influencers can be discerning when it comes to accepting an offer to market a brand. They want to make sure your ideals fit with their ideals. You want them to be invested in your brand, so make sure you are a good fit.

Where do you find your influencer?

Social media monitoring: look at social media and find influencers that are talking about your brand already, or who are talking about things similar to your brand. If someone is talking about what your brand does, but not specifically mentioning your brand, this may be someone you want to engage with.

Identify hashtags: looking at the hashtags your influencers are using can help you locate potentials. By listening in to the conversations surrounding these hashtags, you will identify those who are already talking about your brand.

Blogger outreach: most influencers have a blog. Most bloggers are connected to other social media and have followers that religiously read what they have to say. Target bloggers who are already writing about your brand, look at blogs in your genres and blogs on related topics.

Now you have narrowed down what you are looking for from an influencer, the pot of possibilities has diminished. Hopefully you will be well on your way to finding your perfect influencer for your brand. Having a brand advocate who is organic and is invested in your brand will be hugely advantageous. Think about how you will communicate with them. They will want to know why you have chosen them to be a brand ambassador for you, so make sure you know exactly why you have done so. Tell them you have been following their blog and particularly connected with their post on a new salon. Tell them you have been seeing their interactions with their followers on social media and you like how much they trust you.