Articles
How To12/28/2022, 7:12:32 AM
ROI in influencer marketing. How to measure it?
We bet you’ve seen all those catchy article titles like ‘Influencer marketing delivers 15x ROI!’ promising an outstanding outcome from basically any influencer campaign. Appealing, we know! Almost makes you want to stop doing everything you were doing in marketing before and invest all the money and time in content creators. But before you do that, it’s worth investing some time and really understanding what ROI in influencer marketing is and, most importantly, how to measure it. Let’s dive in and see if this game is even worth playing. Expenses First, let’s see what expenses each campaign includes: The product. No matter if it’s something you send to an influencer physically (a new clothing line or limited scented candles collection) or a virtual product (access to an online course or streaming platform) - it’s your job to calculate how much it costs your brand to provide your product or service to an influencer. Shipping. Yes, it’s also on a brand to cover all possible expenses when shipping a product to an influencer. Also, if it requires content creators to send the product back, the brand is supposed to pay for that. Influencer’s fee. Sometimes it can be a product exchange, sometimes an affiliate commission, or a flat fee. Whatever pricing model you choose to work with, it has to be included in influencer marketing expenses. Team’s salary. Do you have just one person working on influencer marketing campaigns or there is a team? You have to include their monthly fee in influencer marketing expenses. Third-party platforms. If you pay for any platforms to manage influencer campaigns, it’s also considered one of the expenses and must be included to measure ROI. Tools to measure ROI Previously we shared how to create the perfect influencer marketing campaign and prepare the basics. Now, let’s see what tools you need to measure ROI and see the overall performance of influencer marketing efforts. Affiliate links. Probably the easiest way to track sales and traffic from each influencer you work with. The process is simple: - You create a unique affiliate link for each influencer- Share it with an influencer- The influencer shares it with the audience- People click on the link and purchase your product or service Generating unique affiliate links allows you to see all the data around the number of clicks on your website and the number of sales. So by this time you probably wonder how to create an affiliate link. Well, fortunately, now tons of affiliate platforms are available with different prices and feature sets. Google away! UTM links. The oldest and the most complicated way to track sales and traffic from campaigns. Basically, UTM is the code that you insert in a regular link in order to see how the link performs on Google Analytics. This method requires deep knowledge of Google Analytics. Dedicated landing pages. When you drive a lot of traffic to your website from different channels, from organic and paid content, it might be frustrating and messy to also track UTM links from influencer marketing on Google Analytics. In this case, creating a dedicated landing page and connecting it to Google Analytics separately will help see clear data from the campaigns alone. Unique discount or gift codes. Another easy way to see how an influencer campaign performs. This method doesn’t require you to build any landing page or figure out how to use a complicated third-party platform, the only thing that needs to be done is a way to track the codes every time someone uses them. The flow is similar to the first one: - You generate a unique code for each influencer- Share it with an influencer- The influencer shares it with the audience and encourages them to use it when purchasing your brand’s product or service- And whenever someone places an order on your website and uses the code you can see who and when did it The only thing to keep in mind is that a brand is supposed to have some sort of tracking system to see every use of each code. Let’s do the math and measure ROI! Now that we listed all of our expenses and get the tools we need to track the campaign performance, let’s do some basic calculations to measure ROI. Finally!For example, altogether your influencer marketing investment is $5,000 (including all the expenses we listed at the beginning of this article) which brought back an estimated $15,000 in profit, then you are looking at the ROI of 300%. The formula is simple – (Revenue/Cost) x 100. Wrapping it up The example above has a positive outcome, but sometimes influencer marketing campaign can bring 0 or even be negative. And it’s ok! The most important thing here is to go step-by-step and do a couple of test campaigns with different KOLs and demographics to find your sweet spot that brings sales and revenue.It might take some time to come up with the perfect strategy and flow that work for you, but influencer marketing is definitely worth it. In case you’re not ready to spend any time to find the most effective way to run influencer campaigns, you can always reach out to us and we will use our years of experience for you to make the most of each collab with content creators.
How To11/22/2022, 1:34:39 PM
How to pay influencers to advertise? Part II
We already shared two basic pricing models in influencer marketing, now let's look at two of the most popular ones that prefer most brands when working with influencers. Affiliate relationshipAffiliate marketing is probably the oldest form of influencer marketing. A lot of brands prefer this pricing model because it doesn’t include any extra expenses. So how do brands pay influencers who joined their affiliate program? The flow looks like this: 1. A brand gives an influencer a special link with tracking parameters in it to see how many leads come and convert 2. The influencer does whatever is best to promote and share it 3. The brand pays out a commission for each purchase made through that link Simple, right? But don’t rush into this until you familiarize yourself with all the nuances that come with this payment format. First, you have to provide a decent commission in order for creators to join and stay motivated to promote your product. Second, the affiliate program should have an advanced tracking system to avoid missing any lead from each link. Third, an affiliate system might work flawlessly for well-known brands while for the ones that are just starting out it probably should be a payment method in addition to a regular flat fee, for example. Free productAnd now let’s look at what most brands find the most appealing - product exchange! Yes, this one doesn’t require any payments, brands just send their products to influencers who create content promoting it.From our experience, it’s safe to say that free product as a pricing model looks appealing only to brands while for most influencers it’s one of the reasons to kindly decline your offer. However, if you’re working with micro-influencers product exchange might be enough for them since they’re just at the start and keen on working with brands on any terms. But if you’re focusing on celebrity influencers, even as a big and well-known brand, please do not consider product exchange as one of the influencer payments. Wrapping it up!As you can see there are a few pricing models pretty different from one another and it’s only up to brands to choose which one works best and how much to pay influencers to advertise.However, here at relay.club we always help to figure out an estimated influencer fee even before reaching out which allows brands to see whether a potential collab is financially suitable for them or not. KOL Economics on relay.club Sometimes figuring out the ideal pricing model can be overwhelming for brands especially when there is not enough influencer marketing experience behind it. Fortunately, our experts are always happy to share their knowledge and build a successful strategy for your brand. Reach out to us now and we’ll take care of the rest!
How To11/22/2022, 12:21:56 PM
How to pay influencers to advertise? Part I
Since we just covered all the aspects that impact influencer marketing costs in our recent guide, it’s time to discuss 4 main pricing models that you, as a brand, can implement when paying content creators for promotion.Yes, there is more than one! Influencer payments vary and can be different depending on the type of advertisement you do. Single post fees The most popular pricing model is a fee per post. Most brands prefer doing just a single post and paying a flat fee. It's easy, transparent, and fast. A single post means that a creator will publish only one content piece mentioning your brand. It can be an Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter post, a YouTube or TikTok video, and so on. From influencers’ perspective, this payment method gives them full transparency on how much brands will pay them even before the content is created. But from the brands’ side, this pricing model means a lack of proactiveness and creativity from creators because there is nothing that drives them to invest more thought in this collab. Pay by campaign Another type of influencer payment method is by the campaign. If you’re launching a new product or service it’s probably better to do a campaign with influencers rather than just a single post. What does it mean? It’s a series of posts or videos published by one creator. It can be before the launch and during, for example, to prepare the audience and generate more customers after the campaign started. With this payment model you, as a brand, have content flexibility because you can literally create any package your product will benefit from. It can be a live stream + a couple of posts, or a series of videos on different platforms at once. By paying by the campaign you, as a brand, have content flexibility because you can literally create any package your product will benefit from. Here, the biggest benefit for brands is the price. Yes, overall it will be higher than for one post, but if you divide the total price by each content piece you’ll see that it’s cheaper than the average cost for an influencer post.Stay tuned for part II :)
About10/14/2022, 12:57:53 PM
What's next for relay.club?
