Social Media Influencer Marketing: How to Work With Instagram Influencers to Grow Your Brand

January 2, 2020 by

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

 

Social Media Influencer Marketing

 

Grow your business and audience by working with social media influencers.

Want to gain visibility in front of millions of Instagram users? Consider influencer marketing in your integrated marketing communications strategy.

WHAT IS INFLUENCER MARKETING?

Influencer marketing is the process of being influenced on social media marketing platforms and digital channels by key opinion leaders, Internet celebrities, and brand leaders.  Many brands choose to partner with influencers to sway public opinion and the behavior of their target audience on social media.

What is a Social Media Influencer?

According to Amazon, “An influencer is anyone who has a meaningful social media following. Influencers across any category can participate in this program. Currently, you must have a YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook account to qualify.”

How can influencer marketing help brands and corporations?

Influencer marketing can help brands:

  • Reach a target audience they may not have access to
  • Build a larger following on social media platforms
  • Increase trust for your brand on digital channels
  • Grow your audience and social media presence
  • Increase qualified sales and website traffic

A social media influencer has the power to sway opinions and impact the purchasing behavior of others in a specific target area and demographic. The more specific and targeted the clout, the more influence they have through social media marketing. An influencer’s job is to try new experiences, activities, products, and foods, etc., and let others know about them through their unique lens.

Consumers trust the opinions of influencers and are more likely to try these experiences and activities that the influencer deems “cool” and worthy of checking out.

Influencer marketing also relies heavily on visual content marketing to “show” an experience as a way to sell it. Influencers can “influence” through organic product placement, Instagram takeovers, Instagram Live video content, Instagram stories or static branded Instagram feed posts.

Influencers build and earn trust with their audience. Brands partner and broker deals with these influencers to leverage that trust that has already been organically built.  You can pay influencers for sponsored posts, or work with an influencer marketing agency that specializes in brokering these deals for you.

When to use influencer marketing for your business 

Before we get started with how to work with influencers, it is important to identify if influencers are right for you in the first place. In order to do that, you must answer the following question:

Who really influences your customers?

This is the most important question to ask. Simply put: what influences your customers to buy from you? In B2B, the answer to this question is vastly different than B2C or B2B2C constructs. Think about the last time you were hired. How did that client hear about you, and what influenced their decision to choose you vs. your competitors?

There is a difference between being an influencer, being influential, and having influence. In B2B, the people who hire me have usually been referred to me by other executives who are influential in their network. The buying decisions are made from large trusted closed entrepreneur circles of executives. In fact, I don’t think I have ever been hired by a cold lead who landed on my website or saw an Instagram post.

When you are dealing with high ticket items in B2B like agency services, the path to profitability is not linear. To effectively reach your audience, you have to identify who the people are who can impact your referral source and pipeline.

THE HISTORY OF SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER MARKETING

How We Evolved from Bloggers to Micro-influencers

Traditionally, consumers relied on journalists to review experiences, try new food and products and let us know their opinions.  With the rise of social media reviews, consumers are becoming increasingly more dependent on influencers to decide where to go, what to buy, and what to do.

The trend of influencer marketing originally started with bloggers and has now headed in the direction of “micro-influencers.” Many influencers today don’t even have a blog. All of their content resides within their social media platforms. This is both a blessing and a curse. If they get deplatformed, demonetized, or banned, they risk losing everything.

The evolution from long-form blogging to short-form influencer marketing has to do with shorter attention spans, the rise of visual marketing, and how people want to consume content. Today, influencers have to show what they are doing or selling instead of writing about it.

Influencers become popular because people began to trust third-party endorsements from Public Relations rather than traditional advertising. There is a difference between saying “Check me out, I am great,” vs. “Check her out, she is great.” Consumers want recommendations from people they know and trust and influencer marketing provides that. If they feel like they have a digital relationship with influencers, and the influencer puts their stamp of approval on something, consumers are often more likely to trust the endorsement.

How did we get here and where are we headed?

