Successful influencer marketing for companies in 2024

It’s almost impossible to scroll through social media without being confronted with influencer marketing. Everywhere you look, influencers are showing off their latest clothes, makeup brands or furniture, and that’s just the beginning.

From traditional posts to popular Instagram Stories to long-form videos, influencers are finding new ways to be sponsored on their favorite platforms.

Anyone can be an influencer. If your posts get a single like, you’re generating engagement. So let’s take a moment to talk about the up-and-coming influencers who are growing their following. These people post about their favorite brands and products simply because they love them. Granted, they’re probably also hoping for a long-term contract with a brand, but at the time they’re posting, they’re not making any money from their efforts.

You might think that influencer marketing is a new thing that has only recently become popular. In fact, influencer marketing started over 10 years ago when the first marketplaces emerged where bloggers were paid for branded content. Since blogs were mainly seen as online diaries, many experts were skeptical that adding promotional articles to existing content would actually come across as authentic.

This is a challenge that today’s influencers still face. Those who manage to promote products or services while appearing genuine and authentic will be rewarded. After all, people want to buy from other people, and when they find someone they like, they are more likely to trust their recommendations.

Influencer marketing is a way for brands to promote their products online through recommendations from influencers. Most influencers can be found on social media and in blogs. New influencer groups such as podcast hosts are also constantly emerging. In many cases, influencer marketing is used to increase sales, but also leads to an increase in brand awareness.

The beginnings of influencer marketing date back to 2006, but influencer marketing has changed significantly in the last 15 years. In the past, Facebook was still used, but now it is Instagram and TikTok in particular that make up the influencer environment.

Although influencer marketing has not necessarily changed, people perceive it very differently today. Influencers still talk about their lives and promote products that they use on a daily basis. However, there are now many people who are influencers by profession and earn their living by promoting brands. In the early days, any money a blogger earned through a partnership was a nice perk, but certainly not enough to be considered a full-time income.

Influencers today also have many more opportunities than the original influencers. There are countless social media platforms to choose from and there are so many types of content they can create. For those who like video platforms, YouTube or TikTok are excellent options. Those who like long, written posts can turn to traditional blogging or Facebook. Influencers who want a bit of everything can use Instagram. Even though Clubhouse is still a new platform, it probably won’t be long before influencers find a way to place their ads there too.

Influencer marketing is currently an incredibly popular marketing tool, and for good reason:

• Nine out of ten brands use some form of influencer marketing.

If you don’t want your business to be left behind, it’s time to explore your options for influencer marketing. No matter what industry you’re in, there’s bound to be at least one influencer that’s right for you. And don’t be alarmed if you can only find smaller influencers in your niche, because:

• Companies earn an average of €4.60 for every €1 spent on influencer marketing

If you want to increase your brand awareness, increase sales or get your brand’s name out into the world in any way you can, you should use influencer marketing. You won’t see this kind of media value with other marketing tactics. However, the most important thing is that you approach influencer marketing strategically so that you get it right.

Influencer marketing is popular now. Nevertheless, this new type of marketing is not a trend that will disappear again. In fact, its growth is far from over. It will become increasingly popular in the coming years. That’s why now is the best time to learn about it and prepare to incorporate it into your own strategies.

Although it may seem like there are too many influencers, this is not the case. Social media platforms continue to grow and grow and there are more and more opportunities for people to become influencers.

Some will certainly do this on purpose, while others will simply post about their lives and strike deals with companies by accident. Either way, there will be more people building an audience in certain niches. This means that you have a better chance of finding someone who appeals to your ideal audience and is perfect for your business.

As with any business strategy or tactic, influencer marketing is becoming standardized. There are now influencer agencies that represent influencers and agencies that help brands find the best influencers for their strategy. As the business around influencer marketing continues to grow, the marketing around it will also continue to expand.

For companies that don’t want to spend the time or resources to keep up with influencer marketing trends, agencies are a good option. They can still benefit from the incredible success that influencer marketing often brings without having to learn everything themselves.

Influencers started writing blog posts talking about their favorite products. Then social media became more popular and the type of content influencers create changed. Nowadays, videos are perhaps the most popular type of content influencers create when it comes to promoting products. Instagram and Facebook Live, IGTV, YouTube and TikTok have proven this.