Today, Marko Velimirovic from Website Planet had the opportunity to interview Jim Fields, CEO of relay.club. If you want to know the story behind relay.club, how it evolved over time, and what are the plans for the company for near future (they are exciting!), check out the interview here.
How To10/4/2022, 2:32:15 AM
Cost of influencer marketing and how to predict it
Previously we discussed how social media platforms and niches impact the influencer marketing costs and how much you should pay influencers depending on category and formats. In this article, we are taking a look at some other factors that play a big role in the influencer marketing budget. So, let’s dive in and find out what they are! Number of Followers It’s simple: the more followers influencers have the higher their fee might be. A few years back, when influencer marketing just started growing, this metric was the most important one and influencers put their heart and soul into increasing the number. Now, when social media algorithms are based on what people are actually interested in and engage with the most, the follower count means almost nothing. However, when this metric was on hype, a lot of influencers made a dramatic mistake and, using third-party platforms, bought thousands (if not millions!) of fake followers. Thanks to platforms like relay.club, brands can see the exact percentage of fake followers right away. So don’t let this number fool you! Engagement Rate Engagement rate is an important metric to consider, if not the most important one. The outcome of the entire campaign depends on how active and engaging the audience is. Sometimes a large following doesn’t guarantee a high engagement rate. So keep this in mind when deciding how much to pay influencers. Most brands make this mistake thinking that a large following will bring a better result and completely forget that engagement does the whole trick, not the number of followers. That’s why it’s important to always ask an influencer to provide you with the latest insights to see the dynamic. Sometimes, to save time, it’s worth just checking the insights using influencer management software like relay.club.Check out part III!
How To9/29/2022, 5:27:03 AM
Predict the influencer marketing costs
Previously, we talked about 4 different aspects that build influencer marketing costs to help you decide how much to pay influencers to advertise. Today we are wrapping this series up with another 2 determiners that any marketer should always keep in mind when collaborating with influencers. So, let’s dive in and find out what they are! Exclusivity That’s a sensitive yet extremely important point to go over with a potential influencer. Imagine, you closed the deal with a content creator, sent your new headphones for promotion, and an influencer creates a beautiful, detailed video showing how cool your product is, people get excited and interested. Both sides are happy! A week later, the same influencer does the same video about your competitor. Not cool, right? In this case, you have only yourself to blame! If you don’t want influencers you work with to collaborate with your competitors for some time (or forever!), mention it in an agreement. But keep in mind, it will double the price of the collaboration. Reuse/Licensing RightsAnother very important determiner when building your influencer budget strategy is whether or not you are going to reuse the content created by influencers you work with. Yes, you don’t own the rights to the content material they create even if they mention your product in it. It means that influencers can do whatever they want with materials without asking for a brand’s permission. If you want to have full control of the influencer content pieces or have further plans for them you have to mention it in an agreement and discuss everything with content creators beforehand. And as you already probably guessed, this will cost extra for you because you basically purchase the copyright. Let’s wrap it up With so many factors and hidden nuances, it’s hard to properly track influencer marketing costs as you can do with Facebook or Google Paid Ads, for example. Fortunately, with our guide, you can see the ways in which these factors affect pricing. Or you can always reach out to our team of experts at relay.club and we will take your influencer marketing to the next level!
About9/22/2022, 7:38:20 AM
Jim Fields: Co-founder of relay.club
What was your background before relay.club? I grew up in Silicon Valley in the US and spent my childhood making movies on a Hi8 camera and being immersed in the technology world - as companies like Google turned into internet giants all around me. I began studying Chinese in my teenage years and into university. In 2009, I had an opportunity to travel to Beijing as part of a study abroad program - and I fell in love with the dynamism and sense of opportunity I found in China. And I’ve been here ever since! Jim Fields (left), relay.club CEO, with relay.club investor Davis Fields (right) In 2016, I previously founded a company called Relay Video helping Chinese companies create videos for international audiences. In this company, I built up a deep network of Chinese brand marketers and started to understand the needs of Chinese brands. Additionally, I’m also a YouTuber and video creator on Chinese platforms like Bilibili - creating short videos about Chinese technology and how it’s changing the way people live. What made you start relay.club? Being a content creator myself, I gradually started to receive more and more inquiries from Chinese brands for collaboration as my channel grew. But I noticed these inquiries were not very effective. Often the emails I received were filled with grammatical and logical errors and demonstrated a lack of understanding of my channel. Sometimes these emails from brands would even get my name wrong! GRTR YouTube Channel I realized at that moment that there was a tremendous opportunity to help Chinese brands that are interested in working with global KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders), otherwise known as influencers. Given my deep understanding of Chinese brands and also my personal experience as an influencer on global social media platforms, I realized that there was a great opportunity to help connect these two unique groups of people. What’s your vision for relay.club? Right now there is a huge population of global content creators who make high-quality content but have yet to achieve sufficient brand sponsorships to turn their video channels into paying careers. Through relay.club, we plan to enable these passionate content creators to find brand partners for their content, allowing them to monetize their content, and thereby find ways to potentially move into embracing their passions as full-time careers. At the same time, there is a huge opportunity that exists to help Chinese and other Asian brands as they continue their expansion worldwide. Much like the Japanese brands (like Sony, Honda, and Toyota) that became global juggernauts in the 80s and 90s, Chinese brands are stepping into the global stage in a major way - and finding wide appeal with global consumers. But right now Chinese brands struggle to connect authentically with foreign audiences - which is why influencers are becoming an ever-more-important tool for ambitious brands as they scale overseas. Right now Chinese brands struggle to connect authentically with foreign audiences - which is why influencers are becoming an ever-more-important tool for ambitious brands as they scale overseas. Therefore, we aim to offer a complete platform, filled with tools for Chinese/Asian brands to find, outreach to, and collaborate with global social media influencers. Our tools will represent a one-stop shop for brand needs - from search and discovery to robust communication and outreach tools, onwards to negotiation and contracting, all the way through to payments and campaign performance analysis. Concurrently, we are also creating ways for influencers