Who is an influencer

Influencers – are typically people with a large social following, people with a great audience engagement, people whose opinions pay attention to, who are hired by brands to endorse their products or services, almost like a product placement on TV, because of their ability to influence potential buyers. The hope is that because you are leveraging this third party credibility, the influencer, and followers of these accounts will see the post thus carrying over into sales. In layman’s terms, an influencer’s role in marketing is to influence a target audience to buy something.

An influencer usually has a dedicated following, interacting with his or her posts, and trusting their recommendations.

An influencer could be a:

• Blogger
• Social media star
• Youtuber
• Gamer
• Lifestyle brand
• Expert
• Celebrity

As I mentioned before, an influencer does not need a huge audience to be able to reach your target group. In many cases, smaller influencers (for example micro-influencers) are perceived as a more reliable source of information than big names.

The benefits of cooperation with influencers:

• Increase brand awareness
• Reach brand new audiences
• Increase the number of followers on your social media channels
• Get backlinks to your website
• Increase the value of earned media
• Generate new leads and boost sales

What is the advantage of influencers?

• Trust

They are trusted by their group of followers. 

• Approachability

This feature cannot be overestimated. We have the feeling that although an influencer is a “star”, it is also a normal human being with human challenges that we can sympathize with.

• Accessibility

Being within our reach. We take a smartphone, a tablet, often a laptop, almost everywhere. Influencers are easy to watch, and always close to us – literally at our fingertips. 

• Creativity

Influencers create content that social media users want to consume willingly. Beautiful pictures and a sense of esthetic are essential to gain many followers on Instagram. Furthermore, they need to know how to engage the audience and speak freely in front of the camera. That’s the profile of the influencer you want to collaborate with.

The 4 types of social media influencers

1. Celebrities / Social Celebrities

While partnering with a celebrity can be considered influencer marketing, we technically view these relationships like traditional celebrity endorsements. You’re paying a hefty fee for an Instagram post that will most likely be taken down within the next few months (that’s how many of these influencer structure contracts). Additionally, while celebrities have immensely large audiences, it can be difficult to tell if your exact target audience is actively engaging with your celebrity partner as celebrity audiences tend to be made up of a variety of different personas. 

Social celebrity. Like celebrities, these influencers have millions of followers across their different social networks. Also like a celebrity, their audience is more spread out, and it can be difficult to reach your specific target audience if you’re not careful.

2. Macro-Influencers

These are influencers who are well-known in their communities and have built up a hefty fan base that can range from 350k-950k followers over the years. These types of creators are commonly known for their expertise in a specific industry. If you have a modest social media budget and you’re planning to rely 100% on the organic reach of your influencers to drive awareness for your brand, plan to partner with several macro-influencers to get the most bang for your buck.

3. Micro-Influencers

Micro-influencers have a fan base that ranges from 20,000-350,000 followers across their social media networks. Like macro-influencers, their content is more niche and caters to a specific industry, but the value of these influencers comes from their ability to truly engage with their communities as we’ve seen micro’s produce 22.2X more conversations on their content than the typical Instagram user.

4. Nano-Influencers

Within the past few years, nano-influencers have sparked a new trend in the influencer marketing industry. Nano-influencers obviously have the smallest organic following, but their engagements can pack a punch to your campaign.