A growing usage for ad-blockers across the globe means that marketers are turning to word of mouth to increase brand awareness and advertise their brands and products. The effectiveness doubles when the advocate establishes their credibility in the respective field – these are people whom we call influencers.
An influencer can be anyone – a blogger, a celebrity, an analyst, a critic, or even an industry expert. Influencers may also comprise of high-quality content developers or social media personas. They are individuals who have a certain level of impact on the buyer’s decisions. The best part is that consumers or buyers trust these influencers. They have the ability to impact buyers about how they feel about the brand and help to educate buyers about the products.
Working with an influencer can prove to be of great benefit for your brand as they help to raise awareness about your brand name regardless of how novice you are in the industry. In an influencer marketing study by Tomoson Marketing Blog, there is clear proof that brands that have ignored the power of influencer marketing lose their customers faster.
Brand awareness is the only channel through which a customer comes to know who you are and what you do. It’s a way through which you let people know that your brand is more than just a name. It is the foundation for converting people into buying customers. Consumers have lost an interest in sales pitches but are more interested in listening to industry leaders, colleagues, and peers. So a right influencer can add credibility to your offerings, help your business improve its position in the marketplace and a lot more.
Here are some of the effective ways to increase brand awareness through influencers –
1. Have A Cause To Promote
If you are into marketing, then you know that ‘Cause Marketing’ is one of the most powerful strategies in marketing. And if you mix it up with influencer marketing, you can take it up a notch and pull your campaign towards success.
The story says that even if your customers are loyal they will still look upon as you a brand, so whatever message you deliver may seem staged to them. [pullquote]With the help of influencers, you can promote your cause that your audience can easily relate to and can enhance the impact of the message as well.[/pullquote]
A good example is that of Coca-Cola, who in collaboration with Ogilvy, launched the #OpenUp campaign with the help of influencers. Their goal was to support all Muslims customers in the Middle East and build a brand impact at an international level. They worked closely with Kuwaiti influencers Ascia AKF, who makes baby slings and shoes under the brand name Desert Baby. They also joined hands with Badr Fayez and opened up to share some of the personal stories that show the challenges faced by the Muslims today.
Sharing the video on the Instagram account of Ascia got more than 27,000 likes and thousands of comments. The #OpenUp campaign had more than 580,000 interactions and had more than 11,000,000 impressions. And Coca-Cola was able to bag 42 percent increase in the Brand Love score.
2. Be A Little Generous With Your Giveaways
The concept of giveaways is not much different from those of customer loyalty cards. It’s a way of saying “thank you” to fans with the help of little gifts. When you’re working with influencers, they can help you promote these giveaways effectively in front of their followers.
Give them gifts and rewards that will spur some action. Like posing before the camera for a snap with the gifts and sharing them on social channels with the brand name glistening all in the center.
A perfect example in this reference could be Cinnamon Toast Crunch who developed a campaign called ‘selfie spoon’ leveraging it to their social channels and reliable influencers to spread the word of mouth. Guess what happened next, 1000 ‘selfie spoon’ users showed their camaraderie with their cereal bowls. This bought the brand instant popularity and increased sales.
3. You Need To Spend Money
The influencer marketing is something big and the idea of money changing hands between influencers and the marketing middlemen is counterbalancing. While there are many influencers who claim that they do not accept any compensation, but in reality, many bloggers and vloggers do take money for their time.
If you are investing money in your marketing, it might be better to purchase social media space. Through this, you will be able to target an audience in a specific niche with the help of social media influencers rather than through traditional media.
See what the Google Trends has to show as to why businesses are spending more money on influencer marketing in social space. It is one of the clever business strategies that can build a better customer relationship.
Google Trends – Click Image To Enlarge
Wrapping Up
No doubt these are just some excellent ideas to create brand awareness with the help of influencers. These examples, stats, and guides are really going to help you understand the process even better. Every marketing fella’ working for a particular brand must understand that they need to work with someone who their audience looks up to and who can naturally express their brand message. Don’t forget to share your insights if you think that this really helped you.
This article was written and compiled by Brandon Leibowitz who is the founder of Get Plus Followers, a social media marketing agency in Los Angeles, California and Shralpin.com skateboarding news blog.
How To Increase Brand Awareness With Influencer Marketing
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