How to Make Your Next Influencer Campaign Even More Effective

More brands are discovering that influencer-driven campaigns are one of their most effective marketing tools. A recent study cited by eMarketer found that consumer engagement with creator-generated marketing content was significantly higher than content created by brands in-house, sometimes by a factor of 100x or more. But as more brands and agencies deploy influencers to boost their own marketing efforts, there are still lots of opportunities to increase ROI and make these creator-driven campaigns even more effective. Here are some best practices to ensure your next influencer effort gets as much “bang for the buck” as possible.

1. Match the right campaign to the right platform: It’s easy to assume that if a creator is popular on one social site, they should appeal on all of them. But it’s critical that marketers spend the time to determine which social platform best fits with their campaign efforts. YouTube may be best for viewing videos, but Instagram is the place to go if your marketing effort involves images. Meanwhile, many brands find that Facebook excels for live influencer content; and Snapchat is great for on-site activations. Know your campaign goals, your creator’s strengths, and your ideal content format- then work from there.
2. Go by relevance not size: Thinking about who you’re trying to target can make a big difference in which types of creators are most appropriate for your brand. It’s tempting to be blinded by the big names but to really see success, your priority should be partnering with a creator whose audience is most relevant rather than their pure reach numbers. Consider factors like your target consumers’ gender, geographic location, income, ethnicity, religion when evaluating if any given creator has the right audience to match.
3. Go beyond social: Social media may be the epicenter of influencer-driven marketing campaigns. After all, that’s where these internet-era superstars first developed their fan base. But there are plenty of opportunities to extend these types of creator campaigns into the offline world and other, more “traditional” forms of advertising. Think about how you might extend your influencer content to out-of-home billboards, in-store retail displays, or in movie theaters. Depending on where your target audience spends their time, you may be surprised by some of the opportunities.
4. Put the creator in the driver’s seat: Advertising existed for many decades as a purely one-way medium. Brands had a message that they shared with consumers, and those consumers either listened or ignored them. Thanks to the rise of social media, today’s consumers talk back, considering themselves to be active participants in the creation of the brand’s marketing and content efforts. It’s important that marketers keep this idea in mind as they collaborate with creators on marketing campaign ideas. Make sure to allow the creator breathing room to come up with content ideas and try to minimize brand interference. They know what will resonate with their audience to achieve the brand’s goal better than anyone.
5. Form long-term relationships for long-term campaigns: Some marketers still regard influencer campaigns as a novelty, which leads them to treat their efforts as one-off experiments. But when it comes to social, long-term sustained content efforts are essential. Many of today’s most popular influencer personalities spent years cultivating their audiences. While a one-off influencer marketing campaign may offer a brand a quick boost, it’s only by forming long-term sustained relationships with creators that these types of partnerships start to pay dividends, both in follower counts and organic engagement.

Influencer campaigns are proving more effective than ever before. But to truly get the most out of these increasingly popular social media superstars, it’s important to keep these simple tips in mind. Have questions about how to maximize your own influencer efforts? Reach out the Captiv8 team today to make sure you’re following the industry best practices.