Influencer and Marketing Campaigns on Social Media: Which Platforms to Use and When
As important as the quality of campaign content is, choosing
the right social channel to run your influencer or other marketing campaign is
even more critical. Posting the "right" content on the wrong social
network is just as frustrating for the users who'll see it as it is for the
brand or company that posts it. Great content from influencers isn't all that
"great" if it seems out of place and leads to a negative reaction
from a social network's users.
Being smart about choosing a social network (or a few) for a
campaign comes down to knowing your company or brand (and goals) and
understanding the network (and what makes it unique).
Setting some measurable goals for your influencer marketing
campaign is up to you, but here's what we've learned in the 250+ campaigns
we've run with brands and influencers on social networks.
Facebook
The biggest in the biz, Facebook has many native tools to
provide you with campaign analytics. If you're looking to track app installs or
purchases, Facebook is the best channel. With a sophisticated newsfeed
algorithm, Facebook is also a great choice if a brand wants to target its
message to a highly specific demographic. Location, age, gender, language,
interests, behaviors... if there's a group at that Venn diagram intersection
you're trying to reach, Facebook can help.
Because Facebook owns Instagram, it's hard to talk about one
without the other. Running a concurrent campaign on Facebook and Instagram is
helpful because you can quickly see which campaign posts are performing well
organically on Instagram and then use Facebook's previously mentioned targeting
capabilities to boost its presence in users' News Feeds.
Content that performs well on Instagram is likely to perform
well on Facebook, and even more so if you give it the leg-up of putting a
targeted boost (i.e., ad buy) behind it. In short, Instagram can be used as the
test for what content to highlight on Facebook.
Pro tips
Keep promoted post copy short, and use visual content to
draw users into your full message. A long caption may get cut off after a
"Read more" fold, but an image/video is always visible.
Stay on-top of new native tools and use them early:
Facebook's algorithm tends to bump posts that use newly launched tools to the
top of users' timelines, such as when Facebook Live launched.
Instagram
If you're looking for highly talented creatives posting
quality content, look no further than Instagram. The goal with Instagram
content is to be a "thumbstopper"—content so good it grabs users'
attention and halts their scrolling through their feed.
Instagram influencers have built a following based on the
quality of their content, and they would bring that same drive to a brand's
campaign—delivering content their followers will appreciate while still
communicating a brand message.
Beyond getting them to post for your campaign, activating
Instagram influencers is a great way to build a bank of high-quality content
that you can use across any number of your own channels, from billboards to
tweets.
Despite the addition of a Facebook-like, non-chronological
algorithm in 2016, Instagram Influencers are still enjoying high organic
engagement. Instagram is also a great place to build brand affinity.
Influencers are less likely to post content that looks like an "ad,"
and overall the tone of followers' comments skews positive.
On top of all that, the recent addition of Instagram Stories
brings another layer of engagement between influencers and followers, and a
space where influencers can share "behind the scenes" or "slice
of life" content that's more casual than the content on their formal feed.
Pro tip
Higher engagement on a post means being preferred by
Instagram's algorithm and being seen by more users. By default, Instagram
preloads videos as users scroll their feeds. Use a native tool like Boomerang
to create a short, looping video that will play as users scroll—thus drawing
their eye, increasing your engagement, and boosting the post up other users'
feeds.
Pinterest
With a user base that's 68% female and an average household
income of $100,000+, it's no surprise Pinterest is the most shoppable of all
the networks covered here. Beauty, home, fashion, kitchen, and food brands
would do well to spend time and money on a Pinterest campaign.
As with every social network, Pinterest has its own stars
with massive followings, who should definitely factor into a brand marketing
campaign. In addition, Pinterest recently added the ability to promote pins,
which can be used the same way a brand can use Facebook to boost content that's
performing well.
Pro tip
Pinterest users love content that teaches or inspires, and
they love to repin that content, potentially spreading your brand message for
you. Focus on activating Pinterest influencers known for creating content such
as recipes, home DIY projects, and inspiration boards.
Snapchat
Are you an established brand looking to shift perception
about your product or engage with a younger audience? Big brands that already
have an identity in the public's collective consciousness should be looking to
Snapchat to run campaigns, and reinvigorate what may be perceived as a stale
image.
They can use Snapchat influencers or native Snapchat
features, such as branded filters, to reach younger consumers who might not be
aware of the brand.
Who isn't Snapchat great for? Startups. As it stands,
Snapchat can't deliver on tracking downloads or signups, and companies can't
link outside the app. Also, maintaining the "always on" nature of a
Snapchat presence could quickly become burdensome to a small team.
Pro tip
Create a custom Snapchat geofilter that ties in with an
upcoming popular community/cultural event that makes sense with your brand. If
the geofilter is creative and engaging enough, you have a built-in audience
ready to share event memories overlaid with your brand's message. Also, having
influencers attend and promote the geofilter at the event will add value to
your marketing dollars.
YouTube
For cosmetics, food, or lifestyle brands, YouTube is a
perfect place to put products in the hands of YouTube influencers—for a makeup
tutorial, haul video, recipe walkthrough, etc.
Notable YouTubers have devoted, specialized audiences who
look forward to daily video drops from influencers and trust their expertise
and advice. That's also the reason it's especially crucial to only partner with
YouTubers who have honest, believable connections to your brand and product...
because hell hath no fury like a YouTube commenter scorned.
Pro tips
If a campaign's primary goal is building positive brand
affinity with a mass audience, be aware that YouTube comments are also one of
the drawbacks of the platform; they can get nasty, out of nowhere, quickly.
There's no right video length for your influencer marketing
campaign on YouTube. Combine some short videos with longer formats so you can
cater to everyone's attention span (and repost the shorter videos on other
networks).
The most important things to remember when you're planning a
social media campaign are "who" your brand is and what your goals
are. That's the only way you can move on to properly match your campaign and
the social platform to run it on. For example:
- Though Snapchat may be buzzy in all the trade publications, if you're a startup looking to increase downloads of your new app you're only going to be frustrated if you spend all your budget and time on a Snapchat campaign.
- If you're a big brand looking to reintroduce yourselves to teenagers, Facebook might not be the best first step for you.
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