to search for campaigns and brand sponsorship opportunities through the platform - to create a double-sided platform, with strong network effects as more and more brands and influencers are able to connect with one another. We aim to offer a complete platform, filled with tools for Chinese/Asian brands to find, outreach to, and collaborate with global social media influencers. As our platform continues to mature, we also plan to scale beyond the China market, first into other regions in Southeast Asia, then onwards to other developing markets worldwide. Influencer marketing has started growing actively 5-6 years ago and many platforms entered the market since then offering similar services. What sets relay.club apart? There are indeed many platforms, but none of them solve the specific problems of Chinese and other Asian brands going global- related to language and communication, project management, and financial transaction. China is by far the biggest eCommerce market on planet Earth, and Chinese brands are expanding overseas in ever-greater numbers year on year. But right now, most competitor influencer marketing platforms are only targeting foreign brands in markets outside China - and also don’t offer tools optimized for brands in China.Given our team’s deep understanding of Chinese brands and also the specific needs of foreign influencers, we have designed a set of systems that make this process smooth and seamless for both parties. Given our team’s deep understanding of Chinese brands and also the specific needs of foreign influencers, we have designed a set of systems that make this process smooth and seamless for both parties - thereby connecting the world’s largest eCommerce market with an extremely fast-growing segment of global social media influencers worldwide. How do you see relay.club growing over the years? Our business has already grown extremely rapidly. We officially started building our platform in November 2021, and our product launched (out of beta) in April 2022. Since then, we have roughly doubled our number of paying subscribers month-on-month - and expect this trend to accelerate in the future.relay.club At the same time, we want to build a sustainable business that continues to closely listen to and monitor customer needs, and continue to develop and expand the product to make it even more useful to brands and influencers. Additionally, we plan to finance our growth primarily through customer acquisition and re-investment of revenue into our business - unlike other competitors that have relied mostly on venture capital funds to scale. Within the next 3 years, we anticipate becoming the dominant cross-border influencer marketing platform in China, as well as opening branch offices in three to five additional markets in Southeast Asia. Within the next 5 years, we aim to have multi-regional offices in both Asia and in at least two other global hubs - most likely India and North America. Any talents or interests you would like to share? Outside of my work as a founder and influencer, I’m also an amateur strongman. This is a type of weightlifting you sometimes see on TV - with large men who pull trucks with ropes, or hurl kegs of beer over fences or pick up cars with their own two hands. I’ve found the training and physical challenge of this sport to be a nice antidote to software development - which is often more of a mental battle. Why should anybody join the club? When we set up this company we decided to call it relay.club - because relay was the name of our prior video business and carried strong brand equity, but also because were attracted to the idea of building a “club.” When I was a kid, I was obsessed with clubs - and the idea of being a part of being part of an inclusive, fun, and energizing group of people has always been very exciting to me. In 2022, so much information about influencer marketing is siloed and secretive. We wanted to flip the script and make this world much more inclusive, collaborative, and fun. So we decided to build a club - the relay.club - and we are building it brick by brick, day by day. So if you’re interested in joining our little (but growing) club, either as an influencer, as a brand, or as a member of our team - please get in touch with me and we’ll talk! My email is: jim@relay.club - or feel free to reach me on WeChat at: jimfields
About9/8/2022, 7:42:54 AM
Full guide. Difference between social media platforms
Choosing the right social media platform for your influencer marketing campaigns can be frustrating.We know that and we are here for you!Watch this video to find out all the pros and cons of each platform or simply join relay.club and our team of experts will take care of your influencer marketing campaigns.
How To8/30/2022, 2:10:04 AM
How to predict the cost of influencer marketing
The cost of influencer marketing is a popular topic among marketers. Through influencer marketing, brands can promote their products and services in the most natural and organic way. It’s why this source of leads is not going to lose its hype. But creators’ fees vary a lot and making sure your brand gets a high ROI is top of mind. So, let’s dive in and find out what impacts influencer marketing prices. Factors that Determine Influencer Marketing Costs Unfortunately, unlike the traditional marketing channels and advertisement formats, influencer marketing cost is pretty hard to forecast. The reason is simple: there are a lot of factors that affect the price and in most cases, it depends on your goal and desired outcome. There are a lot of factors that affect the price and in most cases, it depends on your goal and desired outcome. But in this article, we will cover the key factors that affect the influencer marketing cost the most and build up the campaign price. Social Media Platform An influencer’s fee will differ depending on the platform you choose to promote your brand on. It takes time to write a script, film, and edit a video! That’s what makes YouTube influencers so expensive. And the fact that YouTube content is “evergreen” and stays there forever with all the links and brand information makes it even more valuable for brands in the long-term. Whereas Instagram and TikTok take less time and are based on a quick short-term hype that allows influencers to offer you a lower price on those platforms. …the fact that YouTube content is “evergreen” and stays there forever with all the links and brand information makes it even more valuable for brands in the long-term. Industry/ Niche The category you’re looking for to promote your product in means a lot for two reasons.The more popular the niche, the more influencers are in it, the less expensive their fees are. Simply because they have strong competition and if a brand is not satisfied with a fee an influencer charges they can easily find another cheaper option. For example, you can find millions of creators in fashion, food, lifestyle, and tech niches yet you might struggle promoting your brand or products in education, real estate or any B2B niches. Some niches are riskier than others. For example, if you’re promoting a financial product keep in mind that influencers you’re planning to work with take a risk promoting it and therefore they might be more expensive than, for example, fashion influencers who sometimes might even agree to a product exchange and you don’t have to pay them anything extra. There is another important factor to consider. Each social media platform has its key metric the influencer collab cost is built around. We’ll take a closer look in our next blog. Stay tuned!
About8/25/2022, 9:57:46 AM
What is a dedicated video?
Integrated and dedicated videos are two styles of video marketing in the influencer marketing space. Each has its place and significance, but knowing which one to use can be critical in ensuring the success of your influencer marketing campaign. Let's explore a dedicated video a bit more!
About8/17/2022, 3:39:19 AM
Gen Z & Millennials: How are they different, how are they the same?
