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The Place of Micro Influencers in Influencer Marketing

Posted on by Yoeri Callebaut

Influencer marketing is a powerhouse in content marketing today. Influencers have become the surest way to get the publicity and exposure your brand needs. However, when people think about influencer marketing, they envisage the involvement of a popular influencer who has millions of followers on various social media platforms. This isn’t always the case as influencer marketing happens on various levels. In today’s article, we would discuss one of the tires on which influencer marketing happens: the micro-influencer level. We would explore the place of micro Influencing in the marketing industry, how it works, and its future in the industry.

What is a Micro-Influencer and Why Should You Care?

What is a Micro-Influencer and Why Should You Care.

A Micro Influencer is a person who has a small but highly engaged social media following. This usually ranges between 1’000 to 100’000 followers on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc. Micro Influencers can also be extended with Mid-Tier Influencers, in which case the follower range for Micro would be from 10-50k and for Mid-Tier from 50-250k. However, the numbers may vary depending on the channel and the country. Micro-influencers are considered to be more connected as they have a following with which they have a more personal connection (See also our article “In Influencer Marketing Bigger isn’t Always Better“). Most times, these influencers have followers that are usually within particular demographics which makes it easier for brands to use them in reaching specific demographics. Brands usually collaborate with micro-influencers with sponsored posts, product reviews, and other forms of influencer marketing. This can be an effective way to reach a highly engaged audience and build brand awareness.

The Power of Micro-Influencers: How They’re Changing the Game

When influencer marketing started, the norm was to approach mega influencers who had millions of followers so they could help with publicity, marketing, and advertising. This method was the norm as it looked tenable to reach more people through this method. However, there has been a shift in recent years. The micro-influencer is gradually changing the way the influencer game works. Before now, using the mega influencer was the most effective method. But now the micro-influencer is bringing something to the table that the mega-influencers usually lack. It is the advantage of targeted, highly specific demography. 

Micro-influencers are usually narrowed down towards one niche/demography or the other. They offer brands the opportunity to target particular niches and demographics. While it is true that the mega influencers have their place and importance, the micro-influencer equally has an essential position in the game. Their niche-based audience is easier to engage and is also more loyal as these micro-influencers are seen as authority figures in their respective niches.

There are many stories of brands that have successfully reached their target audience, increased sales, and also become more popular by working with micro-influencers. Let’s look at some case studies: 

Ochsner Shoes

One of the success stories is that of Ochsner Shoes. Through the help of Kingfluencers, they were able to work with micro-influencers like Leonie Müller, Anja Gasser or Camille Bonvin who helped them get some visibility and also put their products right in the face of the people who needed to see them. Through the campaign, Ochsner Shoes were able to not only get the needed visibility but also increase its sales output. Check out the full Ochsner Shoes case study here. 

Glossier

Glossier’s “Into the Gloss” beauty blog is a prime example of how to leverage the power of micro-influencers. The brand invites beauty bloggers with a smaller following to test their products and share their experiences with their followers. This has resulted in a highly engaged and loyal community of customers who feel a sense of ownership over the brand.

BarkBok

BarkBox worked with pet influencers on Instagram to showcase their monthly subscription service for dogs. By partnering with micro-influencers who had a strong following within the pet community, BarkBox was able to tap into a highly engaged and passionate audience, resulting in increased sales and brand awareness.

HelloFresh

HelloFresh used micro-influencers to promote their meal delivery service to health and wellness enthusiasts. They worked with influencers in the health and fitness space to create content that highlighted the convenience and quality of their service, resulting in increased customer acquisition and retention.

These are a few success stories of brands that worked with micro-influencers to promote their businesses and products. One constant thing noticeable is that the influencers targeted were all within the same niche. This highlights one of the reasons micro-influencing works so well.

Ochsner Shoes

Micro-Influencers Vs Celebrity Influencers

If we want to categorize all mega influencers into one group, it would be the celebrity group. Micro-influencers on the other hand would be categorized into the niche group. What this means is that most mega influencers are celebrities who are popular because of what they do and not what they offer to their followers on social media. Micro-influencers on the other hand are people who have worked within a niche and have won the trust of people over time as a result of the information that they have to offer. 

Most people follow mega influencers because they are popular. For micro-influencers, people follow because of the engagement and the content offered. This means that while mega-influencers would have millions of followers, micro-influencers would have a close number that is below 100’000 followers or even “only” 50’000 followers, with whom they have a relationship of authenticity and relatability. This is the reason they usually have the kind of effect they do. They have engaged so closely with their audience that they have won their hearts and trust. People who follow them usually come to get reliable information and glean from their past experiences. This makes the connection deeper and more real. It’s more than just fandom that these influencers are selling. They have created a space where particular kinds of people who share the same interest can get trustworthy information and advice. It’s no surprise that this changes the whole influencer landscape.

