Hardwood Floors December 2018/January 2019

BUSINESS BEST PRACTICES MARKETING

By Katrina Olson

8 Common Questions Answered UNDERSTANDING INFLUENCER MARKETING:

Influencer marketing can also take the form of a product review, a share on an Instagram or other social feed, or a retweet. Whenever an influencer gives a brand or company access to their followers, that’s influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing is one of the newest and fastest-growing tools in the marketer’s toolbox. Forbes magazine considers it one of the most effective forms of advertising. In 2017, it generated $2 billion of revenue. That number is expected to double in 2019, and could reach $10 billion by 2020. The concept behind influencer marketing is that social media personalities – some famous, and some not – influence what products and services people buy. These personalities leverage their influence on behalf of brands and companies, who pay to be favorably mentioned or represented by the influencer to their followers. Social Media Today defines two types of social media influencers: micro-influencers and macro-influencers. Micro- influencers are those with 1,000 to 10,000 highly engaged followers who like, share, comment on, or otherwise interact with the influencer’s content. Their like rate is around 8 percent. Micro-influencers are often industry experts, bloggers, niche- market personalities, or recognized authorities on a subject. Macro-influencers have 10,000 or more followers and a like rate of about 2.5 percent. They’re often household names (think “Kardashian”) with broad appeal and a loyal and diverse audience. Macro-influencers may have millions of followers on one or more social media platforms and may not be experts on anything, in particular. 1 “WHAT IS IT, EXACTLY?” Influencer marketing is a cross between a testimonial, product mention, and product placement. A blogger might mention your company or product in passing, or invite you to write a guest blog. Similarly, a podcaster may give you a mention or invite you to be a guest.

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2 “HOW DOES IT WORK?” A company or brand may approach an influencer with a proposal, sometimes with the help of an agency or influencer marketing firm. The company can provide a brief with guidelines about how they want their product or service presented. For example, a wood flooring company might request their product always be photographed with a leaf or plant to communicate a sustainability message. But what makes influencer marketing work is its authenticity. So while the brief might contain critical points, the influencer should be given the flexibility to create shareable content they know will resonate with their followers. Whether through Instagram posts and stories, Snapchats, Facebook posts and videos, YouTube videos, tweets, or

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