What is in­flu­en­cer marketing?

In­flu­en­cers have a great influence on a large number of people. Companies that want to take advantage of their reach can use in­flu­en­cer marketing to market their products or services.

What is in­flu­en­cer marketing?

In­flu­en­cer marketing is much more than a simple buzzword that gets thrown around by every self-styled marketing expert. This popular, newer form of online marketing emerged from the in­ter­act­ive dynamics between tra­di­tion­al online PR, referral marketing and social media marketing.

The main task when employing an in­flu­en­cer marketing strategy is to identify relevant in­flu­en­cers for your in­di­vidu­al company or brand, contact them and build a working re­la­tion­ship with them. Whether unboxing brand-new elec­tric­al ap­pli­ances on YouTube or de­liv­er­ing details of a vacation where the tour operator is mentioned, examples of in­flu­en­cer marketing can be found on all types of platforms. Companies try to integrate in­flu­en­cers into their com­mu­nic­a­tion strategy and use them as mul­ti­pli­ers for their corporate messages and ad­vert­ising ob­ject­ives.

What is an in­flu­en­cer?

In­flu­en­cers are people who have es­tab­lished them­selves as opinion leaders online. They typically have a very broad reach, which they’ve earned with their own online presence through the use of social media channels like Twitter, Instagram or YouTube, or a com­bin­a­tion of all of the above. They have a sig­ni­fic­ant influence on the opinions and consumer behaviour of their followers.

How does in­flu­en­cer marketing work?

The media landscape has changed dra­mat­ic­ally in the past few years. Classic mediums simply don’t command the same level of influence on public opinion as they did several years back. Younger audiences in par­tic­u­lar seek role models within the digital realm. There is an extensive variety of ‘experts’ on numerous topics. Some in­di­vidu­als have millions of readers and followers and are leading figures in their specific fields. Depending on the in­flu­en­cer’s thematic focus, companies can reach a valuable, very well-defined target audience through them.

When an in­flu­en­cer gives tips and re­com­mend­a­tions on products, services or brands, fans and followers listen. They often rely on the opinions of online celebrit­ies, mimicking their behaviour and un­con­sciously allowing them to make a sig­ni­fic­ant impact on their personal buying decisions. Companies can leverage this trust and amplify their ad­vert­ising message through in­flu­en­cers. Consumers place more trust in personal re­com­mend­a­tions than in tra­di­tion­al forms of ad­vert­ising. Companies can use in­flu­en­cers for social media marketing to create even greater proximity to potential customers and ensure that their brands and products are visible on social media and get noticed.

Outlined below are the typical steps involved in in­flu­en­cer marketing:

1. Identify in­flu­en­cers: The first step is to find relevant in­flu­en­cers. Companies can use in­flu­en­cers’ expert status, reach within the relevant target group and their en­gage­ment as guidelines for selection.
2. Contact in­flu­en­cers: Next, companies need to contact the in­flu­en­cer or their man­age­ment, either directly or via spe­cial­ised agencies or platforms, to discuss a col­lab­or­a­tion and decide on the con­di­tions.
3. Content de­vel­op­ment: The in­flu­en­cer then creates content that presents the company’s product or service in an authentic way.
4. Pub­lish­ing the content: The in­flu­en­cer shares the content on their social media, giving vis­ib­il­ity to the product or service.
5. En­gage­ment and in­ter­ac­tion: The in­flu­en­cer com­mu­nic­ates with their community, answers questions and en­cour­ages in­ter­ac­tions such as likes, comments and shares.
6. Analysis of results: Companies analyse metrics such as reach, en­gage­ment, sales and brand awareness to evaluate the ef­fect­ive­ness of the campaign.

What platforms and forms of co­oper­a­tion are there?

There are various platforms and even more types of co­oper­a­tion in in­flu­en­cer marketing. The platform and style of com­mu­nic­a­tion you choose depend entirely on what you want to achieve with your campaign and which formats you want to use.

In­flu­en­cer marketing platforms

In­flu­en­cers operate on different platforms and each of these platforms appeals to different users. The formats supported (e.g., whether postings are in the form of images or videos) also depend on the platform.

• Instagram: Instagram is the best-known popular in­flu­en­cer marketing platform. In addition to posting pictures, it’s also possible to create Instagram stories or reels.
• Twitch: Twitch is par­tic­u­larly popular with gamers. The platform is primarily used for live streams.
• TikTok: TikTok is an app where users can publish and watch short videos.
• YouTube: The website is primarily known for pub­lish­ing longer videos. However, short videos, called YouTube Shorts, can also be uploaded.
• X: Formerly known as Twitter, X users mainly post text and images.
• LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a social network with a focus on business topics.
• Pinterest: Pinterest publishes images, known as pins, which users can add to their own virtual pinboard.

