5 Top Influencer Marketing Strategies for 2022

Influencer marketing was once confined to a select few celebrities and well-known bloggers. Social media influencers have risen to prominence and even become victims of fraud, which is a stark contrast to how they seemed just a few years ago.

While researching influencer marketing in the past, you may have come across conflicting advice, with suggestions ranging from using social influencers to not using them at all.

As a company, it’s more challenging than ever to manage top influencer marketing strategies. But first, let us understand what exactly influencer marketing is and how it works.

What Does Influencer Marketing Mean?

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Influencer marketing is a form of the social media marketing that depends on endorsements and product reviews from influencers — people who have an extensive social media following and are considered experts in their field. Influencer marketing thrives because of the trust social influencers have gained with their followers, and their recommendations act as social validation to your brand’s potential customers.

How to Plan an Influencer Marketing Campaign

Like any other marketing strategy, developing top influencer marketing strategies need precise targeting and forethought. Sending free stuff to everyone who asks or your current friends and acquaintances won’t get you anywhere. Finding the correct list of influencers to work with within your marketing plan is the only thing to watch out for. You can use influencer-finding tools for this purpose.

The following data will offer some clarity on how marketers are using top influencer marketing strategies to increase the visibility of their brands. Particularly in social media.

• 77% of marketers rely on influencer partnerships to boost their brand’s popularity
• 89% of marketers use it to develop real content marketing
• A whopping 56% of business owners employ it to boost traffic to their websites
• 43% of marketers utilize it to target a younger demographic that isn’t interested in traditional advertising

5 Top Influencer Marketing Strategies

Boost your brand’s visibility with these five top influencer marketing strategies.

1. Influencer-led product launches

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For a long time, brands have been using celebrities to introduce and position new products as part of a marketing plan. However, collaborating with a list of influencers might provide better outcomes than teaming with superstars.

Celebrities are likely to have a considerable following with a wide range of interests, They seldom work with a specific forte; thus, their recommendations are less genuine. More significantly, customers know they’re supporting a product because they’ve been paid to do so.

On the other hand, people believe the best influencers in the world are experts in their fields. So their messages have more significance. Also, their fans are passionate about that niche. This belief increases the likelihood of conversions.

According to a survey, 30% of consumers choose non-celebrity endorsements over celebrity endorsements, while 70% of millennials favor non-celebrity influencers. Influencer endorsements are one of the most acceptable ways to build trust in your brand.

Chanel perfume launch

For instance, Chanel used influencers to advertise the Chanel No. 5 L’eau perfume launch. They invited Instagram influencers to a retreat in France. The marketing plan highlighted how they make their fragrances using real flowers. And, of course, to promote the new product.

Chanel’s marketing approach performed brilliantly. It was a tremendous success when a prominent fashion influencer like Juliane Diesner talked about her experiences online. #chanelgrasse and #newchanel5 were two of the campaign’s branded hashtags, which collected over 900K likes on social media. Moreover, Chanel’s creative influencer marketing strategy reached over 9 million individuals.

This one of the top influencer marketing strategies teaches us an essential lesson in influencer marketing – to work with top influencers in the world to make your next launch a huge success.

2. Use Brand-Loyal Influencers

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If the best influencers in the world are already promoting you without your sponsorship, it implies they like your principles. It means they already have a captive audience waiting to hear your message.

Why not work with these influencers to assure the success of your campaigns? It can be considered one of the top influencer marketing strategies. Asking people to endorse your brand increases campaign ROI.

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Airbnb has employed influencer marketing well. They approached Mariah Carey to collaborate after learning that she had rented one of their homes. She also shared a few pics of the Airbnb beach property she stayed in as part of the promotion. This post got over 45,000 likes.

Airbnb has now similarly collaborated with other influencers. The influencer thanks the sponsor for posting a picture of their lavish trip. And what do these influencers get in return? Airbnb gives them free stays in some of their most opulent homes. This strategy helps Airbnb promote its company.

So how do you locate brand advocates? Keep an eye out for who tags you. You may also check for influencer mentions and brand hashtags on social media. Social media listening tools may also help you locate non-sponsored material about your company.

3. Inspire Influencers’ Creativity

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One of the most appealing aspects of top influencer marketing strategies is their content. Influencers are gifted individuals who can generate magic. It will help your content team save a lot of time and effort by using this influence-generated content.

So, what is the influencer marketing strategy you’re implementing here? Creative freedom is the strategy being used. Giving your best influencers creative flexibility works. According to a Crowdtap survey, 77% of influencers choose firms that allow creative flexibility.

Here’s an intriguing case. Maybelline promoted their Falsies Push Up Drama Mascara using creative freedom. So several bloggers promoted the product on their blogs while others turned to Instagram. The campaign was a huge success, garnering 35.7 million likes.

4. Build long-term relationships

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You can only achieve the best outcomes via effective and efficient teamwork. Finding top influencers in the world who can be brand ambassadors is one of the long-term top influencer marketing strategies.

Many successful firms have used the same best influencers for years. They don’t think of these connections as one-time events, particularly when the influencer’s interests and specialty match the brand’s.

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Johnson & Johnson is one brand that benefits from this strategy. They’ve worked with Oh Joy’s Joy Cho for three years. She has used Instagram to spread the word about their brightly colored BAND-AIDs. Her personal Instagram account has almost 400K followers (while Oh Joy has over 58K).

Take their lead and focus on creating relationships with influencers. One of the most successful and top influencer marketing strategies is strengthening connections. Long-term collaborations build trust in your business and products. Influencers can also post affiliate links or coupon codes to help promote your products.

5. Employ Micro-Influencers

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Micro-influencers are a subset of the best influencers in the world with fewer but highly engaged followers. Experticity found that 82% of individuals are more willing to take a micro-influencer’s advice. 

Micro-influencers can create better relationships with their audiences since fewer social media followers. In turn, their fans are more active on social networks and more likely to believe their advice. That’s why partnering with micro-influencers may help you conduct a successful influencer campaign.

Working with micro-influencers is also cost-effective — 87% charge under $500 for an Instagram post. Micro-influencer partnerships are a potential influencer marketing strategy that may help you reach your target audience effectively.

That said, finding credible micro-influencers might be difficult. You must personally review their profiles to see if collaborating is worthwhile. Using influencer-finding tools helps speed up the process.

It provides filters to help you choose the right influencer with whom to work. You may also filter influencers based on their exposure and the projected cost of a sponsored post.

Personal care brand Tom’s of Maine used micro-influencers with 500 to 5000 followers in a campaign. Influencer marketing helped them reach 1.72M individuals on social media and improved engagement by 600%. That’s the power of micro-influencers.

Taking Maximum Advantage of Influencer Marketing Strategies

The top influencer marketing strategies listed here can help develop effective social media marketing influencer campaigns. Keep an eye on your marketing campaigns. Center your marketing strategy around the best influencers in the world. Select the best influencers for your company and work on long-term partnerships. Using the correct influencer tools and platforms will save time and increase campaign results.

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