Instagram’s influencer culture led to the rise of a new class of content creators who monetized their content and built successful careers based on their social media presence.

Instagram is known for a focus on visually appealing content. Instagram influencers invest in high-quality DSLR cameras, studio lighting, and video editing software to create polished and professional-looking social media posts.

But the culture and aesthetics of Instagram is rapidly changing. Here’s why..

READ: Is the Curated Instagram Aesthetic dead?

Instagram is no longer an exclusive platform for the wealthy and famous.

We have seen Instagram creators fake living a wealthy lifestyle “for the gram,” when in reality, they were staging photoshoots and renting props to make their life appear far more glamorous than it ever was.

The Difference Between a Blogger and an Influencer

What is the difference between a blogger and a social media influencer?

Bloggers write on a website through traditional means, while influencers “influence” through social media channels such as Instagram feed posts or Instagram Stories. Bloggers typically spend more time on long-form content creation, whereas influencers devote more time to visual content creation and less time on the writing of the content around it. Whether you are dealing with a blogger or an Instagram influencer, it is always important to avoid falling for brand ambassador social media scams on Instagram.

There is a difference between wanting to be an influencer and wanting to influence public opinion.

There is a difference between amplification and influencing. 

Social media influencer niches 

How to identify B2B influencers in your audience.

What are the current best social media influencer niches for potential new social media influencers?

There is an endless array of options for social media influencer niches. From SaaS influencers to Crypto influencers, it is important to identify the right group of people and key opinion leaders that your target audience follows. The best social media influencer niche is the one that your clients actively follow.

Simply put, who influences their opinion?

There is a difference between a B2C influencer and a trade influencer. For example, in medicine, Dr. Mike is considered a medical influencer, but among his peers, an academic may be considered more of an influencer. Trade influencers are not the same as consumer influencers within a niche. Often, the consumer-facing influencers face backlash from industry trade professionals on the advice they dole out to the public on behalf of their profession. 

How to find Instagram influencers in your niche

There are paid SaaS tools that will help you find influencers in your niche. As the decentralized web expands, Instagram will be replaced with new decentralized options that give more power to content creators. Expand your search to other platforms to find business influencers in your niche.

WORKING WITH SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS

How a Social Media Influencer Can Help Your Business 

Influencers have flooded social media with an overflow of content that businesses find hard to navigate. 

Influencers can help tap into new markets in your target audience that you otherwise may have had to spend more money to reach. While influencer marketing should not be your entire marketing campaign, it should be an important component in the PESO model of an integrated marketing communications plan.  However, it is imperative to note that influencer marketing is only one component of your marketing campaign. It cannot replace an entire communications plan and should be complemented by other forms of traditional public relations, advertising, social media marketing, and content marketing.

Many U.S. based brands have had success with influencer marketing, while others encountered challenges along the way. Running a successful influencer marketing campaign means doing your due diligence before enlisting a brand ambassador to represent your business. 

What You Gain From Working With a Social Media Influencer

You may be wondering why you should have to pay a social media influencer to promote your business. After all, you are already providing them with complementary services or products to review, so why should you have to pay a fee beyond comped services? In addition to reviewing your product or service, social media influencers are providing you with content that you can reuse for other purposes to market your business.

Additionally, an influencer’s job isn’t as simple as posting something on social media and is often more complex than you may realize. Here is a behind-the-scenes look at what social media influencers do to make sure your business gets the most out of a sponsored post or social media endorsement.

What is a Social Media influencer and what do they do?

Social Media Influencers:

  • Find and vet relevant social media-worthy opportunities
  • Coordinate the actual photos of the experience either on their own or by hiring outside photographers
  • Research new angles on the same topics to see how their post and images can gain more visibility and “likes.”
  • Choose the right photo for the post
  • Conduct Hashtag and tagging research to increase post visibility and proper sponsored post tagging
  • Write an engaging caption to draw interest
  • Make sure the photo looks aesthetically pleasing with the rest of their feed
  • Execute sponsored posts complying with brand guidelines without appearing overly staged or promotional
  • View social media post statistics and engagement metrics to see what content is performing better

HOW TO WORK WITH SOCIAL MEDIA INSTAGRAM INFLUENCERS

Grow your brand by leveraging influencers on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube

If you are thinking about working with a social media influencer to promote your brand or product, here are five things to keep in mind before engaging them:

Influencers and Brands

Before investing in influencer marketing….

