Jessica Walke, an Account Coordinator with energi PR in Toronto, shares her key insights on influencer marketing.
As I’ve come to learn by supporting my first influencer campaign, strategy is much more than an image on Instagram with “#ad” included in the caption. It involves hard work, from the influencer, from the brand and from the PR agency.
For those who may not be aware, influencer marketing is a rapidly growing strategy that focuses on brand and product promotion which targets social media users. While this approach is effective across different social media platforms, Instagram still leads as the most popular social media for influencer campaigns.
As an account coordinator, I was thrilled to work on an influencer marketing campaign on behalf of one of our clients for Vision Health Month. As a new PR professional and as someone who enjoys engaging with influencers on social media on a personal level, I was excited to learn the ins and outs of influencer marketing. This is a skill that I’ve been passionate about building since I decided to go into PR. My opinions are often impacted, or ‘influenced’, by an influencer’s brand choices and feedback, so it was revealing to experience first-hand the amount of work that goes into campaigns from the agency side.
One of the first things that I learned was that sourcing and recommending influencers is a strategic task. It must be done with thorough research on past brand partnerships, engagement rate, target audience and more. By recommending the right influencers for the campaign, we can ensure that the brand targets their audience and creates an authenticity surrounding the partnership for both the brand and influencer.
I’ve also learned that authenticity is key with influencer campaigns! While this may seem obvious to most, content that is genuinely engaging to a social media audience, whatever target audience it may be, is crucial in achieving campaign goals. By allowing the influencer to put their own creative spin on the brand’s key messaging, their followers are more likely to engage with the post by liking, commenting and sharing the content. The upside of this continues to broaden the reach of the content.
As I continue to work on influencer marketing, I am excited to expand my knowledge, including through TikTok. This social media outlet continues to rise on the social media hierarchy. The short video clips instantly engage users through music/sound, filters and trends. The amount of TikTok influencers continue to increase and it’s definitely a social media to get on board with, depending on the topic, of course!
I am extremely proud to support my team, the brands I work on and the influencers we engage with. Here’s to more successful influencer campaigns!
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