How Micro-Influencers Can Help You Connect with Gen Z and Millennials

The modern online market is mostly targeted at Gen Z and Millennials. While Gen Z (1997-2012) and Millennials (1981-1996) are far apart in age, they share one thing in common: growing up in the digital age. They are the generations that mostly use the internet and rely on it for information. This makes them highly reliant on social media. They are also known for valuing authenticity, diversity, and social responsibility.Based on their decisions on these traits, they are likely to listen more to micro-influencers and trust them. This is because micro Influencers offer valuable content that syncs with their specific interests and values. This makes it easy for them to win over these two generations. Both generations are internet savvy and are more active on social media. According to our study The Power of Digital Influence, Gen Z can even be reached almost exclusively via social media. In terms of social media use, 98% of Gen Z use YouTube and 94% Instagram. Among Millennials, the figures are similar, 93% use YouTube and 81% of them are on Instagram. This is the reason why using micro-influencers will help you win social media. Examples of case studies where this has been successful include:

Nike

Nike used micro-influencers to promote their “You Can’t Stop Us” campaign, which celebrated the power of sport and the human spirit. They worked with athletes and fitness enthusiasts to create content that inspired and motivated Millennials and Gen Z.

Airbnb

Airbnb used micro-influencers to promote their “Live There” campaign, which encouraged people to experience travel like a local. They worked with travel bloggers and influencers to create content that showcased unique and authentic travel experiences, resulting in increased brand awareness and customer acquisition. The battle for social media is actually a battle for the Gen Z and Millennial demographics. Micro-influencers remain the key to winning in the social media space.

The Pros and Cons of Working with Micro-Influencers

As is normal with everything in the world, micro-influencing is a double-edged sword. It has its advantages and disadvantages. As with anything, it’s important to know the weight on both sides before you throw in your hat. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of working with micro-influencers: 

Advantages

Affordability

Micro-influencers typically charge less than macro influencers or celebrities, making them a budget-friendly option for small to medium-sized businesses. This allows companies with limited resources to collaborate with influencers who can help them promote their products or services.

Targeted audience

Micro-influencers often have a more niche audience that is deeply interested in their content. As a result, their followers are more likely to be interested in the products or services that the influencer is promoting. Partnering with a micro-influencer can therefore lead to more focused marketing efforts and greater trust and authenticity.

Increased engagement

Due to their smaller audience sizes, micro-influencers typically have higher engagement rates than macro-influencers or celebrities. This is because their followers are often more invested in the content they post and more likely to engage with it. This can be valuable for businesses seeking to drive engagement and raise brand awareness.

Enhanced brand loyalty

Collaborating with micro-influencers can help cultivate a sense of brand loyalty among their followers. Micro-influencers are often viewed as respected figures within their niche or industry, and their followers are more likely to trust their recommendations. This can help foster a more loyal and committed audience for the brand.

Authenticity

Micro-influencers often produce more genuine and relatable content than macro-influencers or celebrities. This is because they have a more personal relationship with their followers, who often perceive them as peers rather than distant celebrities. This can help businesses build a more authentic connection with their target audience and create a more authentic brand image.

Long-term partnerships

Micro-influencers are often open to longer-term partnerships with brands. This can help establish stronger relationships and result in more consistent and effective marketing efforts over time. A sustained partnership with a micro-influencer can also help generate a sense of continuity and consistency in the brand’s marketing initiatives.

Disadvantages

Here are some potential downsides of working with micro-influencers.

Limited Reach

Collaborating with micro-influencers may restrict your brand’s reach, as they typically have a smaller following compared to macro-influencers or celebrities. Consequently, if you seek to broaden your brand’s exposure or reach a broader audience, working with micro-influencers may not be the most efficient approach. Though micro-influencers are ideal for specialized campaigns, they may not possess the same universal appeal as larger influencers.

Less Visibility

Since micro-influencers have a smaller following, their content may receive less visibility and may not spread as widely as content from larger influencers. This can present a challenge for brands aiming to create brand awareness or generate buzz around a new product or service. While micro-influencers can drive engagement and conversions among their loyal followers, their ability to produce viral or widely-shared content may be limited.

Lack of Experience

Many micro-influencers may not possess ample experience working with brands or creating sponsored content, which may impact the quality of their work or their ability to meet deadlines. Unlike larger influencers or professional content creators, micro-influencers may lack a team or dedicated resources to help them manage their workload or ensure that their content aligns with your brand’s standards. Consequently, investing more time and effort in managing relationships with micro-influencers may be necessary to ensure that they deliver high-quality content that meets your needs.

