With over six years of experience in the field of digital marketing specialising in influencer marketing, I – a student of marketing (UGBS MBA 23’ candidate) – have honed my skills and expertise in managing and recruiting influencers on behalf of renowned brands such as Samsung Ghana, GLICO General, and worked with Lynx Entertainment artistes including DJ Vyrusky, KiDi and Kuami Eugene.
My extensive hands-on experience in working with influencers and executing successful campaigns has provided me with invaluable insights and practical knowledge of the influencer marketing landscape. Through years of navigating the ever-evolving world of influencer marketing, I have developed a deep understanding of the intricacies, challenges and best practices involved in leveraging influencers to drive brand-awareness, engagement and conversions.
In this article, I will share my practical ‘10 Commandments of Influential Marketing’ to help brands excel in their influencer marketing efforts based on my extensive experience in the field.
Just like how Moses received the Ten Commandments from a burning bush, I have developed my own set of ‘10 Commandments of Influential Marketing’ that serve as practical guidelines for brands looking to excel in their influencer marketing efforts. These commandments are based on real-world experience and best practices, providing brands with a roadmap to navigate the complexities of influencer marketing and achieve their marketing goals. Before we explore these commandments which can be a guiding light for brands as they embark on their influencer marketing journey, let’s examine a few key concepts.
What is Influencer Marketing?
Influential marketing is a digital marketing strategy that involves collaborating with influencers – who are individuals with a significant online following and influence over their audience – to promote a brand, product or service. Influencers can be bloggers, social media personalities, celebrities, experts or other trusted figures in a specific niche or industry. Influencer marketing leverages the influencers’ credibility, reach and engagement with their audience to create authentic and impactful promotional content.
It focuses on building genuine relationships with influencers to harness their influence and tap into their loyal audience base, with the ultimate goal of driving brand-awareness, engagement, and conversions. This marketing approach has gained popularity due to the increasing reliance of consumers on influencers’ opinions and recommendations, as well as the potential for higher return on investment (ROI) compared to traditional advertising methods.
Influencer Marketing
This involves partnering with influential individuals, known as influencers, who have a dedicated following and influence over their audience’s purchasing decisions. Influencers can be social media personalities, bloggers, vloggers, or other content creators who have a significant and engaged following in a particular niche or industry.
Brands collaborate with influencers to promote their products, services or brand messages through sponsored content or endorsements, leveraging the influencers’ authenticity, reach, and influence to connect with their target audience. Influencer marketing aims to build brand-awareness, drive engagement, and ultimately generate conversions and sales by leveraging the trust and credibility that influencers have established with their audience. It is a powerful marketing approach that allows brands to tap into the popularity and influence of influencers to amplify their marketing efforts and achieve their marketing objectives.
Influencer Hub published a report in January 2023 on ‘The State of Influencer Marketing’, and it had the following insights:
- Growth in 2023: The influencer marketing industry is expected to grow to approximately US$21.1billion in 2023, indicating a significant increase of investment in influencer marketing by brands.
- AI Usage: About 63 percent of brands plan to use artificial intelligence (AI) in executing their influencer campaigns, with two-thirds of these brands intending to use AI for influencer identification. This suggests the increasing adoption of AI technology in influencer marketing strategies.
- Effectiveness of Influencer Marketing: Over 83 percent of survey respondents still believe influencer marketing to be an effective form of marketing, indicating continued confidence in the value and impact of influencer collaborations.
- Increased Content Production: 71 percent of respondents admit to having increased the amount of content they produce and share, suggesting the growing importance of content creation in influencer marketing strategies.
- Budget Increase: 67 percent of respondents who budget for influencer marketing intend to increase their influencer marketing budget over 2023, indicating a willingness to invest more in influencer partnerships.
- Higher Budget Allocation: 23 percent of respondents plan to spend more than 40 percent of their entire marketing budget on influencer campaigns, underscoring the significant allocation of resources to influencer marketing initiatives.
- Preference for Small Influencers: There is a strong preference for working with small influencers, with 39 percent opting for nano-influencers and 30 percent preferring micro-influencers ahead of more expensive macro-influencers (19 percent) and celebrities (12 percent).
- Shift to Paid Collaborations: Paying influencers has become the norm, with 42 percent of brands choosing to pay influencers rather than just providing free products (30 percent), indicating a shift in compensation practices in influencer marketing.