Ways to cooperate

In addition to choosing an in­flu­en­cer marketing platform, companies can also select what type of col­lab­or­a­tion they want to have with an in­flu­en­cer. The type of col­lab­or­a­tion you choose can have a sig­ni­fic­ant impact on your marketing campaign. There are a variety of different formats to choose from, including:

• Post: This classic form of in­flu­en­cer marketing involves having posts directly on the in­flu­en­cer’s page or profile.
• Unboxing: Unboxing usually consists of videos where in­flu­en­cers show how they open products for the first time.
• Story: Short videos ensure proximity to followers and can also be used for in­ter­ac­tion.
• Tutorials: Tutorials show the correct use of a product, usually in video format.
• Discount code: Discount codes are offered by in­flu­en­cers to motivate followers to buy a product.
• Brand am­bas­sad­or program: In­flu­en­cers become brand am­bas­sad­ors, i.e., am­bas­sad­ors for a company.
• Live events: In­flu­en­cers visit companies and share their in­di­vidu­al ex­per­i­ences there with their followers.
• Com­pet­i­tions: In com­pet­i­tions, products are not only presented but also given away in a prize draw at the end.

How to find suitable partners for in­flu­en­cer marketing

Finding in­flu­en­cers

Consider the following points when searching for an in­flu­en­cer:

• Activity: Which channels does the in­flu­en­cer use? Where are they active and where does all their com­mu­nic­a­tion take place?
• Reach within the target market: Does the in­flu­en­cer speak to the sort of people that you want to reach with your product? It’s not just important to check the reach of the channel – you have to make sure it’s reaching the relevant audience too.
• Expert status: Which central topics are part of your company com­mu­nic­a­tions strategy? Which in­flu­en­cers could be con­sidered experts in these fields? Do these experts fit your company image and ethos? Are there in­flu­en­cers who have already built a repu­ta­tion tackling similar topics and are well-known within the industry?
• En­gage­ment: Numbers are not the only decisive factor. In­ter­ac­tion with users and community en­gage­ment are also crucial. Retweets, comments, shares and likes are important in­dic­at­ors of the level of en­gage­ment that an in­flu­en­cer has.

In­flu­en­cer marketing tools

Personal com­mu­nic­a­tion and research are essential aspects of in­flu­en­cer marketing. Eval­u­at­ing whether a par­tic­u­lar in­flu­en­cer is right for your company doesn’t just come down to their social network figures. However, when it comes to reach, follower/sub­scriber numbers and in­ter­ac­tion rates, special tools can provide valuable initial insights. The list of in­flu­en­cer marketing tools is long so we’ll briefly introduce you to some of the most popular ones here:

• Buzzsumo: Analyses data from Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+. Various filters (e.g., location) allow for good seg­ment­a­tion.
• Kred: Kred is a basic tool for all important in­flu­en­cer metrics.
• Fol­low­er­wonk: This free tool offers the option to search Twitter bio­graph­ies by keyword as well as ad­di­tion­al analytics features.
• Meltwater: Meltwater is a powerful tool for identi­fy­ing in­flu­en­cers within your network. Its paid features also offer excellent insights for dis­tin­guish­ing different types of in­flu­en­cers.

All of these in­flu­en­cer marketing tools are a great way to get started with in­flu­en­cer marketing. If you want to go one step further in in­flu­en­cer analysis, you should work with a pro­fes­sion­al social media mon­it­or­ing tool. Most of these programs include in­teg­rated functions to search for in­flu­en­cers.

How to interact with in­flu­en­cers

To win over the in­flu­en­cer you want for your company, it’s important to take the following things into con­sid­er­a­tion:

• Don’t try to influence the in­flu­en­cer: The worst thing you can do is to give an in­flu­en­cer the feeling that you are trying to ‘buy’ them. An attempt at trying to shape or control the in­flu­en­cer’s content will quickly be re­cog­nised as such. When making co­oper­a­tion requests, it’s essential to let the in­flu­en­cer create their content how they want to.
• Com­pensate fairly: In the past, in­flu­en­cer marketing has often been equated with trying to spread ad­vert­ising as cheaply as possible. However, in­flu­en­cers know their market value and are aware that the biggest be­ne­fi­ciar­ies of such col­lab­or­a­tions are usually companies.
• Be honest and trans­par­ent: As a company, you should always avoid any kind of deception and establish a business re­la­tion­ship based on mutual respect. Many large companies now even organise in­flu­en­cer events.