Influencer Marketing Has Created New Business Needs
In the last few years, influencers have become one of the most talked about topics in the marketing world. Influencers and the potential for their content marketing abilities have steadily risen to the top of every brand marketer’s radar. According to a recent survey, 84% of marketers plan on executing at least one influencer marketing campaign in 2017. Why? Because influencer marketing allows a brand to get feedback from consumers that are likely already paying attention to brand related content.
Like any new industry, there are several ancillary businesses that have begun popping up to support the influencer craze. In this blog, Hollywood Branded explores three (3) types of influencer marketing related businesses that have been created, driven by the need to manage this new business arena.
Influencer Discovery Platforms
Before any campaign can be run, a brand marketer must be able to identify and recruit influencers for the campaign. To make this process easier, there are several different influencer discovery software that have begun to pop up. These software platforms allow brand marketers to filter through thousands of influencers by specific search criteria. For example, companies like Brandslip and Influence.co provide a platform where brands, and agency’s alike, can generate a list of influencers that fit their target demographic through a specific set of keywords. In addition, these software platforms are often able to provide brand marketers with an influencer’s deep data such as engagement rates, audience info or past campaigns that they’ve worked on. While some discovery platforms provide an option for brand marketers to contact influencers directly through the platform, most just provide a link to the influencer’s social media accounts where their contact info can be found. As influencer marketing continues to mature, these discovery platforms will surely become more and more integral to successful campaigns.
Pros:
- Speeds up the influencer discovery process
- Allows brand marketers to pre-qualify an influencer based on information provided
Cons:
- Brand marketers don’t always know how to properly engage with influencers (and get the most out of the relationship)
- Information on platform can be inaccurate
- Platforms can be crowded with fake influencers (those with fake followers)
Influencer Campaign Trackers
There are two important things a brand marketer must do when implementing an influencer marketing campaign.
- The first is to source and connect with key influencers that are relevant to the campaign at hand (both of which are easily achieved through influencer discovery platforms) and
- Secondly, track the success of the influencers themselves and the campaign as a whole.
That’s where influencer monitoring and tracking software come into play. Software like Traackr and Grapevine provide tools that allow marketers to input various metrics that they would like measured and gauge how well the campaign did in relation to those metrics. They’re able to quantify the impact of each individual influencer involved with the campaign and adjust the strategy accordingly, increasing a brand marketer’s chance of reaching their goals for the campaign.
Pros:
- Provides brand marketers with a quick and easy turnkey solution to measure the success of a campaign
- Provides brand marketers with recommended metrics to track
Cons:
- Different metrics need to be tracked for different campaigns – these software platforms can’t decide which metrics should be tracked - the brand needs to set KPI's
- These software can’t draw conclusions from the campaign based off of data, and an untrained eye may miss some significant findings
Curated Content Platforms
Last but not least, there’s a new wave of media companies popping up that focus solely on creating influencer related content for the public to enjoy. For example, the company Trending All Day is a multimedia company that provides engaging and up to the minute, entertainment news on the lives of the most popular social media stars. Think ESPN, but instead of sports, influencers.
These new age socially driven media companies have noticed the power of social media stars and are now taking steps to legitimize their craft and monetize this growing sector in pop culture. Five years ago, we could have never imagined that a company like Trending All Day would exist. This goes to show that the influencer space is solidified and here to stay for a long time.
Now What?
These are just three types of businesses that have sprung up as a result of influencers - there are many others tools and platforms out there that are trying their best to carve out their own niche to get a piece of the influencer craze.
As a brand marketer, having either one of the two software platforms listed (or any other tools out there) may help you implement a successful influencer marketing strategy. While many of these brands offer a scaled back version of their software for free, the full software with all of its functions can oftentimes be CRAZILY expensive. Which is why it often makes more sense to work with an agency who has access to software, and the actual time to devote to researching, activating and overseeing the entire campaign.
Working With Influencers
Before spending the money, be sure to do as much research as you can on what features your agency or brand can benefit from most. Influencer marketing is a strategy that with the right amount of attention to small detail will surely reap great benefits.
Our e-book, The Only Guide You Need To hire Social Influencers can be downloaded by clicking the image below. Check it out and let us know if we missed anything!!