Limited Diversity

Certain micro-influencers may have a particular niche or audience, which may not align with your brand’s target demographic, reducing the effectiveness of the campaign. Although micro-influencers can help reach a specific audience or niche market, they may not be as effective in reaching a wider audience or appealing to a more extensive range of consumers. Therefore, it’s crucial to thoroughly assess the audience demographics and interests of each micro-influencer you work with to ensure that they align with your brand’s values and goals.

Difficulty in Tracking ROI

Measuring the return on investment (ROI) for micro-influencer campaigns can prove more challenges than for larger campaigns, as there may be fewer metrics to track or a smaller pool of potential customers to convert. Though micro-influencers can drive engagement and conversions among their followers, it may be more difficult to gauge the impact of their campaigns on your overall business metrics. Consequently, investing in additional tracking tools or strategies to accurately measure the success of your micro-influencer campaigns may be necessary.

How to Find the Right Micro-Influencer for Your Brand

Despite the difficulties and challenges that might arise in working with micro-influencers, working with them can prove to be a valuable and effective strategy for many brands. If you know how to find the right influencers, you can overcome these challenges and achieve successful outcomes from your micro-influencer campaigns. Here is a list of factors to consider when choosing micro-influencers:

Audience Demographics

One of the most critical factors to consider when choosing a micro-influencer to work with is the alignment of their audience with your target audience. To ensure that the influencer you select is a good fit for your brand, it is essential to analyze their audience demographics carefully. You should look at factors such as age, gender, location, interests, and buying behaviour. Doing so will help you determine whether the influencer’s followers align with your ideal customer profile and whether the influencer can help you reach your target audience effectively.

Engagement Rates

Another crucial factor to consider when selecting a micro-influencer is their engagement rate. Engagement rate refers to the percentage of followers who interact with the influencer’s content, such as likes, comments, and shares. A high engagement rate is a strong indicator that the influencer’s followers are highly interested in their content and that they have built a loyal and engaged audience. By collaborating with an influencer with a high engagement rate, you can increase the likelihood of your brand’s content being seen and shared by a wider audience.

Authenticity

Authenticity is another key consideration when selecting a micro-influencer to work with. Authenticity refers to the degree to which an influencer’s content and values align with your brand and whether they have a genuine connection with their followers. It is important to select an influencer who shares similar values and beliefs as your brand, and whose content resonates with your target audience. By working with an influencer who has a genuine connection with their followers, you can build trust and credibility with your target audience, which can lead to increased engagement and conversions.

Niche Expertise

Another crucial factor to consider when selecting a micro-influencer is their niche expertise. Choosing an influencer who has expertise in your industry or niche can help ensure that the content they create resonates with your target audience. An influencer who is knowledgeable about your industry or niche can provide valuable insights and perspectives that can help you develop more effective marketing strategies. Additionally, working with an influencer who is an expert in your industry or niche can help position your brand as an authority, which can lead to increased engagement and conversions.

Reputation

When selecting a micro-influencer to work with, it is crucial to consider their reputation. You should look for influencers who have a positive reputation and a proven track record of delivering successful campaigns. By working with an influencer who has a positive reputation, you can build trust and credibility with your target audience, which can lead to increased engagement and conversions. Additionally, working with an influencer who has a proven track record of delivering successful campaigns can help ensure that your marketing efforts are effective and deliver the desired results.

Budget

Finally, it is important to consider your budget when selecting a micro-influencer to work with. While working with influencers can be an effective way to reach your target audience, it is essential to ensure that their pricing aligns with your budget. You should weigh the potential benefits of working with the influencer against the cost of doing so to ensure that the partnership is worth it.

Another thing you could do is work with established marketing agencies like Kingfluencers, that knows the market well. They would help you find the right influencers for your brand.

How to Measure the ROI of Your Micro-Influencer Marketing Campaign

One difficult aspect of working with micro-influencers is measuring the ROI of the campaign. However, it’s not impossible to do this. Here are some good practices that can help you in measuring the ROI of your campaign with micro-influencers 

Set Clear Goals and Objectives

The first step in measuring the ROI of your micro-influencer marketing campaign is to set clear goals and objectives. What do you want to achieve from the campaign? Is it to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or boost sales? Your goals and objectives will dictate the metrics that you use to measure the campaign’s success.

Choose Relevant Metrics

Once you have set clear goals and objectives, you need to identify the relevant metrics that will help you measure the campaign’s success. For instance, if your goal is to increase brand awareness, metrics such as impressions, reach, and engagement rate would be relevant. If your goal is to generate leads, metrics such as click-through rate, conversion rate, and cost per lead would be more relevant.

Track Your Metrics

Tracking your metrics is essential to determining whether your campaign is on track to meet your goals and objectives. You can use tools such as Google Analytics, social media analytics, and influencer marketing platforms like Kingfluencers to track your metrics.

