Do you want to enter influencer marketing? Great news! This strategy has been successful for all types of brands at achieving various goals. Influencer marketing can be used to increase brand awareness or drive sales, boost web traffic, and grow your social media following.
However, influencer strategies require just as much planning as any other type of marketing campaign. And first and foremost, it is important to determine which network will host your campaign. Do you wish to work alongside YouTubers? Influencers on Twitter? TikTok influencers or Instagrammers?
We’re here for you to show you what to think about when you are deciding which network to use to promote your influencer campaign.
1. Think about your goal
First, determine what you want and then decide which network is best for you. For some broader goals like web traffic or branding, all networks are good options. It just depends on where your target audience is most likely to be found.
But for other, more concrete goals, things are a bit different. For example, if you want to grow your social media following, choose the network where you want to grow. For sales-oriented campaigns, choose the network that best positions your potential customers to buy something. For example, Instagram Shopping lets consumers shop seamlessly from social media content.
2. Identify your target audience
Next, think about the people you want to connect with. Who are they? Consider their ages and genders. Also consider where they live and what languages they speak. What are they passionate about?
After you have identified your target audience and done some research, find out where they go online. TikTok could be a good place to target teenagers. On the other hand, Instagram’s main demographic fits into the 25-34 age bracket, so it’s a good place to find millennials.
Remember to look into any restrictions on social media in your target country, too. For example, TikTok is banned in India. Or, in China, you may have to examine Chinese social networks, as many of the primary Western networks don’t have a footing in that country.
3. Define your brand’s category
Your industry has an impact on the social media network for your campaign, too. TikTok and Insta might be good for visual topics like fashion or beauty. Twitter or LinkedIn work better in technology, marketing, and for health. Or choose Twitch and YouTube if you are in the gaming business.
So think about what your brand does and what category it falls into. Then, based on that, think about which network best represents content from that industry.
This category will also help determine what type of influencer you should collaborate with. For B2C brands whose products are designed for consumer use with little to no learning curve, the options are wide open. Any influencer can review your product, and you have options from nano influencers with just a few thousand followers up to celebrity influencers.
But if you’re a B2B business, or your product or service is very specialized, you might not want to go with any old influencer. Think of the healthcare, technology, or business industries. Would you trust investing advice from a part-time influencer who also works as a shop assistant? Probably not. These industries require people with more credentials, whether education or professional experience.
In these cases, consider working with a KOL (or key opinion leader). in these areas. Key opinion leaders are those who are highly respected and who usually have professional education or experience in the field they’re speaking about.
KOLs can be costly and difficult to get in touch with, but if you can collaborate with one, expect a big impact on your campaign. In order to have the best chances of landing a collaboration, make sure you only reach out to KOLs who closely align with your brand and its mission.
4. Discover which type and style of content is best for each network
Different networks allow different types of content. This should be considered along with your category, target audience, and of course, goal.
What type of content can you use to connect with your audience? Do they prefer video? Photos? Text with charts and graphs to break down complicated data?
Check which social network works best for the content you plan on creating based on your needs. In general, the main social networks work best for these:
- Instagram – Instagram photos, videos and stories, livestream
- TikTok – short-form video, livestream
- YouTube – long form video, livestream
- Twitter – text, photos, videos, and sharing links
- LinkedIn – text and photo, video and sharing links
This information, together with other items on the list, will help you to decide which network is best for your campaign.
5. Get to know the disclosure guidelines.
In many countries, regulators require that influencers and brands reveal when they participate in social-media collaborations. This is, for instance, the FTC rules it in the United States. It may seem like the responsibility of the influencer, but many of these agencies are also holding brands to new levels of accountability when it comes to disclosures.
Know which regulations are applicable to your collaboration. Plan how influencers need to make their collaborations public so they’re clear to the authorities. You don’t want your influencer campaigns to go live only to end up in legal trouble or fines.
Different networks allow collaborations to be disclosed in different ways. Instagram, for example, has a paid partnership feature that other networks don’t. Make sure you have the ability to disclose the collaboration properly with the network that you choose.
In order to avoid problems related to this, it is worth putting everything in writing. You can download a free influencer contract template. After you’ve edited it, you can choose the network and details for the collaboration. Then, if the influencer makes a mistake with the disclosure, you can always refer back to what was agreed upon in the contract.
Conclusion
The best social network for your campaign is dependent on your brand’s needs and goals. These are five important points to keep in mind when you plan your campaign so that you find the right social network for your audience and connect with them in a meaningful way.
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