With the rise of social media as a marketing tool, brands are increasingly using it for various marketing purposes. The sector achieved $16.4 billion in two years. According to research conducted by Mediakix, 80% of marketers think influencer marketing is effective.
A majority of brands have a budget for influencer marketing. For its #ThisOnesFor campaign, Coca-Cola collaborated with different travel and fashion experts, while Dior collaborated with different fashion and lifestyle experts. Is putting money into influencer marketing really worth it?
In order to answer this question, Harvard Business Review collaborated with a global influencer marketing company to look at over 5000 posts on Weibo. The Chinese market is one of the most sophisticated in the world, but the conclusions of this evaluation would apply to other international markets.
2,412 posts were created for over 800 brands across 29 product categories. The cost of a post can be as high as $100,000. A 1% increase in the influencer marketing budget can increase engagement by 4%. The data shows that the strategy is yielding a return on investment.
We talked about the effects of different variables.
The number of followers aninfluencer has is one of the things that affects the partnership. An influential person with a large following is seen as more credible and popular. It is possible for brands to reach higher engagement rates by collaborating with a popular influencer while spending the same amount on a less popular one. The data shows that popularinfluencers help generate a greater return on investment than average ones.
A reliable source of information can be hard to come by for an influential person who posts frequently. They don't have a lot of presence on users' feeds. A lot of posting can cause a mess in users feeds. Users may be less interested in a post by an influential person. The brands that generated the highest return on investment collaborated with the ones who had a balanced posting schedule.
The fit of the brand is related to the interests of the following. If a healthcare brand collaborated with aninfluencer who is interested in fitness and health, follower brand fit would increase. When aninfluencer's followers are interested in subjects related to the brand, their posts become more relevant to them. 9% of followers of aninfluencer have interests that match the brand's niche makes follower brand fit higher.
The authenticity of theinfluencer is one of the factors that affects their marketing campaigns. Some people share other people's content while other people post their own. If you share original content frequently, you are more likely to stand out and get more attention. Higher engagement rates can be achieved by brands that collaborate with these people.
One of the most difficult aspects of marketing is the tone. It's important for marketers to convey a positive message, but excessive positivity can have bad outcomes. Users are more likely to engage with posts that are positive. Consumers might react negatively if a post is too positive.
If brands keep a few factors in mind, like collaborating with influencer with a massive following, sharing original content, and having followers who match the brand's target audience, influencer marketing can yield higher engagement if invested in. Compost posts should have a positive tone.