In this week’s blog post we will explore how marketing to Gen Z and millennials differs and why understanding the distinction between the two groups is important. They have different spending habits, senses of humor, and lifestyles, and grew up in different eras, all of which impact how they respond to advertisements. In the present day, many brands have adopted a marketing strategy that targets Gen Zers because they are the youth of today and because they are the most tech-savvy generation to date. Gen Zers and millennials are two groups that are often conflated, especially by brands looking to sell products. It comes as no surprise as the line between millennials and Gen Z can sometimes be unclear or insignificant if clear. As a general rule of thumb, millennials refer to those people born between 1981 and somewhere between 1994-1996 depending on the source used. Gen Z refers to people born between 1996 (under most definitions) and 2012; so simply put, Gen Z can be and often are the children of millennials. Of course, these two generations grew up in different periods of history and had access to different levels of technology depending on how early or late they were born, but generally speaking, Gen Zers are who come to mind when you think about TikTok and Snapchat while millennials are those associated with Facebook. How exactly do these two generations compare and differ? Let us explore this! Purchasing BehaviorIt should come as no surprise that the spending habits of Gen Zers and millennials are different given the fact that they occupy different age brackets. The preferred social media apps for Gen Z (TikTok/Snapchat) and millennials (Facebook) also influence their spending habits.Millennials: Understanding these generations is critical to any marketing strategy because, and this may come as a surprise, they are the largest generation by pure numbers in history, even larger than the baby boomers two generations before them. This makes them a critical demographic to target because they also have more disposable income and subsequent purchasing power than Gen Zers who have not worked as long or at all. Millennials tend to value brand loyalty, that is, if they have a positive experience with a company they are more likely to become repeat customers, and conversely if they have a negative experience with a company they are less likely to purchase again.As opposed to Gen Zers who engage with social media on a daily basis, millennials tend to have a more touch-and-go relationship with social media apps, using them a few times a week rather than for hours on end each day. Because of this, they are also less likely to be devoted to the lifestyle or brand of any specific influencer, so influencer marketing does not have the same effect as it does on Gen Zers.Gen Z: We could spend an entire blog post writing about either millennials or Gen Zers, but especially Gen Zers because they are a generation unlike any other because they are the first generation to have been exposed to the internet throughout their entire lives. This has certainly impacted the way they make purchases and how they view brands and brand loyalty as a concept.…Gen Zers are the most likely generation to make purchases on social media apps…In fact, Gen Zers are the most likely generation to make purchases on social media apps, this is likely due to their comfort with and frequency of use of social media apps. It is no surprise that apps like Instagram, in targeting their Gen Z consumer base, have opened online shops where influencers and brands can sell directly to consumers—it falls in line with Gen Z spending habits.Gen Zers are often less loyal to one specific brand and are more likely to make purchases at companies they feel sell the best version of a particular product, this arrives in stark contrast to millennials who often value loyalty to a brand. Moreover, Gen Zers typically adopt an informed consumer mindset whereby they do targeted research into a brand’s business practices, looking into things such as the treatment of workers, the ethicality of material sources, price transparency, and sustainability. So it is important for all brands to work to be cognizant of topical social trends if they wish to garner the support of Gen Z shoppers. It is also not surprising that Gen Zers use social media very regularly, and as such cultivate opinions and learn from online influencers. So influencer marketing tends to be a very important aspect of reaching Gen Z because many of them look to social media to learn about the latest trends and new brands to watch. What does this all mean for you?If your goal is to market to millennials either through traditional means or via influencer marketing, you should prioritize long-term, genuine partnerships with influencers because, as previously mentioned, they are more likely to develop brand loyalty if they have repeated positive experiences with a brand. Because millennials tend to have more purchasing power, brands have a real opportunity to attract loyal customers who will purchase their products and services.If Gen Z is your target, then you will want to ensure that your brand is ethical (whatever that means for you), purpose-driven, and down-to-earth. A huge aspect of the way Gen Zers make purchases is if they feel that the brand truly cares about them and are not just out to make money. Earlier we mentioned that Gen Zers tend to use TikTok a lot—there is a reason for this. TikTok as an app is successful in large part because of Gen Zers, who value authenticity, rawness, and transparency. If they feel that a brand is too lofty or out of touch with reality, they will not be inclined to engage with the brand. A good influencer marketing campaign will target a mix of generations, so there are two things you can do to increase your likelihood of having your campaign resonate with different age demographics.Be authentic and true. Both Millennials and Gen Zers will appreciate your honest care for them and your bespoke approach to marketing. You should examine the way other successful brands go about marketing to these two age groups to see how authenticity plays out in their campaigns.Be consistent. If you want to attract long-lasting customers, being consistent in terms of quality, brand image, and values will be critical. Both millennials and Gen Zers can tell when a brand is just doing things for money, and you do NOT want that to be you. Wrapping it all upOverall, what we have explored in this blog post has shown us that millennials and Gen Z are two distinct generations that require somewhat different marketing strategies. When thinking about how Gen Z and millennials differ and compare to each other, it is always important that the core values of marketing, being true, selling quality products, being ethical, and being consistent are always paramount. We hope that this article helps you etch out a clear marketing strategy for these two age groups and that your influencer marketing campaigns are successful after taking more targeted steps to work with influencers and produce content for people of different ages.As always, this topic and many of the others we have spoken about in previous blog posts can be complex and there are certainly things that we did not have a chance to touch on in this post. If you have any other questions that are related to influencer marketing, always feel free to contact our team at relay.club and we will be happy to answer them! Until next time!
How To8/15/2022, 9:23:03 AM
How to negotiate with influencers? Full Guide.
Negotiating with influencers can be tiring and tricky but with this 5-step guide, you'll improve it dramatically!
How To8/10/2022, 4:50:18 AM
How to make influencer marketing sound authentic
Authenticity In The Influencer Marketing Space. Let's explore why it is essential to make your campaigns more authentic and have your genuineness shine through when you work with influencers and how to achieve this authenticity.Consumers nowadays are bombarded with ads. If one looks from their point of view, many consumers do not enjoy seeing ads all the time. Whether in the street, on a train, plane, surfing the web, watching a video, or anywhere else, people are always trying to sell things to consumers, and they naturally grow tired of this. One of the reasons people do not like ads is because they seem inauthentic and impersonal—this is why making your ads authentic is so important. If your campaigns stand out for their genuine sound and message, people will be much more likely to entertain your campaigns and ultimately purchase your products or services. Hence, sounding authentic is crucial because it builds consumer trust, increases brand loyalty, and sparks peoples' interest in your company.Now how does one achieve this authenticity? These tips will help you create genuine influencer campaigns. Tip 1: You Should Always Work with Influencers Who Align With Your Brand Image Whether you are a skincare company that values sustainability, a juice brand made for "new-age moms," a fitness company that does minimal advertising, or a coffee brand that sources locally - finding and working with influencers who reflect your brand ethos is critical. When engaging in campaigns, the right influencer will have a clear and well-represented voice. A company that values sustainability may want to find influencers who already make content about the subject matter. But deeper than this, the brand will want to discover influencers with an aesthetic similar to the brand. Overall, finding the correct influencer is vital, and you should not select an influencer just because they are in your niche but should also look further to see if they fit your brand's ethos. Tip 2: Don't Force It Once you have selected influencers who best represent your brand, you should give them creative freedom to make the type of content they feel comfortable with. As much as you want the influencer to sift into your brand's image, you also want them to retain their uniqueness and individuality. The audience can tell when the influencer is speaking in a style that is not typical of them for the sake of brand collaboration and will make your campaign feel inauthentic.The audience can tell when the influencer is speaking in a style that is not typical of them for the sake of brand collaboration and will make your campaign feel inauthentic. This stage or insincere-looking partnership can lead the audience to lessen their interaction with and purchase products from your brand. Assisting the influencer with specific keywords you would like them to sift into their review of the product is OK, and instructing them on which features you would like them to showcase is also OK. However, you want to avoid writing lengthy scripts for them to say or edit in a way that is not typical of their style, as the audience will notice, and the influencer may not accept the deal. Part of authenticity is a sense of ease and naturalness. Tip 3: Examine The Influencer's Past Collaborations An excellent way to see if an influencer does a good job of maintaining their brand image while working with a brand is to see how they have done it in the past. It is essential to understand that you should not look at a sponsored post's performance in terms of engagement to qualify whether the influencer performed well. Often sponsored ads do not perform as well as regular content. Instead, it would help to look at how the influencer speaks, acts, and engages with products in previous campaigns. A bit of research on the other brand's image and style may be helpful to judge it against the content the creator makes. You want to look for things like adherence to their traditional content style, furthering the brand's voice, how they present the product to the audience, and ultimately how you believe their collaboration with your company would look. You want to look for things like adherence to their traditional content style, furthering the brand's voice, how they present the product to the audience, and ultimately how you believe their collaboration with your company would look.A better vision of what you want from a partnership with an influencer will help you scan the landscape and reach out to influencers with a history of performing well when collaborating with brands. Tip 4: Don't Strive For Perfection More and more in the age of social media, people crave authentic, true-to-life content that reflects their lived experiences. Sometimes brands try to construct a version of their image that is perfect or untarnished, but this is not always necessary. When asking yourself how to make influencer marketing authentic, some honest slip-ups are OK in making the content more authentic and relatable. Maybe your product has a name that is difficult to pronounce, one of the ingredients is from a different language; the influencer accidentally spills your product in their video—all of these things can be OK! Mainly if the content creator already uses this style when making their other videos, some candid moments while using your product can be endearing and make the audience feel like your company is not too elevated or perfect. This technique can serve you well if used correctly! Wrapping it Up When asking how you can make your influencer marketing sound more authentic, the four points discussed in this blog post will be a reference when constructing an effective campaign. Sounding authentic is subjective, and that is why relay.club helps brands source creators who fit their brand image and will convey their voice. As always, relay.club is here to answer any questions about the topics we explored in this blog post or any other questions you may have about influencer marketing!
