When promotion is done through digital media, of course you will come across the term influencer. What are influencers? And why do you need to use it for business?
In this article, we'll cover influencer marketing, its benefits for you, and how to choose the right one!
What are Influencers?
In simple terms, an influencer is someone who can make an impact on society.
They can be celebrities, bloggers, YouTubers, or public figures who are considered important in a particular community.
Generally, an influencer has millions of followers on social media. However, this is not always the case. Someone with thousands of followers can also be called an influencer if they have a big influence on the audience.
Yes, as the name suggests, influence is the power of an influencer. They can be trend setters both on a small and large scale. Therefore, many business owners partner with influencers to promote products thanks to this incredible influence.
This is what has come to be known as influencer marketing.
Influencer marketing is a marketing strategy where the company invites an influencer to work together to increase brand awareness and sales according to the specified target market.
Before going into a deeper explanation, let's first study the types of influencers in the digital marketing world.
Types of Influencers
In general, the types can be distinguished from the number of followers and the media used to promote the product.
The following are three types of influencers based on the number of followers:
1. Micro
A micro-influencer typically has 10,000 followers or less.
Judging by the numbers, you might think that using micro-influence is not effective for promoting products. However, quite the opposite.
The power of micro influencers is engagement with their followers. In fact, a study shows that consumers are 82% more likely to buy a product from a micro-influencer recommendation!
Not only that, micro-influencers have a more specific audience in a particular niche (topic). By understanding their audience, micro-influencers can create content that is more relevant to their followers.
2. Macro
If he has more than 100K followers, he can be called a macro influencer. Usually macro influencers are people who are widely known even though they are not as famous as celebrities.
With the number of followers, the potential macro influencer to promote the product to more people. Also, using macro influencers can make your product or brand look exclusive.
3. Premium
These are the top influencers with the most number of followers. Premium influencers generally have millions of followers.
The percentage of product purchases from premium influencer recommendations may not be as large as other influencers, but it is still promising. The reason is that the message reach of premium influencers is very wide.
However, you need to think about the suitability of the products you offer and the budget you have.
On the other hand, the types of influencers based on the media used are divided into three:
4. Instagram celebrities
An Instagram celebrity is a public figure who uses the Instagram platform as a product promotion medium.
Why does Instagram have the potential to be a promotional medium? Because Instagram is a very popular social media and has many users around the world. Data shows that leveraging celebrity popularity can be relied on for product promotion.
5. YouTubers
A YouTuber is a person who uploads videos to YouTube about information, including product information. The role of YouTubers as product influencers is quite significant.
The reason is, more than 90% of internet users know new products through Youtube. If you work with a Youtuber who has a lot of followers, of course, the potential to attract their attention to your product is even greater.
6. Bloggers
A blogger is someone who owns and manages a blog. Not a few blogs are used to review a product, such as Sasyachi's blog which reviews various beauty products.
When a blogger recommends a product, it will certainly attract readers to try the product. If the blogger has a lot of loyal readers, product marketing will certainly be easier and more effective.
Are you already interested in using influencers for your brand or product?
Previously, it's a good idea to learn about the benefits of influencers for your business.
How to Choose Influencers
There are several tips that you can consider before making a choice to one of the influencers.
1. Adjust Your Prepared Budget
Like any other promotional activity, choosing an influencer should fit within your budget.
If your budget is tight, working with micro-influencers can be the best option. One reason is that they interact with their followers more intensely. Not infrequently there is input about the product given by some of the followers of the product's users.
Well, with this information, you can immediately make repairs. So, even with a minimal budget, the benefits you receive are no less large.
2. Adjust Your Business Target Market
The target market is useful for knowing your consumer group so that you can implement targeted promotional measures.
For example, if you sell children's products, your target customers are housewives. You can research which community leaders post frequently about parenting guidelines.
If you use the example of the target consumer above, Ayudhya Ghita could be the right choice. He actively posts about baby and child products on his Instagram account.
3. According to Product Promotion Scale
You should start your influencer marketing strategy by determining the scale of the promotion to be implemented.
Choosing a public figure that fits your promotional goals will certainly be more effective. If the scale of the promotion is large, feel free to use macros or even premium influencers. The goal, to hit the market.
On the other hand, if your product promotion is on a small scale, using micro influencers is certainly more appropriate because the budget you spend is in accordance with the final results you get.
There are many platforms you can use to help you find the right influencers, such as Getcraft and SociaBuzz.
4. Must Have a Good Reputation
Always choose a public figure who has a good reputation in his field.
