Influencer Marketing
Enough said, but this one's a reminder for what works in influencer marketing in 2024
Hey there,
25% of the year down, how’s your 2024 coming along?
For me, I’m super excited. This newsletter is hitting a 30 day average of 30% on open rates, which I believe is quite high, given the fact that I only resumed writing 4 weeks back. So if you have interesting topics that you’d like me to dive into: design or content, let me know.
If you’ve been added by a well-wisher or you’ve signed up yourself, it’s going to be a fun journey from here on. You are part of 4000+ avid readers of experiential (read: tactical) content on product, design & content. If you’re interested to read more about me, here’s my LinkedIn. No ads here I assure.
Let's dive into today's topic: Acing Influencer Marketing in 2024. And there’s a surprise appreciation post (or rather an example of how all of this comes together) at the end of this edition.
Influencer marketing is no new kid on the block. Yet, most brands get it wrong. And I deal with several experiences every single day, where I get a founder come to me with
“Can we get 5 influencers to partner with us for 5 performance ads”
Even if your ad performs on ROAS, it’s a recipe for disaster, in the longer term. Lets re-look at Influencer Marketing in 2024:
Niche Influencers:
Firstly, I would only work with Influencers who have cultivated a loyal following within specific niches or communities. Read again: “niche” or “communities”
It’s only with the right influencers, can you seamlessly integrate your products into a highly relevant and engaged audience, increasing the likelihood of conversions at a relatively low cost. And that makes it tougher to “discover” the right influencers.
Authenticity is Key:
Fans expect influencers to promote products they genuinely care about and would use themselves. More than 41% of consumers become more interested in a brand when they see it promoted by an influencer they love and trust. Successful partnerships are built on authenticity, not just reach.
Meaningful Relationships:
The traditional transactional approach of "give free products, pay for a sponsored post" is often a recipe for failure. Instead, focus on developing meaningful relationships with influencers (or creators) who truly believe in your brand and product. Let them test your product, give you feedback, see it being implemented and evangelist it organically. It may seem as a high CAC activity, but the LTV here is much higher too.
The organic connection leads to more genuine and impactful content.
Beyond Sponsored Posts:
The best influencer marketing campaigns go beyond a single sponsored post. By forging strong relationships, influencers are more likely to organically promote your brand, resulting in native, highly resonant content without the typical "#ad" disclaimer.
For instance, when boAt Lifestyle partnered with popular tech influencers, they didn't just rely on one-off sponsored posts. Instead, they engaged the influencers in product development, sought their feedback, and involved them in various campaigns over time. This multi-faceted approach led to a more authentic and sustained relationship.
Followers Don't Mean Much:
When selecting influencers, go beyond follower counts.
Prioritise those with high engagement rates and values that align with your brand's ethos. An influencer who truly believes in your product will create content that resonates deeply with their audience.
Collaborative Partnerships:
Treat influencers as partners, not just paid marketing channels. Work collaboratively, focusing on long-term gains rather than short-term revenue.
Things like: Come up with offline or experiential events that help build communities, let them carry out AMA’s along with your brand, let them wear your brand’s merchandise.
This approach fosters brand loyalty, decreases customer acquisition costs, and enables you to track influencer-driven impact more effectively.
Test Before Committing:
Offer your product to potential influencer partners for testing before committing to a partnership. This allows them to experience the product firsthand and ensures a genuine connection, resulting in more authentic and impactful content.
Measuring Success:
When it comes to measuring the success of your influencer partnerships, it's essential to go beyond just immediate sales or conversions. Look at metrics such as:
Engagement rates (likes, comments, shares) on influencer posts
Website traffic and social media following growth
Brand sentiment and mentions across various platforms
Longevity of the partnership and organic promotion by the influencer
By tracking these metrics, you can gauge the true impact of your influencer partnerships on brand awareness, affinity, and long-term customer acquisition.
Appreciation:
I don't usually like a brand’s approach, but this one had me at all levels: Shashank’s Post on Starbucks strategy to include calorific values in it’s menu, is what caught my attention. Here’s why it hits home at several levels:
Raw, authentic, relatable
By the founder (the brand's biggest influencer. But if you’re thinking of plugging in an influencer here, may just work too)
Appreciating a giant like Starbucks, thereby establishing a sublime association with the brand’s customers
Linking it back to The Whole Truth’s mission of communicating the whole truth, thereby driving home the value that the brand stands for
I could add a lot more in here, but you get the drift.
With the constantly changing algorithms, even if you try and optimise for one metric, chances are that you would only be experimenting to fully understand the potential of a piece of content that's created to purely please the algorithm.
So amidst an ever changing algorithm, the only thing that stays constant is ‘great content’. On a good day, great content = hitting all the metrics; on bad day, great content = community building
That's it from me for today.
Before I sign off, here are a few things I want to share with you:
Did an interesting piece of content on LinkedIn, but on Instagram. Check it out.
Lights Out Studio is hiring for product designers. So if you’re a product designer with expertise in UI design, hit us up on testdrive@lightsout.studio
Until next time, keep crushing it!
Gratitude,
Sak.