Ask many businesses what their marketing strategy is to boost their brand on social media, and the likely answer will be posting business updates, the usual ‘awareness’ days and a little paid advertising on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
The interesting thing about this type of marketing is it can often be an echo chamber, not designed to build a connection or attract a new audience. You are not offering anything beyond an awareness you exist. So how do you get to that deeper layer – build trust with your audience, inform them and move them to an action?
Social media, if intelligently exploited, can deliver unprecedented access to potential customers. Unlike many other methods of marketing this connection can be instantaneous, leveraged off an already established relationship through a Social Media Influencer. Below we will discuss the advantages of connecting with an Influencer Affiliate Program and why tapping into their influencer database can reap huge long-term rewards for a business.
What defines an influencer?
Understanding what makes an influencer and how their opinions carry gravitas with their audience is a good place to begin.
An influencer is often a person who has a distinct market share on a particular subject where they are either seen as experts in their field like a Key Opinion Leader (KOL) or have built a relationship with their subscribers based on knowledge sharing. When the influencer is not a celebrity, they have generally had to build their audience over time and from that has come a sustained relationship built on trust.
Once they have generated enough content and built up a following these influencers are then able to monetise that relationship by a type of soft sell. This can be in many forms – unboxing videos, tutorials, reviews and even the direct advertising of a product as part of their channel content. Whatever the method, it is a highly effective way for businesses to gain trust off the back of a relationship that has already been established between the influencer and their fan base or subscribers.
Influencer Affiliated Programs
Influencer Affiliate Programs connect businesses with these influencers, who then endorse or review that business’s product for a fee. Most influencers value the relationship and trust they have built up with followers over time and will only align themselves with brands or products that they are comfortable recommending.
The best influencer affiliate programs have access to an influencer database with tens of millions of influencers, from A-list celebrities to personalities and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs). Social media is fluid so the most effective Influencer Affiliate Programs will use algorithms to constantly refresh their database. This ensures the information they are leveraging is up-to-date, fresh and relevant. Using a range of tools including complex analytics and even influencer casting, they pinpoint the optimal online creator for your product. It is a symbiotic relationship where both the brand and the influencer benefit.
Social Media Sites
Not all social media is equal when it comes to product promotion. For example, Gen Zers are using TikTok as their primary search engine. If your target market is the over 50’s then YouTube may be the ideal platform, with over 50 percent of this demographic being regular viewers. The most successful Influencer Affiliate Programs will draw influencer data from all the main social media networks, including:
- TikTok
- X
- YouTube
- Douyin
- Red
The platform and influencer you use greatly depend on your product service and the audience you are looking to attract. Additionally, it’s also important to consider your business’ strengths and how they connect with the strengths of the platform. Instagram, for example, is a broadly used app far better suited to visuals than active storytelling, making it a great place for those who have an aesthetic component to their brands. Meanwhile, a site like WeChat has a very specific target demographic, being for a specifically Chinese-language audience, but has a lot more leniency in terms of the form your content takes.
Examples of Success
Ever heard of Sephora? They are just one example of how Influencer Affiliate Programs can turn a cosmetic seller into a brand superstar. In fact, they achieved a whopping >1013% return on investment by leveraging micro and macro influencers on TikTok alone! That same Influencer Affiliate Program could do the same for your business – imagine that…
If you have decided to take your brand or product to the next level, consider the wide-ranging benefits of affiliate marketing. Step away from traditional marketing and watch the magic happen!
