According to research the most expensive Instagrammers on the planet make more than a million dollars with each post. The most expensive Instagram influencer is Cristiano Ronaldo, who costs over $1.60 million for a single sponsored post. The top ten most expensive influencers include three members of the Kardashian-Jenner dynasty, with fashionista Kylie Jenner earning $1.49 million per post.
Booking influencers has become one of the most touted forms of marketing in the past few years, but many businesses don’t know how to properly leverage it. Today, learn more about the world of influencer marketing, the different types of influencers out there, when you should book influencers and the signs of a good influencer.
What is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing refers to a branch of marketing that uses influential individuals to showcase their products. The movement is the latest evolution of celebrity endorsements, a practice that has been widely practiced throughout the 20th century.
Social media influence differs from celebrity endorsements in that there is a more personal and direct feel to it. Influencers routinely use the product or service they’re hawking and sometimes provide tutorials or reviews of these goods. Posts often don’t have the same sterile, polished look of professional adverts, making them more relatable to their audience.
What are the Types of Influencers?
When you are booking influencers, it is crucial you understand the differences between the different kinds out there. Some people divide influencers by the type of products or services they’re associated with.
For example, Kendall Jenner is currently one of the most popular beauty influencers whereas reality television star Lauren Conrad is more known for being a lifestyle influencer. However, the most common way to sort them out is by their follower counts.
-
Mega-influencers
Mega-influencers are the highest tier of social media influencers. They must have more than 1 million followers and are typically celebrities. However, there are influencers who started out and have remained popular solely through their social media activities.
Examples of mega-influencers include fashion influencer and model Gigi Hadid and YouTube star Markiplier. Actors and celebrities are also categorized as mega-influencers if they meet the follower requirement.
-
Macro-influencers
Macro-influencers have followers that range between 500,000 to 1 million. Macro-influencers are naturally not as expensive as mega-influencers and usually have more mobility as to what kind of companies they endorse. However, their price range is still usually way more than what most businesses can afford.
-
Mid-tier Influencers
Mid-tier influencers have follower counts that range from higher than 50,000 up to 500,000. Mid-tier influencers are by no means the most numerous kinds of influencers. Engaging with mid-tier influencers can be worthwhile if your business is looking for cost-effective methods for building your brand. They are also excellent at spreading word of mouth because of their relatively large reach.
-
Micro-influencers
Contrary to popular belief, if you really want people to start talking about your goods and services, you should engage with micro-influencers instead. These accounts have between 10,000 and 50,000 followers but they have high engagement rates with their followers.
According to research, micro-influencers have an engagement rate of 1.29%, almost twice as those of accounts with more than a hundred thousand followers. Engagement is crucial for influencers building goodwill and for creating an air of authenticity.
-
Nano-influencers
Nano-influencers form the bulk of social media influencers. These people often have niche interests such as books, games, comics or makeup. A nano-influencer has over 1,000 to approximately 10,000 followers. They have higher engagement rates simply because its easier to do so with fewer followers. Nano-influencers are excellent for when you want to have product reviews or to generate some talk with more niche markets. They can also be very good at gauging public opinion about your goods or services due to their high engagement rates.
When Should You Book an Influencer?
Booking an influencer can be a very expensive endeavor, depending on the size of your company. Dealing with influencer managers can be a laborious process that may make you question is it worth it? Not every company has a good enough reason to form influencer ties but there are situations where finding a good influencer can give your business a serious boost.
-
You Have a New Product
Launching a new product often requires much fanfare. You can supplement traditional marketing efforts like newspaper adverts or television commercials with social media influencers. Micro-influencers and mid-tier influencers are suitable for smaller businesses since they can be sent the products in advance for product reviews.
-
You Have a Young Market
The largest and most active age groups in social media tend to skew younger. According to experts, the largest age groups in social media are people aged between 25 and 34 years old. On Facebook, they form a quarter of all active users whereas they are over a third of all users in Instagram.
-
Your Company is New
Traditional marketing avenues like television commercials and extensive ad campaigns require tens of thousands or even millions of dollars of investment. New or small companies may not have access to the same resources as their larger counterparts. In that case, contacting an influencer manager can be the most cost-effective option for a new marketing campaign.
-
You Want Market Opinion
Unlike traditional marketing options that have few avenues for consumers to respond, social media allows people to engage with their content. Booking influencers can be very useful when your business needs to see what the market thinks about your goods and services. Influencer ties can be essential in determining whether a product needs to be tweaked or changed in some way since their followers can indicate if they encountered any issues.
-
You Need Credibility
Finally, new and emerging companies may not have the name recognition or authority of more established brands. By booking influencers to showcase and market your services, they lend their credibility to your business. This tends to play on the trust and rapport influencers have built with their followers so be very careful when using them for this property.
What are the Signs of a Good Influencer?
Booking an influencer is only part of the equation. First, you have to determine if the influencer is worth the money you plan on paying them. The world of influencer marketing is full of individuals who aren’t effective or even downright deceitful. Even working with one who has an influencer manager is no guarantee of sterling service.
Below are the sure signs that the person you’re looking for is a good influencer.
-
Responsive
The influencer is quick to reply to business emails and on messages with official entities. It’s also a great sign if they routinely respond to their followers, whether through comments or live events on social media. Open channels of communication are always a welcome sign when you’re planning on working with someone.
-
Detail-Oriented
The influencer is focused on details of deals, from booking them to their contractual obligations. This means that they want to do the job you’re hiring them correctly and prevents misunderstandings that could cause complications later.
-
Honest
The influencer is clear about the limits of their services, such as only offering to do fair reviews or drawing the line with certain practices. This not only highlights their integrity, but it also ensures that neither party is going to waste each other’s time.
-
Personable
The influencer is friendly, not just in front of the screen or camera, but also behind the scenes. This means that they are more likely to engage with followers in a cheerful and charming manner.
-
Consistent
Social media influencers need to curate their content and that means timely posts and interactions. For example, beauty influencers might post product reviews or tutorials on a weekly basis. A good influencer has a reliable schedule that optimizes the algorithm with their follower’s expectations.
Booking an influencer is now one of the main marketing methods of businesses in the 21st century. Learning more about the world and workings of this facet of marketing can help prevent you from making frivolous deals and wasting your time and resources.