[Trend] The buzz strategy: influencer marketing

You've heard a lot about it: influencer marketing is a strategy that aims to capitalize on the popularity of web personalities to communicate about a brand and develop its goodwill or trendy image.

Most of the time, it gives your product or service "approved" and "recommended" status - the Holy Grail!

It also enables you to appeal to a younger, ultra-connected target group, which is less receptive to more traditional channels.

But what exactly is influencer marketing? We explain, with examples and trends!

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What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing: definition

Influencer marketing is a strategy used by companies to disseminate information and promote their products or services via influencers.

It's mainly a question of e-influence, as influencers have a strong presence on the web, particularly on social networks.

These digital-age opinion leaders can be :

• experts in a given field,
• well-known personalities (e.g. bloggers or YouTubers),
• or even stars,

with a large number of subscribers, known as " followers " or fans.

Influencers represent new channels and opportunities, vectors of influence to reach new, young, hyper-connected targets.

The influencer marketing strategy must, of course, be in line with the company's overall marketing strategy and the brand image it wishes to convey, if it is to be coherent and effective.

What role do influencers play?

Animators of :

• blogs,
• vlogs,
• YouTube channels,
• social network pages (Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and more recently Tik Tok),

influencers take on the role of influencers and have become a brand's new ambassadors.

More impactful than traditional media, even the government calls on them to relay important messages and speak to the public, especially young people, following the example of the campaign for Universal National Service, supported by youtuber Tibo InShape.

Influencers are often appreciated for their personality as well as their expertise, and their opinion counts for their fans, who identify with them.

Nevertheless, even though their recommendations may be disinterested and free of charge, they are increasingly approached by brands to talk about a product or service in return for payment or a gift.a product or service in return for payment or a gift, inspiring growing mistrust as to the sincerity of their opinions.

This is why the most scrupulous influencers select content in line with their own image and editorial line, but now display the obligatory " sponsored content " label when working with brands, as a guarantee of transparency.

Macro, micro or nano-influence strategy?

It's also with this authenticity in mind that micro-influencer networks are attracting growing interest from companies, to the detriment of macro-influencers.

A macro-influencer is a celebrity whose audience is very large, but who is partly aware of his or her muse status, giving his or her recommendations a more or less subtle advertising character.

Micro-influencers (less than 30,000 followers) seem more accessible and credible, and are also less expensive. What's more, they inspire trust and enjoy greater commitment from their communities.

60% of the engagement of a campaign involving influencers is actually generated by "micro-influencers" (6.7 times more effective than star influencers)

Étude de Hello Society, agence de marketing d’influence sur Pinterest

The trend is even towards nano-influencers, with less than 10,000 followers (some marketers say less than 1,000), for their proximity to their audience.

Influencer marketing: examples and trends

Here are a few examples of successful influencer marketing campaigns.

They reflect new trends, including micro-influence and nano-influence:

• Example 1: Asos, a daring fashion e-tailer, chose to work with multiple micro-influencers with very different personalities, audiences and styles.
  The brand designed bespoke looks for them to share on an Instagram account created for the occasion, also linking to their personal accounts.

• Example 2: Freepik, the image bank, called on the creativity of a number of influential bloggers to create visuals for its site. Their fans were thus able to discover the platform and download the works of their web stars.

• Example 3: Adopte un Mec, whose brand strategy is based, among other things, on a quirky, non-conformist image of online dating, has opted for humor by presenting a young man from reality TV as a product to be unwrapped and tested by a macro-influencer.a young man from a reality TV show as a product to be unwrapped and tested by a macro-influencer, who puts the whole thing on video.

• Example 4: Another ever-effective trend is storytelling, or social storytelling in the case of influencer marketing, or microstorytelling.
  Influencers tell their story with the brand or their personal anecdotes, via stories on Instagram, as did Sophie Fontanel, a micro-influencer in the fashion world, who recounted her participation in the launch of a Longchamp boutique in Tokyo.

Why use influencer marketing?

Big influencers reach more people than the soccer World Cup final, and have 10 times the prescription power of traditional advertising.

Études Influence4You

As you can see, by integrating influencer marketing into your media mix, you multiply your chances of :

• increase your brand awareness,
• develop your visibility on the Internet,
• reach new targets,
• enhance your brand image,
• inspire confidence, as you can with consumer reviews,
• showcase your product or service through role-playing and testimonials from influential figures,
• create a low-cost viral communication campaign with a high ROI.

82% of professionals consider the leads generated by an influencer marketing campaign to be of higher quality, and 58% report an increase in visibility thanks to this strategy.

Hubspot

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How do I set up an influencer marketing strategy?

In our article on setting up a digital marketing strategy, you'll find all the steps you need to follow.

When it comes to influencer marketing strategy, you'll also need to choose :

• the influencer(s) best suited to your audience,
• the right message and communication channels,

and, of course, analyze the impact of your actions.

Whether you're an advertiser or a communications agency, we recommend using an influencer agency or an influencer marketing platform.

Influence4You, for example, is both an agency and an online platform that connects influencers (150,000 registrants and a database of 37,000,000 profiles) with brands.

You can access complete influencer profiles (number of followers, age, specialties, type of content, etc.) and launch your campaigns, including writing briefs, choosing social networks and remuneration, among other things!

☝️ An influencer's salary varies according to various factors, including the number of followers and the social network.

For example, according to a 2020 study by the Moderator's Blog :

nano-influencers can earn up to €120 per post, while accounts with over 500,000 followers can be paid between €4,000 and €20,000 per post.

The trick is to choose the one that will speak to your community.

Have you already implemented an influencer marketing strategy? What's your experience?