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Your Guide To Building A Powerful Influencer Marketing Strategy
How many times have you found yourself buying a product because someone else on social media recommended it?
If the answer is at least once, you have unwittingly played a role in a brand’s influencer marketing strategy. In the age of social media, it’s hard to scroll through without finding a product being endorsed by somebody you’re following and resisting the curiosity to find out more.
Influencer marketing has become an increasingly popular marketing strategy, especially for direct-to-consumer businesses. By leveraging the impact that an influencer has on an audience, D2C brands can gain a dedicated audience willing to engage with a new brand.
But, how do you build a powerful influencer marketing strategy for your D2C brand? In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to create a successful influencer marketing campaign. Read along!
What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing focused on identifying individuals with a dedicated social following and partnering with them to reach a desired target market. It enables a brand to reach new, potential audiences by leveraging influencers who have built their social profiles around a specific niche and have already established a large following.
There are four categories of influencers based on the number of followers that you can partner with for your marketing campaigns:
- Nano-influencers: 10,000 followers or fewer
- Micro-influencers: 10,000 to 100,000 followers
- Macro-influencers: 100,000 to 1 million followers
- Mega-influencers: More than 1 million followers (usually celebrities)
Benefits of influencer marketing
According to Social Shepard, 8 out of 10 consumers purchased something after seeing it recommended by an influencer. Apart from a boost in sales, here are other key benefits of running an influencer marketing campaign:
Access to new market segments
By partnering with influencers, brands can easily reach new audiences, especially millennials and Gen Z consumers, who form a significant portion of an influencer’s following. Since influencers already have an established base of followers, brands can quickly identify which demographics would be a good fit for their marketing campaign.
Builds brand credibility
Followers trust the influencers they follow because more often than not, the influencer has spent a dedicated amount of time building a community. If an influencer endorses a brand, it means they believe in the brand’s values, therefore a review or post on a product/service by an influencer is more likely to have a positive impact on the audience.
Increase in ROI
If the campaign is executed successfully a D2C brand will be able to notice increased website traffic, conversions and more sales.
Increase in brand awareness
Influencer marketing enhances the brand’s reach on social media because of the influencer’s network of followers. By partnering with them, brands can tap into their reach and expand brand awareness and generate leads.
Quick Fact: 93% of marketers are using influencer marketing worldwide and 9 out of 10 marketers believe that it is an effective form of marketing, social media influencer marketing is making waves.
Influencer marketing campaigns by E-commerce brands in India
Here are some successful influencer marketing campaigns by direct-to-consumer brands in India:
Influencer marketing campaign example #1: Mamaearth
Mamaearth is an Indian D2C brand that offers a range of natural, toxin-free baby care and skincare products.
The brand has capitalized on the power of influencer marketing by partnering with reputable mommy bloggers, parenting influencers, and celebrities who have a significant following and a strong influence over their audience, enabling them to successfully connect with their target audience.
By collaborating with these influencers, the brand has been able to reach more people, build trust with potential customers, highlight their brand values, and establish themselves as leaders in the natural babycare and skincare market.
One of Mamaearth’s most successful campaigns is based on the notion that ‘Goodness is a Choice. It highlights the brand’s commitment towards using natural, safe, and toxin-free ingredients in their products and promotes the importance of conscious consumption.
The campaign launched with a YouTube video showcasing three different lifestyles and how the little choices we make every day can change the world.
Source: Youtube
Generating over 100 million impressions on social media, the brand partnered with several micro-influencers, celebrities and lifestyle bloggers to promote the campaign by using the hashtag #GoodnessInside to share their experience using Mamaearth’s products and highlighting their commitment towards using clean ingredients.
The influencer marketing campaign also included a series of social media contests and giveaways that encouraged users to share their own stories of conscious consumption and sustainable living. The brand then featured the best user-generated content on their social media pages, which helped build engagement and credibility.
Source: Instagram
The campaign was successful in building an emotional connection with customers by showcasing people who want the best for their children, families, pets, and themselves. It also highlighted the brand’s authenticity and commitment to providing safe and effective products through celebrity endorsements which helped them reach a much wider audience.
Influencer marketing campaign example #2: mCaffeine
mCaffeine is a D2C personal care brand that offers caffeine-infused face, body, and hair care products. The brand has leveraged influencer marketing as a key part of its overall marketing strategy. To connect with their target audience – Gen Z and Millennials.
To promote their new green tea and coffee-based products, mCaffeine partnered with macro-influencers by sending them a Coffee Mood Kit. Through posts, stories, and reels, the influencers provided their followers with insights into the benefits of the products and their personal experiences with the Coffee Mood Kit. As a result, the brand’s Instagram page jumped from 5 million views to 8 million in just two weeks.
MCaffeine’s marketing approach also incorporates cross-tagging as a core strategy. By resharing the user-generated content of influencers, the brand increased engagement and reach for their posts.
Source: Instagram
What makes mCaffeine’s influencer marketing strategy stand out is their partnership with a diverse group of content creators to amplify their message and intelligent use of hashtags like #GetHighOnGoodness and #SkinCaffeine.
Influencer marketing campaign example #3: Duroflex
Duroflex is one of the most trusted sleep solutions providers in the Indian market.
Duroflex’s influencer marketing strategy has helped them reach a wider audience and showcase their products to potential customers in an engaging and authentic way. One of their most popular campaigns is #SoundsOfSleep. Aimed at promoting the benefits of a good night’s sleep and highlighting their range of high-quality mattresses, this campaign highlighted music as an aid to sleep.
Using their YouTube channel, Duroflex partnered with leading musicians to create regional lullabies to be released every week. They then tied up with influencers who were either new or expecting to promote this campaign on various channels.
