There a ton posts floating around the virtual world that go in depth about what an influencer is-many of which attempt to psychologically dissect these elusive influencers and offer complex strategies on how to get in to their web so that they want to work with your brand.
This post is not that. Call me simple, but I believe an influencer is simply someone who is not your brand. They are someone who talks about your brand in a way that makes people want to listen and act on that recommendation.
I'm going to dumb it down-an influencer can be your mom. Or it can be someone who stocks the shelves in the grocery store and tells all the customers about their favorite spaghetti sauce. Or for the sake of this post, someone active on social media who writes about a specific topic.
The world of influencers and influencer marketing is shifting and morphing constantly and one way to keep your campaign steady and current is to reach out to bloggers and incorporate them in to your digital strategy.
Why Work With Bloggers
- Bloggers are some of the most sought out resources when consumers are researching brands and products. In fact at least 81% of the digital population trusts advice they get from bloggers.
- They are active on a variety of social channels so they are a great springboard for campaigns that span across many digital channels.
- When searching for influencers, bloggers are easiest to search for contextually and on a granular level. If you're a GroupHigh user, bloggers are easiest to search for by location for any blogger event or localized campaign.
- Bloggers write about niche based topics instead of genre so you can find influencers in the form of bloggers who are an uber perfect fit with your brand.
- Bloggers fall in to that sweet "mid-level influencer" spot. Most of the ones you will work with are not huge influencers like Justin Bieber, instead they are in the middle of the spectrum and studies show that working with more mid-level folk is more beneficial than working with the higher reaching people.
Read this analysis on The Real Time Report. A study on word of mouth campaigns found that action and social mentions are driven more effectively by what they call the "power middle." These mid-level influencers have a smaller but more loyal audience and drive 16 times more engagement than paid media and "mega influencers." Guess what else? This tactic wasn't only more effective, but it also cost less.
Word of Mouth Recommendations and Ongoing Relations
Bloggers provide some of the most effective word of mouth marketing, especially when a blogger turns in to an advocate for your brand. This happens as a result of an ongoing relationship which leads to continuous brand mentions.
These mentions that come up over and over and organically fit in to the bloggers content are more trusted by their audience and thus are actionable. Yay for the brands.
Here are some posts and case studies to read if you want to learn about real results when it comes to bloggers as advocates. There is this case study about how Char-Broil does a phenomenal job working with bloggers and this case study about fashion brand Lorna Jane who also works well with bloggers.
Do you have any tips when it comes to working with bloggers? Would love to hear from you in the comments!