Calculate Your ROI

To calculate your ROI, you need to compare the cost of your micro-influencer marketing campaign against the revenue generated or cost savings achieved as a result of the campaign. You can use the following formula to calculate your ROI: ROI = (Revenue – Cost)/Cost.

Analyse Your Results

Once you have calculated your ROI, you need to analyze your results to determine what worked and what didn’t work in your micro-influencer marketing campaign. Identify the best-performing influencers, content, and channels, and replicate them in your future campaigns.

Continuously Optimise Your Campaign

Finally, you need to continuously optimize your micro-influencer marketing campaign to improve your ROI. Use the insights gained from your analysis to refine your campaign strategy, adjust your goals and objectives, and test new tactics to improve your results.

The Future of Micro-Influencer Marketing 

Micro influencer marketing has come to stay and isn’t going away anytime soon. The future of Micro-Influencer marketing is rich and holds tons of promise, both for influencers and brands. Here are some possible predictions of developments that might happen in micro-influencing.

Increased Emphasis on Niche Influencers

As the market becomes more saturated with influencers, brands may shift their focus towards partnering with niche influencers who have a more targeted audience. These influencers may have a smaller following but a more engaged audience that aligns with a specific interest or lifestyle.

Use of AI and Data Analytics

With the rise of AI and data analytics, brands may be able to identify the best micro-influencers for their campaigns more efficiently. AI can analyze an influencer’s engagement rate, audience demographics, and content performance to identify the best fit for a particular campaign.

Authenticity Will Remain Key

Authenticity has always been a crucial factor in influencer marketing, and this is unlikely to change in the future. Micro-influencers are valued for their ability to create authentic content that resonates with their audience. Brands will continue to prioritize working with micro-influencers who can maintain their authenticity and build trust with their followers.

Increased Use of Video Content

Video content has become increasingly popular in recent years, and this trend is likely to continue in the future. Micro-influencers may shift towards creating more video content, such as short-form video content for social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels.

Partnerships with Micro and Macro Influencers

Brands may also start to partner with both micro and macro influencers to reach a wider audience. This approach allows brands to leverage the unique strengths of each influencer group, such as the broad reach of macro influencers and the engagement of micro-influencers.

Conclusion

Micro-influencers have a place in the marketing industry that is growing in importance rapidly. The best thing brands can do to find a way to make the best use of Micro Influencers while leveraging other available tools the market has to offer.

Author: Yoeri Callebaut, Kingfluencers AG

Social Commerce: How To Use Social Commerce For Your Brand

Posted on by Yoeri Callebaut

Social media has risen to become an integral part of content marketing. It has completely revolutionized the way we communicate, share information, and interact with others. Originally, people worldwide depended on these various platforms to connect with friends and family, share photos and videos, and stay informed on news and current events. However, changes within the e-commerce space now make social media an excellent marketing tool for people within the e-commerce space to put out their goods and drive sales. In this article, we will thoroughly explore the place of social commerce in modern-day marketing.

What Is Social Commerce?

Social commerce uses social media platforms to promote and sell products and services. This trend is rapidly growing and transforming the world of e-commerce and it is also making waves among businesses and consumers alike. Social commerce involves the use of product catalogues, user reviews and ratings, social proof, influencer marketing, and other social media marketing tactics to drive traffic and sales. Businesses can now take more advantage of social media by tapping into the social networks of their customers and reaching new audiences, while also offering a more seamless and convenient shopping experience for consumers. Examples of this innovative idea include both Instagram and Facebook shopping features, which allow businesses to make sales on the platforms.

The Evolution of Social Commerce

It is essential to understand how social commerce evolved. E-commerce has been around for quite a while but became widespread during the rise of the internet in the 1990s. At its inception, e-commerce was limited to a monopoly of large businesses with the resources to build online e-commerce websites from scratch. 

However, the rise of online platforms like Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba made e-commerce opportunities available to small and medium-sized businesses. Another factor that influenced the growth of e-commerce was the dominance of mobile devices. With the increasing use of smartphones and tablets, consumers shifted towards mobile shopping. As a result, businesses had to adapt their e-commerce strategies to accommodate mobile users. 

The e-commerce industry is currently a multi-billion dollar industry with much room for growth. According to Statista, global e-commerce sales are projected to reach $ 6.54 trillion USD by 2023.
Find out in our article Emerging Retail Trends, which are the trends to keep an eye on in 2023.

The Rise of Social Media

While e-commerce was growing, social media was also experiencing rapid development. The first social media platform, Six Degrees, was launched in 1997. It wasn’t until the launch of Facebook in 2004 that social media started gaining widespread popularity.

