Top influencers are helping businesses set themselves apart by creating content
By Billy Hawkins | Photos by Our Globetrotting
Social media influencers are helping businesses change the marketing scene and doing it fast. Marketing a business is hard and comes at an extremely high cost. Navigating and expanding into new markets has become extremely difficult as well. However, social media apps such as Instagram, Twitter and the ever popular TikTok, have made it extremely easy for businesses of all sizes to reach new markets with the help of influencers.
Now social media is nothing new, but with the birth of Mark Zuckerberg’s “Metaverse” on the horizon, we can anticipate changes coming. Zuckerberg described the Metaverse as “an embodied internet that you’re inside of rather than just looking at.” These changes to social media and the internet will force businesses and influencers into a world of marketing that no one has ever seen before. Savvy influencers and businesses are taking notice and preparing.
Growing with Influence
Social media is full of influencers that are capitalizing on assisting businesses grow of all sizes. An influencer can assist businesses in a multitude of ways and can be as cost effective as needed. Why? Because owners are now able to reach out to influencers directly without having to have an advertising company do it on their behalf. This allows businesses to quickly adapt to changes while building direct relationships with influencers who are growing. As social media and marketing changes, so will the influencer. It’s important now to build relationships with businesses and other influencers in preparation for major growth.
What Success Looks like
An example of success can be seen in the partnership from several different brands and the niche they operate in. One such example can be seen with the relatively small businesses of Vessel Bags and Our Globetrotting. Both companies primarily operate within the fashion and travel industries. Both Vessel Bags and Our Globetrotting partnered early on to gain success and prepare for changes by creating a partnership. Both have now grown their social media presence as partners resulting in Vessel Bags having elite athletes such as Tiger Woods and Stephen Curry using their products. While Our Globetrotting has enjoyed partnering with major hotel and fashion brands such as Four Seasons Resorts and clothing line Revolve.
With a few strategic partnerships, influencers and businesses can dominate their niche and create amazing campaigns that support growth from all angles. These partnerships provide all involved the ability to raise brand awareness, build potential clients and prepare for future growth into new markets.
Finding a Partnership
Finding an influencer is extremely important from both sides. Influencers that care about their brand will and should be picky on who to partner with. This means a business owner should be as well. Connecting with influencers can be natural as meeting them in person or simply reaching out on one of their social media platforms. It’s not uncommon for influencers to have several requests, so it’s important to find someone who is in the same industry. The focus should not be on the number of followers but rather focus on finding a partner with a high engagement rate with their followers. The higher the engagement rate, the higher percentage of people who will see the partnership.
It’s important to start slow and build a healthy and lasting relationship where all involved can grow. This allows for a better understanding of expectations while allowing each partner to analyze performance. Inevitably, everything changes and at some point, so will social media and marketing. It’s important to start thinking ahead and outlining a strategic plan to grow with change. Brands are seeing the importance of finding quality partnerships with influencers of all levels. Now is the time to begin preparing for change, build connections and grow relationships. If not, businesses and influencers alike risk being left behind.