The influencer marketing industry is showing no signs of slowing down as businesses of all sizes continue to see results from this highly effective strategy. With consumer distrust on the rise, audiences are seeking more authentic content like reviews, peer recommendations, and brand transparency. Influencers provide compelling, credible images and stories that resonate with today’s consumers, on the wide-reaching social platforms where people are most engaged.
As more brands are turning to influencer marketing, there is increasing pressure to deliver campaigns with measurable results. At Sway, we have a comprehensive reporting system that tracks the metrics that matter, and we keep up with the latest trends and findings to help clients achieve their desired buzz, website views, referrals, purchases, outreach — or all of the above.
Still, there are always brand successes that are difficult to quantify, because they happen as a ripple effect of the campaign.
The ripple effect is, essentially, a chain reaction sparked by an influencer. When an influencer posts content on behalf of a brand sponsorship, that content will reach a certain number of people. Of that group, some will go on to share the influencer’s content with their own followers, and on it goes.
While brands often focus on the initial wave of shared content, the influence created by the ripple can be extremely effective over time. For instance, while the original content must be clearly disclosed as paid as per FTC guidelines, subsequent shares will happen organically as audiences experience products and services for themselves.
Audiences who share influencer content may have a much smaller number of followers on their social platforms, but their opinions often seem more genuine. In fact, these so-called nano-influencers are becoming a brand recommendation powerhouse in their own right.
Campaign engagement metrics like shares, pins, retweets, hashtags, likes, and views can all reveal levels of audience involvement, but brands should also consider the big picture. Once sharing has expanded from an influencer’s immediate circle, it can be harder to track, but it’s no less powerful.
As an example, we recently heard from a blog reader who was introduced to a family story archival service from a well-read influencer. The multiflight campaign ran over a few months with key seasonal benefits highlighted, and the reader waited until Christmas to make her own purchase. After the gift had been in use for a few months and she saw how well it was received, she shared her own glowing recommendation on her Facebook page and also told many friends and family members in person how pleased she was with the brand.
With influencer marketing, a single person can spark interest and action across a very large network of people, both online and off. Talk to us today about how we can help strategize a campaign that gets real results — from our network of creative influencers and the untold number of people they can reach over time.
