In an increasingly digitized world, influencer marketing, which focuses on marketing through people rather than directly to the market, is one of the most successful ways to reach and influence potential customers.
This form of marketing focuses on identifying the right type of influencers who have greater impact on the desired market.
If your organization is looking to take advantage of all that influencer marketing has to offer you’ll want to bookmark these ten examples of some of the best influencer marketing campaigns around.
1. Use Your Audience
Instead of shelling out huge sums of money for big names to promote your brand or products, use everyday people who either already are or could be your customers.
Brand’s like the cosmetics company Glossier have gotten this right by dialing down their paid for marketing spend to focus more on reaching regular people to raise their profile.
This loyal group of micro-influencers is active in promoting Glossier on social media, at events, and in word of mouth recommendations to this friends.
The brand proves how valuable it is to use an audience to reach out to a more networked world.
2. Pursue Partnerships
As marketing budgets expand with sometimes fewer returns on investment it makes more sense for brands to pair up to share both the cost burden and the reach of campaigns.
When two brands partner up who may represent different industries but similar personalities they expand what markets they can tap into.
When Nikon partnered with Warner Music Group to sponsor the SXSW Music Festival it opened up a whole new set of doors, as Nikon cameras were used to capture live performances and then live streamed or shared all over social media for fans of the festival.
An official hashtag ensured that the activity started trending and captured even more followers. This kind of pairing can be successful in driving engagement both online and offline.
3. Find A New Angle
Don’t be afraid to search out opportunities in places that your brand or company traditionally hasn’t ventured into. Buick launched a Pinterest campaign that was focused on creating content and a brand image for one of their car models.
The activity marked a departure from their original model of working with influencers only in the automobile industry.
Choosing to reach out to a more design-focused niche market on social media not only brought them new followers but positively changed the way the brand was perceived by a whole new market.
4. Understand Your Values
Today’s markets are more motivated by brand values and a sense of purpose than they ever were before.
The water brand Boxed Water understands this and started highlighting their environmental conservation activities in their marketing campaigns.
They used customers motivation to do good to raise their brand awareness and leave a positive impact by planting two trees for every Instagram photo that was shared with their chosen hashtag.
5. Encourage Openness
Consumers today also look for authenticity in the brands and companies that they patronize. Encouraging open lines of communication and honesty between your brand and your customers creates a greater sense of trust and loyalty.
Sephora cosmetic stores recently built a community of insiders to share candid product reviews and advice. They also send free cosmetic samples to beauty bloggers for honest reviews, with the results they get back driving traffic and sales into their outlets.
6. Use Images
The digital market is a visually rich medium that can be used to speak to consumers without making large marketing investments. Microsoft recently worked with National Geographic to promote an initiative to get more girls into the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields.
The campaign relied on captivating images that each told a story of a female scientist or adventurer, shared on their Instagram channel. By using real faces and real stories brands are able to engage better with their audiences.
7. Add Value
You don’t always have to focus directly on your brand or company to achieve a successful marketing campaign.
A few years ago British Airways conducted a highly successful innovation lab activity that was designed to bring thought leaders, influencers, and other thinkers together to brainstorm issues and come up with ideas to tackle many of the world’s problems.
Though the focus wasn’t on any features of the brand, they still received visibility and familiarity with a global market.
8. Use Technology
You don’t have to rely solely on human influencers to conduct a great campaign.
Mercedes recently used an Instagram famous dog and some innovative VR technology to achieve results in one of their projects.
By using technology to create a visually rich, 3D, engaging campaign, brands are able to reach new markets and gain attention.
9. Use A Personal Touch
Never underestimate the power of real people to drive your brand or company. TD Ameritrade’s “Human Finance Project” is a good example of this in the way that they used real registered investment advisors on their website to showcase their dedication to providing actual helpful solutions to their customers.
Putting a human face on your business makes it easier for people to connect and engage with it.
10. Free Up Creative Control
Think about ways to crowdsource your brand’s awareness and activities.
Clothing retailer Zara has used fashion focused Instagrammers to take their products and style them in their own way to appeal to their potential customers.
Relying on influencers to take over more creative control of campaigns not only makes brands more relatable or attainable but engages with a highly interested audience.
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Sensei Marketing has helped create and implement dozens of successful Influencer Marketing campaigns across North America
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