Since then, social media has grown from a peripheral to an integral part of our lives. A 2021 report estimated that there were 3.78 billion social media users worldwide (almost half of the global population). In Switzerland, 3.5 million Swiss people use Instagram and 2.06 million use TikTok (Statista, 2023). Today, social media has undoubtedly become an excellent tool for businesses to promote their products and services, engage with customers, build brand awareness, and drive traffic to their website. If you’d like to learn more about this topic and also wonder what inspires and influences Swiss consumers on social media, don’t miss our study The Power of Digital Influence.

The Convergence of Social Media and E-commerce

The continued romance between social media and e-commerce led to a convergence. As more companies sought ways to better leverage social media for their e-commerce businesses, social media platforms started creating features that made it possible for people to buy directly on these various platforms. Social commerce has become more prevalent in recent years, driven by the increasing use of mobile devices and the rise of social media platforms that support e-commerce. Social interaction has also been fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the shift toward online shopping.

Social Commerce Instagram. Zara
Zara
Social Commerce Instagram. True Fruits Smoothies
True Fruits Smoothies
Social Commerce Instagram. IKEA.
IKEA

Top Social Commerce Platforms

Here is a list of the top social commerce platforms that are being used for product sales worldwide:

Facebook

Facebook has been around forever and is at the top of this list. According to Statista (2023), over 60% of users in the United States on Facebook have made purchases on the app at one point or another. That’s over 50 million people. And according to Statista (2023) it is predicted that this number will increase every year. So if you are trying to venture into social commerce, Facebook should be the first platform on your mind. 

Instagram

According to statistics from Instagram, 50% of its users use the app to search for and discover new brands, products, and services. What’s more, 44% of these users shop on the platform. The features available on the platform for businesses include shop tabs, shopping tags, ads, and shopping through DM. Among GenZ, nearly one in two (46%) make purchases through Instagram, with influencers being key drivers of purchases, as we uncovered in our study The Power of Digital Influence.

TikTok

TikTok might be new to the game, but it’s not playing. The users buy as they scroll, as reports indicate that over 33% of TikTok users are making purchases on the app. Through its in-app social media shopping, this over-performing newbie is taking its fair share of the social commerce cake. Now merchants with a business TikTok account can add shopping tabs to their brand profiles. It is also important to emphasize that TikTok is no longer the “Gen Z only” app in Switzerland, even though the proportion of younger people is still high. This is because the number of older target groups using the channel is increasing from year to year. For this reason, TikTok is a highly relevant channel not only for attracting the young customers of tomorrow, but also for reaching the consumers of today (Kingfluencers, 2023).

Types of Social Commerce

There are various types of social commerce, each with unique features. Here are the more prevalent versions of social commerce:

Online Shopping

Social Media Shopping

Social media shopping involves directly using social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to promote and sell products to customers. Many businesses that operate this style of social commerce use it as an avenue to reach new customers, showcase their products, and build brand awareness. The presence of social media influencers also makes it easy to promote goods and services on these platforms.

Peer-to-Peer Marketplaces

Peer-to-peer marketplaces allow individuals to sell products to one another directly. Examples of such places include Etsy, Depop, and Mercari. These platforms are popular among small business owners, artists, and crafters as they allow them to reach a larger market without having to meet people physically or have an on-ground store.

Group Buying

Group buying allows people to come together and buy something at a discounted price. Group buying platforms like Groupon and LivingSocial have grown in popularity and allow businesses to offer their products and services to a larger group of people. It also allows consumers to save lots of money on products and services they would not have been able to afford all by themselves.

Social Shopping Platforms

Social shopping platforms are online marketplaces where users can discover and purchase products based on their interests and preferences. International examples of social shopping platforms are Wanelo, Polyvore, and Fancy. These markets are popular among young consumers looking for unique and trendy products. You can also connect with like-minded individuals on these platforms. In Switzerland, by contrast, providers such as Facebook Marketplace, Ricardo, Tutti and Ebay are the dominating players.

Benefits of Social Commerce

Social commerce offers a wide range of benefits to businesses and consumers alike. To find out what strategy you can follow for social commerce in Switzerland, check out our article The new Retail Formula to Leverage Social Media as a Purchasing Channel. We would also like to share with you some of the upsides of using this marketing tools:

Increased Brand Exposure and Awareness

Using social media platforms to promote and sell products can help businesses reach new customers and build brand awareness. Over half of the world’s population uses social media. This means there is an opportunity to get people through these platforms like never before. Social media platforms are a great way to connect with potential customers, as they offer a range of tools and features that allow businesses to target specific audiences and showcase their products in a visually appealing way.