How To8/3/2022, 4:03:32 AM
How to Partner With Fitness Influencers
As society becomes more health-conscious with their food choices, exercise, and well-being choices, it is not surprising that fitness influencers have become beacons that people look to get inspiration and learn from on their health and wellness journeys. Learning how to partner with fitness influencers can be a great way to market your brand, particularly if your products or services naturally fit into the fitness and wellness niche. We will explore who these influencers are, why they should matter to you, and how you can collaborate with them most effectively. Who are fitness influencers?These influencers create content about exercise, dieting, and general well-being. Some big names that may come to mind are YouTubers Blogilates, Fitness Blender, Chris Heria, and Chloe Ting. These influencers use various techniques, including workout videos, diet plans, mental health resources, meditation, and other things to help their audiences reach their physical and mental health goals. They typically use innovative styles that are characteristic to their brand to craft a particular image or lifestyle that the audience engages with either peripherally or directly.They are essential today because many consider these influencers as role models for achieving a healthy lifestyle and maintaining general fitness. They use photos, videos, personalized training courses, diet plans, blog posts, and other mediums to promote their healthy lifestyles to their audiences, motivating and encouraging them along the way. Why should you care about them, and how can you partner with them?Fitness influencers undoubtedly have a prodigious impact on the general fitness community because they use innovative, popular techniques to promote wellness. Being physically and mentally fit has never been more on the tip of peoples’ tongues, so these influencers often have large audiences and can influence people readily. Hence, how can businesses and brands partner with these content creators? The following are tips on how to do so. 1. Send them products that fit their imageFitness influencers promote healthy and balanced lifestyles, or at least that is what they strive to do. Because of this, these influencers often promote products and services that reflect their brand on their social media channels. These can be services such as mental health counseling, therapy, massages, physical therapy, etc., or products like fresh foods, low-sugar alternatives to popular snacks, fitness clothes, and sneakers. When considering working with fitness influencers, you will want to ensure that your products fit their brand (and, of course, yours too)! Align your products or services with the influencer’s brand. Send these goods to them as a gift or a paid sponsorship. This process will be simple if you are a brand that naturally values wellness and health. However, suppose you are a brand that only sells products often thought unhealthy or harmful to the body or environment. In that case, it may be a much harder sell to the fitness influencer because they may feel that your products do not align with their values and personal image. 2. Have long-term partnerships with themFostering long-term relationships with fitness influencers is vital because their brand usually centers around a particular lifestyle. Audiences tend to prefer brands that naturally fit into the influencer’s everyday life, something they reasonably believe the influencer would use, and that the use of the product or service is not limited to the duration of the partnership. As the audiences of fitness influencers are often equally invested in the healthy lifestyle as the influencer, they need to see that the brands they promote or partner with are integral parts of their everyday life. Such a partnership makes them more likely to engage and use the product instead of one-off collaborations. Hence, if your brand promotes wellness, fitness, or exercise, you can consider sending many products to the content creator for review or use over time rather than a short-time partnership that may not benefit your company. Brand partnerships like Athletic Greens, a micronutrient powder company that uses primarily mid to long-term partnerships for its influencer marketing campaigns. People trust that the influencer genuinely enjoys the product and are therefore more inclined to purchase it themselves. Always remember that people are buying into a lifestyle, not just the influencer. 3. Videos are usually better than stillsIt is better to have the influencer produce videos for you than photos or blog posts because the audience can see the product or service in action. If you are marketing a blender, you will want to show how the blender works, its different modes, functions for different types of foods, noise level, and overall aesthetic value. These things are significantly more straightforward to do in video format than in still or written form. For this reason, videos are a better option when marketing to fitness influencers. Videos are often more engaging than photos or written words for people on the go, so this medium is much more enriching for the audience. If you are marketing a service, consider letting the influencer go to your massage parlor or have a session or two of physical therapy to give an honest, enriching review of their experience at your company. 4. Take advantage of global reach One of the interesting things about fitness influencers is that their reach tends to expand past geographic lines. The wellness trend has seen a global increase, so the audiences of these influencers often tend to be from many different parts of the world—because of this, marketing your products through fitness influencers affords you a unique ability to increase both your domestic and international celebrity. relay.club. KOL's insights You can consider having giveaways or partnerships with viewers in specific geographies. Maybe the influencer is based in the United States, but 35% of their audience watches from the Netherlands. You can try marketing your brand to the dutch audience in a concert with or independent from the American audience. This way, you can tap into a different market of people who may have different needs and lifestyles. Your brand has the potential to cross boundaries if you market it correctly and to the right influencers. relay.club has blog posts that go into more detail about how to find the right influencers for you. The information in those blog posts, along with this one, will help you form a more well-rounded, ecumenical influencer marketing strategy, particularly when it comes to working with fitness influencers. Wrapping it all upOverall, when thinking about how to partner with fitness influencers, do not overthink it! The process has its quirks, but it is similar to other forms of influencer marketing in that you want to be authentic to yourself and your brand, be honest with the influencer and have a genuine concern for their audience. As fitness influencers become increasingly popular, their reach will continue to increase, making them a great way to get your brand more well known and hopefully forge long-lasting relationships with influencers and their audiences.
