As digital marketing methods continue to integrate closer with one another, new doors open for affiliates to promote themselves. One of these new opportunities is influencer marketing.
In 2019, revenue for influencer marketing in the affiliate sector grew by 9% year-on-year (Source: Awin). With this in mind, you won’t be surprised to hear that spending in this aspect is set to increase across the industry for 2020.
But how can you not just fit this into your digital marketing strategy, but also ensure a positive return on investment? Let’s dive deeper into the topic.
What is influencer marketing?
First of all, let’s clarify how influencer marketing – in a defined sense – differs to the social media version. Social media marketing refers to using your own accounts to promote yourself to your audience.
Influencer marketing, on the other hand, involves these individuals promoting you on their accounts. And instead of your message being broadcasted to your followers, it’s shared with theirs.
What are the benefits of influencer marketing for my business?
A big plus of utilising influencer marketing is that you’re able to reach the audience who grew up with these people. We are, of course, talking about Generation Z. According to Media Kix/ Forbes, 63% of this generation would prefer to see social media influencers in ads. However, much fewer (37%) would rather these be celebrities. Influencer marketing adds more of a personal touch, resulting in higher engagement.
Another benefit is that somebody has tested your service and shown themselves doing so. Thus, users are more likely to trust that what you do works. Your industry reputation will therefore grow, leading to a larger audience being built.
How can affiliates make the most of influencer marketing?
Let’s get the elephant out the room here and now – influencer marketing isn’t cheap. And with this considered, you need to ensure that you’re getting the best possible value from this channel.
One thing that’s worth considering, especially in the iGaming industry, is contacting micro-influencers. Speaking in a general sense, these are accounts with between 2,000 and 50,000 followers. They are often more niched than the bigger profiles, meaning that their audience’s interests will also be narrower. Thus, their engagement rates can be higher than bigger accounts much of the time.
But with the above in mind, you need to think carefully about messaging. If you were promoting content on your feed, it would need to be consistent with your channels. But you’re not, so you must ensure that your messaging is consistent with theirs. You need to know what their followers like and dislike, which you can find out by working closely with the influencer themself. And since this is true, you also need to choose who you work with wisely. If your values aren’t aligned, then both parties are wasting their time.
In terms of actual content, it pays to be open-minded when it comes to social media channels. Sure, Instagram is a popular influencer platform. But why not consider YouTube too? One benefit is that you’ll quickly build trust through audiences being able to see what you offer in action.
Final thoughts
Influencer marketing can form a valuable part of your broader, if it’s done properly. It enables you to reach an engaged audience with personalised content, in addition to bettering your industry reputation. However, a lot of thought is required beforehand. You need to collaborate with like-minded individuals, otherwise your messaging will be inconsistent with what their followers enjoy consuming. You also need to think about going beyond Instagram, since the likes of YouTube also pose potential opportunities. By planning accordingly and knowing what you want to portray, you can leverage this form of marketing to complement your native digital efforts.
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