[vc_row enable_container=”st3″ section_back_opt=”light-bg-2″ row_padding_top=”top-padding-30″ row_padding_bottom=”no-padding-bottom”][vc_column][xen_text text_style=”p-style-medium”]Influencers are without a doubt one of the most important factors to consider when it comes to growing a business. With the popularity of the internet and social media platforms, consumers tend to listen to influencers because there’s just so much choice for products and services that it can be hard to differentiate between the best and the worst. It’s unrealistic to expect consumers to try every product and service for themselves, so they turn to influencers who can offer suggestions.
When it comes to influencer marketing, there are two main branches to consider; automated influencer platforms and bespoke influencer marketing. However, we firmly believe that bespoke influencer marketing is the logical choice when it comes to expanding your brand presence, and here’s why.[/xen_text][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][xen_text text_style=”p-style-medium”]Gaining access to a wider selection of influencers
Unless your business is already well-integrated into the communities that surround your industry, it’s vital that you seek ways to network with figureheads that are part of those groups in order to reach an audience that is relevant to your business. This is one of the only reasons to partner with an automated influencer marketing platform; because they give you access to many smaller influencers. However, working with lesser-known influencers can be tricky as they likely don’t have much exposure and their audience might not be relevant to your intended consumer profile. As a result, it’s often better to choose a partnership with bespoke influencer marketing agencies instead.
Although you may have access to fewer overall influencers, their quality will be much higher and you’ll experience far more opportunities for future networking. Their audiences will be more active, their specialities will be more niche and suited to your industry if necessary and you’ll experience a much higher rate of lead generation. But even if you’re not picky about the quality of leads and simply want to grow your potential audience, working together with a bespoke influencer marketing agency can help you tailor your marketing and promotional materials so that you reach the widest audience possible while sticking to your financial constraints.[/xen_text][vc_empty_space height=”45px”][xen_text text_style=”p-style-medium”]Long-lasting results are important in the world of marketing
You may already know that establishing long-term relationships in business is the key to success. Short-term relationships are often not worth the investment despite their immediate results and what you’re looking for in marketing is long-term results that offer consistency. As such, automated influencer marketing platforms are not ideal because they do not establish a solid foundation on which to build your brand.
A common pitfall that marketers often fall into is relying too much on short-term results as opposed to long-term success. Rather than seek immediate results and chasing the tail of popular internet trends, establishing yourself as an organization with long-term goals will help you network with successful influencers who can provide you with a consistent stream of marketing exposure. Without establishing yourself as an organisation with long-term goals, you’ll quickly lose the faith of your customers. Long-term brand building is the goal for many companies and offering a lifetime of value to your consumers is a solid way to solidify your position in the industry.[/xen_text][vc_empty_space height=”45px”][xen_text text_style=”p-style-medium”]Aiming for quality over quantity
The often-mentioned advantage of automated influencer marketing platforms is that they offer scale. Unfortunately, this is a very common quantity-over-quality dilemma that often doesn’t work in favour of the business purchasing those services. The reality is that although you’ll be able to reach out to far more influencers on an automated platform, many of them could be low-quality relationships that ultimately do not promote your business and could even have the opposite effect.
When it comes to influencers, their reach is the most important factor to consider. Automated platforms often use a large number of influencers but they are not considered reliable due to their lack of reach and also their lack of focus. For example, if your industry is rooted in technology then working together with tech-focused influencers is a great way to reach your intended audience. This usually isn’t possible with automated influencer marketing platforms because of the lack of focus.
Instead, a bespoke influencer marketing agency will connect you with relevant businesses that can offer you more successful marketing opportunities. These relationships can lead to further opportunities to grow your brand and the reliability and reputation of those influencers will also be beneficial to your image. Maintaining these strong ties to influencers can be difficult especially for smaller businesses, hence why it’s so crucial to work together with a bespoke influencer marketing agency.[/xen_text][vc_empty_space height=”45px”][xen_text text_style=”p-style-medium”]Aiming for quality over quantity
The often-mentioned advantage of automated influencer marketing platforms is that they offer scale. Unfortunately, this is a very common quantity-over-quality dilemma that often doesn’t work in favour of the business purchasing those services. The reality is that although you’ll be able to reach out to far more influencers on an automated platform, many of them could be low-quality relationships that ultimately do not promote your business and could even have the opposite effect.
When it comes to influencers, their reach is the most important factor to consider. Automated platforms often use a large number of influencers but they are not considered reliable due to their lack of reach and also their lack of focus. For example, if your industry is rooted in technology then working together with tech-focused influencers is a great way to reach your intended audience. This usually isn’t possible with automated influencer marketing platforms because of the lack of focus.
Instead, a bespoke influencer marketing agency will connect you with relevant businesses that can offer you more successful marketing opportunities. These relationships can lead to further opportunities to grow your brand and the reliability and reputation of those influencers will also be beneficial to your image. Maintaining these strong ties to influencers can be difficult especially for smaller businesses, hence why it’s so crucial to work together with a bespoke influencer marketing agency.[/xen_text][vc_empty_space height=”45px”][xen_text text_style=”p-style-medium”]Tailoring your marketing to each social media platform
An important consideration during any promotional campaign is picking the right social media platforms to focus on. Ideally, you’ll want to pick the social media platforms that are best suited for your products and the communities that you want to advertise to. However, each platform has its own influencers and own way of communicating a message effectively. This makes it vital that you take a more proactive approach to influencer marketing and tailor each of your promotional campaigns to each social media platform.
An automated influencer marketing platform tends to do the minimum required in this case. For instance, they might scale your images or change hashtags and tags, but they won’t necessarily change the entire marketing approach to suit the platform being used. In contrast, a bespoke influencer marketing agency will approach it in a systematic way, tailoring each element of your promotional campaign to ensure maximum visibility and conversion rates. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn, a bespoke influencer marketing agency will have the tools and experience necessary to help you choose the right platforms to target based on your budget and goals.
If you lack marketing focus then your budget will be spread too thinly and your promotional campaigns won’t be as convincing or effective. Spreading your resources thinly doesn’t work most of the time and it’s far better to focus on an effective influencer marketing campaign on social media platforms that are relevant to your business.[/xen_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
