2020 is the perfect year to put an end to this decade. This year seems to be an amalgamation of all the stressful events the world has been throughout the decade; combined. There are some things, however, which we owe to this decade as a lot has changed from the year 2010.

If there is one thing that we will forever remember this decade for (apart from K-pop, Trump 2020, and COVID-19), it is influencer marketing, hands down. Who knew this field of marketing would skyrocket in roughly one year and garner the attention of millions? 

At the beginning of this decade, people had zero awareness of influencer marketing. Instagram had launched in late 2010, and thus started the influencing game that has no expiration date. By 2018, when Instagram garnered over 1 Billion active users from a mere 800, this marketing scheme was out in the open with sponsored advertisements, collaborations, etc.

Don’t get us wrong, influencer marketing has been there right in front of us, but the game has been played with or on in hindsight. Coca-Cola in the 1920s had used Santa Claus in its creative marketing campaign, and the “influence” is well-known to the world. This brilliant strategy could be deemed as a pioneer in the world of influencer marketing.

What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is a revolutionary form of social media Marketing that incorporates promotions and product references by people with a strong count of followers and who are deemed professionals in their niche. Influencer Marketing operates as social influencers have established their abilities and endorsements, insights as social evidence for prospective buyers or followers of the brand.

In 2019, the influencer marketing business saw ground-breaking advancements. The influencer marketing has definitely refined right from the emergence of New Age influencers that explores new, varied niches to the rising marketing budgets. Of course, businesses, regardless of their scale and reach, have now come to take advantage of influencer marketing strategies to stay way ahead of the game. With the last quarter of the year, influencer marketing schemes are already equipped for the changing metrics and dynamics in the coming years.   

Influencer Marketing& Social Media

Cut to a century later, this marketing strategy is just as brilliant, only smarter, much more engaging, sans limitations, and with the social media boom, nobody can differentiate whether an influencer is genuinely using an item or promoting a brand. #ad makes all the difference. Otherwise, nobody gets to know, but the profit whichever way is massive.

The onset of the decade only witnessed celebrities and supermodels endorsing a product. According to statistics, Instagram is the leading social media platform for Influencer Marketing.

• Today, the social media giant, Instagram, has over 25 million businesses on its platform.
• Last year, Instagram had generated a whopping $20 billion in ad revenue
• There are approximately 500,000 active influencers on Instagram.
• Almost 7 out of 10 Hashtags on Instagram are for Brand Engagement.

Micro-influencers are comparatively more engaged and connected with their followers than any other social media entity. They seem more trustworthy and genuine to users than celebrities and big brands.  They seem to have more knack for charisma and public dealing than others.

Guest posting and Influencer Marketing for SEO

Almost any company that runs a website does this because it intends to market in any way. Perhaps they would want to sell their products on the internet. They may also like to see more traffic on their website to persuade them to search for an item or a service. They may be seeking to create an online campaign and want more people to participate. Regardless of the purpose, if an organization has a website, they would want as many interested individuals and traffic as possible.

The challenge is that when you make it online, users won’t automatically access your platform. You won’t be finding yourself ranking Numero Uno at the google results.   You must integrate the website promotions and functionality for it to appear on Google’s first search results page in order to beat millions of other websites.

Search engine optimization comprises of streamlining your website properly, which include building quality links to your website and certain website promotional strategies and efforts.

SEO could be a fiercely competitive venture, at times. Your rivals are on and again trying to attempt to gain Google’s favor over you seamlessly. If you execute this successfully, you have a fair shot to ambush the opposition, though, following reasonably simple procedures. Influencer marketing, in this case, can be everything you need to ace this.   

Bloggers are also a kind of influencers who know how to share quality content on their pages to engage with followers. Through openly posting articles outside their websites, you will draw more people to online journals, thus enabling website owners to hit search engines. For both parties, this technique is a win-win solution.

This is a guest posting and not an endorsed post that you have to pay for, and therefore will not receive any pay-outs on this website.

Google sees references as the key website ranking criterion. As guest blogging offers substantial opportunities to access backlinks from various blogs, it can have a direct effect on the SEO as well as other marketing tactics, such as influencer marketing.

The Execution of Influencer Marketing

The biggest benefit of influencer marketing is that it will have powerful entities who steer prospective buyers to your site. Google is mindful of this and credits you in response to acing the analytics and remaining in its “sight.”

