Cooperation with influencers in 2022

Cooperation with influencers - some say that it is no longer profitable. Others predict that this market is only just getting started, and the prospects are getting more interesting as social media grows in popularity. Who's right? 

Infuencer marketing is no longer a niche idea for publicity for more trend-savvy marketers. American data for 2020 shows that campaigns with influencers 19 percent marketers spent 1-10 thousand. dollars. Until 18 percent spent on this purpose from 100 to 500 thousand. hole. For 7 percent the collaboration with influencers was worth over a million dollars. The number of companies that do not intend to use this form of promotion at all is falling. Marketing budgets are steadily growing - according to BigCommerce, in 2020 marketers invested an average of 65% in it. more than a year earlier.

Cooperation with influencers - definition

Today, virtually anyone can be an influencer on the Internet. That is why it is so important that the company conducts appropriate research on people whose character or values correspond to the brand image. Consistency with your brand identity will have an impact on your collaboration with influencers. The definition of the English word "influencer" explains that it is a person who has the ability to influence consumers by promoting or recommending a product on social media. Influences customers' purchasing decisions based on their authority, knowledge, and relationships with users. It also creates trends that are worth using in your company.

There are many divisions of influencers into groups: they have been described above due to the number of followers, but the types due to the created content cannot be forgotten. These can be bloggers, youtubers, podcast makers, or social media posts. Cooperation with influencers will be different each time. The definition also indicates the division of these people according to the level of influence on users: i.e. celebrities, opinion leaders or people with an above-average influence on their recipients. As you can see, it is not a simple topic and cannot be approached without due attention. Such cooperation can bring great benefits to your brand only if it is consistent with its image and goals you want to achieve.

Cooperation with influencers - benefits 

Influencer marketing - as soon as this term comes up, the statistics are recalled immediately. Well, as much as 92 percent people before buying takes above all take into account the opinion of relatives or friends. And more and more often the favorite Youtuber or Instagramer are people with whom Poles spend several hours a week. Thanks to live reports and replying to comments, the impression of a direct, friendly relationship is created.

Cooperation with influencers

Recommendation from someone like this (referral marketing) puts the brand closer to the customer and improves its image in his eyes. Cooperation with influencers has undeniable advantages. It would be difficult to obtain the same results with the help of traditional advertising, and even such advanced tools as custom publishing or PR campaign.

Micro, macro-influencers, and who it is at all influencer? 

An influencer is an influencer. influence) on the opinion of those who follow its activity on the Internet. Marketing strategy influencer includes one or more channels to reach followers: blog, Tik-tok, Instagram, Youtube, Facebook and others. There are two main factors that count in the classification of influencers. These are the ranges and influences, i.e. the number of supporters and whether they take into account the opinion of the influencer. For a popular brand, scale may be more important, i.e. influencer marketing, which will reach the maximum number of users. For a more specialized or premium brand, the opinion-forming of a blog or channel may be more important.

Hence, influencer marketing covers both the stars (over a million followers) and macro-influencerswho have had half a million followers. However, the most universal channels are those watched by tens of thousands to half a million people. Influencer marketing builds with fewer followers on medium, micro and nano-influencers. The latter may even be less than 5,000. fans. Isn't that too little? In some cases, yes, but if the specialization is narrow and the product advertised by the influencer is expensive, reaching the few thousand of the right people and gaining their trust can be worth its weight in gold.

Cooperation with influencers - is it always worth it? 

Influencer marketing should start with an analysis of the reach of a selected creator. Its target group may be one hundred percent the same as the brand to which the message is directed. However, it may be that the popular Polish influencer has fans mainly abroad or that they are only children. Then it makes no sense to invest in influencer marketing if the brand operates only in Poland or produces things that are rather bought by adults.

Cooperation with influencers 

The main concern of marketers about influencer marketing is company image and brands that may suffer from being associated with the wrong person. Today, however, the market is much more professional than a decade ago, when the first miners or Youtubers spoiled the opinion of influencers with misplaced moves or unprofessional communication. Both the brand and the creator can have a professional representative in the form of a marketing agency, which minimizes the risk and facilitates moderation in difficult situations.

How to cooperate with influencers?

