More Brands Form Long-Term Relationships With Young Influencers

Instagram has become a powerful marketing tool for many businesses, thanks to its massive user base that couldn’t let a day go by without browsing the platform for photos and videos. Increasing the number of followers means opening up more opportunities for closing a deal. But despite the ease with which users can upload visual content, getting more targeted followers proves to be a tall order. This is where influencer marketing comes in, especially young influencers, a strategy in which a brand teams up with popular Instagram users to get instant traffic and engagement.

IMAGE: SMALL BIZ TRENDS

Hiring Young Influencers To Increase Brand Awareness

[pullquote]Having an influencer share an enticing photo and caption of your product look appealing, but it’s not a surefire way of boosting sales.[/pullquote] In fact, it comes with a high level of risk. The strategy is relatively new, which means analysts don’t have a lot of data to crunch the numbers. But it has become clear that working with influencers can cost brands big bucks if they don’t do their homework. Choosing an account with a ton of followers is easy, but you should know whether those followers are real people.

Building a targeted following on Instagram is no easy task. It requires consistency and a lot of time. Aside from uploading high-quality photos and videos, you also need to engage with potential customers. This involves following people in your niche, liking other photos, and leaving insightful comments to pique the attention of other users. Because of the time investment involved, many are tempted to use bots. But it’s much better to work with experts like The Millennial Marketers who can optimize your marketing efforts.

Still, many brands decide to team up with influencers. But instead of agreeing to a one-off deal, brands now focus on forming long-term relationships with young influencers. An example of a huge company that demonstrates the power of this trend is Target. Their Art Class apparel line includes new designs inspired by influencers. Not only did they have valuable input in the design of the latest collection, but also in its marketing strategy. They each shared all the fun they had with Target during the creation process, exciting their followers with sneak peeks and other insider information.

[pullquote]Johnson & Johnson’s Band-Aid uses a similar strategy. For more than three years, the company has teamed up with an influencer, Joy Cho, to come up with colorful bandages.[/pullquote] It’s rare for a brand to have such a long-term relationship with a single influencer, but results appear very promising.

The risk for brands is that they need to give up a certain level of control to allow influencers to interact with their followers in their own style. This is why collaboration proves critical in revamping your influencer marketing strategy. It’s no longer just about the numbers, but in ensuring that what you pay for creates an impact on your target audience while remaining brand safe.

Despite more brands steering clear of influencer marketing, the strategy isn’t going away. Those who dare to jump on the trend of creating long-lasting relationships with influencers can reap the highest returns.

If you are interested in even more influencer-related stories and information from us here at Bit Rebels then we have a lot to choose from.

IMAGE: BRANDWEEK