  1. Vet the influencer. Many social media influencers tout their inflated follower counts to show that they have a higher following than they actually do. Check to see if their followers are real or just bots. One way to do this is to look at the ratio of followers to the number of likes and comments. Check to see if the comments are organic or spam that could have been bought through a third-party app or platform.
  2. Ask to see the influencer’s media kit. Vetting an influencer doesn’t just stop at how many followers they have. You also want to vet the previous work they have done with other brands. Ask for their current media kit as well as any success metrics for previous campaigns they have worked on with brands. Also, review the social media channels of companies they have done influencer marketing work with as possible referral sources and to look at the final branded posts.
  3. Do your research. Where do their primary followers reside? For example, if you are a hyper-local business, do you want to engage with an influencer who has a national or international platform? While the influencer can build great buzz about your product or company and get new followers for you, it will not be profitable if none of the followers are actually in your market. Sometimes, it is better to engage an influencer with a smaller following if those followers convert to profitable customers in your region than to work with a large influencer who has followers that will only lead to vanity metrics. “Likes” do not necessarily equal new customers and profitability. Understand the difference before engaging an influencer.
  4. Get it in writing. Make sure you are protected by having them sign an influencer marketing contract.  Carefully outline what is expected of the influencer. For example, do they have final control over creative or do you? How long will the post stay up after it has gone live? Are you supplying copy for the post or will the influencer? Will the influencer allow your logo or text on their post or do they want visual marketing with no overlay? Are they okay with your branding or can the branding be used only if it is natively embedded in the image in an organic format? All details should be worked out before the project begins.
  5. Outline creative control. One of the scariest parts of working with an influencer is the lack of creative control. The influencer will be sharing their review of your product — what they like (and don’t like!) about the product to remain authentic. Additionally, the influencer will have their own branding aesthetic which may not match the branding aesthetic you envisioned in the final post. For example, if you are looking for an influencer to post product shots but they post photos of them with the product instead, you may be disappointed. It is important to understand the level of control you will have over the final post and its aesthetic. If you want to have final control, specify it in writing. Most influencers want to show their followers how the product fits in with their lifestyle, which may be different than how you or your CMO envisions the post. Have open lines of communication with the influencer before you agree to a deal.

How can you get on the radar of an influencer?

There are several ways that local business owners can collaborate with regional influencers to get on their radar.

  1. Follow and engage with local influencers on social media: By following Westchester County influencers on social media and engaging with their content, you gain try to get on their radar. If the influencer likes your content, they can amplify your message and increase your reach. Liking, commenting, and sharing posts can help your business gain more visibility and influence if you get on the influencers radar.
  2. Attend virtual events and participate in the creator economy: Influencers often host events, Instagram lives, Twitter Spaces, and gated content in subscriber only communities to connect with their fans. If all other options fail, you can consider subscribing to an influencer to make sure they see your message. Twitter just launched a new Subscription feature for creators, so by getting in on the action early, you are sure to appear at the top of their feed.

Influencer Marketing Software & Tools

What is the best platform for influencer marketing?

To run an influencer marketing campaign, you need tools to keep track of high-performing influencers to collaborate with. Track data, optimize outreach with AI automation and measure campaign performance with an influencer marketing martech tool stack.

SHOP Ruby Media Group’s agency Tech Stack

Influencer Marketing Checklist

✓    Is their branding similar to yours?

✓    Does the influencer have devoted followers?

✓    Is their content high-quality?

✓    Are their captions well written?

✓    Are their followers engaged with their content?

