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Influencer engagement campaigns – why it pays to pay

It’s no secret that over the last five years consumer trust in brand-driven advertising has started to wane. Brands are reacting to consumers’ preference for authentic, trusted opinions of individuals and influencers over and above the voice of the brand itself, and as such social media influencer campaigns on platforms such as Instagram have increased in popularity. Yet, as with any ‘new’ form of marketing there is still a lot of debate, from the type of influencer to work with, to whether to pay them or not, and where in the marketing mix this type of activity sits.

The traditional ‘influencer’ approach has been to target celebrities and enlist them to promote a brand’s product, campaign or service on their channels – where there’s almost always some form of payment involved. This approach is still widely used in the industry, but it’s expensive and is based on the ‘one size fits all’ belief that bigger is better. The flaw in this theory is that whilst these names have followers in spades they lack high-quality engagement.

Late last year we started working with Takumi - an app that is designed to revolutionise the way brands build relationships and engage with a different kind of influencer: the micro-influencer. Unlike celebrities with millions of followers, these influencers have anywhere between 1,000 and 100K followers. The reason for targeting them is simple.

Takumi analysed over 500,000 Instagram accounts for engagement levels and saw engagement drop from around 4.5% on accounts with between 1,000 and 4,000 followers to just 1.7% on accounts with over 100K followers – those typically held by celebrities. This identified a ‘sweet spot’ of influence – people who have influence beyond their circle of family and friends but still retain high levels of interaction with their followers, which is an extremely important factor when it comes to influencer marketing.

However, for many brands this micro-influencer approach represents a completely different way of working and not everyone has rushed to embrace it. Most interestingly, many PRs and marketers are not used to paying for these micro-influencers, however engaged they may be, to post about their products or services. They fail to see the value and often believe that free product is enough compensation for a post.

But there’s a need to see things differently. This new kind of influencer goes further than product placement – they are content creators. Whilst they may be working alongside a brand on a campaign, they ultimately have final say, like a journalist would, on what they create and publish.

A recent report quotes Nick Blunden, global MD of The Economist as saying: “they don’t just take on broad information, they DJ with it. They remix it and send it out.” Indeed, they don’t just relay information but interpret it, adapt it and then share it in their own editorial style. Their Instagram feed is their brand which they need to protect so, although they’re being paid, they feel a sense of ownership towards their channel and their followers and retain complete control over the content they produce for brands.

These people aren’t amateurs. They are professionals and they need to be valued as such. Sceptics happily pay a celebrity to endorse a product, so it begs the question why they don’t apply the same logic to smaller influencers. It’s about respect and recognition for the art that goes into creating a successful feed and beautiful photography.

Other marketers believe that, as it’s paid-for, this kind of activity should fall under the remit of a media-buying agency or ad agency. Yes, the landscape is changing and the lines are blurred but ultimately this kind of coverage, although paid-for, is genuine third party endorsement and should fall under the remit of PR. We’re all guilty of being a bit territorial when it comes to certain disciplines, but we need to avoid pigeon-holing ourselves and adapt.

Payment doesn’t have to be expensive – a small and contained influencer campaign can be conducted from about £2,000, but it’s the only thing that will guarantee quality. Social media influencers, in particular micro-influencers, are professionals who take time and care to create, craft and curate posts about brands. They need to be rewarded as such.

Click here for more information about Takumi