Dear Esteemed Readers,

Welcome to the latest edition of "TalentZ," your go-to destination for all things related to cutting-edge marketing & branding strategies and trends. In an era where the Business landscape is constantly evolving, we are thrilled to embark on this journey of knowledge-sharing and innovation with you.

Influencer marketing, also known as branded content or working with creators, is a surefire way to expand the reach of your brand on social media.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to making this strategy work, but with the right planning and research, just about every business can benefit. We’ll walk you through how to make a social media influencer program work for you.

At its simplest, an influencer is someone who can influence others. In influencer marketing, a form of social media marketing, brands pay that person to promote their product or service to their followers.

Celebrity endorsements were the original form of influencer marketing. But in today’s digital world, social content creators with niche audiences can often offer more value to brands. These smaller accounts often have very engaged followers on social media.

So, a social media influencer is someone who wields their influence through social media. When you hire an influencer to promote your products or services, that’s influencer marketing.

Effective influencer marketing Strategies:

1. Determine your goals

The number-one goal for brands using influencer marketing is to reach new target customers. This makes sense, since an influencer campaign extends your reach to that person’s followers. Notice that the goal is simply to reach new customers, not necessarily to make a sale right off the top. Driving sales is actually the third most common goal of influencer marketing campaigns, after increasing brand awareness and product consideration.

2. Know who you’re trying to influence

An effective influencer marketing strategy requires you to speak to the right people using the right tools—and the right influencers. The first step is to define who your audience will be for this specific campaign. Developing audience personas is a great way to make sure you understand who you’re trying to reach. Maybe you’re trying to reach more of your current audience—or an entirely new audience.

3. Understand the rules

Before you dive into influencer marketing, it’s important to understand the rules. Make sure you build disclosure guidelines into your agreements with influencers. Influencers must identify sponsored posts. However, they do not always do so. Or they might do so in such a subtle way that the disclosure is effectively hidden or incomprehensible. The specific rules vary slightly by country, so be sure to check the most current requirements in your jurisdiction. For the most part, you just need to be clear and upfront so viewers understand when a post is sponsored in any way.

4. Compile a short list of influencers

When thinking about who you want to work with, the key is trust. Your audience must trust and respect the opinions of the influencers you partner with. Without the trust component, any results will be superficial. You’ll struggle to see a tangible business impact from your efforts. A good engagement rate also means a loyal following, rather than an inflated follower count bolstered by bots and fraud accounts. You need to find someone who’s producing content with a look and feel that complements your own.

5. Do your research

Take a look at what your potential influencers are posting. How often are they sharing sponsored content? If they’re already hitting followers with tons of paid posts, their engagement rate may not last. Look for plenty of organic, non-paid content to keep followers interested, enthusiastic, and engaged.

6. Reach out privately, and personally

Start your communication with a new potential partner slowly by interacting organically with their posts. Like their content. Comment when appropriate. Be appreciative, not salesly. When you’re ready to suggest a partnership, a direct message is a great place to start. If you can find an email address, try that too. But don’t send a mass email or generic DM.

7. Collaborate with your influencer to develop effective content

A social media influencer who has worked hard to build a following will not accept a deal that makes their own personal brand seem inconsistent. After all, influencers are content creation experts. This is why they prefer to be called creators. You’ll get the best value from their work by allowing them to showcase those skills. It’s a good idea to provide some guidelines about what you’re looking for, of course. But don’t expect to stage-manage the entire campaign.

Finding up-and-coming talent to partner with as well as trend spotting has long been crucial for marketers and agency execs who want their brands to be a part of culture in a way that keeps them relevant with young audiences. In recent months, that’s only gotten more important with the accelerated growth of influencer marketing, shifting content consumption habits and the continued fragmentation of the social media landscape. Make influencer marketing easier with us.

We hope you enjoyed the blog and would love to hear from you. 

We are excited to embark on this journey with you, exploring the vast realm of online marketing, branding, technology and other informative topics and sharing our insights to empower you in your business endeavours. The digital world is ever-evolving, and together, we'll navigate the trends, challenges, and opportunities that lie ahead.

Thank you for joining us on this enlightening ride. Stay tuned for the captivating insights and knowledge that we are all set to bring in each edition.