Let’s face it, Influencer Marketing is the “new normal” when it comes to spreading a brand’s message and creating awareness. However, many still question whether it can really drive ROI. With no signs of slowing down, Influencer Marketing will continue to grow this year. As social media marketing grows, new Influencer Marketing trends will continue to emerge. Therefore, brands will need to create and adopt strategies.

Whether you’re dipping your toes or making the huge plunge into Influencer Marketing, how will you know when it’s the right time to do so? We are going to dive deeper into helping you decide when it’s the right time to use Influencer Marketing for your brand. This guide will also give you ways to use Influencer Marketing to grow your business. 

When Will You Know It’s the Right Time to Use Influencer Marketing?

Influencer Marketing is a process that you need to integrate into your brand’s overall social marketing strategy. If you have the budget to engage influencers who produce excellent content and prove substantial revenue to market your brand, then go for it! However, you will still want to strategically review your marketing calendar and schedule their posts to align with your brand objectives.

When will you know it’s right to engage influencers and start your Influencer Marketing campaign? Timing is king in Influencer Marketing. These tips will guide you in deciding when to engage influencers:

1. You have a special and timely message or cause to share. 

Brands should be purpose-driven. Study shows that 36% of consumers prefer to buy from brands that prioritize social causes, diversity, and corporate social responsibility initiatives. An excellent way for your brand to share your cause is to team up with influencers. For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic and the events that happened in both 2020 and 2021 have been leaving people feeling hopeless. You can spread some joy and positivity during these trying times by hosting fundraising activities and asking influencers to recap and feature your fundraising activities on their social media accounts.

Helpful Tip on When To Use Influencer Marketing When Sharing a Timely Message or Cause: 

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, marketers seek innovative ways to engage their audience and stand out from the competition. Using time-sensitive content helps brands stay genuine and authentic to both the influencer and the followers. Whether you’re promoting health movements like Dry January or products like pumpkin spice lattes, engaging in time-sensitive marketing opportunities is sure to drive results.

For example, Forward Influence managed a campaign for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to generate and disseminate fundamental knowledge about the adverse effects of alcohol on health and well-being. And, apply that knowledge to improve diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of alcohol-related problems, including alcohol use disorder, across the lifespan. Participating creators shared free tools from NIAAA’s dedicated Rethinking Drinking website, alongside personal tips and testimonials. This helped interested individuals navigate taking a break from alcohol.

Source: @coachcamcamfit on Instagram

If you need to get the word out about your message or cause, then influencers are key. Influencers can create genuine and authentic content to share your message or cause.

2. You are releasing a new product or service.

Selling a new product or service can be challenging. The same is true no matter how incredible and life-changing the new product or service is. One reason is that consumers may not be aware of the new product or service. Radio, television, and newspaper advertisements are not as powerful as they were before. Perhaps, they have not yet reached potential buyers. Another reason is that consumers may not find the new product or service credible. Consumers’ purchasing decision depends on several factors, including the opinion of someone famous or someone they look up. Influencers can help you in both cases—many big brands, such as Nike and Apple, partner with influencers to create successful campaigns.

Helpful Tip on When To Use Influencer Marketing When Releasing a New Product or Service: 

We helped BUILT in launching their new product line using both online and in-person strategies. Influencers highlighted BUILT as the ideal healthy snack for their hectic lifestyles, sharing how they introduce BUILT Bars to family, friends, and even strangers at the gym or on the slopes. Additionally, we distributed 2,000 product samples at Sundance, Mammoth Mountain in California, and at VASA in Chicago.

Source: @thewaltonadventure on Instagram

If you need people to have first-hand experience with your product and/or service to truly see just how incredible and or helpful it is, then enlist the help of influencers or the right Influencer Marketing agency. With no signs of slowing down, Influencer Marketing will continue to grow along with the number of influencers in the social space. With 3.0 billion+ monthly active users on Facebook, 1.2 billion+ monthly active users on Instagram, 1 billion+ monthly active users on TikTok, and 368 million+ monthly active users on X (formerly Twitter), the numbers will only continue to increase. Those incredible stats are filled with countless influencers who are ready and willing to represent your brand and share information about your products and/or services.

3. You need to reach new audiences.

Television and radio have become a thing of the past since the development of social media platforms. Influencer Marketing is now a mandatory way of marketing if you want to reach new audiences. Consumers, especially the younger ones, turn to a specific influencer for new products within the influencer’s niche (e.g., beauty, fashion, gaming, fitness, technology, etc.). Going for influencers whose niche aligns with your products or services will land you new audiences and already engaged ones. Once influencers mention and recommend your products or services, your brand gains more visibility.

Helpful Tip on When To Use Influencer Marketing When Wanting to Reach a New Audience: 

Social media influencers are people who guide the thoughts and feelings of their followers on a media platform. There really is no answer to how many followers you must have in order to be an influencer. In fact, everyone on social media has the power to influence their followers in one way or another. However, when it comes to sponsoring an influencer to advocate for your brand, considering the influencer tier should be an important step in your strategy. Here’s a guide on how to determine the right influencer tier for your Influencer Marketing campaign.

