Social media platforms today are far more than spaces to connect and share. Earlier, people searched for a username to follow or send a request for connection to stay in touch with someone. Today, people market products and services along with their preference to follow or connect. Resultantly, brands and businesses have found their core strategy to upscale effectively: “influencer marketing”.
Influencer marketing refers to individuals promoting a brand, product or service by leveraging their credibility, following and relationship with their community. They influence the buying decisions of their followers to boost sales and leads. Different types of influencers are present in the market to drive growth for a business.
Speaking of the types of influencers, there are majorly 5 categories:
Nano influencers are individuals with limited following like 1,000 to 10,000 followers on a social media platform. Micro influencers are individuals who may have followers ranging from 10,000 to 1,00,000 on a social media platform. Similarly, macro influencers are those with a range of 1,00,000 followers to a million followers while both mega and celebrity influencers have more than a million followers on a social media platform.
Types of influencer marketing on the other hand is about ‘how’ a message is conveyed to the audience unlike ‘who’ shares the message. ‘Who’ shares the message is mainly linked with influencer categories. For example, a micro influencer posts about a recent experience in a food outlet. The post is the form/type of sharing the experience whereas the influencer is the one who shares the message. Similarly, there can be several other forms of sharing or more specifically, promoting a brand, product or services. Some of the most effective forms are discussed ahead.
Types of Influencer Marketing for Brand Growth
Content-focused influencer marketing forms:
- 1. Sponsored posts - One of the most popular influencer marketing forms include sponsored posts. In this scenario, an influencer is paid by a brand to make or share a post about its product or service. This strategy helps the brand gain visibility and engagement over time. Coming to the kind of sponsored posts, a brand may ask for a single image upload or a video and so on.
- 2. Unboxing videos - An exciting form of influencer marketing is unboxing videos. Viewers enjoy watching an influencer start from scratch and record the process of using or showing a product. It creates a genuine impact on them.
- 3. Product reviews - Another great way of promoting a product is sharing product reviews in-depth. This refers to explaining anything from how the product works to what the product contains for the benefit of the consumer. This form of influencer marketing is helpful in building trust and reliability.
- 4. Collaborative content - This is where brands and influencers partner to upload interesting content. Some of the key examples include vlogs, “how-to” series and podcasts. Unlike traditional advertising, this focuses more on storytelling and relationship-building skills of the individuals present in the content form.
Engagement and lead generation influencer marketing forms:
- 1. Giveaways and contests - Some of the best engagement-based influencer marketing forms include giveaways and contests. Influencers encourage their followers to do something as simple as liking a post or commenting on it.
- 2. Challenges on social media platforms - Another effective engagement-based influencer marketing form is challenging the followers to do something to boost recognition or visibility of the brand. This helps a business stay interesting and exciting among the followers. Examples like “daily challenges”, “21-day challenges” and “monthly challenges” are highly popular in the market today.
Long-term and performance-based partnership forms:
- 1. Brand ambassadors - This form of influencer marketing includes influencers being the voice of a brand on a consistent basis. Unlike one-time promotions, ambassadors represent incorporation of a brand in their routine life. Long-term visibility wins the trust among the followers under this influencer marketing form.
- 2. Affiliate marketing - In this concept of marketing, an influencer receives commission for every sale made with the help of a referral link or code. Also termed as “performance-based marketing”, the payment is only made when results are achieved. It encourages influencers to put the best effort for success and growth which makes it a cost-effective method of marketing.
- 3. Event sponsorship - This typically refers to event collaboration with an influencer to attract a mass number of people and engagement. Whether virtual or physical, followers attend the event to watch the influencer live. Live influencer appearances always interest followers to their maximum.
With these main types of influencer marketing, any brand can upscale effortlessly. Moreover, these marketing forms are cost and time saving. When a brand aims to expand in a practically lesser amount of time or during a low-visibility phase, influencer marketing with these strategies can help it achieve its goals.
The Bottom Line
Influencer marketing is a wide term today. With the arrival of social media platforms, different types of influencer categories are present. From nano to micro influencers, macro to mega influencers and beyond, an influencer helps a business find the right fit for their marketing purpose. Once the suitable influencer is found, the type of marketing is discussed between the influencer and the brand. While some opt for sponsored one-time posts like pictures or videos, others may choose brand ambassador alternatives for long-term and consistent promotion.
Similarly, some brands may select giveaways and contests while others go for promotion done through challenges. With such diverse options of influencer marketing, a brand can only flourish upwards and onwards. Additionally, a huge amount of time and energy can be saved with the help of influencer marketing strategies today. Depending upon the creativity and research of a brand, results can be driven as expected or targeted.
