As you’ve no doubt heard, Influencer Marketing is big business. It’s become a key promotional tool for brands wanting to connect with customers and prospects, in an era where advertising is perceived as less effective than back in the day.
The Internet in general, and social media in particular, has brought us thousands of influencers and micro-influencers — “celebrities” with thousands (or sometimes just hundreds) of followers on their chosen social media channels, whose hustling on behalf of a product can encourage many of their followers to actually purchase said product.
Why? Because, according to a report by Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from individuals over brands. And, let’s face it, many brands have brought that fate upon themselves by their own less-than-trustworthy behaviour.
Not all product categories are created equal, however, and some categories are far more likely to be used for Influencer Marketing than others.
The three categories at the top of the list, according to Mavrck data recently published by AdWeek:
- 36% Fashion & Apparel
- 25% Food & Beverage
- 23% Beauty
And here are the top categories in infographic form:
If you’re considering Influencer Marketing, may we recommend our online training course on the topic:
In this course, we consider the importance of Influencer Marketing, determine the smartest and most effective strategies — and explore how to identify effective Kiwi micro-influencers who will be good ambassadors for your brand.
Lesson One: Why Use Influencer Marketing
In this lesson, we talk about exactly what Influencer Marketing is, why it matters to you and when and how you should tap into the power of Influencer Marketing. Allow TapInfluence to explain:
Influencer marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on using key leaders to drive your brand’s message to the larger market. Rather than marketing directly to a large group of consumers, you instead inspire / hire / pay Influencers to get out the word for you.
Influencer Marketing has evolved from humble origins to end up as the preferred buzzword to describe the current iteration of a well-established and familiar marketing tool: using “celebrities” to promote your products.
There’s a bit more to Influencer Marketing than just plunking a few celebrities into a TV commercial, however. Today’s definition of “celebrities” (Influencers) has broadened to encompass those who are, in the words of Andy Warhol, “famous for 15 minutes”.
Lesson Two: Most Effective Influencer Marketing Strategies
As it turns out, there’s a bit more to Influencer Marketing than simply tracking down people who seem to have a lot of followers in social media. We share proven strategies which will help lessen potential heartache.
We also examine:
- the top Power Words to use
- creative ways to incentivize influencers
- the four Rs of effective Influencer Marketing
- how to run successful Influencer Marketing campaigns
- what Google’s purchase of Famebit tells us about the future of Influencer Marketing
- why major players are now signing up Influencers
- twenty trends that will shape Influencer Marketing in the next year
Lesson Three: Choosing Influencers
Not all Influencers are created equal (and there are more than a few pretenders to the throne out there). We discuss what to look for (and what to avoid) — and why you should proceed slowly as you assemble your Influencer team.
Lesson Four: Connecting With Influencers
Once you’ve determined the most appropriate Influencers for your brand, it’s time to reach out and connect. If you’re not careful though, and haven’t thought through the right approach, you might be turned down — or end up paying too much. We share lessons from others that will help ease the way.
And we also also help you to brief your chosen influencers, identifying the key information you should provide to Influencers to ensure that they will promote your brand safely, legally and effectively.
Lesson Five: Finding Kiwi Influencers
There are surprising numbers of influential New Zealanders who have attracted a wide following through their efforts on YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat and elsewhere.
In this lesson, we take a look at some of New Zealand’s most-followed influencers on the social networks, including (just one example) the NZ-based YouTube channels with most subscribers:
- Shaaanxo
- Wacky Wednesda
- Rainbow Learning
- AzzMan
(and we rate them in terms of whose following is growing — and whose is not).
We also draw on our extensive databases of NZ users on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube to identify potential Influencer partners (and tell you how to find them — and how to evaluate them properly):
YOUTUBE
An in-depth look at NZ’s top consumer YouTubers, their overall performance, their most recent videos, what categories they cover and how to contact them
INSTAGRAM
An in-depth look at NZ’s top consumer Instagrammers, their overall performance, their most recent images posted, what topics they talk about and how to contact them
TWITTER
An in-depth look at NZ’s top consumer Tweeters, their overall performance, their most recent tweets, what topics they talk about and how to contact them
Lesson Six: Influencer Marketing Measurement & ROI
In this section we explore exactly what you can and should measure in order to ensure that your Influencer Marketing campaigns are as effective as they should be.
Lesson Seven: Influencer Marketing Cautions
We discuss the reality of fake influencers – those with fake followers who will happily take your money – and how you can identify them. We then concern ourselves with the importance of Disclosure (ensuring that your chosen Influencers are transparent about the fact that they are being rewarded for their participation).
And we discuss:
- why Influencer campaigns fail
- the fastest way to destroy your Influencer Marketing efforts
Lesson Eight: Influencer Marketing Tools & Resources
No need to reinvent the wheel. We tell you what you need to know to create and manage Influencer Marketing campaigns, including suggested formats, frameworks and processes. And we share plenty of case studies to inform and inspire.
Lesson Nine: Influencer Marketing Trends
Finally, we discuss twenty emerging Influencer Marketing Trends and how they might impact on your activities going forward.
WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS COURSE?
Any Kiwi marketer, or anyone who is responsible for marketing for their organisation, who is considering using influencers to promote their products/services will benefit from this carefully-structured approach to Influencer Marketing.
————————
WHAT CUSTOMERS ARE SAYING ABOUT OUR COURSES
Here’s a sampling of the feedback we’ve received from those who’ve taken our courses:
- Thanks for an informative and interesting [Facebook Accelerator] course. Your presentation held a good balance of theoretical and practical information and was clear and simple enough for a non IT Facebook novice like me to follow. There are many ideas that I have gained that I will attempt to incorporate in the overall marketing plan my team is currently developing for our brand. Facebook can offer so much more than I thought as a medium for communicating with our current and prospective customers. Julie D
- I found this course fantastic, i started off knowing very little about facebook (just how to run my own personal page) to now having a thorough understanding of ALL the things you can (and there is a lot). The course format was great and allowed knowledge to be built up over time. Course length was great and this will definetly be something i come back to constantly as we develop our facebook pages more within my company. Aleisha H
- I have really enjoyed the course and the way it was structured. It was informative and interesting – liked the way you incorporated slide-shows, video, statistics and different forms of media to provide information. Lisa C
————————
TIMING
This course begins on Wednesday 01 January, 2025.
————————
INVESTMENT
This seven-part online training course is available for $597+GST. However we offer an EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT of $100 — pay just $497+GST for bookings received by the end of Wednesday 25 December, 2024.
Bookings are confirmed on receipt of payment, which can be by bank deposit or credit card. We can raise an invoice in advance if you need it.
To reserve your place in this course, please pay by credit card through PayPal by clicking here:
If you would prefer to pay by bank deposit, or require an invoice, please send an email to bookings@socialmedia.org.nz with your requirements.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
You’ll receive our emailed confirmation of your booking. Then on the first day of the course we’ll follow up with details of your Login and Password, along with an Enrolment Key for the Principles & Practice of Influencer Marketing online training course.
If you have any questions, or would like more information, please email us at info@socialmedia.org.nz