✓    Are their followers aligned with your target audience?

Key Takeaways

✓    Just because an influencer has a small following does not mean they are not worth looking at.

✓    Likes do not equal engagement.

✓    Influencers typically want to control how your product is shared creatively.

✓    Influencers have their own branding aesthetic that may not match yours.

✓    Let the influencer see how the product fits into their lifestyle.

✓    Audiences will respond better to authentic and organic content creation.

✓    Make sure the influencer’s followers are in your target market.

✓    Consider an influencer’s engagement rate, quality of followers, and other brands they have worked with.

✓    Appropriately tag branded content on Instagram as “paid sponsorship” posts.

✓    An influencer’s loyalty will always be to their audience first.

Does influencer marketing work?

Is influencer marketing effective for B2B Marketing?

The answer to this depends on the business goals of your brand. Influencer marketing can work if you are specific with who you are trying to reach and have done extensive work on audience segmentation. From our experience, we have seen influencer marketing campaigns work well with local hotels, beauty products, food and beverage products, and low ticket products that can immediately be purchased through Instagram.

Retargetting is essential to a digital marketing campaign that incorporates social media influencers to keep someone in your pipeline for a longer period of time before they convert.

That being said, we have seen influencer marketing be less effective in the B2B space. LinkedIn is more effective for B2B, and there is a new brand of LinkedIn influencers that can directly impact your revenue. We believe that LinkedIn is a more valuable space than Instagram for B2B Marketing.

READ: Avoid the Top B2B Marketing Mistakes.

Instagram influencers are more valuable for B2C. While there are many agencies that specialize in only influencer marketing, it is not a well-rounded campaign approach that encompasses other traditional strategies. Influencer marketing is a tactic. Unless you are a brand with a big ad budget, your entire budget should not be spent solely on influencer marketing. Make sure you properly allocate resources. Influencer marketing is only one sliver of the entire marketing communications pie.

INFLUENCER PR OUTREACH FAQ

What is an influencer marketing PR program?

An influencer marketing public relations program integrates traditional PR with social media to reach a new audience through targeted outreach on social platforms.

Startups and entrepreneurs are interested in utilizing Influencer Marketing in PR campaigns.

The critical questions in a PR campaign also apply to the influencers you work with and should be used as part of the criteria and selection process when you are vetting potential B2B influencers.

  • How do you create a story that captivates your target audience?
  • How do you build buzz on limited resources?

Where can influencers connect with brands?

Influencers can connect with brands in 3 ways:

  1. Creating relationships with PR agencies.
  2. Directly connecting with brands on social media.
  3. Leveraging influencer/ brand software to express an interest in working together.

How do you become a PR influencer?

There is a difference between being an influencer in PR and using PR to become influential. A PR influencer is someone who influences the public relations industry, whereas a general social media influencer is someone who has influence in a niche vertical and uses PR tactics to obtain a level of influence.

How do bloggers and influencers make money?

Bloggers make money with paid ads, affiliate links, and sponsored content.

How do bloggers and influencers get their news?

Many bloggers get their news from PR firms and from being on a PR distribution list.

Where do bloggers and influencers get their images?

Bloggers often get their images from PR firms directly. When a blogger is sent an image from a PR firm, it often includes usage rights.

How to get on PR lists as a blogger or influencer.

If you want to be added to a distribution list of a PR agency, just ask.

What does being on a PR list mean?

Being on a PR list means you have access to news, exclusive interviews, and product review opportunities. Not every blogger is PR friendly, so you will want to find the ones who are open to collaborating with PR firms. Typically, you can find this on the about us page where it will say ‘PR friendly’ or open to collaborations/ product reviews.

PR lists include access to:

  • Campaign collaborations
  • Brand ambassador programs
  • Affiliate Programs
  • Product Reviews
  • Special giveaways

To be added to PR lists, you can also use PR software which includes a fully searchable PR database to add your contact information.

READ: Blogger Outreach Tips

The end-to-end scope of monetization. 

