Over the past years, social media has become entwined with our daily living. It is how we connect to the world, discover products and services, and search for news and trends. We become inspired by social media personalities that touch our lives. Little did we know that they are indirectly influencing our buying decisions. That is how influencer marketing rises.

According to a social media agency Hong Kong, an influencer recommendation on social media networks like Facebook and Instagram is very powerful. Around 49% of Facebook and Instagram users made a purchase based on influencer recommendations. The influencer marketing industry is also on track and will be valued at $15 billion by the year 2022. As such, every brand needs to know how to build a powerful influencer marketing strategy.

WHAT IS INFLUENCER MARKETING?

As defined by a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong, influencer marketing is a hybrid of traditional and modern marketing. It is a collaboration between a brand with a celebrity to endorse its products and services through social media and other forms of online marketing. A celebrity is not necessarily an actor or actress, movie star, or TV personality. They’re not even famous in an offline scenario. A celebrity is someone who has a huge number of loyal followers on their social media accounts. These loyal followers are the target audience of a brand. Once a celebrity endorses a product or service to social media pages, it can greatly influence the buying decision of these huge numbers of followers. So, in reality, the audience cared about the influencer’s opinion and not the brand. Yet because of the endorsement, a brand was able to boost conversion and engagement.

LIST OF SOME TOP SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS

There are a lot of influencers in social media today. Some conquered the spotlight within a short period, while others were able to maintain their status quo. Below is a list of some top social media influencers today.

Charli D’Amelio is a top TikTok influencer with 116.4 million followers to date. At the age of 16, she began her social media career as an actress and a dancer. She became an instant hit on the TikTok app in 2019 upon uploading dance videos of popular songs. She is now the most followed TikTok creator and the second top-earning biggest star on the app. 

Huda Kattan is a top Instagram influencer with 48.6 million followers to date. Also known for her cosmetic line, Huda Beauty, this Iraqi-American makeup artist is one of the most influential makeup artists in the social media world. Her makeup how-tos and reviews have established a trend of entertaining and informative content in the cosmetics industry.

Pewdepie is a top YouTube influencer with 110 million subscribers to date. He is Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg from Sweden best known for his comedy sketches and the “Let’s Play” videos. As his channel celebrated its tenth year on YouTube, his content diversified including comedy shorts, music videos, and vlogs. Some of his video uploads have even reached 26 billion views. No wonder, Pewdepie was named by Time Magazine as one of the most influential people in the world.

Shane Dawson is a top Twitter influencer with 21.7 million followers to date. He started being a social media influencer after receiving half a billion views from a YouTube video in 2019. His real name is Shane Lee Yaw. He is an actor, director, and writer. As a top Twitter influencer, he is popular for his sketch comedy videos impersonating characters and celebrities alike. He also vents his feelings and thoughts through his tweets which strongly appeal as authentic among his large number of followers. Shane Dawson has also powerfully promoted products and videos of his friends via Twitter. 

HOW TO BUILD A POWERFUL INFLUENCER MARKETING STRATEGY

Below are some ways on how to build a powerful influencer marketing strategy.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is the process in which brands partner with third-party advertisers to promote their products and services. The affiliate can be an app, a marketer, a person, a social media page, or a website. The affiliate will promote the product and earn a commission for each conversion the affiliate link has made. Brands and businesses can integrate influencer marketing by making the influencer their affiliate partner. This, they can do, by offering discount codes that an influencer can embed in blogs, images, podcasts, and videos.  

Competitions and Giveaways

The easiest way to drive engagement on influencer marketing is through competitions and giveaways. A brand may grant some freebies through an influencer’s post once the followers:

  • Follow the brand
  • Like the post
  • Tag a friend
  • Share the content
  • Sign up for a newsletter

The influencer can also encourage followers to create original content related to a brand, product, or service as part of a competition. These are easy ways to drive engagement and gather user-generated content that you can use to retarget other segments of audiences. 

Invest in Influencers and Video Marketing

According to a video marketing agency Hong Kong, video production is the latest craze in influencer marketing. Exclusive interviews, teaser campaigns, and unboxing videos all create a buzz and crush sales goals when done by key influencers. Around 4 out of 5 millennials go to video content to look for influencer-recommended products and services. 

In the end, building a powerful influencer marketing strategy is a three-way process. Brands need to collaborate with influencers. Influencers need to authentically promote the product or service, while both the brand and influencer should find a way to connect to the customer’s emotions and eventually influence their buying decisions.

Reference: https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/influencer-marketing/#types-of-influencer-campaigns