Influencer Marketing is on the rise, with 152 791 South African influencers on Instagram alone. It has been a trend in America for many years now and South African Brands are only now catching up.

What is an influencer?

Influencers generally have a passion or niche and are content creators. Whether it be video, podcasts, blogs, or social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram. An influencer is someone who has a platform and has influence over a particular audience. They are often the bridge between brand and consumer. Having a large following was all the trend in years before which led to accounts using bots to gain more followers but Instagram developed a new algorithm to detect all that thus flushing out the fake users.

Successful influencers are authentic. They are leaders who have a voice! They are insightful and creative. Always looking for new trends and how to push forward. They are hard workers and passionate. They genuinely care about the brands they work with as they know it reflects on them as well.

Nano 1000-5000 followers

Micro 5000-10 000

Macro 15000 -50 000

A and B listers (celebrities) 50000+

Why should brands work with an influencer?

Consumers have become sceptical of generic ads. An influencer has the authority and has built trust with his or her audience. This works in the same way as word-of-mouth advertising. It is more effective and more cost-effective than other marketing campaigns. The engagement rate is the KPI (Key performance indicator) for influencers. It has been shown that working with nano and micro-influencers is more beneficial as their accounts have a higher engagement rate and therefore a higher KPI which generates leads. Leads turn into sales!

There is also the fact that blogging makes use of SEO (search engine optimization). Any mentions or links back to your site, increase your SEO and aid in building your brand.

Where to find an influencer

Odds are, you are already following an influencer so look to your followers on your account to see someone you would like to work with. Otherwise, there are a few sites such as Contra.com, Webfluential or influence.co.

Influencers should have a media kit and rate card and you can see if their stats are authentic by looking on sites like Ubersuggest 

Collaborations

 I was invited to join Lucille Divine and Brett Field to discuss The rise of the new media influencer. Video isn’t a space I am usually comfortable in. I am much more comfortable with writing. I was advised not to include this video as I am just awful, but I always speak about authenticity so I had to show the real here as well. This was my first live video interview. (The radio one was worse) haha. I am coming in as a newbie to all this and I learned a lot during this interview. Mainly how to face your fears head-on.

Influencer marketing offers a unique, creative and affordable option to marketing. Collaborations and partnerships with influencers can only enhance your brand and take your business to the next level!