Today with the influencer marketing being the new ‘it’ thing that every brand wants to get in on, there remain some factors that many marketers don’t always have a clear insight on. How exactly does this medium work? Can anyone figure out the Instagram algorithm? How do we exactly what we’re getting out of an influencer campaign?
Technology brings us clarity for many of these questions and it’s a key tool in optimizing any campaign.
Select Right, Target Better:
To make the right choice while selecting influencers, we need data. Software and tools, either created by a medium or third party, can collect information down to the minutest details. The better you know, the better you can reach out to your target audience, and this goes beyond mere demographics, tools collect niche information which helps create integrated strategies. This means more profitability for all stakeholders in the ecosystem -influencers, brands and audiences.
Social media has enabled consumer feedback like no other form of marketing, in my opinion.
Bringing Effective Experiences:
Our attention span today is very short, a social campaign will likely have just a few seconds within which to grab a consumer’s attention. Today we’re able to experience things both in the physical realm as well as the virtual. The metaverse or Web 3.0, AR, VR and AI are areas which are evolving as we speak, with great unexplored potential. This means that the kind of experiences brands curate for their audiences can be that much more engaging.
Measurement and Analysis
Superficial data like ‘number of followers’ or ‘number of views’ alone do not make the cut today. At one point, it was all about numbers, how many people had seen the campaign – the more the better. But then engagement became the buzzword, no one wanted plain old views anymore, insights into, region, demographics and how audiences were engaging with the brand message become a crucial indicator of success. Tech helps brands and influencers collect qualitative information required to analyse impact. This helps understand specifics of what worked and what did not, based on which future campaigns can be built. Besides monetary investment, ROI with an integrated focus on effort, input, and resources can be determined basis from which long-term strategies can be drawn.
The future: Tech elevates the industry
Tech in the form of tools, software, mediums and innovations has served in elevating the entire influencer marketing industry. There have been quite a few hits and some misses (remember Dubsmash?). Given the increasing size of the market and the value influencer marketing has in the marketing mix today, sophisticated tech is one of the best allies the industry can rely on to bring method to the madness.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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