Influencer Marketing: Leveraging Industry Experts for Brand Promotion

Since the early 2010s, the increase in influencer marketing has become second nature to most active social media users. #Ad and #Sponsored are hashtags that come across feed posts and videos combined, especially withĀ over 64 million influencersĀ on Instagram alone in 2023. With additional influencers across Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and additional sites such as Amazon, all people working part-time or full-time in 2023 areĀ estimated to be a part of a $21.1 billion Influencer Marketing industry.

Influencer Marketing

The Return on Investment (ROI) of Influencer Marketing is higher because of one key element- trust. The audience that follows an influencer typically already trusts the influencer or creator. Utilizing smaller influencers, such as nano-influencers (1K-10K followers) and micro-influencers (10K-100K), is an additional benefit as their audiences tend to be more specified.Ā 

With smaller influencers, their audiences are more specific and can end up slightly out of targeting that may already be used for paid social media-based marketing. By partnering with a face they already know and trust, your brand can move into a new target market and expand your client base. Additionally, influencers can be anyone who influences the buying choices of people. This means that they can be industry experts who have gained the trust of other individual bloggers and content creators who have gained respect within their industry of choice through hours of content created.

Influencer marketing has joined the forefront of the marketing field when it comes specifically to promoting businesses that focus on products in the fashion industry, home decor, and personal expression. The utilization of influencers is a strength because not only are items such as clothing, books, and decor shown on screen, but when the products are used in content, that shows how a product can be used. Their viewers can be turned into a client for the business as they now have a better idea of how the product can bring added value into their own lives.

Compensation for Influencers

Gone are the days when brands could ask influencers to talk about the brand without compensation. Working with brands, while considered an honor to newer influencers, bigger-sized influencers know that their time and platforms are worth much more than just listing working with a company on their resume.Ā 

Payment can be determined by the influencer’s brand kit, based on content creation, number of posts, and other factors within the marketing deal with the influencer, but budgeting within your brand’s budget on what forms of compensation will be utilized. Overall, payment breaks intoĀ 1 of 4 categoriesĀ for Influencer Marketing.

While some brands will choose multiple categories, the split of what brands will offer the talent who works with them can split from being offered free products to monetary compensation and can even include influencer trips, such as when companies like Shein, a discounted fast-fashion website, flew influencers out to see their factories and working conditions with all expenses were covered by the company. But not all marketing needs to be to this level of extravagance to get your marketing across from a trusted internet persona.

Implementing influencer marketing into your business’s marketing plan can feel overwhelming. There can be so many questions running through your head, such as:

  • What level of influencer makes the most sense to pair up with?
  • How many influencers should I be partnering with?
  • How much of my marketing budget should go to programmatic ads, paid social, and influencer marketing?
  • Do I need all the different forms of marketing? Or will a couple work better over all of them?
  • What is the best way to compensate any influencers I partner with?

If all of these questions and more are running around in your mind, it’s time to partner with The AD Leaf Marketing Firm. Our specialists cover all the different forms of marketing and can help explain which options fit your business the best. FromĀ marketing successfully for small businessesĀ toĀ mastering your PPC ads, there is a knowledgeable specialist who can assist with all your business needs at The AD Leaf. If you’re ready to put roots in that will grow your business to the next level, The AD Leaf Marketing Firm is ready to nurture your business with you.Ā 

Social Media Interaction Best Practices

Social Media Interaction & Response Guide Best Practices

As your social media following grows, your various platforms will generate leads. The engaging and valuable content you share online will pique their interest, prompting them to learn more about your products and services. Social media communication differs from oral communication because you can’t gauge clients’ emotions through their voices. It also differs from email communication, as it’s typically more formal and less direct. A staggeringĀ 82%Ā of adults in the United States admit to consulting online customer reviews before making their initial purchase, with 40% stating that they always or almost always rely on reviews when buying products online. This highlights the significant role that reviews play in shaping consumer decisions. Here are some key tips to remember when engaging with customers publicly or privately on social media:

Utilizing the Proper Tone on Social Media:Ā 

In the digital era, the age-old adage “the customer is always right” holds truer than ever. A single unsatisfactory Direct Message (DM) can go viral and damage a company’s reputation irreparably. Once something is posted online, it becomes nearly impossible to remove it completely. Even if you delete a post, there’s no telling how many people have screenshotted, copied, and shared it, ready to use it against you in the future. To mitigate these risks, keeping social media interactions concise and swiftly transitioning conversations away from the public eye is crucial.

Do’s and Don’ts when engaging with Social Media:

Do’s:

It’s crucial to consistently follow up with your customers to ensure you have effectively addressed their questions or concerns. This demonstrates your commitment to retaining them as valued customers and your genuine concern for their needs. Moreover, it conveys your genuine interest in engaging with them and fostering meaningful interactions.

Prepare a template for various scenarios to enhance response time while investigating issues. Having a pre-determined response for predictable problems like late arrivals, damaged items, or incorrect shipments allows you to acknowledge the customer promptly and gain additional time to find a resolution. This approach ensures efficient communication while ensuring that the problem is addressed effectively.