About7/26/2022, 6:38:33 AM
Sophia Pederson: Co-founder of relay.club
Sophia, what was your background before relay.club?I was working with my business partner Jim Fields at Relay Video. There, we worked with China’s top tech and internet companies to make their IPO roadshow videos. Making these types of videos allowed us to be in the unique position to work directly with the CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, and other leaders of the companies during a very important time in the company’s history. It also gave us a window into how these major companies in China grew and became successful. Sophia Pederson, Co-founder of relay.club What made you start relay.club?We decided to start relay.club for two reasons:Many Chinese customers kept asking us for influencer marketing help in North America and Europe.My co-founder Jim had just started up his influencer channels on YouTube and Bilibili and we were getting all sorts of messy and disorganized messages from brands to sponsor our videos. We thought there must be a better way! And so, relay.club was born🙂 What’s your vision for relay.club?Our vision for relay.club is to be the best cross-border influencer marketing platform in the world.We provide value and real tangible results that move the needle in sales and branding to our customers.In the future, we will also build up our influencer side of the platform to share more opportunities and bring even greater value to creators. Influencer marketing has started growing actively 5-6 years ago and many platforms entered the market since then offering similar services. What sets relay.club apart?The global influencer marketing industry is growing year on year at a rate of 33% and is expected to reach a value of USD $143 billion by 2030. At the same time, China is supporting cross-border e-commerce companies, with even local governments in places like Zhejiang province having developed “Cross-border E-Commerce Experimental Zones”. Being American founders who deeply understand and have successfully worked with cross-border Chinese companies, relay.club has an unfair advantage to provide value to companies. Our advantage isn’t limited to China, but across emerging markets like India and SE Asia - that want to do cross-border business and to influencers wanting to work with these companies. How do you see relay.club growing over the years?relay.club will always be a customer and influencer first platform and so our growth will be fueled from insights we get and metrics we measure from these two groups. Any talents or interests you would like to share?Although I’m not strict about it, I’ve been trying to eat more plant-based/vegan. My favourite YouTube channel for recipes and everyday meals is Rainbow Plant Life I never knew a salad could be so tasty!!I’m also a pretty shy person. I much prefer to be behind the camera and keeping everything running smoothly and organized🙂 Why should anybody join the club?For influencers - relay.club offers to broaden your existing sponsorship pool by bringing in companies from different regions to pay you for the content you create.For customers - relay.club understands your needs and we offer a solution to help manage your influencer outreach campaigns.For investors - relay.club is growing fast and is going to take off like a rocket ship this year! Come on aboard while there’s still a chance! (am I allowed to say that? haha)
How To7/22/2022, 4:43:48 AM
How to increase your email open rate
We know it’s a struggle! This video shares tips and tricks for increasing an email opening rate when reaching out to KOLs. Or leave it for us and get in touch! Resources mentioned in the video:Spam words Power words
About7/21/2022, 7:50:59 AM
To create a fusion or be exclusive: an exploration of integrated and dedicated videos
Integration and dedication videos are two styles of video marketing in the influencer marketing space. Each has its place and significance, but knowing which one to use can be critical in ensuring the success of your influencer marketing campaign. We'll explore these two video formats to uncover which one is best for your brand or business. Integrated Videos These videos are where an influencer speaks about a brand's product or service but does not make the entire post or video about the brand. Influencers can place the branded content, a.k.a the ad, at the video's beginning, middle, or end. The branded portion could be anywhere from 60 to 120 seconds and is incorporated into the video's subject matter. For example, a creator making a video about photography, midway through the video, leads to the ad by saying, "I always enjoy using functional and simple scanners, and that brings me to the sponsor of this video, Epson. Epson is a brand that I enjoy using because of their scanners…". This style of ad placement is often very organic and does not feel contrived to the viewers, making them more likely to watch the ad. Many content creators and brands utilize integration in their ad campaigns because it is much easier to gain an audience for the video. So the strengths of integration lie in its universality, naturalness, and ease of implementation. The downside of integration is that viewers can skip the ad portion of the video as it only lasts for a short while. Dedicated Videos These videos are ones where an entire video is about a company or brand. These sorts of videos usually involve the creator showcasing the product or service in their video while giving feedback about their experience with it. Dedicated videos on YouTube usually come as unboxing videos where the creator unwraps the product and candidly gives their initial reviews to the viewers. Other forms of dedicated YouTube videos include reviews after the creator has used the product or service for some time. Dedicated videos are harder to gain views and can feel contrived, especially if the influencer has never spoken about the brand or similar products before the promotion. It is critical that for dedicated videos, brands allow influencers to give their honest opinion about the product rather than giving them a script to follow because their audience will be able to tell that they are not being honest. However, dedicated videos can be beneficial for your brand if they are done properly: giving influencers the autonomy to voice their opinion, making sure they are in your niche (a fashion brand, working with a science channel may not be the best idea), and possibly offering a discount code to their audience. These videos can be difficult to execute, but if done correctly, they can be vital for your influencer marketing campaigns. Choose the right format It comes down to your goals. For instance, dedicated videos can be a good choice if you want to increase your brand recognition and allow people to see a product they may not be aware of. Emerging brands typically need more exposure than well-established companies, so increasing your brand's reputation is important, and thus dedicated videos are usually a great choice. Dedicated videos can be a good choice if you want to increase your brand recognition and allow people to see a product they may not be aware of Large brands typically succeed more with integrated ads because many people are already familiar with the brand and business and, therefore, less inclined to watch videos about something they feel they already know about. You can look at the integrated video format as a reminder to the customers that your company is providing certain products or services. And maybe this promotion tips them towards purchasing your products over a competitor. It is important to remember that there is no fixed recipe or rule book for the use of these video formats for the success of your influencer marketing campaign. A good campaign may have a mix of both and depend on many other variables. Brands must understand these video formats and optimize their use based on their goals and targets. For brands that have not previously engaged in influencer marketing or need help navigating their next campaign, relay.club is here to be a resource. Feel free to contact us with any questions about topics we have discussed or anything influencer marketing related!