4. You want honest feedback from your community.

Influencers maintain a strong presence and a large following in social media. More importantly, they also hold a real connection with their followers because of their authenticity, realness, and honesty. Consumers are even more likely to buy products or services recommended by influencers rather than by celebrity endorsers.

Helpful Tip on When To Use Influencer Marketing When You Want Honest Feedback: 

Whether you’re a small business or large corporation, you want influencers representing the brand who align with the product, service, and image. Asking influencers to write and share honest reviews about your products or services in their social media accounts can strengthen your customer acquisition strategy. It can also help you identify the areas in your products or services that need to be improved. Combine Influencer Marketing with a content strategy and you’ll have a huge marketing win for your brand granted you have the right influencers on board.

5. You plan to push a contest or giveaway.

Contests and giveaways are a powerful tool for growing your network. Having the prize be your products or services is also a cost-effective way to generate buzz around your brand. However, you can only get the benefits of contests and giveaways if there are many participants. As mentioned, influencers already have a large following. Most, if not all, of their followers, are also actively engaged. Collaborating with influencers does not only ensure widespread participation in your contests and giveaways, but it will also boost your brand visibility online. T

Helpful Tip on When To Use Influencer Marketing When You Want to Generate Giveaway Entries: 

To encourage sampling, but on a smaller scale, try hosting a giveaway. Giveaways allow more people, not just your influencer, to try your product. They also spark the trend to purchase and increase awareness and engagement on social channels. 

6. You aim to maximize reach and visibility on already scheduled marketing campaigns. 

Do you have tons of marketing campaigns scheduled throughout the year? You will need the help of influencers to spread the word and get everybody on board. Influencers are in the best position to maximize reach and visibility on your already scheduled marketing campaigns. They have large numbers of loyal and dedicated social media followers who take their recommendations by heart. All it takes is just one post, story, live stream, or hashtag. 

Helpful Tip on When To Use Influencer Marketing When You Want to Maximize Reach: 

What really catches the eyes of consumers is dynamic or video content that makes them stop scrolling and watch the action. As a brand, getting your consumer to stop scrolling is key to getting your full message communicated. Therefore, even just a little movement in your sponsored influencer content can make great strides in your brand image and engagement. Social video content shows off your brand authentically, giving you the opportunity to clearly and effectively convey your message. Consumers want to see your product in action. In fact, 72 percent of customers would prefer to learn about your product with dynamic or video content. 

7. It is the highest sales season for your brand. 

The holiday season is usually the highest sales season for all brands, but it is also the most competitive. Do you need a way to stand out? Influencers can make your brand stand out in the holiday season crowds. In most cases, consumers search online for the best presents to give their loved ones before actually buying. Getting your brand featured by influencers can attract their followers to buy your products or services.

Helpful Tip on When To Use Influencer Marketing When You Want to Escalate Sales: 

Think outside the box when it comes to holiday Influencer Marketing campaigns. When working with Hallmark on their holiday season campaign, we partnered with 6 influencers who published blog posts about the Hallmark’s holiday discounts and coupons. The blog posts were promoted across various social media sites. The bloggers also hosted a giveaway that encouraged their audience to re-pin Hallmark-related photos to their own pin boards. Multi-faceted campaigns have a way to widely spread the word in authentic ways reaching a broader audience.

8. It is the low-sales season for your brand. 

Some products or services are associated with seasonality. For this reason, they slowly sell or do not sell at all in a particular season. However, you should not get defeated. Instead, it would be best if you make the most noise for your brand during the low-sales season. Working with influencers is a great way to spread awareness and keep the conversation about your product strong.

Helpful Tip on When To Use Influencer Marketing When You Want to Keep People Talking About Your Brand: 

Create content that shows how consumers can use your products or services even at a low sales time of the year. Before promoting during a low sales season, make sure you and your team know exactly what it is you are working to achieve with your Influencer Marketing strategy. Then, start creating a plan that will help your campaign reach its goals. That’s how you create campaigns that prove a high ROI. 

Wrap It All Up

Although Influencer Marketing should not be a one-off, isolated deal, it does not have to be an “always-on” activation. An essential key to a successful Influencer Marketing strategy is timing. So, how will you know when it’s the right time to implement Influencer Marketing and work with influencers? You want to:

  • share a special and timely message or cause to share. 
  • introduce a new product or service.
  • reach new audiences.
  • receive honest feedback from your community.
  • push a contest or giveaway.
  • maximize reach and visibility on already scheduled marketing campaigns. 
  • escalate sales during the highest sales season for your brand. 
  • keep the conversation about your brand strong during the low-sales season for your brand. 

Influencer Marketing is a process that you need to integrate into your brand’s overall social marketing strategy. If you have the budget to engage influencers who produce excellent content and prove substantial revenue to market your brand, then go for it when the timing is right.

How will you start using Influencer Marketing?

Sources:

10 Ways Brands Can Improve Their Influencer Relationships
How Dry January Campaigns Boost Brand Visibility and Sales
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