Influencer marketing is growing more and more every year. The creators are heavily involved in campaigns, focus on professionalism and creativity, and thanks to this, the cooperation brings spectacular results. The key is to choose the right people. How to cooperate with influencers?

First of all, you need to consider who you want to cooperate with. It can be very helpful to create a profile of the ideal influencer for cooperation - one that will match the brand's image and theme.

Research is very important when looking for an influencer. Before choosing a specific creator, it is worth taking a careful look at his activity on the Internet - analyze in detail the form and quality of the content he creates, the consistency of posts and the frequency of publication. An ad that fits perfectly with the content of the creator will be authentic and effective. The influencer's personality, interests, passions and lifestyle are also important.

Its image cannot contradict what the brand represents - with its mission, values, etc. An influencer should be checked in terms of participation in any scandals. A campaign with a conflicting creator can be difficult to implement. You should also pay attention to his previous collaborations - and especially whether he did not advertise something that could conflict with the brand's product / service or its vision.

Another important issue is the involvement of the community around the influencer. Not always a high-range creator will be the best choice. It is often more effective to work with a person who has fewer followers, but what distinguishes them from others is interactions with the recipient group. A good influencer is committed to creating strong ties with his followers, and his posts show high activity. At this point, the characteristics of influencer followers are also important. You should check whether the audience coincides with the brand's target group.

Before submitting a proposal for cooperation, it is worth establishing interactions with the influencer - observe his activities for some time, show that we are interested in his person, his work. Comment and like posts, speak in a private message. Such action may facilitate the subsequent cooperation.

Defining the purpose of cooperation and what next?

It is of great importance to define the purpose of cooperation - whether it is to increase the sale of a new product, or an improvement brand image etc. This will enable the selection of the appropriate form of the campaign - for example, if the goal is to increase sales, it is worth creating a special discount code for followers, which the influencer will advertise in their social media.

The next stage of establishing cooperation with an influencer is preparing a proposal that should be sent by e-mail. Creators get a lot of offers every day, so it is worth standing out in some way, constructing a message in an inviting, interesting way.

The offer should specify in detail the terms of cooperation - scope of operation, deadlines for publishing posts, remuneration. The creator must know what tasks to perform, by what date and what he will receive in return. It is worth developing a cooperation strategy together with an influencer - give him a chance to show off, ask him for his opinion, ideas. Natural advertising, i.e. advertising that fits perfectly into the activity, character and vision of the creator, will bring the best benefits.

A joint campaign should be based on trust and the bonds that have been created. Throughout the period of cooperation, you should take care of good relations with the influencer, as well as monitor the progress of his activities - e.g. ask for statistics on the prepared posts. This will allow us to determine the chance for further collaborations in the future.

Cooperation with influencers - what to avoid?

Influencer marketing it can bring you a lot of benefits. However, it is important to plan and carry out the cooperation with the creator in the right way. What mistakes should you avoid?

The first threat is cooperation with an unreliable person, i.e. one whose social media feed looks like a notice board. An artist who constantly undertakes other collaborations and constantly advertises new things, loses the trust of his observers. It ceases to be authentic to them. Unfortunately, this may have a negative impact on the brands he promotes.

It is not worth working with influencers only because they are very popular on the Internet, and at the same time they do not match the brand profile at all. Creators for cooperation should be selected in a reliable and thoughtful manner. A joint campaign will bring much better results if the creator identifies himself with the advertised company - shares the same values, the product or service he recommends really fits him (to his character, lifestyle, passions or interests).

Followers

We should also remember that the number of followers may differ from the actual range. Before deciding to cooperate, you should carefully analyze the influencer's contact with the followers - whether there are any interactions between them, how the creator addresses his audience. It is worth checking whether the influencer has purchased followers and does not use bots. Appropriate tools can be used for this - such as Social Blade.

It is worth avoiding copy-paste cooperation - i.e. campaigns with various influencers (especially with a very large number), where each of them is to create identical content. Publication creativity is the key! Better to bet on less but valuable content than a large amount of nothing that does not post. Quality over quantity!

Poorly constructed terms of cooperation (or no contract) is also a mistake. The lack of details regarding the publication may cause the brand expectations and the content prepared by the influencer to be completely different. Misunderstanding may be the cause of unnecessary quarrels and disputes that will negatively affect further cooperation.

