Influencer Marketing, UGC & the Future
Influencer marketing started long before the paid partnership and sponsored tags began appearing on your favourite fashion blogger’s Instagram page. Celebrity endorsement deals and commercial gigs featuring athletes always counted as some form of influencer marketing and they still do today. However, there’s no denying that things are quite different now. These days, you don’t need to be a celebrity to be an influencer; all it takes is a carefully built brand, a large following or simply becoming the go-to person for something, it could be beauty, fashion, food or music.
The rise of social media gave birth to the rise of influencers who have created communities based on their areas of interest. Take fashion blogger, Song of Style for example – she has successfully built a strong fashion/beauty loving community of about 4.7 million followers. Through influencer marketing, her and several other bloggers have evolved into huge brands. Some have released best-selling books while others have collaborated with well-known brands to create their very own signature collection.
Based on the current global marketing landscape, it is evident that influencer marketing will not be slowing down anytime soon. In light of the change in algorithm that was recently announced by Facebook, influencers stand to be much more valuable to the marketing process than ever before.
So what does this mean for marketers, agencies and budding influencers?
Let’s take a look at three key things
Strategic partnerships: This is great news for influencers who have established a strong follower base. With platforms like Facebook reducing the reach of publisher/branded content, brands would have to rely heavily on influencers to get their products and services in the face of consumers. Brands would need to take a very strategic approach to partnering with these influencers. It’s all about finding the right influencer for your brand, someone who can fit into your brand story. Then potentially establishing a long term relationship in order to attract their audience to your products. Not finding the right fit will be a very costly mistake to make at this time.
Larger Investment in content: Budding influencers who are trying to build their brands would need to level up. To get on a brand’s radar, you need to be creating top quality content. Great reward often requires great investment. The good news is that you don’t have to do it alone. Get in touch with production shops like ours who will not only help you tell your story but who can create a reasonable budget that’s tailored to suit your pocket.
Collaborating with experts: Unlike agencies, production studios are usually open to collaborating with influencers for the sake of building their portfolios or telling beautiful stories. As an established influencer, the stakes will be much higher and brands will want to see better photos or videos from you. Working with expert photographers, designers or videographers will help you deliver and will also take added pressure off you.
When done right, influencer marketing will also cause a chain reaction that will result in other consumers sharing the products thereby giving brands a ton of user generated content to share. Brands like Away and Glossier have been able to stack up a library of awesome UGC because of influencers – not necessarily the big time influencers but more of everyday consumers.
Brands need to see the everyday consumer as a potential micro influencer. When you story is strong enough to move one consumer, they will most likely act as your brand influencer for life.