- Popular Channels: TikTok has emerged as the most popular influencer marketing channel, with 56 percent of brands using influencer marketing utilising TikTok, surpassing Instagram (51 percent) for the first time. Other popular channels include Facebook (42 percent) and YouTube (38 percent).
(Source: Influencer Marketing Hub’s ‘Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2023’).
Why are the 10 Commandments necessary?
Social selling is booming, and we are in the Creators Economy now.
The ‘10 Commandments of Influential Marketing’ are necessary because influencer marketing can be complex and challenging. Brands need to have a clear strategy and approach in place to effectively harness the power of influencers and achieve their marketing goals. The commandments serve as guiding principles that provide practical insights and recommendations for brands to successfully navigate the influencer marketing landscape.
These commandments are derived from real-world experience and best practices, and they help brands avoid common pitfalls, mitigate risks, and maximise the impact of their influencer campaigns. By following these commandments, brands can establish strong relationships with influencers, create authentic and engaging content, and drive meaningful results.
Additionally, the commandments address the potential stress and challenges associated with working with influencers, helping brands proactively manage expectations, overcome obstacles, and ensure smooth and successful influencer partnerships.
The Ten Commandments of Influential Marketing
- Pick the right influencer
It is necessary to pick the right influencer for your brand’s influencer marketing campaign, because the campaign’s success depends on the influencer you choose. Simply looking at follower-count alone is not enough to make an informed decision. Here are some reasons, according to Forbes.com, why picking the right influencer is crucial:
The influencer you choose should align with your brand’s message, aesthetics and target audience. Their content should be relevant to your brand’s products or services. For example, if you are a cosmetics company, choosing a beauty influencer who primarily posts about make-up and skin-care would be more effective than choosing an influencer who posts about food or travel.
The engagement rate of an influencer – which includes metrics such as likes, comments, and shares on their content – is a crucial factor to consider. A high engagement rate indicates that the influencer’s followers are actively engaged with their content, and your branded content is more likely to make an impression on their audience. Influencers with smaller follower-counts, such as nano- and micro-influencers, often have higher engagement rates compared to top influencers with millions of followers, as their audiences are more manageable and they tend to have more direct interactions with their followers.
It’s important to thoroughly analyse an influencer’s audience to ensure that it matches your target market. Consider factors such as age, gender, location, language and interests of their followers. Additionally, check for audience authenticity – as fake followers can negatively impact the success of your influencer marketing campaign. Fake followers are not real potential customers and can result in a waste of resources and budget. You can obtain audience demographics and authenticity metrics from an influencer’s media kit or by using influencer marketing software.
Your budget should also guide your influencer selection process. Influencers may charge either a monetary fee or accept non-monetary incentives such as free products or services in exchange for collaboration. Nano- and micro-influencers are often more affordable options, and they may be willing to collaborate for products alone or for a small fee, while still providing high engagement and relevance to your brand.
- Establish clear expectations
Clear communication and establishing expectations regarding campaign deliverables, timelines, compensation and performance metrics upfront can avoid misunderstandings and ensure a smooth collaboration. This commandment helps manage expectations and ensures that both parties are on the same page throughout the campaign.
- Negotiate & Compensate Fairly
Pay influencers what they are worth. Fair compensation for influencers is essential to ensure their work is valued and to maintain a positive working relationship. Undervaluing influencers can result in dissatisfaction and compromise the quality of their work, which may not yield the desired campaign outcomes. Influencers provide value to brands through their content creation, audience engagement and influence. Giving them their due on time acknowledges and respects the value that they bring to a brand’s marketing efforts. It ensures that influencers are adequately rewarded for their contribution and encourages a fair and equitable exchange of value between brands and influencers.
- Focus on campaign effectiveness
“The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” – Tom Fishburne (Marketoonist)
Prioritising campaign effectiveness ensures that the influencer marketing campaign aligns with the brand’s marketing objectives and yields desired outcomes. Brands invest significant resources in influencer marketing campaigns, and measuring their effectiveness is crucial to justify the expenditure and maximise ROI.