Can you become your own media company and compete against other publishers? 

Monetization is not only how much a content creator can make off of their content. It also entails how much a platform can make off of a creator’s content when sold to third-party advertisers.  

There is a large discrepancy between the revenue content creators make on social media and what social media platforms make off of those content creators. 

The Future of Influencer Marketing

What is the future of the influencer marketing industry in B2B marketing? 

In the future, every person with an Instagram or other popular social media account will see that they, too, can become influencers. So, if you can’t afford to hire an influencer, consider your sphere of influence. Anyone can be an influencer; you just have to be willing to put in the work. Once you realize that you can be an influencer, you will recognize the power of your brand on digital platforms. The key is to define your niche and target audience and stick to it.

For additional information on influencer marketing, check out the article Ruby Media Group CEO Kris Ruby was interviewed in called “Becoming an Influencer: A Look at the Emergence of the Influencer”

Do brands have a duty of care towards the influencers they work with?

Yes. Our in-depth article on cancel culture and brand management covers this.

RECAP: 

  1. Research Instagram influencers and make sure they are the right fit for your brand.
  2. Influencer Marketing Rates. Not sure how much to pay an influencer? Follow this Instagram account for tips.
  3. Review influencer takeover stats. If one does well, you might want to invite them back for a continuing series.
  4. To look up influencers in your geographic region on Instagram, use the appropriate hashtags and see who gets the highest engagement in the comment section.
  5. Offer exclusive content to those who participate in your influencer marketing giveaways, contests, and social media promotions.

RISKS AND REWARDS OF INFLUENCER MARKETING

What are the risks of being an influencer?

Becoming an influencer starts with knowing who you want to influence and why you are the best person to be influential to that audience. Just because you want to be an influencer, doesn’t mean you should be one, or that you are the best person to influence others.

Too often, people focus on the output- followers, like count, brand deals, instead of what it takes to get there, and how that will influence your life. The decision to become an influencer isn’t one to be taken lightly.

Influence comes with added legal costs, exposure, liability, and risks. If you are risk-averse, think carefully before making this decision. Disappearing from the Internet is not as easy as you think, and once you make this decision to become an influencer it is very hard to go back.

Simply put, your life will never be the same again. Life in the public eye is not the same as life in private.

We fail an entire generation by not educating them on the inherent risks and responsibilities that come with the power to influence others. Being a social media influencer can take a tremendous toll on your mental health, and can also lead to social media harassment as well.

DISADVANTAGES OF INFLUENCER MARKETING:

What is the danger of becoming an influencer?

CONS

  • Reputational Risks
  • Added professional liability risks (cost of insurance)
  • Legal risks (slander/defamation/libel)
  • Exposure to public scrutiny/ scandal
  • Loss of privacy
  • Ethical conflicts of interests
  • Put your family in the public eye (even if they don’t want to be) which makes them a target
  • Amplification of PR problems & increase in crisis PR

Rise of ‘Deinfluencers’ in Influencer Era: The Ultimate Guide to The Latest TikTok Trend

Thinking about collaborating with a deinfluencer? Not so fast.

Deinfluencers are a potential threat to traditional influencers. Here’s why…

Deinfluencers, a new group of social media influencers who reject the culture of consumerism, are gaining ground and shaping consumer trends at a faster pace than traditional influencers.

READ: Deinfluencing Movement: Traditional social media influencers lose ground

Read our latest article to learn about the rise of deinfluencers and their growing influence on the market.

Is influencer marketing paid media?

Yes, influencer marking is a form of paid media and must strictly adhere to influencer marketing regulations. Failure to do this can result in hefty fines.

READ: SEC Charges Kim Kardashian for Unlawfully Touting Crypto Security

When influencer marketing goes wrong

“The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Kim Kardashian for touting on social media a crypto asset security offered and sold by EthereumMax without disclosing the payment she received for the promotion. Kardashian agreed to settle the charges, pay $1.26 million in penalties, disgorgement, and interest, and cooperate with the Commission’s ongoing investigation.The SEC’s order finds that Kardashian failed to disclose that she was paid $250,000 to publish a post on her Instagram account about EMAX tokens.”

