Every business nowadays must be on social media, one of the most powerful tools is influencer marketing.

You might wonder what is influencer marketing and how do you use it most effectively.

An article I recently read on AdAge broke down five key principles for influencer marketing, here they are:


1 – You can’t buy cool.

So no fucking way for pay to play, you need to work with influencers and co-create, it takes a little extra effort but will go a long way.


2 – Brands don’t influence people

People do. “Brands generally hire the people to create the energy around the products they’re making,” said Curtis.


3 – Influencers are not media outlets

Influencers are people, too — and marketers should use them for engagement, not impressions. The clever way for marketers to use their media budget is to put dollars behind an influencer’s post to amplify the message because it’ll help get more eyes on the content.

 


4 – Celebrities are not influencers

The network or community that creates and curates the celebrity are the true influencers.


“Would Kim or Kayne be who they are without a team that created them? Nope. Influencers often shape the personalities, looks and decisions of celebrities,” he said. Sometimes, celebrities will get involved with a campaign for free if they see an influencer in their own community who’s already taking part.


Celebrities are also inherently inauthentic and have been called out for deceptive marketing efforts on social media.

 

Micro-influencer campaigns, however, are 6.7 times more efficient per engagement than influencers with large followings. And with a lower cost per engagement, influencers net a higher return on investment than a generic celebrity.


Influence is not a tactic

It’s a strategy. Influencers should be baked into every stage, from conceptualization and research to execution and scale, in order to achieve the most success.

 

Photo by Delaney DelPonti