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The Keys to Successful Influencer Marketing Campaign

Influencer Marketing
The Keys to Successful Influencer Marketing Campaign

Customers are no longer making uninformed purchasing decisions for most things they buy. Many of them are turning to friends or trusted online resources to find recommendations. These days, many of those “online resources,” are influencers.

What are influencers, how do they help inspire purchasing decisions, and what makes a successful influencer marketing campaign? Find out our answers and top tips below. 

What Is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is the promotion of a brand or its products through the use of online individuals who have influence over potential customers. These “influencers” create online content such as photos, videos, guides, and more to engage their audience. 

Brands like to work with influencers because they can get their offerings in front of a new audience, but with the recommendation coming from a trusted and respected individual rather than a company.

Influencer marketing is a very effective tool, especially as traditional ad campaigns are seeing less and less return. According to research conducted by TapInfluence, influencer marketing was able to generate 11 times higher ROI than other prevalent digital marketing channels.

What Makes a Successful Influencer Marketing Campaign?

‍Now that we’ve discussed what influencer marketing is, you might be wondering, “what makes a successful influencer marketing campaign, and how do I create one myself?” 

‍While each campaign should have its own specific goals and KPIs, higher brand awareness, increased conversion, and more sales are just a few markers of a successful influencer marketing campaign

‍Here are five tips for implementing influencer marketing successfully:

  1. Do the marketing groundwork first. Before conducting influencer research and outreach, you should have a good idea for a campaign strategy that involves influencers. Consider your brand’s current image in the market and understand your target audience, budget, and goals for the campaign.
  2. Make sure your influencer is a good fit for your brand. You’ll need to do thorough research to ensure that you have chosen someone with similar values and interests (does your brand fit into their “niche?”), a relevant following (could their followers be potential customers?), and good engagement (do they get a solid number of likes and comments on each post?). 
  3. Choose quality over quantity. When balancing your influencer marketing budget, many decisions will come up, but a huge one will be: should I spend more on fewer big influencers or spend less on a greater number of smaller ones? It’s important to consider the quality and relevance of influencers you choose, rather than only looking at follower counts. 
  4. Build long-term relationships with influencers. Generally, influencers would prefer a consistent revenue stream and a trusted brand partner rather than always searching for brand deals. And on the brand side, once you’ve built trust with influencers, they can become a consistent and trusted piece of your marketing strategy.
  5. Track it, and make necessary changes for next time. The only way to be sure that your campaign is working is by tracking it. Have KPIs in mind that you can use to measure this campaign against other ones. Note your social following and engagement metrics before and after the campaign to see how they (hopefully) improve. Finally, debrief at the end of the campaign and make needed changes for next time. 

Examples of Successful Influencer Marketing Campaigns

‍Brands running the best influencer campaigns have nailed all of the tips above and are continuing to innovate the way influencers are utilized in marketing in this decade. 

‍Here are a few examples of the best recent influencer marketing campaigns:

Nissan’s TitanAdventure Even

Nissan did an excellent job with their #TitanAdventure campaign, where they reached out to influencers, ambassadors, and “regular” pick-up truck drivers to invite them to a pop-up event. There were engaging activities and even educational moments. While the brand didn’t pay anyone in attendance to create content, by throwing a great event and inviting the right people, they ended up with masses of authentic content. 

Buffalo Wild Wings’ March Madness Campaign

‍Earlier this year, the beloved restaurant chain partnered with influencers and former college basketball players to hype up March Madness fans. The campaign encouraged influencers to boldly and directly ask their followers why they were still on their phones when a game was on. BWW made a great choice in terms of the influencers they used, and while the informal tone of the language they used may have been off-putting to some people, the targeted fans were the perfect audience for it. 

BMW’s TikTok Challenge

‍TikTok dance challenges are immensely popular for engaging a younger audience and lots of brands have attempted to get their choreography spreading around online. BMW did just that, by working with popular TikTok influencers, FalcoPunch and SkyandTami. Their challenge, #THE1challenge, which encouraged users to dance to a certain song around a new or nice car, ended up trending and earned them over one million likes.

Let Lionize Help Your Company Get Started With Influencer Marketing

‍Influencer marketing can be time-consuming and you may not know where to start. Lionize’s influencer marketing software takes the guesswork out of the process by finding the perfect influencers for your niche. It also automates many mundane tasks, saving you time and effort. Book a Discovery Call today for a demo and to see how Lionize can help you master influencer marketing.