This probably isn’t the first time you’ve heard of influencer or collaborative marketing. What you might not be familiar with is what it involves, not to mention the advantages it can have for a brand that uses this strategy. For today, we’ll tell you some details about this strategy, how influencer marketing works and what its main benefits are.
What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing, as the name suggests, is a marketing strategy based on a collaboration between a brand or company and a person who is an influencer. Who, then, are these influencers? Well, they are people who are experts in a specific subject matter and have thousands of followers on social media. They are icons for many users. They have a high degree of credibility, which makes them a potential promoter for many companies.
It is a novel technique that is being used more and more these days. This collaboration or partnership can help a brand gain substantial visibility, as well as leadership on social media, YouTube channels and the internet in general.
How to use influencer marketing or collaborative marketing
If you look closely, today’s marketing techniques have skewed towards a much more subtle type of advertising. Many brands have stopped putting ads or messages into dedicated advertising space and are now using partnerships. In this way, the influencer will show on their social media or channel that this product or service is important for them. Usually, they will use the product or simply display it as another element of their photography.
That influencer’s followers can see at a glance which brands or companies the influencer has chosen as their favorites. You can also do a marketing campaign in which the influencer gives a positive review about a specific product. This will help build opinions among internet users.
Influencer marketing: What are the major benefits?
The first and most important advantage of influencer marketing is what we mentioned above, great visibility. Plus, you can achieve a greater position of leadership on social media and online. But there are even more benefits to keep in mind:
- It generates conversation about the products or services presented by the influencer. This, in turn, improves traffic to the client’s website.
- If you choose the influencer carefully and design the correct strategy, you can easily reach your target audience.
- A campaign with influencers does not have a very high cost. It depends on how many followers the influencer has: the bigger the number, the higher the cost. However, the return on investment (ROI) tends to be very profitable.
- You gain more followers on social media while strengthening your corporate image.
As for the drawbacks of developing an influencer marketing strategy, we should point out…
- If the image of the influencer is damaged by some controversy, the brand may also be affected.
- The influencer can promote as many brands as they want. And there could be a brand that you wouldn’t want to be associated with yours.
- Many times, it’s the influencer who decides how to communicate the message. This may not be in line with what the brand wants to convey.
What do you think about all this? Do you think that it could be interesting for businesses in the hardware industry to develop an influencer marketing strategy? What you ought to know for sure is the importance of having Strategic Purchase Management in China with IBMH. Improve the profitability of your hardware import business. Contact us today!