About7/18/2022, 9:11:53 AM
Story of relay club
Jim Fields and Sophia Pederson, founders of relay.club, sat down with angel investor network Epic Angels to share their story of building an online tool for influencer marketing. What does it take to connect innovative brands with influencers worldwide in one place? Listen to this podcast to find out. Join the club now! Request a demo
How To7/14/2022, 6:42:00 AM
Reach vs. Engagement: An Influencer Marketing Dilemma
Influencer's reach and engagement - if these two concepts sound the same, you are not alone. Often brands can mistake an influencer's engagement as equivalent to their reach and vice versa. We will dive into how to differentiate reach and engagement, appraise an influencer's audience accurately, and why doing this can be critical to ensuring success in influencer marketing campaigns.What is Reach? Reach is the total number of people who could potentially see influencers' posts. So, if an influencer has 500,000 followers, they have a maximum organic reach of 500,000. However, due to social media algorithms, the actual number of people that influencers reach organically is far smaller. Therefore, if a creator is said to have a large reach, it has a high number of followers, though the actual number of followers who see its content could be much lower.What is Engagement? Engagement is a bit more straightforward than reach; it is simply the summation of all interactions by followers on a given post by an influencer. So if an influencer receives 100 likes, 30 shares, and 50 comments on a piece of content, their total engagement on that post would be 180. At the same time, their engagement rate gauges how actively involved the audience, aka the followers, are with the influencer's posts or collaborations. The engagement rate is calculated by dividing the total engagement by the total number of followers and is usually spoken about in percentages. So an influencer who gets 950 likes, shares, and comments and has 10,000 followers would have an engagement rate of 9.5%. (950/10,000 x 100 = 9.5% - this is a great engagement rate, by the way!).The engagement rate is calculated by dividing the total engagement by the total number of followers and is usually spoken about in percentages.Notable also is that engagement exclusively denotes unique interactions with a given post. Those are interactions by different people—so one person sharing or commenting on a post 50 times does not increase the engagement rate by 50; rather, if the same person likes, comments, and shares a post, the engagement rate would increase by three. KOL's YouTube Insights. relay.club Different posts by the same creator can have similar or very different overall engagement rates depending on the time of day the content is posted, its quality, and relevance to the influencer's content. It may be helpful to understand what "good" engagement on different social media platforms looks like: TikTok: 3 - 9%Facebook: > 1%Twitter: 0.02 - 0.09%Instagram: 1 - 5%LinkedIn: 2-3% As we can see above, the overall engagement rate for a given influencer is usually an iota of their total following. Also, these are ideal numbers; the reality on these social media platforms can often be lower than these numbers.Why Does it Matter? Brands must understand that engagement and reach are not always linked. When determining if you should or should not work with a prospective key opinion leader (KOL), you should assess these metrics independently to inform your decision. As we at relay.club have spoken about in some of our other blog posts and videos, influencers with high followings are not always the best to work with, depending on the goals you have for your brand. Both engagement and reach have their respective application when engaging in influencer marketing, and both can benefit your brand, albeit in different ways. Influencers with high engagement rates often have more intimate relationships with their audiences. They are great individuals to work with if one of your goals is increasing brand loyalty with their audience. Perhaps you are a company that has not existed for long, but you want to attract and hold a consistent client base. Working with influencers who consistently have high engagement rates can be a great way to do this because often, the audiences of these influencers feel very connected and close to the influencer and, as such, tend to be less skeptical of the brands they work with and more willing to trust the ads that they post to their page. The followers are loyal to the influencer, and that loyalty can transfer to your brand as long as the followers feel that the influencers' content is in line with their image and content creation style. You are also likely to have a higher conversion rate with influencers with high engagement rates because these followers tend to not only trust the influencer more but also be more invested in a certain lifestyle they esteem the influencer for. Thus they are more inclined to purchase products that the influencer uses. It is also important to note that engagement rates are relative to an influencer's following, so an influencer with 10,000 followers with an engagement rate of 10% and one with 100,000 followers and an engagement rate of 1% may have the same amount of overall engagement. Still, the one with 10,000 followers has a rate 10x higher than the 100,000 follower influencer, which could mean that the audience of the smaller influencer is more engaged and able to drive a higher conversion rate. Reach also has its place in the influencer marketing realm as well. Influencers with large reaches often have the potential to have their ads viewed by more people. These influencers' audiences tend to be less intimately connected to the influencer, so converting clicks to sales can be more challenging. Still, in terms of increasing your brand recognition, influencers with large reaches have great significance. In a previous blog, we spoke about the difference between nano, micro, macro, and mega influencers; reach is indistinguishably linked to these titles because these influencers have different levels of reach. Working with larger influencers may be the right choice for you if you are more focused on making your brand known and less on actual sales. Brands like FashionNova adopted this strategy whereby early in their rollout, they sought large influencers to increase their brand recognition and allowed sales to trickle in afterward. Typically, your website traffic, clicks, and brand awareness will increase when you work with larger influencers because more people can see your products. The decision to work with influencers with high engagement vs. reach is a question of quality vs. quantity—is it important to have a lot of traffic but fewer sales, or less sales but more brand loyalty and consistency? This question you need to answer before you spend money on influencer marketing to ensure that your campaigns are in line with the vision you have for your brand, be it old or new.Wrapping it all up Overall, an influencer's reach and engagement rate can be critical factors when deciding which content creators to work with. You must have a clear vision for your brand and set realistic, attainable goals for each marketing campaign you engage in. As always, choose the influencer that best furthers your objectives, not just those with high follower counts (though, as we have explored here, they can also be a valuable part of your marketing tactic). We hope you are now more well-equipped to embark on your influencer marketing journey. Although we know the above information may not be easily digestible, especially if it is your first time learning about all of this. So that is why we are here to help! If anything we explored today is unclear, or you find yourself thinking, "ok, so who should I work with?" do not hesitate to connect with relay.club; we will be happy to answer all your questions! As always, we wish you the best on your influencer marketing campaigns!
Business7/8/2022, 2:16:53 AM
2 ways to ease your influencer marketing!
In this video, we are talking about two ways to make your influencer marketing easy, fast and hustle-free. Curious to learn more about each one? Join the club now! Request a demo
How To7/5/2022, 2:42:49 AM
How to build your influencer marketing strategy
In the digital age, all brands can benefit from a deep understanding of influencer marketing because the way consumers have made purchases has shifted dramatically. In addition, 9 out of 10 brands use influencer marketing as a significant portion of their campaign efforts, so it is critical in increasing your brand’s recognition and prominence. We will examine key factors of influencer marketing to help your brand along its journey.What is Influencer Marketing?Influencer marketing is the collaboration, cooperation, partnership, and advertisement marketing style whereby companies work with creators and key opinion leaders (KOLs) to have them market their products. For example, a multinational company sends products to an influencer in exchange for promotion through a blog, social media post, or video content. The idea is often, but not always, a review of the product or service and can involve the influencer receiving payment for the collaboration. TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook are popular platforms for brands to partner with influencers. It is crucial for all brands, both well-established and new ones, to have a deep understanding of influencer marketing to make good use of it, as it can be a critical way to market your products and services and increase your conversion rate. Why Should You Implement Influencer Marketing Campaigns in Your Brand? Influencer marketing can be a cost-effective way to share your products with the world, as studies show that, on average, influencer marketing campaigns have a value of $6 - $18 earned for every $1 spent. Thus your social media campaigns will likely yield high returns on investment (ROI) and increase your brand’s widespread publicity. Of course, who your products are being marketed to matters as much as what it is you are selling. Consumers are not the same and do not have similar spending habits, but typically brands find that the quality of customers who engage with their products via influencer marketing campaigns is higher than any other sort of marketing. For example, 51% of brands saw better results and better quality customers from influencer marketing campaigns compared to different campaign styles.Influencer marketing campaigns have a value of $6 - $18 earned for every $1 spentIt is apparent that influencer marketing produces high ROI and usually yields high conversion rates with high-quality customers, so the next question could be, “what is the best way to market my products via influencer campaigns”? According to research conducted by Tomoson, blogs have the highest ROI and are also the most impactful in the realm of influencer marketing. 