Empathy is crucial. We’ve all experienced poor service at some point, so it’s important to understand how a customer might feel. When customers come to complain, they often share the backstory of why the product they ordered is important and how its delay or defects have affected them. If you encounter a customer like this, try putting yourself in their shoes and consider what you would want to hear to feel better about the situation.

Don’ts:

It is crucial to always respect a customer, particularly if they have repeatedly attempted to contact you. Ignoring them may only motivate them to share negative reviews about your business, which could discourage potential clients. If multiple customers find themselves in similar situations and unite, it could harm your online reputation.

It is important to avoid becoming emotional or overly prideful when dealing with customers. While it is true that customers can sometimes be misinformed or even wrong, it is crucial to remember that a business relies on satisfied customers to thrive. Just one dissatisfied customer has the potential to tarnish the reputation of the entire business. Therefore, setting aside personal pride or anger and genuinely addressing a customer’s frustrations is essential. This is particularly important when engaging with customers publicly, outside of direct messages.

It is advisable to refrain from directly contradicting or engaging in back-and-forth customer exchanges, particularly on public platforms like social media. Engaging in such interactions often leads to a negative perception of the brand, even if the brand is technically correct. Customers tend to side with each other, especially if they have had similar experiences. Mistakes are bound to happen; they are an inherent part of life. Occasionally, customers may accuse you of actions beyond your control. This is why it is crucial to maintain detailed records and documentation to present to customers in case they need clarification. With this evidence, if a customer attempts to damage your reputation, you can publicly share the facts to demonstrate the honesty and integrity of your business. While an angry customer may persist in arguing, they will ultimately lose a battle against reason and logic.

Why the AD Leaf?

We specialize in developing comprehensiveĀ social media strategiesĀ that boost your online visibility and drive traffic to your website. Our dedicated team collaborates with you to identify your target audience and create engaging content tailored to their interests. We also assist in monitoring and responding to customer feedback, ensuring meaningful engagement with your audience.

Our Social Media Marketing Services are flexible and scalable, catering to businesses of all sizes and budgets. Whether you’re just starting or aiming to elevate your social media presence, we’re here to help you succeed. Don’t hesitate!Ā Get in touch with The AD Leaf Ā®Ā today to discover more about our social media marketing services and how we can propel your online business growth. Call us at 321-255-0900 orĀ visit our website to schedule an appointment.

Helpful Practices for Getting Started with Social Media in Business

Helpful Practices for Getting Started with Social Media in Business

Social Media can be tricky to start, especially when optimizing a new page, content, and engagement. Businesses can leave out minor details that matter the most, such as color schemes, fonts, styles, branding, etc. How you showcase your social media is as important as choosing your logo. Social media could be the first impression on your consumersā€™ for your business and/or products. These helpful, quick, and easy guidelines will help you expand your social media reach and create the ideal branding for your business.

Find your Look

Most consumers donā€™t consider all the elements that go into making content or ads; neuromarketing is everywhere and can influence your consumer decisions, regardless of whether you recognize it. Companies from Google to Cheetos utilize neuromarketing; we overlook the slight details companies have included to sway our behaviors a certain way.Ā 

After selecting the appropriate platforms for your business, creating a theme and branding would be a great idea. Logos, fonts, and colors play a significant role in making your brand look uniform and consistent. Figuring out which colors, fonts, and templates to avoid is a great starting point to help narrow the image you want to create for your brand. When creating content, stick to the fonts and color schemes chosen, donā€™t change them, or it will appear chaotic and confusing for your consumers.

Optimizing your Platforms

After completing how you want your brand to look, optimizing your platforms with all of the necessary information for your consumers is crucial. Information such as your contact information includes all your socials platforms, website, hours, address, etc. Whenever you finish your branding, you want to upload it to your social media via your logo and/or cover photo. Optimizing your social platforms with all this information is essential for the consumer to have at their fingertips for convenience.Ā 

Post Strategically

Helpful Practices for Getting Started with Social Media in BusinessThe final step in getting ready for social media is posting and scheduling content for your platforms to share. Content on social platforms is going to look slightly different from one another; for example, Facebook captions will contain links and more information than a regular post, whereas Instagram cannot have links in their captions, so the information is in a graphic or linked in the bio. Twitter captions should be short and sweet due to their character limitations, and Pinterest should have graphics with more information in them.

When you post throughout the week is vital. Posting new content three to four times a week to ensure frequent engagement. Sprout Social gives you the best times and days to post for specific platforms regarding your business industry. For example, ā€œRetail: Wednesday (3 p.m.) and Friday (11 a.m. – 12 p.m.) Media and entertainment: Friday (9 a.m.) Technology: Wednesday (6 a.m. and 9 a.m.).ā€

From creating a page to posting graphics and captions, social media can still be tricky, even with these guidelines. Social media is a way to tell them about your business and why they should pick your business over someone elseā€™s. Every detail contributes to your consumer saying, ā€œIā€™ll take it!ā€Ā 

At The AD Leaf, we have the basics in our roots; having grown to be certified professionals in our respective areas, we are a fantastic choice for all your video needs!