The first video in Social Soup’s What Good Influence Looks Like series discusses the concept of planning in influencer marketing and provides insights on how to develop a comprehensive influencer strategy.
Sharyn Smith, founder and director of Social Soup, emphasises the importance of clearly defining and understanding the problems influencer marketing aims to solve, such as launching new products, educating audiences, brand positioning, and acquiring new customers.
The video highlights the five key areas for effective influencer marketing planning:
1- Targeting: Understanding the audience is crucial, including considering their location, interests, and social demographics. The focus should be on understanding the audience rather than just the influencers.
2- The Long Tail: Activating a diverse range of influencers, including macro, micro, and nano influencers, is more impactful than just relying on the biggest influencers. The power lies in the collective influence of various influencers.
3- Messaging: Influencer marketing allows for personalised and relevant content delivery. Aligning key messages with the problems that need to be addressed and leveraging the storytelling abilities of influencers enhances the personalisation aspect.
4- Omni-Influence: Brands should allocate more resources to social media and search while also considering the individual touchpoints throughout the customer journey. Planning influencer strategies holistically, in sync with other channels, ensures maximum impact.
5- Always-On Approach: Building long-term partnerships and designing continuous campaigns is essential. Creating influence pathways that cater to different customer journeys is crucial for sustained influence and trust-building.
Effective influencer marketing involves focusing on the target audience, leveraging the power of diverse influencers, personalising the messaging, incorporating an omni-channel approach, and adopting an always-on mindset. By clearly defining the problem at hand and partnering with influencers as long-term allies, brands can cultivate trust and influence – and ultimately achieve their marketing goals.
See Also: Social Soup launches its new educational content series for agencies and marketers