Seamless Shopping Experience

One of the benefits of using this method is that the shopping experience becomes seamless and easy. Customers do not need to leave social media anymore to make purchases, as they can do that right within the apps. This makes buying less of an issue, as many consumers are not usually comfortable leaving social media apps to purchase products. Now they can buy and continue their surfing experience all in one breath.

Improved Customer Engagement and Loyalty

Social commerce can help businesses improve customer engagement and loyalty by offering a more personalized and interactive shopping experience. By using social media platforms to connect with customers, companies can build relationships, respond to their feedback and concerns, and offer personalized recommendations and offers. 

Greater Social Proof and Trust

Social commerce can help build trust and credibility among customers by providing social proof in the form of customer reviews and user-generated content. When customers see other people using and enjoying a product, they’re more likely to trust that it is high quality and worth purchasing.

Gather Data on Your Audience and Even Competitors

There has never been a time when it was easier to gather data. Social media offers an easy way to monitor consent and get data without struggling. All you have to do is pay attention to what they like or buy more. You can use this data to know exactly who is more likely to buy from you and what they are more likely to buy. You can also use this to monitor your competition and know precisely what they are doing. 

Higher Conversion Rates and Sales

Social commerce has been shown to impact conversion rates and sales positively. Using social media platforms to promote and sell products, businesses can offer a more seamless and convenient shopping experience, leading to higher conversion rates. Additionally, social commerce can help businesses reach new audiences and drive more sales, especially if they partner with influencers or use social media advertising.

Challenges of Social Commerce

Just like everything else, social commerce has its challenges. Here are some difficulties people encounter when using social commerce platforms:

Keeping up with Changing Algorithms and Trends

Social media platforms constantly change their algorithms and features, making it challenging for businesses to keep up with the latest trends and best practices. Additionally, as social commerce becomes more popular, competition will likely increase, making it harder for businesses to stand out. Businesses would have to continually make new adjustments to align with the changes in the platform’s algorithm.

Ensuring Data Privacy and Security

Social media platforms have been scrutinised recently for their handling of user data and privacy. Businesses that use social media for e-commerce need to ensure that they follow best practices for data privacy and security and are transparent about how they use customer data. While this might not be the easiest of tasks based on the fluidity of privacy laws and company policies, brands would have to find a way nonetheless.

Managing Customer Expectations and Complaints

Social media platforms can be a double-edged sword regarding customer feedback. While they offer an excellent way for customers to share their feedback and experiences, they can also make it challenging for businesses to manage customer expectations and complaints. Companies need to be prepared to respond to customer feedback and complaints in a timely and professional manner to maintain a positive reputation.

Best Practices to Use Social Commerce For Your Brand

Using social commerce for your business is a great choice to make right now. However, it is important that you do it properly. Here are some best practices if you want to use social commerce for your brand:

Choose the right social media platforms

It is one thing to choose a platform, but another to choose the right platform. There are different social media platforms out there, and choosing the right one for your business is paramount. One easy way to ground your activity and success on social media platforms is to choose the wrong one. So ensure your business is on the right platform. For example, if your target audience is primarily women, Pinterest and Instagram might be the best platforms. However, if your target audience is mostly professionals, LinkedIn might be a better option.

Create a shoppable experience

Make it easy for customers to buy from your page without any difficulty. What you should do is ensure that your page is user-friendly. Ensure that the right buttons are in the right places. This way, customers will easily make their purchases without struggling.

Optimize your content for mobile

Most people who use social media do so on their mobile devices. This is why it is important that you optimize your content for mobile devices. This would include using responsive design and creating content that’s tailored to mobile devices. 

Leverage user-generated content

There is almost no better way you could generate legitimate content for your brand. If ordinary users are making posts using your products, then you must take advantage and use these posts. One way you can achieve this is by encouraging users to share their experiences on the platform. This would generate natural traffic, as people would easily see this as a natural gesture and not a targeted ad.

Personalize your social commerce strategy

Use customer data to personalize your social commerce strategy. This can be done by offering personalized product recommendations and promotions based on their purchase history and browsing behaviour. Personalization can help you to increase sales and build customer loyalty.

Monitor and respond to customer feedback

Social media platforms provide customers with a direct line of communication with your brand. It is essential to monitor customer feedback on social media and respond to any questions or concerns promptly. This will help you build customer loyalty and improve customer satisfaction.

Measure your results

Use social media analytics tools to track your social commerce performance. This will help you identify which strategies are working and which ones need improvement. Use this data to adjust your social commerce strategy and optimize your efforts for maximum impact.

Conclusion

The years ahead really look promising for social commerce. Many innovations are happening in the social media space that would allow for more advances to be made. There is no better time to take advantage of the social commerce space than now. If you need help starting out on social media, you can reach out to us so we can work together to make your brand’s social commerce valid.

