Much like a brand approaches its own social content strategy, influencer marketing tactics should be crafted around the ways in which people use and spend time on each unique platform. As such, it’s best to partner with creators whose anchor channels (content + reach + engagement) are in alignment with your own, and syndicate the content across other channels as appropriate.
Some key questions to ask when developing your influencer creative strategy, as well as identifying the right partners:
Where is your target audience spending its time and how do they make buying decisions?
Every platform’s audience varies in terms of age and a myriad of demographic differences. Social media is ubiquitous, and while young adults have been the early adopters, usage among older generations has continued to increase. The PEW Research Center recently did a study analyzing the breakdown across each channel:
What type of content is best repurposed on your own channels?
It’s no secret that content production is expensive. While original brand content that has been designed specifically for social has become a more integral part of the marketing mix, it is often a small piece of the pie when compared to the larger creative budgets for TV, digital, out of home, etc. Enter: influencers.
One of the most valuable aspects of influencer marketing is having the ability to repurpose reputable third party content on your own channels. If you want to reach the right people and also get a quality content two-for-one, it is critical to identify the right creators who share a similar aesthetic, tone and voice.
How will you measure success?
When all is said and done, what is the one thing that will make your campaign a success? Focusing the entire strategy, timeline and creative execution around a single KPI will help ensure a win. If your core objective is to identify hand raisers and lead generation, Facebook is probably a better channel than, say, Instagram. If your main objective is reach and positive engagement, Instagram is one of – if not the – strongest channels in this capacity. Interested in longer form storytelling content via video? Then YouTube is your playground.
Key usage cases for each platform:
Facebook still reigns supreme as it relates to “community.” While Facebook is undergoing many major changes (the impacts of which for brands are yet to be seen) its greatest attribute is serving as a singular hub for page owners to engage and communicate around meaningful content, news and trends. Facebook has also been very vocal in the past about its support of video – and, more recently – Facebook Live. It goes without saying that it’s ALWAYS a good idea to leverage the content units Facebook has said it would favor in the always-ruthless algorithm. Read: VIDEO. VIDEO. VIDEO.
Instagram remains the darling of most influencer partnerships. It’s an incredible discovery platform for creators across every genre, and the standards for content quality – whether said quality is in the form of sound, sight, humor or beyond – are unwavering. The introduction of Instagram Stories offers an intimate alternative, giving fans a more “lo-fi” look inside the daily lives of their favorite creators. It is connection at its finest. Utilizing other features, such as gallery posts, allow you to tell a more in-depth story at one time.
The fleeting, conversational nature of Twitter makes it best used to capitalize on current or pop culture events and trending topics. Twitter is not often used as an anchor for creative campaigns, but content can be relevantly syndicated with appropriate hashtags. That said, if, for example, you wish to capitalize on an event or relevant conversation taking place in the news, Twitter influencers are a great vehicle to help you do so.
YouTube
YouTube is fantastic for longer form (3-4 minutes + ), serial video. Videos of that length do not typically perform well on Facebook, and the maximum length on Instagram is still 60 seconds. YouTube, with 300 hours of video uploaded every minute, is particularly powerful for entertainers (music, comedians, etc.) and DIYers.
With all of the above said, from influencer identification to campaign management to measurement and reporting, there are a lot of moving parts for this growing marketing channel.
BYGMusic specializes in connecting brands to emerging music artists as a hybrid of influencer marketing and music sponsorship. The very nature of music as an authentic connector of people and moments makes this vertical incredibly powerful, especially for brands that have a music affinity with their fan base (as so many do). When brands support the bands, the fans support the brands.
View our recent case studies here: https://bygmusic.com/case-studies/
Contact us today to learn more about the BYG difference and how we can help you execute campaigns that truly connect.