Principles of identification

[Reyed Mia (Apprentice, DIU)]

Principles of identification

In this lesson, I will share with you the principles that should dictate the way you identify the influencers to work with. By the end of this video, you should have a good understanding of the factors to consider at the pre-outreach phase of your influencer marketing campaign. When my 12-year-old daughter says, "We must go to Walgreens," what she is really saying is, "From a review by another girl on Instagram, "I have found out about this new lip balm "that's out there. "We must buy it." It took me some time to get to the core of these sudden impulses to go to a specific store, and to do it ASAP.

Clearly, the balm makers that market through these Instagram influencers are getting what they are aiming for. I am spending money on their products. There are three key criteria to keep in mind when planning your influencer outreach. First, audience resonance. You want to identify the influencers whose audience overlaps with yours. Secondly, audience engagement. You want to work with those influencers whose followers are active and engaged. And thirdly, lack of brand contradiction.

You must ensure that the influencer's personal brand does not contradict your own. In my earlier example, all three of these were perfectly intact. In his 2016 Forbes.com article, entrepreneur Kyle Wong proposed a formula to consider while qunatifying influence. The formula went like this: audience reach, the number of followers, multiplied by brand affinity, expertise and credibility, multiplied by strength of relationship with followers, equals influence.

When identifying true influencers, look beyond their reach, factoring in their expertise, trustworthiness, and relationship with their followers. Besides the three criteria, and Kyle's formula, your goals should dictate the types of influencers to use for a specific campaign. Way back in 1898, America's advertising and sales pioneer Elias Lewis suggested his AIDA customer journey model. Each letter of the acronym stood for a phase in the purchase funnel.

Awareness, interest, desire, and action. Over time, the marketing funnel has been revised into many different versions. Whatever version you subscribe to, it must include awareness, consideration, and activation. Social Influencer Marketing Report by Razorfish evaluated the impact that different types of influencers have on end consumers on the different phases of the marketing funnel. Their research revealed that, during the awareness phase, in addition to family and friends, independent bloggers and user-generated videos play an influential role.

During the consideration phase, user-generated videos and anonymous peer reviews outweigh close family and friends, while on the action phase, the influence shifts again. Always select your influencers based on your goals. Celebrities, should your budget allow for them, are great for increasing awareness. Niche vertical specific micro influencers, as well as brand advocates, can be of great help both on the consideration phase, and on the final action phase.

The overarching benefit of influencer marketing is that it shortens the sale cycle, amplifying the effect of your other marketing efforts. As a digital marketing and PR strategist, Lee Odden, puts it, it lowers barriers, and lubricates the speed at which messages are received by audiences. Having said this, it works this way only when you choose the right influencers for the goals in mind.

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/marketing-foundations-influencer-marketing/principles-of-identification