However, with the growing popularity of podcasts and the emergence of audio-only apps like Clubhouse, the question is what the next big trend in influencer marketing will be. While we don’t know the answer, we do know that this trend will continue to evolve. Companies can prepare to take advantage of new, innovative platforms and content by joining these new platforms as they emerge. If you have already built up a following on a particular platform, influencers are more likely to want to work with you.

In many ways, influencers are going back to their roots. In recent years, people are much more interested in seeing posts that aren’t overly edited. They don’t want to listen to, learn from or take advice from someone whose life seems completely unattainable. Instead, they want to see reality. They want to see influencers make mistakes and have bad days and pick themselves back up and keep going.

Because of this open transparency, even more people trust and follow influencers, which means more people accept ads and buy as a result.

Companies can now reach even more people by working with influencers, especially if they don’t just want to show the perfect, heavily filtered sides of their lives.

Influencer marketing is interesting for all kinds of companies. Big brands work with influencers to promote their products, and startups that are just starting out find a way to work with micro-influencers. Companies are using influencer marketing across all major sectors. If you’re not on board yet, it’s time to join in.

Increasing brand awareness is probably the most common way companies use influencer marketing. When influencers talk about or promote your brand and products, it’s easy for them to link to your website. It’s even easier than telling someone to go to your website. Instead, influencers can link directly to your website and send users to you.

Another major advantage of influencer marketing is the content that influencers create for you. People trust other people more than brands. When you work with an influencer, you can use the content on your site. You can also repost the content, which shows your audience that you are working with this influencer.

Every brand wants to build trust with its customers. Influencers can build trust and strengthen the bond between your brand and the customer. By publishing the influencer’s information on your website or specifically on the product page, you can create more trust with your potential customers, which leads to a higher conversion rate.

Offering discounts when you work with an influencer is a great way to increase your sales and the ROI of your campaign. First of all, discount codes allow you to measure the sales of your booked influencers. In addition, people buy more when they feel they are saving. Sometimes the discount code is the deciding factor why users engage with products and ultimately buy.

If you are now ready to use influencer marketing, it’s time to develop a strategy and set up concrete processes. As with any good marketing tactic, the strategy will ensure that you are being thorough and methodical with your budget. This way you can set out how you are going to proceed and what you want to achieve with the influencer marketing campaign.

Structured goals and KPIs are the foundation of any strategy. When thinking about influencer marketing, there are a number of goals you can pursue with your campaign. The most obvious goal is probably to increase sales, but you can do a lot more for your brand with influencer marketing than just short-term sales.

Working with influencers means getting your brand’s name in front of thousands of people who may never have heard of you before. They learn about your brand from someone they trust, which means they are more likely to find out about your business or follow you on social media.

If you want to change your ideal customer base a little, there’s no better way than working with an influencer. Be aware that it will probably take a little more work on your part to explain to the influencer why your brand is right for their target audience.

Influencers are often protective of their audience because they have worked hard to grow their community and gain their trust. However, if you work with the influencer to reach a specific audience, they can help you do this.

Once you are clear about your goals, KPIs and target audience, it’s time to get in touch with influencers. There are many different ways you can find influencers that are suitable for your brand.

You can research which influencers competitors have worked with. This will not only tell you who your competitors are working with, but also the scale of influencers in their sector.

Depending on which platform you want to advertise on, you can use tools to help you identify influencers in your niche. You can also research your followers’ Instagram or Tiktok lists or identify influencers using #hashtags.

Launch the campaign and expand your customer base. With the help of influencers, you can not only increase your ROI, but also gain new, loyal customers who are relevant to your CLV in the long term. It is important to regularly measure the goals you have set and to classify the success of the influencer.

There are big influencers who sell little and small influencers who sell a lot. Ultimately, what counts is the bond between the influencer and their community.

Influencer marketing is on the rise and will only continue to grow in the coming years. Companies can benefit greatly from working with influencers, no matter what their goal is. Influencers can help you grow your community, increase sales or raise your company’s profile. Get in touch with us to find the right influencers for your company.