Brand Strategists: 3 Ways to Start Making Influencer Marketing Work for You

As a brand strategist, you determine how your brand communicates to be heard by your best customers. So what are you to do in a saturated industry where everything and everyone is competing for that same attention? Three words: Consider influencer marketing.

As a graduate student specializing in brand strategy, I found two articles that can help you use influencer marketing to cut through the noise and reach your target segments.

In a Content Standard article, Justina Perro clarifies what an influencer actually is and how to engage them. Influencers’ claim to fame is their extensive knowledge on any particular topic, which gives them much influence with their audiences and separates them from celebrities who don’t necessarily have the credentials to sell your brand. Perro goes on to explain that marketers should be careful to make arrangements mutually beneficial as influencers aren’t only looking for money, but meaningful experiences as well.

Via Love For All Things Digital Blog

Over on Luxury Society, Daniela Aroche shares why influencer marketing is especially resonating with Millenials (a coveted consumer) and provides some examples of companies effectively using this approach. Understandably distrusting of traditional marketing, Millennials especially look to their peers and social media, where influencers live, to help guide them through their purchase decisions. Despite luxury brands’ general hesitancy to adopt digital, the power of influencer marketing is becoming increasingly hard to deny as increasingly more and highly-regarded brands such as Swarovski and French beauty brand Guerlain have recognized and leveraged the value of influencer marketing.

Drawing on these articles, here are 3 steps that I’d recommend to companies considering influencer marketing:

• Know your customer – Understand who your target market looks to for guidance in your category to help you explore worthwhile partnerships.

• Look for alignment – Before you get into bed with an influencer, make sure their values, tone and personality align with those of your brand.

• Create mutual benefit – After you have some influencers in mind, consider how you can provide them with a meaningful experience to help optimize your working partnership.

The value of influencer marketing continues to be demonstrated by a number of successful brands, and can work for you too with with the right influencer.  

My name is Brit’ney, and I’m a graduate student in Northwestern’s Integrated Marketing Communications program. As I prepare to graduate in December 2016, I am interested in working in brand strategy/social media marketing in the beauty, personal care, apparel or entertainment categories. Please feel free to connect with me on Twitter @britneymctush.