The influencers showed appreciation for the lullabies by sharing their experiences on Instagram, generating a viewership above 3 million. Duroflex also benefited from the singers’ social reaches as they shared the lullabies too.
Source: Instagram
To further engage its audience, Duroflex has introduced user-generated content by initiating a contest that asks people to share their favorite lullabies and tag the brand for a chance to win INR 15,000.
The brand also had an interesting take on influencer marketing during the pandemic. Duroflex wanted to stay connected to their consumers during the lockdown and they did so by collaborating with social influencers.
Three times a week, the brand would host live sessions with renown health and fitness experts on their Instagram handle ranging from full-body workouts, bed yoga, insights into maintaining a healthy lifestyle and more. They also introduced a ‘Sleep Therapy’ series on their social media addressing mental health by hosting live sessions, acoustic bedtime concerts, Yoga Nidra and other activities to help reduce stress.
Source: Instagram
Using these social influencer strategies has made the brand’s social media page one that is engaging and informative, building relationships with their consumer as a go-to page for some downtime.
How to create influencer marketing campaigns for your brand
1. Finding the right influencers for your brand
First, define your campaign goals. Think about what it is you want to achieve by partnering with an influencer and how you think they will help you get there. The next step is to identify the target audience that you want to reach. Make sure this is specific enough so that you can then select the type of influencer you want to work with. This is where you evaluate your goals and decipher between collaborating with a micro-influencer, macro-influencer, or a celebrity.
You must also make sure that the influencers align with your brand’s values, aesthetics, and messaging, hence researching potential influencers is critical to the search process. Finding influencers can be done through influencer marketing platforms like Kofluence or social media search tools.
To help you with your influencer marketing campaigns, we have curated a list of top 100 Instagram influencers in India, you can also download the list of influencers with contact details.
In order to make the right choice, you should analyze the influencers’ audience and understand whether they resonate with your target audience or not. Analyze their followers’ demographics, interests, and engagement rates. After this, it is key to evaluate the influencers’ authenticity by checking the quality of their content. Observe the influencers’ posts, captions, and stories and see if they are authentic and genuine, or whether they seem scripted and overly promotional. Authentic influencers will have a unique and relatable voice that resonates with their audience.
Also, take a look at their previous brand partnerships. Evaluate how frequently they promote other brands. Influencers who frequently promote a variety of brands may seem less authentic to their audience.
Finally, look for engagement on their social media posts. Engagement rate is a measure of how much an influencer’s followers interact with their content. High engagement rates can indicate that an influencer has an engaged and loyal following. Look for metrics like reach, impressions, and click-through rates.
2. Reaching out to influencers
Reaching out is an important part of the influencer marketing process. First, you should establish a connection. You can do this by following the influencer on social media and engaging with their content.
Then, craft a personalized message. Introduce your brand and express interest in collaboration. Explain how your brand aligns with their content. Offer a clear value proposition and explain why the influencer should work with your brand. Make sure to communicate the terms for the collaboration including compensation and deliverables and negotiate the terms of the partnership from the get-go.
Here is a email template you can use to reach out:
Hi [insert name],
My name is [insert name] from [company name]. We [insert one liner about organization]. We have been following your account [@enter handle] and believe your content resonates strongly with our brand ethos.
I’m reaching out because we would love to collaborate with you and I think you’d be a great fit for our brand.
I’d be happy to jump on a call to further discuss the opportunity of working together. Let me know your thoughts!
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
[enter name]
3. Creating a successful influencer marketing campaign
Set clear campaign goals and KPIs: What are your influencer marketing goals? Whether it is generating immediate sales, boosting brand awareness or reaching a new audience, define your overarching goals. Once this is defined, identify how you are going to measure the success of your campaign. This will be a predefined set of KPIs that can be studied after the campaign to strategize for the future.
Choose the type of campaign: The type of campaign is determined by the brand’s goals, target audience and influencers chosen. For an affiliate marketing or discount code campaign, provide the influencer with the affiliate link or promo code which they will use in their post. For product reviews or giveaways, the product will be given to the influencer in exchange for some form of content on their page. If it is sponsored content, the brand will be paying the influencer for the post.
Develop a brief: Provide your influencers with a detailed brief outlining your campaign goals, key messaging, and any creative requirements. Give them the freedom to develop their own content within the guidelines of your brief to ensure their content is authentic and aligned with their personal brand. Also mention key deliverables here.
Measure the success of the campaign: set up tracking systems to measure the success of your influencer marketing campaign. Use metrics such as engagement rates, website traffic, and sales to determine the effectiveness of your campaign and make adjustments for the future ones.
4. Building long-term relationships with influencers
It’s important to build long-term relationships with influencers that go beyond the initial campaign. The relationship can be nurtured by staying in touch. Ask them how the campaign went from their end and whether or not they have any product feedback or suggestions for improvement. You can also offer exclusive perks and incentives to maintain a strong partnership. To establish trust and loyalty with the influencers, you may decide to collaborate on multiple campaigns.
In conclusion, influencer marketing has become an essential tool for direct-to-consumer brands looking to connect with their target audience and increase their brand awareness. By partnering with influencers, D2C brands can create authentic and relatable content that resonates with their audience. Moreover, influencer marketing can also help brands generate leads, drive sales, and improve their ROI.
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, influencer marketing is likely to remain a crucial element of brands’ marketing strategies, enabling them to build long-term relationships with their customers.
Hope you enjoyed reading the blog and are ready to kickstart your influencer marketing campaign. You can check out our other articles on Instagram marketing to get inspiration as well.
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