Do you know influencer marketing is not new? It dates to 2006. Formerly, influencers were bloggers who shared stories about their lives and promoted products they used each day. But before we look at the whys and the wherefores of influencer marketing, let’s be on the same page on what it is. Influencer marketing is a way brands can promote their products through endorsements or recommendations from influencers and content creators on the Internet.
Today, influencer marketing takes place on social media, but blogs still command a powerful voice. Others like podcast hosts are starting to have a name for themselves in this sphere. In the last fifteen years, this form of marketing has grown phenomenally. According to socialpubli.com, nine out of ten brands are using some form of influencer marketing. The bottom line, it is the next big thing in marketing – particularly when Artificial Intelligence comes into play.
Influencer marketing is a part of brand awareness campaigns, but it can also result in conversions and sales. Data now shows that working with micro-influencers (10K-50K followers) is the way to go. In addition, a trend to use nano-influencers (1K-10K followers) is also steadily picking up pace. Essentially, brands avoid macro-influencers (500K-1M followers) and mega-influencers (1M+) with shallow engagement. Instead, they opt for accounts with a small following but a higher engagement rate.
Now with AI influencer marketing, brands can leverage AI algorithms to analyse data such as social media engagement, follower demographics, and the content that influencers produce in order to identify the most effective influencers for a particular marketing campaign. Once these influencers have been identified, marketers can use AI to monitor and track the success of their campaigns, as well as to optimize their targeting and messaging based on real-time data.
If executed properly, an AI-driven influencer marketing campaign can positively and powerfully affect a brand. But what shape should this campaign take to realise this impact? Gshiftlabs.com suggest a six-step approach.
Research and discovery involve having an in-depth understanding of a brand’s mission, current perception, and target audience. Strategy and planning entail using the research findings to narrow down your influencer list. Here you will ask yourself specific questions like the influencer campaign’s goal, the budget requirement, and the campaign type to choose (do you start with content first before picking an influencer or do you like the influencer and co-create a content strategy?). It is also essential to consider the keywords to optimise the campaign and what brief will guide it. This minimises the risk of being side-tracked.
Once the campaign is up and running, it needs to be managed. Response rates and times will play a critical role as engagements rise. Higher rates and lower times lead to even higher concentration and possibly conversion. Reporting informs future campaigns. It reveals what works and does not, vigorously feeding into a brand’s new influencer culture.
While it can come at the end of a campaign, reporting can also happen mid-way. Nowadays, most social media dashboards present built-in real-time analytics, and good interim reports. They can help tweak performance and salvage a low-engagement campaign. Once a working model is established, it can be maintained within an organisation with provisions for continuous improvement.
But now AI influencers are here and they are on the rise! An AI influencer removes the human element from the frontline. The AI influencer, an artificial intelligence system or program, is even gaining a significant following on social media or other online platforms. With this following, they can influence the opinions and behaviour of their followers. AI influencers may be created by individuals or businesses as a way to promote their products or services, or they may be developed as a form of entertainment or education.
AI influencers can take many different forms, such as chatbots that interact with users in real-time or virtual assistants that provide information and recommendations based on user input. They may also be used to create content, such as social media posts or videos, that are designed to engage and influence their followers. Welcome to the future of influencer marketing! Would you use one?