Author: Yoeri Callebaut, Kingfluencers AG

Hohes C Case Study

Posted on by Yoeri Callebaut

To navigate the Hohes C Case Study, simply click on the arrows in the document and enjoy!


Hohes C Success Story

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Kingfluencers presents an engaging series of “Case Study” articles, exploring successful collaborations with diverse brands from different sectors and industries. Consumer Goods, Beauty, Finance, Tech, Gaming, Retail, Fashion, Insurance or NGOs, we’ve got it covered. Explore these articles to discover how Kingfluencers helps companies achieve impressive outcomes in the realms of influence – from influencer marketing on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn or beyond.

The success stories with Mondelez for Oreo Batman, V6 or Philadelphia, as well as Nestlé for Cini Minis Churros, Paramount Pictures’ Babylon case study, Garden Gourmet, or hohes C Super Shots unveil the secrets of creating viral content and attracting new customers and follower growth while generating buzz for new product launches.

Our cases with L’Oréal on Instagram and TikTok demonstrate how Kingfluencers blends creative strategies with influence to promote a brand – from yearly campaigns to get-ready events.

Ever heard of our Influencer TV Spot and ready to make use an omni-channel marketing approach thanks to a brand new advertising format? Check out our yearly campaign highlights of our success story with Ochsner, that also includes our premieres of the Influencer TV Spot on SRF 2 with Alison Liaudat & Whiteny Toyloy and SRF 1 with Christa Rigozzi.

If you would like to learn more about specific sectors your brand is present in, make sure to check our our sector-specific case studies – covering:

Your brand is not only home in Switzerland but present in DACH? We’ve got you covered. Dive into one of our first cases for Germany with Neoperl and Miele Deutschland.

We’ve got even more news. Influencer marketing only works for B2C brands? Not for us. We assure you that B2B brands can benefit from influencer marketing and brand ambassador programs even more, see for yourself in our first B2B case with a Swiss Telecommunications brand.

Together, these case studies provide a comprehensive view of Kingfluencer’s ability to achieve successful results in various industries and sectors.

3 Steps to Make Your Influencer Collaboration a Huge Success

Posted on by Yoeri Callebaut

Okay, so you’ve chosen the right influencers to work with. That was a crucial first step and the necessary foundation for your campaign. 

But obviously your job isn’t done yet. 

What comes next determines whether your brand succeeds or fails with influencer marketing: 

How you actually work with your influencers on your campaign.

Now you want to make sure that your collaboration with them will meet your expectations or even go above and beyond.

You can work together with your influencers to create something special – campaigns that bring massive reach and new growth to your brand. 

Follow the three steps outlined in this guide and you’ll be well on your way to a highly successful collaboration with your influencers. 

Let’s dive in.

Step #1: Establish a Measurable Framework for The Ultimate Win-Win Collaboration with Goals, Deadlines, & Compensation

The first step is to set the stage for successful work on your campaign with your influencers. 

Build the framework in which the collaboration takes place. Create a great working relationship – which is vital for your campaign to go smoothly and the relationship to last long enough to get the results you’re after.

Set reasonable goals & expectations 

Before any content is created, talk about which KPIs (key performance indicators) are important in the campaign, your goals for improving them, and how much content will have to be created to realistically achieve those goals.

Different KPIs for your collaboration could be:

  • Brand mentions
  • Engagement rates
  • Website traffic
  • Leads generated
  • Improved conversion rates
  • Sales
  • Financial ROI

Be realistic about predicting these outcomes. Base it on historical influencer marketing data, results from past campaigns your influencers have taken part in, and even competitor results. 

You want to err on the side of being conservative in your predictions, so you’re not putting too much pressure on your influencers (and yourself), and are not setting yourself up for disappointment. If the campaign performs above expectation, that’s just an amazing bonus on top!

Have deadlines, but don’t rush your influencers

Establishing a timeframe for your campaign is important. It provides structure and incentivizes focused work. But a deadline should never be a threat to your influencers. 

They need to know they have enough freedom to let their creative juices flow and create the best content they can for you. Putting them under added time pressure will not help that outcome – on the contrary, it can potentially prevent it.

Compensate your influencers well for working with you

How much and in which way (there are many) you’ll pay your influencers depends on numerous factors. For example, when charging per post, it’s usually between CHF200-1000 in today’s influencer marketing landscape.

There are other ways they can get paid:
  • A monthly salary for the duration of your campaign
  • A percentage of sales
  • Free products
  • A combination of these options

Whichever way you decide to pay your influencers, make sure it’s enough for them to actually feel incentivized – so they’re motivated to give their best when creating content for you and working with you in general.

Be open-minded: Let your influencers do what they do best

Influencers are more than just a number on their profile. Use the expertise and creativity that content creators are willing and able to bring to the table. 