37% of brands surveyed stated that blog posts yielded the best results for their marketing campaigns, and 25% said that Facebook yielded the best results. While Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram all had single-digit rates. This insight points to a preference among brands to work with bloggers and Facebook influencers since their products sell more on those platforms.Influencer marketing is a booming channel for selling products compared to email or search engine marketing. According to Tomoson, 22% of brands said that influencer marketing is the fastest-growing channel for companies to market products. It is a new wave in the marketing space, although it existed in its earliest form in 2006. However, full-fledged marketing of this type did not become popular until the mid-2010s. 22% of brands said that influencer marketing is the fastest-growing channel for companies to market productsSo, whether to incorporate influencer marketing into their strategy, brands and businesses should consider that it is an impactful, growing, cost-effective avenue to showcase products or services to the world and a great way to build rapport with their audiences. How to Build a Successful Influencer Marketing Strategy?Like any other marketing, influencer marketing should be approached carefully and tactfully to ensure successful campaigns and partnerships. However, there are a few things you can do to ensure success in your influencer marketing strategy and the longevity of your brand. Understanding InfluencersDifferent types of brands require different types of influencers. As a brand, you must figure out how your products fit into the social media landscape and the correct influencers for your campaigns. Some influencers occupy small niches or attract specific audiences that may be good, bad, or neutral for your brand, and you want to ensure that you are working with the best and most appropriate influencers. This process requires research, time, and planning. For example, do you choose a mega influencer with millions of followers, a nano influencer with 5,000 followers, or someone somewhere in between? What is your brand image, and how do this influencer’s content style and niche fit? These are some questions you can ask yourself when considering who to reach out to for partnerships—you always want to ensure it is the right fit for both parties. Knowing Your AudienceIt is always essential to know your customers and search for influencers likely to attract audiences that include existing and potential customers.You must know your audience to make meaningful strides in influencer marketing. Do ItOne of the only ways to see if your proposed social media marketing strategy will work is to partner with an influencer to see how it pans out. Measuring your key performance indicators (KPI) can be crucial to gauging a successful or unsuccessful campaign. For example, tracking how many people sign up for emails, buy products, increase in followers on your social media pages, traffic on your website, etc., can all be metrics you use to see how an influencer marketing campaign goes.
Business6/30/2022, 8:37:26 AM
5 reasons why KOLs decline your offer
Why do influencers turn down campaign opportunities from brands? Or why do some of them completely ignore offers? Several factors decide if a campaign will work out, from budget to schedule. Watch this video to find out what you might be doing wrong, or join relay.club, and we will take care of your influencer marketing campaigns.
How To6/30/2022, 8:38:16 AM
How to brief a KOL?
When working with KOLs, there is nothing worse than a confusing campaign with unclear deliverables, guidelines, and directions. We’ve seen it many times and know how to fix it. Watch our new video and turn your brief into an inspiring masterpiece! And remember, if you work with relay.club you don’t have to worry about anything; we take care of your influencer marketing from A to Z!
How To6/30/2022, 4:59:23 AM
From nano to mega: types of influencers
Different brands have different needs, which is true regarding how companies market themselves via influencer campaigns. Some influencers have huge followings, and others have relatively small amounts: is one better than another, and how can you decide which types of influencers are appropriate for your influencer marketing campaigns? We will explore different influencers in this article to inform you about which ones are best suited for your marketing needs.We will segment influencers into four categories: nano, micro, macro, and mega. Nano InfluencersThese are influencers with between 1,000 to 10,000 followers. You may not even consider accounts with this number of followers to fall into the "influencer" category. Still, you would be surprised to learn that these influencers can positively impact your brand, mainly when it is in its early stages, and money can be scarce. Nano influencers typically cultivate intimate, personal relationships with their audiences, fostering mutual trust and emotional investment. This engagement is essential for you and your brand because marketing your products and services with micro-influencers usually leads to higher conversion rates. As nano influencers' audience feels that the influencer is trustworthy, has their best interest at heart, and if they recommend a product, it is because they genuinely believe in it. Furthermore, having fewer followers, nano influencers are often cheaper for companies to partner with.Partnering with nano influencers includes a few challenges. For instance, a small overall reach limits the amount of recognition your brand receives. Also, influencers with a limited niche may be less willing to accept brand deals because they do not want to alienate their audience or make themselves appear as "sellouts". Hence, caution is needed when contacting nano influencers and figuring out how they fit into your influencer marketing strategy. Micro-InfluencersThese influencers have followings between 10,000 to 100,000 followers. These creators are an excellent middle ground between nano and macro-influencers. A sweet spot in influencer marketing campaigns, micro-influencers have larger audiences with whom they cultivate intimate relationships, so your brand receives the benefits of a potentially higher conversion rate on a larger scale than nano influencers. Micro-influencers are often more expensive than nano influencers because they have higher follower counts and tend to create content more consistently, making their prices higher for campaigns. Moreover, the notoriety your brand receives from working with a micro-influencer will still largely be limited to their followers and will usually not lead to an explosive increase in brand recognition. However, the conversion rate will often be relatively high.Macro-InfluencersThis territory is where we enter a larger arena with higher rewards on average. Macro-influencers have between 100,000 to 1,000,000 followers and command large audiences that expand beyond their native follower count. Depending on where the influencer falls on the spectrum, be it 125,000 or 950,000 followers, partnership costs can be relatively low to steep. Working with these creators will often yield a high ROI because their content reach is showcased in generally accessible pages across different social media platforms, such as the For You feed on TikTok, the Discover tab on Instagram, or the YouTube Recommended videos. These influencers usually have less intimate relationships with their audiences because of their sheer scale, but what they forego in intimacy, they make up for in numbers. Their engagement rate tends to be lower, but because their overall follower count is higher, it can often be an excellent choice to work with macro-influencers to increase your brand awareness and boost sales. The downside to working with micro-influencers is that they tend to be more expensive than micro and nano influencers. It can also be more difficult for the creator's audience to feel genuinely invested in the campaign if they feel your brand does not align with their content style or niche. So always be extra careful and do diligent research before partnering with a new macro influencer to ensure that your campaign fits their content style. Mega/Celebrity InfluencersThese are the world's Beyonces, Jen Ims, Bretman Rocks, and Rickey Thompsons. As these names imply, they are influencers with over a million followers and a global fan base. Working with them is expensive, especially for young businesses with limited resources. However, these influencers, famous for their talents and personalities, are often the most impactful when expediting your brand's recognition and growth. Of course, when working with influencers of this scale, you must pitch yourself well to them. To learn more about pitching, check out relay.club's video on that. Wrapping upOverall, you need to understand your goals for influencer marketing to have a successful marketing campaign, no matter how small or large the influencer is. If your goal is to convert clicks into sales, increase brand recognition, or mix, figuring this out will help you decide the influencer that best suits your marketing campaign.
How To6/26/2022, 12:22:12 PM
Why is influencer marketing such a big deal now?
The influencer market has experienced explosive growth! How did this happen? In this video, we’ll decode and explain four reasons why partnering with influencers has become a game-changer for brands. Join the club now! Request a demo
Helping maximize your influencer marketing ROI.