Regardless of the type of influencer, micro or macro, working with a reputable one is definitely more convenient.
If you only look at the number of followers, but the public figures are often in trouble with the law, for example, it will certainly affect your product.
In addition, a public figure with a good reputation will of course have a well-maintained personal branding. This will be able to help your business build a good branding as well.
5. Have High Involvement
You also need to pay attention to the engagement between public figures and their followers. Because, it can be a benchmark for how your product promotion will touch your potential customers.
For example, if you see micro-influencers who are always highly engaged, you can use their services to promote your products. On the other hand, a public figure with a large number of followers but low engagement is certainly less profitable.
There are actually many ways to measure the engagement of an influencer. Both from the aspect of engagement per post, engagement per impression and others. However, you don't need to measure the value of this engagement yourself. There are many tools you can use like Engagement Calculator.
6. Good Content Update Intensity
One thing you should not forget is the intensity of public figures in posting.
For example, if your influencer posts too many Instagram posts in one day, chances are your promo content will quickly disappear from the top page of the gallery. This means that followers will have to scroll down to find your product content.
On the other hand, if a public figure rarely posts, his followers' engagement can also begin to dim.
In addition, if your influencer posts multi-channel or on various social media at the same time, it will certainly increase the number of potential consumers who see it.
In essence, pay attention to your influencer's habits in managing posts before choosing them.
On the other hand, you can also be more diligent in monitoring social media. The goal is to find out what is trending and who is a viral public figure.
When you find viral moments and topics to promote your product, you can "move fast" to collaborate with these public figures, before competitors.
7. Prepare the Cooperation Agreement Well
Last but not least, always make clear agreements with your influencers.
The cooperation agreement that you make must contain detailed clauses, both about the rights and obligations of each party. This is to avoid misunderstandings that can lead to legal problems that can occur.
In practice, some companies often brief influencers during promotions. In this way, the promotion objectives can be clearer and make it easier for influencers to create content.
Remember, the influencer you choose must be able to build a positive image of your brand or product. Don't risk the survival of your business by choosing the wrong people.
What are the Benefits of Influencer Marketing for Business Owners?
Here are some of the benefits you can get from working with an influencer:
1. Make Your Product the Center of Attention
You can quickly make your product the center of attention. The trick is to take someone who is going viral as your influencer.
In essence, every activity of an influencer is always the center of attention of his followers.
2. Make Consumers More Trust Your Products
If you promote products conventionally, it will take a relatively long time to convince your potential customers. However, when using a public figure, consumer confidence in a product can be directly formed.
This is because they have experience and expertise in a particular field.
If they use your product, it is very easy for their followers to trust your product more.
In fact, 53% of female consumers make a product purchase after seeing a post from an influencer.
3. Increase Sales
The more people who know about your product, the more likely it is that sales will be generated.
4. Reach More Consumers
Some business owners tend to promote their products through advertisements, both in print and electronic media. Unfortunately, there are some people who choose to "skip" the ad.
This is where the role of influencers can "fill the void".
If product marketing is done using influencers through social media, blogs or YouTube, of course it can reach more consumers.
5. Build Closeness with Consumers
Using influencer services can build consumer intimacy with your brand. However, you must be observant in choosing the right people for your product's target market.
One way to build intimacy is to use a public figure who really likes your product.
Keep in mind that premium influencers don't always guarantee successful marketing, given the possibility of having fake followers.
In fact, most micro-influencers tend to use a product before recommending it.
For his followers, this is certainly more interesting, because it is more real. With this condition, the consumer's closeness with the product can be built stronger.
Not only that, by using social media, two-way communication can be created. This provides an opportunity for followers to confirm the correctness of the recommendations given by the influencer in question.
6. Tend to be easy to return on investment
Using influencers to promote products is a business investment. Fortunately, your chances of getting a return on investment (ROI) are quite large. This means that the return on investment becomes easier.
In fact, one study found that influencers can achieve an 11 times greater ROI than banner ads.
Of course, to achieve these results there are several things that you need to pay attention to. One of them is choosing the right public figure. How to?
Conclusion
An influencer is someone who has social media with a large number of followers. With these conditions, they are quite promising to be invited to work together in promoting the product.
In general, there are several types of influencers based on the number of followers: micro, macro, and premium. On the other hand, the media used also determines the type: bloggers, YouTubers, and celebrities.
For business owners, utilizing the services of an influencer provides six advantages that will help your business grow better. We have explained these benefits in detail.
Hopefully the above information can help develop your business even better. Success for you!