AUTHOR BY
Paris Touma
Latest Posts
06/Apr/2022
Content Marketing for Apps
28/Oct/2021
The Psychology of Content Marketing
18/Sep/2019
Classic vs. Evergreen – By Robert Rose
Applying influencer marketing principles to your business
26/Sep/2018 · 3 MINS READ
Influencer marketing is a game changer for brands trying to make their mark on the world and effectively engage consumers. Influencer marketing is when a brand or product is promoted by a key content creator – a person or a brand with an abundance of followers on a social media platform and has the power to influence consumer behaviours as a result.
Another way to think of it is a bit like a celebrity endorsement. However, some of the most popular social media influencers are just normal, everyday people. Their posts are organic and relatable, which is what creates trust between the influencer and their followers.
Here are a few things your business can to do position themselves as influencers:
Be authentic
Authenticity is what makes influencers so successful and powerful. You don’t want to blend in with just any old brand with similar products or services, you want to stand out!
Sharing behind-the-scenes content is a great way to do this, giving your brand a ‘human’ touch and highlighting the work done by the people who help the brand stand so strong. To put it simply, people relate better to other people than they do to companies – so showcase your team’s heroes!
HubSpot creates great authentic content, and knows the way to everyone’s hearts ….dogs!
They also share quotes from their employees in their Instagram posts, giving the business a way to better engage with their audience.
Consistent content
If you started watching a TV show and it stopped airing for a few weeks, but then aired another episode, would you still keep watching? Probably not.
Sharing consistent content is key because it’s how people develop and maintain a connection with your business and keep up-to-date with your brands’ activities. While consistency is important, you need to make sure you don’t trade quality for quantity! Like a TV show, viewers can easily change channels if the episodes are boring.
Influencers tell a constantly evolving story – audiences often wonder what they’re going to do next, where they’re going to be, and even what they’re going to wear.
Become a leader
Thought leadership is one way of becoming a leader. It’s pretty much what the name implies; use your innovative thoughts and ideas to establish your business as the ‘go-to’ in the industry, differentiating your business from others.
CEO and founder of Skaled, Jake Dunlap, describes thought leaders as people who possess an innate ability to contribute to today’s conversations while also speculating what will happen tomorrow.
Thought leaders recognise trends before others and implement them within their business, which is what helps them lead. Use the intel that comes out of your industry to educate your audience, whether that be through a blog on your business’ website or through other forms of social media content, such as podcasts, Q&A’s and infographics.
General Electric excels at sharing authentic content and positioning themselves as a thought leader in the aviation, power, and renewables space. They capture their employees working on projects, describe their roles and the projects in great detail, inviting the audience to head to their Instagram Story for a behind-the-scenes look at what’s going on.
They also have an incredible microsite, The Pulse, dedicated to health, science and tech news, which has positioned them as thought leaders among the industries they operate in. Articles range from cancer studies, to updates in emergency service technology, to how technology empowers human connections.
Authenticity, consistency, and leadership are the stepping stones to ensure your company stands out as an influencer, so take the leap!
Want to learn more? Read on!
Hero image by @taramilktea