Kim Kardashian Influencer Marketing Regulations

INFLUENCER MARKETING RESOURCES

Want to read other helpful articles on influencer marketing? Check out our resource section below.

The FTC’s Endorsement Guides 

Integrating influencers in Public Relations Healthcare Strategies 

FTC Disclosures for Social Media Influencers

PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICES | NYC | B2B INFLUENCER MARKETING AGENCY 

Influencer Marketing in Public Relations Campaigns

Ruby Media Group (RMG) understands the challenges business owners are faced with in today’s digital age. RMG is a Westchester County, NY public relations firm with a proven track record of delivering social media marketing business results.

Are you ready to talk about influencer marketing for your Crypto business? 

Ruby Media Group helps brands move the needle with influencer marketing campaigns.

RMG can:

  • Manage ongoing influencer relationships on your behalf and with our proprietary tool stack 
  • Discover new influencers by specific cities/states/countries, audience demographic and 50+ other filters
  • Automate content reporting and ROI measurement
  • Conduct social listening research on your competitors 

Stop wasting time setting up influencer deals that bring your business irrelevant traffic with absolutely no benefits.

From tastemakers to influencers, we know how to line up partners that lead to business conversions, referrals, and new opportunities. Do you need help obtaining social proof from crypto influencers as part of your PR strategy?

Does your marketing team have a social media and influencer strategy that needs improvement?

Get started today outsourcing your PR. 

MEDIA

KABC Radio: Social Media Influencers and Hotels

CNN:Forget the Influencers. Here Come The Deinfluencers 

ABOUT RUBY MEDIA GROUP | B2B INFLUENCER MARKETING & PR AGENCY

Ruby Media Group specializes in B2B influencer marketing. We connect brands with business influencers and key opinion leaders who influence public opinion on enterprise software, products, and services. We also work with executives who are looking to exert influence on LinkedIn with potential customers, shareholders, and stakeholders. Every vertical has business influencers. We know how to reach them and have established relationships with them, specifically in SEO, SaaS, Content Marketing, Media & Healthcare.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kris Ruby is the CEO of Ruby Media Group, an award-winning Public Relations and social media marketing agency that helps companies leverage the power of content marketing to increase exposure. Ruby is a sought-after digital strategist and consultant who delivers high-impact social media training programs for Executives. Over the past decade, Ruby has consulted with small to large scale businesses including Equinox and IHG Hotels to name a few. Ruby has led the social media strategy for Fortune 500 Companies as well as private medical practices. She is a seasoned social media strategist with 15+ years building successful brands. 

Date last updated: October 2023

*This post may contain an affiliate link

LEGAL DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT NOTICE:

You do not have the authorization to screenshot, reproduce or post anything on this article without written authorization. This article is protected by U.S. copyright law. You do not have permission to reproduce the contents in this article in any form whatsoever without authorization from the author, Kris Ruby. All content on this website is owned by Ruby Media Group Inc. © Content may not be reproduced in any form without Ruby Media Group’s written consent.  Ruby Media Group Inc. will file a formal DMCA Takedown notice if any copy has been lifted from this website. This site is protected by Copyscape.

No Generative AI Training Use 

Ruby Media Group Inc. reserves the rights to this work and any other entity, corporation, or model has no rights to reproduce and/or otherwise use the Work (including text and images on this website) in any manner for purposes of training artificial intelligence technologies to generate text, including without limitation, technologies that are capable of generating works in the same style or genre as the Work. You do not have the right to sublicense others to reproduce and/or otherwise use the Work in any manner for purposes of training artificial intelligence technologies to generate derivative text for a model without the permission of Ruby Media Group. If a corporation scrapes or uses this content for a derivative model, RMG will take full legal action against the entity for copyright violation and unlicensed usage.