Influencer Marketing
Position Your Brand Through the Power of Influencers
In this age of technology — and more so in the years following COVID-19 — social media has become an integral and irreplaceable part of our modern culture, and with it has come the rise of the social media influencer. Whether you call it luck or skill, influencers have found themselves at the helm of an entire online culture, each garnering their own following of devoted fans.
Innis Maggiore, the nation’s leading positioning ad agency, is at the forefront of influencer marketing, as we recognize the rising power that influencers have in social media. Influencer marketing can help your company reach a demographic that might otherwise be indifferent to your company, which makes pairing the right influencer(s) with the right company or product a necessity.
When it comes down to it, influencer marketing is a new form of an endorsement. The difference is that the endorsement and media platform have merged. This creates an advantage in some respects, but there are sensitivities to navigate that didn't exist in previous generations of paid spokespeople. Innis Maggiore's expertise in influencer marketing can help you navigate these relationships.
Finding the Right Platform is the First Step
Social media influencers have been around since the earliest days of online interaction, starting off in message boards and branching out into MySpace, YouTube, and FaceBook.
Today, they occupy every single form of social media, exploding in popularity in the past decade. Each platform obviously has its own demographics and audiences, so before you can find the right influencer to match your company or your product, you have to find what platform best fits your target audience.
Think about the audience you want to reach: Do you think the podcasting crowd on Spotify or Apple Music would buy into your product through the personalities represented on The Joe Rogan Experience or The Daily? What about the realm of YouTube, with titans such as Jimmy Donaldson, better known as the philanthropistic “MrBeast”? How about the rapidly expanding world of TikTok, with influencers like Charlie D’amelio having nearly 150 million followers?
All of these platforms have widely varying audiences, so before we can find the influencer who best fits your company’s style, we work to find the platform that best fits your brand personality. We achieve this by identifying your position, confirming your brand personality, and then matching your target audience with whichever platform best fits.
Influencers Aren’t Spokespeople – They’re Representatives of Your Brand
Even if you find the right platform and the right influencer, it can be tricky to reach the right demographics through influencers while also coming across as authentic and relatable.
The Gen Z demographic, the largest audience that influencers have, can see inauthenticity from a mile away when it comes to favorite influencers. Chances are, if you frequent video platforms like YouTube or TikTok, you could think of a handful of companies and products that are joked about due to how often they appear in such a wide array of videos as sponsors, hoping to get anything to stick. If your company or your product doesn’t match an influencer’s style, then it can come across as fake and hamfisted.
Keep in mind that when it comes to influencer marketing, you’re not looking for a celebrity endorsement. If you just want a celebrity endorsement, then find an actor or an athlete, not a social media influencer. Influencers have their fingers on the pulse of their audience, constantly interacting with them, updating them, and engaging with them. When they talk, their audience doesn’t just hear them; they listen. That is why we make it a top priority to pair you and your business with the right influencers.
And Last, but Not Least, Influencers are Customers Too
As much as you are selling to customers and prospects, the first sell is to influencers.
Authenticity is king, and if an influencer doesn’t buy into what you’re selling, then they will just end up reading words from a script. If you want an influencer to passionately market your business and products, you have to ensure they are the equivalent of a brand loyalist.
Just like we work with our clients to establish strong professional relationships, we help our clients build solid relationships with influencers. The art is in the selection of influencers, then validating their belief in your brand.
Make Their Audience Your Audience
If you’re ready to reach your audience with your position and utilize the power of influencer marketing, reach out to Innis Maggiore today.