The recent Louis Vuitton campaign featuring soccer superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has generated significant media impact value (MIV) of US$13.5million, with Ronaldo’s post alone accounting for US$2.8million in the first 48 hours. The campaign, titled ‘Victory is a State of Mind’, was photographed by Annie Leibovitz and showcased the players playing chess with a Louis Vuitton Damier attaché case as the backdrop. The campaign’s success on social media is attributed to the power of influencer marketing, as the iconic personalities of Messi and Ronaldo – along with the association with a luxury brand like Louis Vuitton – has drawn attention and engagement from fans and followers. The campaign demonstrates the effectiveness of influencer marketing in generating buzz, driving engagement and increasing brand visibility.
- Foster long-term relationships
Building long-term partnerships with influencers can be cost-effective, as it reduces the need for continuous search and negotiation with new influencers. Establishing a strong and trustworthy relationship with influencers can lead to better campaign outcomes and cost savings in the long run. The healthier the relationship an influencer has with the brand, the higher their enthusiasm to drive results for the brand.
- Align your campaigns to the audience of your Influencer
Audience alignment ensures that the influencer’s audience demographics, interests and values align with the brand’s target market. Investing in influencers whose audience aligns with the brand’s target audience can result in better campaign performance and a higher return on investment. “Remember: the consumer is not a moron; she is your wife.” – David Ogilvy. You insult her intelligence when you think they can’t see through the artworks and promo videos.
- Maintain professionalism
Maintaining professionalism in influencer marketing partnerships is crucial to avoid misunderstandings and maintain a positive working relationship. Professionalism includes prompt and professional communication, adhering to contractual agreements, and conducting oneself in a professional manner on social media. Lies and gossip ruin healthy relationships.
- Maintain integrity
Maintaining integrity in influencer marketing involves avoiding fraudulent activities – such as buying fake followers or engagement, using misleading claims, or promoting products or services that influencers do not genuinely believe in. Maintaining integrity is essential to maintain trust with the audience and ensure authenticity of the influencer’s content.
- Respect creative freedom
Influencers should have creative freedom to maintain their unique style and voice, which can result in authentic and engaging content. Brands should provide creative guidelines that align with their brand values but also respect influencers’ creative autonomy, which may require investment in terms of money to ensure quality content. Your influencers are not another media channel of yours, leverage on their creativity.
- Provide timely feedback and measure campaign performance
Provide timely and constructive feedback to influencers to ensure their content meets your brand’s standards. Foster a collaborative approach and work with influencers to optimise the campaign for maximum impact. Additionally, track and measure the performance of your influencer campaigns using relevant metrics. Analyse the data to gain insights, optimise future campaigns, and demonstrate the value of influencer marketing to stakeholders.
Conclusion
As influencers play a vital role in shaping consumer behaviour and brand perception, adhering to these commandments is not only a best practice but also essential for achieving success in influencer marketing campaigns. By upholding these principles, brands and influencers can create authentic, impactful and mutually beneficial partnerships that yield long-term results and drive business growth.
In conclusion, influencer marketing can be a powerful tool for brands and influencers to connect with their target audience, drive engagement and achieve business objectives. By following the 10 commandments of influencer marketing, brands and influencers can establish strong relationships, create authentic content and build trust with their audience. Whether you are a brand or an influencer, incorporating these principles into your influencer marketing strategy will set the foundation for successful and sustainable partnerships in today’s dynamic, digital landscape. Embrace these commandments and unlock the full potential of influencer marketing for your brand or influencer career.
>>>the writer is a highly experienced and versatile digital marketing strategist, currently serving as the Brand Relations Manager for Lynx Entertainment where she positions artistes for corporate endorsement. With a proven track record of success in digital marketing and e-commerce, she has a deep understanding of the latest industry trends and technologies. Bernice’s diverse background includes her previous role as the Head of E-commerce for GLICO General and her tenure as Digital Marketing Manager for Samsung Ghana, where she developed and executed innovative marketing campaigns that drive sales and brand engagement.
In addition to her marketing expertise, Bernice is also a theatre professional – bringing a unique and creative perspective to her work. She is a results-driven leader who is dedicated to driving business growth through strategic marketing initiatives. Bernice’s goal is to continue growing as a digital marketing strategist and making a significant impact in the creative art industry. She is always seeking new challenges and opportunities to expand her skills and knowledge, and is committed to delivering the best results for her clients and employer. She can be reached via [email protected]
