The Future of Influencer Marketing | Podcast S01E07

As we wrap up Season 1 on Influencer Marketing, we can’t help but share what we’ve learned from talking to our guests. From how to build a tribe of influencers to comparing whether Youtube is a better platform compared to Instagram ; what’s clear is that there are pressing issues that need to be highlighted on how brands and influencers work together. Here are some main highlights you can take away:

“Pick influencers that love your product.”

When it comes to finding the right influencer for your brand – both Nadzirah and Rachel agree that you should fundamentally work with the ones that share the same vision, mission, and values as you. If they’ve used your products before, this is a plus. Furthermore, your influencer should be sharing information about your product with authenticity as opposed to just doing it for freebies. Brands also need to think of working with them for the longterm because one-off postings are much less useful to achieve maximum results.

“Brands need to think of why they want to invest in influencer marketing.”

While jumping on this marketing strategy sounds like a good idea, brands should evaluate WHY they want to engage with influencers first. Many times we meet brands that do not have a standardized process set up before working with an influencer. This can range from determining their goals, auditing the influencers before hiring, setting up a social media toolkit which defines guidelines for the influencer and making sure the technical tools for analytics are set up to monitor the outcome of their posts are effective. Setting up these processes in advance will go a long way for your influencer marketing strategy, including being able to justify whether the investment is worth your business.

“The future of influencer marketing is about using tech for more transparency.”

Onwards to 2020, both Rachel and Nadzirah agree that your tech stack matters. Tools like HypeAuditor and Awario were mentioned as one of their favorites to use to ease their influencer marketing process. These tools are not only great to determine whether an influencer has the audience that matches your demographics. It also can be used to find new influencers that you may not have heard of before.

A SCOOP FOR INSPIRATION

Don’t skip this bit.

Longterm partnerships are the way forward
The mindset of some Gen Z needs to evolve – being an influencer to get free stuff is unethical
Invest in tools to better your influencer marketing strategy