Influencer Marketing

In today’s constantly changing and evolving technological age, significant changes are observed in communication technologies. These innovations in the digital age have led brands to develop certain strategies to differentiate in a competitive environment, establish a new brand value, and encourage individuals to make purchases. While determining their strategies in the advertising process, brands have preferred to use social media platforms equipped with digital communication technology. Social media platforms have revealed an advertising strategy in which individuals with a high number of followers, known as influencers or phenomenons, are preferred to guide users’ purchasing behaviors.

The term “Influencer,” which has found a prominent place in our daily life and language, has established its position as a step conducting the marketing relationship between target audiences and brands. This marketing concept is termed “Influencer Marketing”. In its broadest definition, it is a marketing technique that a brand employs to increase the visibility of its product or service on social media platforms. Due to its characteristic as an advertising strategy that shapes consumers’ purchasing behaviors, influencer marketing has become one of the essential concepts in the advertising sector.

Influencer marketing is a marketing technique established primarily on platforms such as Instagram, Youtube, and TikTok by individuals with a high number of followers. Influencers can reach and influence audiences on various social media platforms. They can also identify themselves online as bloggers, YouTubers, phenomena, or YouTube vloggers. An influencer with a significantly high and engaged follower count has substantial persuasive power over their audience.

Throughout the day, they interact with their followers through stories they post or ads on their profile pages. While building trust with their audience, they establish a digital connection, ensuring the concept of an influencer takes a place in our lives. Influencers charge per post they make. The fee they demand is directly related to their number of likes and followers.

Why is Influencer Marketing Important?

Influencers, introduced to us by the internet world, can arguably be called the new actors of the advertising realm. Within short time frames, influencers have the ability to alter the behaviors of your brand’s target audience. Hence, it’s crucial not to overlook the impact of the advertising strategy termed “influencer marketing.” Thanks to these new actors of the online sphere, your brand can reach the desired audience and influence their consumption behaviors.

Influencer marketing offers multiple benefits to your brand’s value. The first is social relations. Even if it’s based on digital friendships, a bond is formed between influencers and their followers. The individuals shaping this relationship with trust and wielding influence are the influencers. Another significant contribution is the power of influencers to create an impact and their role as content creators centered on marketing. From the perspective of followers, your products or services, which have undergone specific selection and categorization, can quickly reach vast audiences with the help of influencers, thereby boosting your brand’s recognition.

Influencers incorporate their personal experiences and life stories when establishing an advertising relationship between their followers and your brand. A well-executed influencer marketing strategy has the power to influence and motivate the target audience. The primary reason for this is the unique, distinctive communication style an influencer maintains with their followers. This style creates a genuine and trust-based relationship that is embraced by the followers.

Through influencer marketing, influencers integrate your brand into the natural flow of their lives and instill the same sentiment in their followers. Not only does your branding power materialize in a short span, but it also morphs into a long-term advertising strategy.

Influencers can provide information about your brand to their followers, i.e., your potential customers, enhancing the traffic to your website. This increased interest in your website can subsequently boost your sales. Brands collaborating with influencers can produce creative and quality content, capturing the attention of followers and fostering more engagement for the brand.

What Are the Types of Influencers?

Influencer marketing, as a new and vital player in the advertising world, has successfully carved a distinctive place for itself among today’s professional fields. There are several types of influencers on many social media platforms.

Almost every brand resorts to influencer marketing as a promotional strategy. The interaction rates of influencers, who are the faces of this highly preferred digital advertising strategy, determine which category they fall into.

How to Create an Effective Influencer Marketing Strategy?

For an effective and strong influencer marketing, when integrated with a few basic elements, it allows you to interact more with your target audience and engage them.

Determining the right influencer for your brand constitutes the foundation of influencer marketing.

To find the most suitable influencer for your brand, you can choose from social media channels or even use several at the same time. At the same time, working with influencer marketing agencies will help you establish a good resource.

The budget you will determine for your influencer advertising strategy forms the second part of this process. Depending on the follower counts of the influencers you will collaborate with and the quality of the content they publish, you can determine your advertising campaign and budget.

Defining the objectives of your influencer marketing campaign accurately and effectively is one of the most emphasized topics in the digital advertising world. Your goal should be determined according to the purpose of your campaign and your target audience. The message you convey should be consistent with your brand’s values and tailored to your target audience. The more accurate your message is, the more successful your influencer campaign will be.

When you collaborate with an influencer that aligns with your brand values, you need to plan to receive feedback from your campaign. You can determine how close you are to your desired marketing objectives with your advertising campaign and measure the success of the campaign using these indicators.

By following all these steps, you can understand whether you have managed a successful influencer marketing process by answering the following questions:

1. Have you experienced an increase in your follower count on the social media platforms where you advertise, and has this reflected on your brand?
2. Was there an increase in traffic to your brand’s web pages?
3. Did the posts made in collaboration with the influencer you are working with reach the target rates? Did you see an increase in sales?
4. Were the feedbacks you received from your customers positive?
5. To what level has your brand awareness reached?