Bob Van Rossum August 19, 2021 Today, top marketing executives and CMO recruiters know how important it is for companies to align their brand purpose with their product or service. The brand story should connect with your consumers, provide a vision for the future, and inspire positivity throughout your messaging. Your marketing strategy should be a reflection of what your company stands for.
One common marketing practice used by many top marketing executive leaders today is influencer marketing. The goal is to build trust and engagement through influencers and be able to directly connect with each individual on a personal level.
Unlike past usage of influencers, companies are now focused on making their brand be a mirrored image of the consumers themselves and represent the user’s values and ambitions. As a result, CMOs are restrategizing their usage of influencers to optimize their marketing strategies. Here is what the leading chief marketing officer executive search firm is seeing.
CMO Recruiters Highlight Specific Strategies to Incorporating Into Your Daily Operations When Finding Influencers:
Using More Micro-Influencers
When you think of influencers, it is commonly associated with celebrities or people who have millions of followers. While celebrities are still used for different purposes, chief marketing officer executive search firms are slowly seeing more organizations switch to micro-influencer.
According to research done by Later and Fohr, “micro-influencers, particularly those with fewer than 25,000 followers, have the highest engagement rates at around 7%.” Considering top marketing executives are only expecting to see an average of 2 – 3% engagement rate, this makes micro-influencers arguably the best choice.
Influencers provide a third-party perspective of your brand. What they say can and will influence the perception their followers have of your brand. This is especially true with smaller influencers.
Since micro-influencers have fewer followers, their audiences are often more engaged, drawing higher attention to brand collaborations. This in turn produces better sales-specific ROI and can stretch your influencer budget while gaining a deeper connection with the target audience.
Using Specialized Influencers
CMO recruiters are seeing more influencers carving out niches for themselves. They are focusing on sectors they are more knowledgeable and passionate about. As marketing executives, this is great news for you and your brand!
The search for these influencers on the other hand is a tad bit more complex. Due to their specialization, CMO recruiters are seeing influencers stop grouping themselves into one category. Some may market themselves as creators, bloggers, gamers, travelers, etc. The point is if you are looking for specialized influencers you need to use specific keywords to find the right candidate. What kind of blogger are you looking for? Are you more interested in travelers who only explore certain regions? The more narrow your search is, the better the results will be.
Using Diverse Influencers
Diversity has always been a huge topic for marketing executives. Having a diverse workforce gives your marketing department the necessary perspective to market more effectively. This is also true for influencer marketing.
Influencer marketing only works when they can relate and bond with their viewers. Having someone who shares the same values, culture, language, or beliefs is exactly what the audience needs and expects. The right influencer who can add reliability and authenticity can truly help a brand’s message breakthrough to the individual consumer.
Conclusion
Finding the right influencers is no easy task. CMO recruiters have seen the methods and ideas behind influencer marketing have changed drastically over the past few years. You need the right marketing leaders to help you determine which influencer is best for your company’s growth and vision. Fortunately, there are hundreds of influencers in almost every industry, covering a variety of topics and located in various locations. Don’t let this highly effective marketing tactic pass you by. Make sure you have a solid marketing team to optimize your marketing efforts.
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