Other errors when working with a web developer include:

• using the content created by the influencer by the brand without a license,
• pushy advertising,
• wrong form of cooperation,
• no feedback from the brand in case of any problems.

How to cooperate with influencers? 7 cooperation schemes

Cooperation with an influencer may take various forms. It all depends on the goal that the brand wants to achieve, the message channel, the creator's content and its specific features - such as interests, lifestyle or character.

What cooperation patterns do we distinguish?

• Sponsored Content. These are one-time campaigns in which the influencer, in exchange for a product (in the case of barter) or appropriate remuneration, prepares a post, video, InstaStories or photo advertising a brand, product, etc. A one-off campaign is a good way to promote a new product.

• Ambassador program. Creating sponsored posts and placing products on social media is also a great idea for long-term cooperation. In this case, the influencer stays company ambassador. As part of the contract, he promotes the brand, identifies with it, shows it every day, and thanks to this, the brand is closer to its recipients, gains a human face.

Brand and influencer

The form of ambassadorial cooperation depends on the goal the company wants to achieve - if the goal is to increase sales, the influencer can promote a promotional code for the brand's products on their social networks. It is important to exercise moderation in ambassadorial cooperation. A creator should not inundate his followers with content that promotes the brand. The more subtly he does it, the better.

Too intrusive advertising may be counterproductive. In the case of long-term cooperation, one must bear in mind the possible image crisis of the creator, which may have a negative impact on the brand's reputation.

• Common product. A brand, in cooperation with an influencer, can create a new product - or an entire product line. This is a particularly good idea for clothing or cosmetic brands. This form of cooperation is a way to increase sales of brand products or show the company from behind the scenes.

• Entry / movie sponsored on the blog / channel. A one-time publication or a series of publications on the creator's blog / channel is a great way to build brand awareness or improve its image. Product reviews work great here.

• Influencer as an expert. A form of cooperation suitable for those brands that run their own YouTube channels, blogs or podcasts. It is an invitation to the creator to an interview, where he will act as an expert in a given field.

• Invitation to the event. Organization of an event from which the influencer is to report on, e.g. via InstaStories.

• Takeover of the brand's social media. The influencer controls the company's social media for a certain period of time (e.g. for one day). The creator can organize a live broadcast, Q&A or other interesting form of interaction with the observers. However, it is important to choose a person with whom we have previously cooperated - one whom we trust.

Cooperation with influencers - from A to Z 

Problematic cooperation with influencers usually begins with the lack of clear guidelines and arrangements. Communication strategy it should be consistent and clear also in the influencer's internal contacts with the brand. Often cooperation begins with signing a contract. This allows you to clarify your expectations. This is one of the reasons why it is worth choosing the most professional influencer marketing based on contracts and agreed payment. When it comes to barter, and there are no arrangements, it's really hard to expect full professionalism from an influencer. At this stage you can of course negotiate - remuneration, scope of services, duration of the campaign. The arrangements can be general or very detailed and come to determine the appearance of the post, hashtags, the post's surroundings, etc. It's worth giving the influencer clear timeframe cooperation and goals or tasks. After the campaign, the key is settling it with these activities. It is a standard in influencer marketing measuring the results using statistics or links and dedicated codes.

Prospects for cooperation with influencers in 2022 

Considering the rapid development of both the most popular social media and those that are just emerging, it cannot be said for sure that influencer marketing will experience a slump in the coming year. Even a pandemic, paradoxically, does not have to harm the market for such advertising. Instead of action in the field or cinema advertising, the easiest way to reach customers today is through social media, in which they spend more and more time.  

Video will certainly develop dynamically as a form of expression of the creators. Youtube is currently booming. For only 3-4 years, you can also post Insta Stories, Facebook Live and videos on Tik-progress, which many users are just beginning to appreciate. Sales forms are slowly gaining ground directly through these platforms, and this offers additional opportunities. 

When it comes to more specific trends, video forms and photos that give the impression of being raw, unedited will be popular. Even if professionals are responsible for the script, lighting or installation, it makes a good impression on users when the whole thing seems to be spontaneous and "home". No wonder that the most popular influencers and the biggest brands share their selfies or videos recorded with a mobile phone, although they can afford more professional materials. This will certainly be the case in 2022. 

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