A massive 67.9% of U.S. marketers will utilize influencer marketing in some capacity in 2021. That number will increase to 72.5% in 2022. Influencer marketing isn’t just buzzy; it’s effective. If your brand wants to use influencer marketing to its fullest potential, selecting the right influencer to promote your experiential marketing campaign is essential.
However, finding the right influencer can be challenging. At Inspira, we take an integrated approach to influencer campaigns to ensure they’re aligned with your brand goals. Here’s what marketers should keep in mind when searching for influencers to promote their experiential marketing campaign.
The Influence Of Influencers
If you’re looking to reach a younger demographic, enlisting the help of an influencer can level up your experiential marketing campaign. Civic Science revealed that 14% of people within the 18-to-24-year-old age group and 11% of millennials purchased something within the last six months due to an influencer’s recommendation.
In 2021, 93% of marketers plan to use Instagram for their influencer campaigns, establishing the platform as “the place to be” for influencers. However, marketers should also consider TikTok, which recently reached one billion monthly users.
Still, 31.69% of Gen Zers who responded to a SlickText survey cited Instagram as the platform with the most genuine influencers; TikTok was the runner-up, with 28.6% of respondents believing the influencers there are most authentic.
Why Using An Influencer Can Strengthen Your Experiential Marketing Campaign
Influencers can enrich the reach of an experiential marketing campaign for several reasons, especially as marketers look to prove that in-person events are safe post-pandemic. In addition, brand experiences offer an invaluable opportunity for influencers to invite their audience—your brand’s potential customers—into the company’s world and story.
Integrating influencers in experiential marketing is effective because influencers can capture video, create user-generated content, and share updates on digital platforms. With almost half of marketers spending a quarter of their allotted marketing budget on events and over 40% deeming experiential as their top channel, there’s an opportunity for these two facets of marketing to merge successfully.
Inviting influencers to an event is impactful for several reasons. First, influencers can post either sponsored or organic content they capture at the event. This type of content—user-generated content, or UGC—can help drive additional impact when posted on the brand’s owned social platforms.
Incorporating influencers into an event can also help boost brand awareness. This could mean more followers or clicks on your brand’s website, which ultimately could drive sales. Additionally, influencers have a reputation as more trustworthy spokespeople than celebrities, so seeing UGC from a trusted influencer could inspire consumers to try the brand’s products themselves.
While there are plenty of perks to incorporating influencers in your experiential marketing campaign, you must select an influencer that’s a good match. Here’s what brands should keep in mind.
How To Choose The Right Influencer: Three Key Takeaways
Choosing the right influencer (or influencers) to work with can prove taxing. There are plenty of decisions to make—and questions to answer. For example, does your brand want to work with nano, micro, or macro-influencers? Is there an opportunity to use local influencers? What’s your target audience? Having answers to these questions is helpful when selecting an influencer.
1. Prioritize Brand Alignment Over The Number Of Followers An Influencer Has
Choosing the correct influencer is critical because they are acting as an extension of your brand. For this reason, companies should prioritize the influencer’s alignment with the brand over their number of followers.
Additionally, micro-influencers are garnering attention in the industry, as they often have more personal connections with their audience. As a result, their brand recommendations are perceived as “more authentic.”
2. Keep It Authentic
You should also do your homework before your brand collaborates with an influencer. This will reduce the likelihood that the brand gets misrepresented. In addition, the connection between brand and influencer should feel genuine, as consumers dislike inauthenticity.
3. Have Measurable Goals.
When incorporating influencer marketing into your campaign strategy, it’s helpful to have measurable goals. Typically, influencer marketing aims to reach a new audience, improve brand affinity, and increase sales/website traffic. These goals are understandable but too vague. Adding Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can help.
These goals will also help you find the right influencer for your experiential marketing campaign. Once you’ve figured out what you want to achieve, consider location, age, gender, interests, hobbies, and consumer pain points. Then, find an influencer that aligns with this.
Keep in mind that inviting consumers to events is an investment; not only are they increasing brand awareness in the short term by posting the event, they’re also creating valuable user-generated content a brand can use in the future. In addition, UGC can help drive sales; a study indicated that 90% of shoppers say UGC influences purchase decisions.
Contact Inspira Marketing Group today to learn more about how we can craft an unforgettable experiential marketing campaign for your brand—and find the right influencers to show it off!
SOURCES:
Influencer Marketing in 2021: How to Work With Social Media Influencers | Hootsuite
TikTok reached 1 billion monthly active users | Tech Crunch
Influencers' Impact on Consumer Purchase Decisions | PR News Wire
How To Drive User-Generated Content Through Influencer Marketing | Forbes
Why Mixing Influencers And Events Is The Next Big Thing In Experiential | Ion
Maximize Results by Combining Experiential and Influencer Marketing | Social Media Explorer
Using social media influencers in experiential marketing | BI WORLDWIDE
The Age of Authenticity: Why Brands Need to Get Real | Frontify
Choosing The Right Influencer (And One Major Misstep To Avoid) | Forbes