Creating an Influencer Marketing Strategy? Get your basics right.

Can two innocuous looking words from someone disturb a well-established brand?

Had it been the 20th century, the answer would have been an emphatic “No”. But the 21st century works differently. Within minutes of Elon Musk tweeting “Use Signal” these two simple words, millions dumped WhatsApp and downloaded its rival Signal. Minutes ago, Signal seemed like an “also-ran”, but after that tweet, it emerged as the strongest competitor to WhatsApp.

Welcome to the era of “Influencer” where certain people hold the power to make or break a brand.

For ages, people have relied on friends, family members, newspaper/magazine reports or even the good old salesperson to make their buying decisions. But today, social media is fast replacing these entities with supersonic speed. A new entity, popularly called as “Influencer”, has emerged out of nowhere and today plays a key role in a customer’s buying decision.

These Influencers have the power of swinging the buying decision in favour or against a particular product (or service). Brands have realised the potential of such influencers and are taking initiatives to get this power to work for them.

So, who is an “Influencer” and are they really that important for your business? Let us find out.

Simply put, influencers are individuals who have a large fan following, especially on a particular social media channel. One recommendation from these Influencers can make or break brands. Influencer Marketing is the process of using the power of such Influencers to make their followers to act in favour of a brand. Influencers help by allowing the brand to reach a large set of customer segment (their fans or followers) in a much faster, economical and a much powerful way. Influencers not only help a brand connect with a new set of customers but can also help in increasing loyalty amongst the existing ones.

Theoretically speaking, every brand can get help of influencers to achieve its business objectives, however, it is important to answer three key questions before joining the Influencer band wagon.

1. Is your brand a mass brand?

2. Is your brand present on social media?

3. Does the Influencer’s fan profile match your target audience?

If the answer to all these questions is an affirmative, then Influencer Marketing is meant for you. But if any one of them is a negative, you need to tread cautiously.

Assuming that your answer for all three questions is “Yes”, following reasons will help you understand why Influencer Marketing is important for your brand.

· Customers believe in recommendations from trustworthy sources.

Earlier people believed in a family member, friend or even a newspaper/magazine report before arriving at a particular buying decision. Today, these entities are getting side-lined by online sources. Influencers are today trusted for their unbiased recommendations and are seen as authorities on certain subjects.

· Influencers are preferred over Celebrities

Influencers can be termed as “Celebrities 2.0”. But unlike the conventional celebrities who get associated with a brand for a monetary consideration and for a specific duration of time, Influencers are unpaid endorsers of a brand. They are seen as truthful in their recommendations and free from any financial obligations with the brand. Hence their recommendations carry more weight than any conventional celebrity.

· Growth in Social Media adoption.

Social media is growing very rapidly. Also, every social media vehicle (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram etc.) attracts a particular profile of audience making segmentation easier. Secondly, Influencers on such channels also attract a particular set profile of people. This makes the job of a marketer very easy as they can reach a particular target audience very effectively. Any attempt to reach such a targeted audience would otherwise cost huge resource for the brand.

· Blocking software is getting smarter.

Brands have always looked at innovative ways to reach their customers. The Internet has made this exercise further easier. However, consumers are getting smarter too. They are installing smart software to block unwanted ads. By associating with Influencers, it becomes very easy for brands to bypass such software and reach their target audience very effectively.

While Influencer Marketing strategy has its own advantages, it has its own pitfall too.

· If the fan base of the Influencer does not match the intended Target Audience profile, then the exercise may not yield positive results even after reaching a large set of segmented customer base.

· If the Influencer gets embroiled in some controversy, it may force the followers to abandon him / her resulting in an overnight audience loss for the brand.

· Wrong content strategy may force the Influencer to leave the brand or may not produce the intended results.

· Over dependence on Influencer Marketing may prove detrimental in the long run.

· At times, the overzealousness of an influencer may create an unwanted situation for the brand which may spiral out of control and may take a long time to recover.

Hence, brands must be careful while adopting this strategy. Infact, it is advisable for brands to conduct audits at regular intervals to know the impact of Influencer Marketing on the brand performance.

Remember, Influencer Marketing should be one part of the overall Marketing strategy. It should never be the only strategy at any point of time!