It is necessary to create associations and partnerships with the influencers of a particular niche while running a website. Typically, it is a slow but progressive process.

• You could start by only browsing and responding to their blogs. You will then evolve and contact them directly and, where applicable, provide them and their followers with recommendations and insights.
• If you yield helpful input, you are definitely heard by the influencer. You realize that the content has begun to be posted on social media profiles.
• In this case, they steer traffic towards your website’s direction, sans any formality or legal contract. They just recognize you for your helpful advice and share your experience with their followers.
• This way, if you continue to maintain long-term relations with influencers. This is acknowledged and compensated by the search engines in a rather grand way.

Strategy for Influencer Marketing

How to find and approach influencers?

• Not any different from any other strategy, it always begins with research. The first thing to do is to select the network you wish to lay emphasis on. It is to be noted that social media demographics are everything when it comes to influencer marketing. For instance, if your niche is fashion and beauty, then YouTube and Instagram are the perfect platforms for you. You will find the right traffic here.
• Now that your platform is finalized, pick the type of influencer (yes, there are types). According to your requirements and preferences, select from the range of influencers- from big shots in the industry to micro-influencers. You can begin from someone with a 10k follower range.

How much to pay them? (h3)

• Pay-outs and compensation also depend on influencers and their followers. These micro-influencers are represented by industry networks and other agencies. The bigger influencers and their accounts are handled by talent agencies, and there are a series of payment procedures, including compensations and commissions.
• Although, consider the expected ROI of your influencer marketing campaign. The overall marketing goals and budgets need to be taken into consideration while handling the influencer marketing campaign and its expenditure.
• The average price per post is approximately $271 for an accomplished influencer.
• In the case of micro-influencers, the per post cost is $83.
• For a big shot influencer, who has more than 100,000 followers, charges are more than $763 per post.

How to take leverage of their postings? (h3)

• Always promote user-generated content, something that seems relevant to your targeted audience.
• According to Social Media Today- “Embed social media content from micro-influencers within your blog posts and other content.”
• Open-ended question session with micro-influencers on your social media page (live sessions and chats) are always a great idea to promote engagement.
• Tweet the Talk. Share their content that encourages your brand. Retweeting would help you spread the word using the specific hashtag.
• Another great idea would be influencer marketing through content marketing strategy. Influencers also write blogs endorsing your brand.

Case Study of Influencer Marketing (h2)

Among the best case studies in terms of influencer marketing is definitely the one by Gillette. For ages, we have witnessed rugged, corporate, athletic, bulked-up (alpha) male models starring in Gillette advertisements. Well, not this time. Considering the “woke” generation, Gillette changed the dynamics of marketing for its products. The following were their metrics.

• Platform- Instagram
• Influencers category- Athlete influencers, Gay influencers, Female influencers, Male influencers, Family influencers.
• Influencers approached-

1. John Henry– 134K followers
2. Larry Nance Jr – 488K followers
3. Nyle DiMarco – 1.7M followers
4. Shaquem Griffin – 571K followers
5. Summer Shores – 145K followers
6. Will Taylor – 322K followers
7. Jacob Hollister – 66.3K followers
8. Tanner Mann –159K followers
9. Qias Omar – 749K followers
10. Christine Nelli – 104K followers

The campaign centered around Gillette’s razor collection surrounding relationships, individuality, partnerships, positivity around the warm and happy time around Christmas.

The Result? (h3)

• Instagram followers targeted: 12,896,806
• Likes: 471,209
• Comments: 4,663
• Hashtag usage: 493 (#GillettePartner, #MyGilletteShave)
• Average engagement rate: 1%

2019 onwards, Influencers have marked their territory in the marketing world, and it is here to stay. In one year, the growth has been colossal and drastic improvements and changes are in order. Also, brand engagement success depends on a lot of aspects and metrics, and therefore, there is always room for improvement. Do not depend on the outcome of your first influencer marketing venture. It is bound to work your way at some point.

The benefits are huge, and there are different strategies depending on your niche. What strategies worked for your business? Comment below!

About the author

An enthusiastic Human Being with a zeal to express as much she can in words... and Blogs gave her a medium to express and share her knowledge. Has written for eminent blogs and fields like the social media, internet marketing, technology, lifestyle (tattoos, body art, fashion, etc.), politics, and the list is still increasing.