When planning digital, 360 marketing and communications strategies, considering the role of influencers is essential. But why are they so important? And how should brands work with them? Here are some tips.
The world of communications is constantly evolving, and digitization may be changing how we relate to one another as well, but the power of word of mouth seems to remain undiminished. With each passing day our trust in the opinions and recommendations of friends, acquaintances or specialists grows.
Not surprisingly, according to the Influencer Marketing Hub platform, 93% of millennials say they trust online reviews, as well as their friends and family. Colombians are no exception. For this reason, engaging influential people online and on social networks has become a key tactic for broadening the reach of a campaign. However, brands should take into account Colombia’s cultural nuances when doing so.
Crucially, as strategists, we can identify when an influencer genuinely succeeds in persuading and guiding the behaviour of their followers towards one or more specific topics… and if they are relevant to the product or service which your brand offers.
This analysis is based on the type of reactions and interactions generated by each publication, the type of comments influencers make, whether their followers ask questions and show interest in a product or service, as well as the speed at which posts go viral. These are just some of the symptoms of a content creator influencing their audience’s decisions.
Follow-up analysis should measure the extent to which influencers are fresh and dynamic, and generate an impact with each post, video or story (something that brands often lack). Influencers must also be consistent, able to sustain a dialogue with their audience, ideally active across multiple networks, and creative. They need to be able to change how people think and feel about a given subject.
According to a recent Twitter analysis, nearly 40% of Twitter users made a purchase as a direct result of an influencer’s tweet, while purchase intent increased more than fivefold when users were exposed to brand and influencer tweets.
Bear in mind that working with digital influencers is not the same as working with traditional media. Boosting brand awareness and goals requires sharing content that has value – both for the influencer and for their followers.. As Juan Ortega, the Head of Motion Content Group in Colombia, states:
“Brands normally tell you, ‘I want [the influencer] to come out showing my product and say this is the value’. That’s not what consumers want to hear. They don’t want to see boring, crude placements. Brands think that if influencers constantly talk about and mention their brand and its core characteristics, their brand equity is going to increase. This is false. Brand equity is constructed through strong narratives and storytelling, salience, relevance and several brand health metrics that we have to be aware of – not just selling”.
With this in mind, choosing an influencer requires attention to three key indicators:
- Their ability to mobilize opinions and generate reactions in other users when talking about a specific topic.
- Their audience potential on a given topic.
- Their level of participation in the conversation surrounding a specific topic.
Once these steps have been covered, the next step is to contact Colombian influencers. At this point it should be reiterated that not all influencers fit with all brands and their online strategies. Make sure to map and identify those who are closest to your brand’s values and goals before making contact.
When inviting influencers to participate, it is vital to make them feel special, and part of something bigger – in other words, that their work will help the brand to grow. Transparency is also important – explain the purpose of the campaign clearly, and be open to receiving their ideas and feedback. It’s co-creative work.
Communication and marketing strategists should have defined the objective to be communicated in advance of making contact. Determine the key aspects to be developed, such as traffic (people visiting your website) or engagement (the level of commitment among your consumers and users). These objectives can be achieved thanks to the support and credibility of the right influencer, the value they can offer to your brand, and effective communication with the right market niche or audience.
By effective communication, we mean determining the appropriate communication style for the brand. Establish which social network(s) you want to appear on in order to schedule and publish content, and develop an influencer strategy. Experts say that the best influencer marketing campaigns are organic, and don’t look like advertising. Instead, brands get results by telling their stories intuitively via content creators.
According to data from a survey carried out by Augure, over 80% of companies aspire to work with a social media influencer during 2023 – 24. The survey concludes that using a digital influencer is one of the most effective and reliable ways for brands and companies to reach their customers.
Last but not least, our final recommendation involves monitoring and measuring results. This is key to understanding whether we’ve reached the right audience, and met our pre-established business objectives. Doing so means analyzing key performance indicators.
This is especially relevant since the digital ecosystem is getting bigger every day. The Global State of Digital, a study conducted by Hootsuite and We Are Social, points out that 3.4 billion people currently use social networks, or roughly 45% of the world population. Colombia ranks fourth in the list of countries where these networks are most used to seek out information, and eighth in terms of social media being used to follow influencers.
