Proving the value of influencer marketing can be a tough job.
Trying to explain the return on investment for PR coverage can also be a hard thing to do.
So how do we show those at the top of the organisation, or even clients just how much value influencers add to campaigns or add to the value of the brand?
Sending gifted items in the hopes that influencers will post about them on their profiles is a part of the influencer marketer’s job.
But how does an Instagram story equate to value on the company’s bottom line?
1. Sales
Let’s start with the most obvious.
An influencer posting your product on their stories or grid can lead to an increase in sales.
You may be able to see this through referrals coming to your page via Instagram as the influencer may have tagged your page or even included a swipe-up option to their story.
This is definitely a way to put a numerical value on the expense of gifting a product to an influencer and it’s also a huge win for the brand with the increase in sales.
From this, you would then know that this influencer has a following with an interest in your product/niche and it may be very worthwhile to continue working with this influencer in the future.
2. Virality
Going viral can be a good thing or it can be a bad thing.
You really don’t want to go viral for the wrong reasons, even if this does reach millions of people, your brand isn’t being received in positive terms.
However, one post from an influencer such as Kylie Jenner or Molly Mae from Love Island for example, could send your product sales into overdrive and crash your site.
All it takes is one mention from someone with a huge following to influence the consumer habits of those followers.
Take Mrs Hinch for example. Who would have thought that a cleaning product like Zoflora would have went viral a few years ago and be sold-out almost everywhere?
All it takes is the right person and the right product.
3. Brand awareness
Probably the hardest the put value on is brand awareness. How much is brand awareness worth to a brand?
A lot.
If consumers aren’t aware of your brand, why would you expect them to buy from you?
And how do we make consumers aware of our brand?
We advertise.
And no longer just advertise through the old faithfuls like newspapers, magazines and TV ads because 1) print media is dying, and 2) Netflix.
So where do we advertise in 2021?
On social media.
Facebook ads, Instagram sponsored content, Google Ads, email marketing, podcasts and TikTok.
Create mass awareness for your brand by advertising where your customers are.
Get someone from your team on a podcast in your niche, partner with social media influencers on Instagram and TikTok – be an innovator in this influencer space.
Brand awareness will create sales and it’s very worthwhile to put money into this area.
4. Content creation
Influencers can add value to your brand campaigns through the content they create.
If you can add this into your influencer partnership agreement that you would like to repurpose this content for future marketing, then firstly pay the influencers good rates for this and also make the most of the content.
Influencers are content creators. It’s what I like to refer to them as, and the more creative, the better.
I’ve recently watched my favourite social media influencer In The FROW reach 1 million followers on Instagram. Victoria constantly creates imaginative, unique and creative content for the brand she partners with and also for her audience.
Intriguing and creative content will have followers craving more and also wanting to know more about the partnership or brand involved.
5. Third party endorsement
Aka what influencers are best known for and where influencer marketing really started.
Once companies started to notice that the products celebrities and mass-followed socialites mentioned or used in the public eye dramatically increased in sales, it was only smart to hop on to this trend and proactively send celebrities and influencers alike their products to try and get an organic mention on their social channels.
We love an organic third party endorsement, whether that be from a celeb, an influencer, a journalist, or your next-door neighbour.
However, most of the time it stems from the celebrity or influencer who then influences a follower to try the product and then this has a ripple effect where this follower tells friends and families about this great product.
If you have a great product that you believe in, get it out there.
Send it to influencers you think will like and appreciate the product and hope that it resonates enough with them to share to their followers and watch as your sales increase.
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