When you want to set up an influencer marketing campaign as a brand, it is important to think about the reward for the content creators you will work with.
More than 74% of consumers rely on social media inspiration before making a purchase. Influencers play an important role in this. Influencers can help you achieve your goals in many ways. Which type of campaign best fits your strategy? In this article, we'll talk about two different types of campaigns: product and ambassador campaigns, including their pros and cons.
Product Campagnes
By product campaigns we mean campaigns in which you provide the influencers with the product or service that is dedicated to the campaign, also called barter + campaign. For example, consider a campaign to introduce a new lipstick line that you send influencers to try out, which they can then keep.
Financial Campagnes
With paid campaigns, influencers also receive financial compensation in addition to the story that can be told. For example, look at a campaign for a yoghurt brand, where the influencers were reimbursed €100 in exchange for content in which the yoghurt was consumed. Or a combination of both the product such as a pair of shoes and €75 compensation.
Benefits of Paid Campaigns
I. The influencer feels fairly compensated and also wants to return equivalent content
When you pay influencers a realistic fee in exchange for creating content, the influencer feels valued and gets the feeling that the work is worth it. Influencers invest a lot of time and energy in creating unique content for your brand, especially after you select them from the many applications. By paying them for the effort, you show that you appreciate the influencer and their contribution.
II. Influencers are a true media channel, just like TV, offline advertising and any other form of digital advertising. Influencer marketing may be a new channel or form of advertising, but in reality, the concept has been around for a long time. Media and technology change over time.
III. Word of mouth is key
Collaborating with influencers can have huge benefits for your brand. For example, customers you have acquired through word of mouth have a 37% higher retention rate. Paying the influencer creates a stronger partnership, which could mean a higher ROI. If the influencer feels that they have been treated fairly, they will also be able to better represent your brand.
Disadvantages of Paid Campaigns
I. Results are not guaranteed
While it has been shown that working with influencers is beneficial for brands, this does not mean that the desired results are guaranteed to be achieved. Because there is a relatively high risk, your brand may end up paying an influencer, but not “winning” anything. To prevent this, it is important to do preliminary research and select an influencer based on a good match with your brand and your target group. Also be honest when determining the amount of the compensation to avoid spending more than what you can get out of the collaboration or determine in advance whether it is worth the investment. After all, when creating brand awareness you do not only pay for the financial result.
II. The collaboration does not come across as authentic
With more and more influencers collaborating with brands, consumers are starting to like the content created. So be careful about how the influencer promotes your brand. If it doesn't seem authentic, it doesn't resonate with their followers and it looks like the influencer has been bribed.
Before entering into a collaboration, have a good sense of where the influencer is going, what their goals are and what they care about. This way you can guarantee the authenticity of your campaign. And check which brands the influencer has already worked with in the past. If they work with many different brands, your brand can get lost in the mix.
The tree diagram below can help you determine whether a product or ambassador campaign better fits your goal and what you want to achieve, such as brand awareness or product launch and campaign properties. As a brand, you naturally have the success of your campaign in your own hands and you are free to shape the campaign however you want. There can always be other factors, such as a limited campaign budget, that may make you opt for a product or ambassador campaign.
For example, we often see that influencers with more than 10,000 followers have personally set a standard fee for an Instagram post compared to nano influencers. Influencers with less than 5,000 followers are more likely to participate in campaigns so that they can grow more themselves. The advantage of micro and macro influencers is that they also have the swipe-up function.
If you are going to look at deploying multiple types of assignments on different social media channels, you demand more time and work from the influencers. The same goes for video content. For the extra time and effort that influencers put into creating this type of content, you can consider offering financial compensation.
You can also consider financial compensation for long-term collaborations where you request content over a longer period of time. There is a good chance that you will choose to close the influencer during this period so as not to collaborate with competitors. As a result, they lose a source of income.
And finally, for products with a value of less than €25, it is recommended to link a financial compensation to the campaign. There is a very good chance that influencers will forgo the campaign if the work and effort they put in are disproportionate to what they get in return.
A product deal, on the other hand, is beneficial if your product does have a higher value. Think, for example, of a pram or clothing set worth a few hundred euros.
When you ask less of the influencers, a barter deal campaign is often sufficient. A campaign with only Instagram stories costs less time and effort for the influencer in comparison with a feed post, but this can still yield very nice content and results.