In 2023, the influencer marketing industry hit a record $21.1 billion in the U.S., showing no signs of slowing down.
If you’re not already taking advantage, you’re missing out.
• 50% of Millennials trust product recommendations from influencers.
• 33% of Gen Z-ers have bought a product from an influencer recommendation.
• Businesses generate $6.50 for every $1 invested in influencer marketing.
Collaborating with the right influencers in your niche is a proven way to raise brand awareness, increase trust, and even drive sales.
…But how can you set your brand up for success?
Here are five proven tips for your next influencer marketing campaign to help you hit your social media goals, unlock organic growth and see tangible ROI.
5 Tips for Successful Influencer Marketing Campaigns in 2024
1. Choose High-Quality Influencers
One of the biggest mistakes brands make with influencer marketing campaigns is:
Choosing the wrong influencer.
It’s tempting to pick the person with the biggest audience and assume you’ll meet your reach and sales targets.
In reality, if you select someone who is a mismatch for your brand, you won’t see any ROI from your campaign.
The solution?
Choosing influencers with an engaged audience who match your target audience’s interests.
For example, if you’re launching a new 4×4 vehicle, partnering with influencers who regularly post adventure travel content or are part of the off-road community would make sense.
You’re much better off working with a highly targeted group of influencers who hold your audience’s attention than content creators with little affinity to your brand. A niche influencer with a strong, engaged following is a much better investment than a widely known influencer who’s audience doesn’t align with your brand or offering.
That’s exactly what EA Sports set out to do with their influencer campaign for Apex Legends. The brand collaborated with content creators popular within the gamer culture on TikTok.
One of the influencers, Brent Rivera, created a video that resulted in over 900k likes and 3000+ shares, giving the game significant brand exposure.
@brentrivera Pumped that solo mode is now in #ApexLegends. I choose Bloodhound 🐶 Hbu? #SponsoredbyEA ♬ original sound – Brent Rivera
2. Use Micro-Influencers for Authentic Engagement
Authenticity.
It’s an influencer’s superpower.
When your target audience knows, likes, and trusts you, it increases your ability to convince someone to make a purchase.
That’s why micro-influencers (10,000 to 100,00 followers) have more sway over their audiences, generating up to 60% more engagement.
On a smaller scale, you can foster a sense of community and trust, and macro influencers (100,000+ followers) can’t replicate it.
When you partner with smaller content creators, you can tap into their authentic audience relationships and achieve more personalised and effective influencer marketing campaigns.
Moreover, micro-influencers cost less.
Instead of blowing your entire budget on one big influencer, you can work with multiple smaller creators and increase and diversify your reach without sacrificing ROI.
An excellent example of micro-influencing done right is Lumene, a Finnish cosmetics brand.
In 2021, the brand launched a new product line using 88 micro-influencers, all fans of Lumene.
The results?
From 264 pieces of content, the campaign reached 156,048 people and received 21,551 likes and 3,031 saves.
3. Use AI Tools to Optimize Your Targeting
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is disrupting almost every industry, including influencer marketing.
With the right tools, you can analyse vast amounts of data to identify the perfect influencer for your brand.
Assess an influencer’s audience demographics, engagement rates, and content style, and make sure your campaign reaches its goals.
Here are some noteworthy options to add to your tech stack in 2024:
1. Influencity: This platform provides automated AI tools for influencer marketing. It includes features like the Audience Quality Score, which calculates influencers’ authenticity and the quality of their followers by analysing content and interactions. It supports platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, offering access to over 170 million influencers.
2. Awario: Awario leverages social listening to help you find influencers. It notifies you whenever an influential person talks about your brand or niche, allowing you to identify and collaborate with relevant influencers.
3. Ninja Outreach: This all-in-one influencer marketing platform. It simplifies influencer discovery and campaign management. It also offers automated influencer outreach campaigns, making connecting with influencers and managing interactions easy.
These tools, with their unique features and capabilities, can help you create an effective influencer marketing strategy.
4. Focus on Long-Term Partnerships for Consistent Messaging
One-off influencer campaigns?
That’s so 2018.
In 2024, building long-term relationships with content creators is key to a successful product launch.
What does that look like in practice?
• Hiring an influencer to create and publish monthly sponsored content for a fixed term.
• Re-using the creators who are the best fit for your brand and offer great ROI.
• Product collaborations.
• Account takeovers.
With consistent messaging and authentic promotion, your influencers are seen as genuine advocates for your brand.
Plus, it allows you to tap into ad repetition.
Modern research believes that a consumer needs to see an ad at least seven times before brand recall takes effect and a purchase is made.
Nike and Cristiano Ronaldo are excellent examples of the benefits of long-term influencer partnerships. Beginning in 2003, when Ronaldo was 18 years old, the two have consistently collaborated over the years, creating authenticity and credibility.
Ronaldo is seen as a true advocate for the brand, and his popularity drives engagement and sales to Nike.
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5. Prioritize Authentic Content and Promotion
The final ingredient for a successful influencer campaign is authentic content creation.
Encourage your influencers to create content in line with what they usually post.
For example, Amanda McCants is known for her hilarious and relatable video skits. If you want to hire her for a campaign, you should expect and encourage her to make content in the same vein.
That’s what happened when the NFL collaborated with Amanda.
The result?
The video received over 9k likes, 114 comments, and 300k+ views.
It’s a home run because it feels like her regular content, which her audience loves, while effectively promoting the brand and generating awareness.
Common Influencer Marketing Challenges (and How to Avoid Them)
Despite its effectiveness, influencer marketing comes with a unique set of challenges.
Measuring ROI: If you’re not measuring the ROI of your campaigns, you won’t know the direct impact on your brand. Set clear goals and use measurable metrics like impressions or website traffic to measure ROI effectively. You can also give influencers discount codes to gauge how many sales you’re making from each creator.
Fake Followers: Influencers with fake followers can reduce the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Tools like HypeAuditor, SocialBlade, and Phlanx can help identify if a creator has bought followers and ensure you partner with genuine influencers.
Lack of Transparency: Social media influencers may not always disclose their brand relationships, leading to consumer mistrust. To address this, brands should ensure influencers are transparent about sponsorships, using clear disclosures like #sponsored or #ad in their content. This not only builds trust but also aligns with regulatory guidelines.
Create Your Social Media Marketing Strategy with Plann
While these tips will help you create a successful influencer marketing campaign, you need to make sure your strategy is holistic.
Combine your partnerships with strategic in-house social media and a consistent content calendar.
Sign up for a free 7-day trial of Plann today, and align all your communication efforts across different social media platforms to create a cohesive brand voice.