Yes, you do want to set expectations and brief them on your goals – but you also want to give them a good amount of creative freedom.

Sure, influencers are your vehicle for connecting to your audience (an effective one). But if you acknowledge their status as subject matter experts and authorities in their niche, they can contribute a lot of that expertise to your campaign. They can help you develop even more creative ideas – ideas that are specific to their audience (which they know inside and out), and are likely to hit the mark.

They’re uniquely qualified to help your brand be more creative, bringing fresh ideas no one else inside your organization may have thought of before. 

Creative ideation can be done either independently by an influencer or together with you as the brand.

Influencer marketing has massive potential to sell complicated brands and experiences. If you think about the story you want to tell with your brand, influencers can offer you a targeted, personal, and credible voice to tell that story.

As mentioned, influencers know their community very well. Give them a precise briefing, but as much freedom as you can. 

Resist the urge to simply tell them how to do their job. You might be able to pay them to say a specific slogan into the camera, but communities can be very harsh with content creators who do that. If they tell you that won’t work, listen to them. They may have a better idea in mind.

Content Creator Food

Create an influencer agreement (contract)

Creating an influencer contract is in the best interests of both you and the collaborating influencers. It clarifies all expectations for both sides so everybody knows what exactly will be part of the campaign. And having a contract in place will simply give both of you peace of mind. In case things don’t work out, or the other party does something unexpected, there will at least be potential legal recourse.

Here’s what you influencer agreement should include:

  • What type of content they’ll be asked to create
  • How many pieces of content will be created during the collaboration 
  • Which metrics they should aim to hit (awareness, traffic, sales) – and how (mentioning your brand, linking to your website, showing your product)
  • What compensation they’ll receive in return – which amount, for which time frame, in how many payments
  • Asking them to adhere to FTC/GDPR guidelines and guard your brand safety
  • Confidentiality agreement about the terms of the contract and other details of the campaign
  • What constitutes a breach of contract

Creating the influencer contract is boring work – but should any problems arise during your campaign, you’ll be glad to have done it. In almost all cases, it’s not a good idea to just wing it when working with influencers.

Be someone they like working with

How do you achieve that, other than being a good person and a friendly higher-up? 

Help your influencers do their work better and more easily, by sharing everything you can with them: 

  • Relevant media (photos, videos, audio recordings, screenshots)
  • Create templates for some of the content formats
  • Consider building a media kit for the influencers to use with checklists, guidelines, examples, etc.

They’ll surely appreciate your help in this way and it’s bound to improve your working relationship … and speed up content creation.

Step #2: Build and Launch a Beautiful Campaign Together

Now that you’ve created the perfect framework for successfully collaborating with your influencers, it’s time to start working on your actual campaign.

Craft a campaign that’s guaranteed to make an impact on your audience, and be a win-win situation for both you and the influencers you’re working with.

Martina Klieber, Publicity Manager at Universal Pictures Switzerland put it this way: “Universal’s success shows that you can have great success when the influencer and community are a good match for your brand, and the influencer is excited about your brand and tells the story properly.”

Here’s how to do it:

Make sure to stay “on brand”

Stay consistent with your brand values. Influencer marketing, like all marketing initiatives, must be consistently aligned with your brand identity. While you should – as we’ve talked about above – leverage your brand advocates’ unique personality and creative ideas, they must not conflict with your key brand messages.

The content they put out for your campaign should fit what your brand stands for and the image your audience has formed of your brand in their heads. If the messages are too inventive, too different, too off-the-rails, it’ll go against the associations your fans have with your brand and might hurt your connection. 

So, as long as you’re abundantly clear about what your brand identity and brand values are, and you determine that the messages put out during the campaign fit your identity and values, you can rest assured. Your influencer marketing efforts will only serve to strengthen your brand’s perception in the eyes of your fans – not damage it.

Be creative: experiment with different formats

Don’t assume you know which type of content will resonate with your audience. Instead, you could test and vary different attributes during your influencer collaboration – such as using multiple social media channels, hitting various themes, and creating different kinds of media.

While keeping in mind not to be too inventive as mentioned above, and staying consistent with your brand identity – allow yourself to step out of the box of bland, copycat content. 

The goal should be to create fresh, organic content together with the influencers.

What could this creative approach look like in reality?

  • Vary your themes: Tailor the influencer content to current events, holidays, or popular leisure activities and trends
  • Hit different topics: Home or public life, hobbies, relationships, sports, celebrities
  • Change up the people: Have a mix of different influencers and brand advocates put out your messages

Finally, use several social media formats to make your campaign unique and engaging:

Go live

Live-streaming offers your audience a more personal experience with your creators and will create a more authentic connection.

Make IG stories

Instagram Story

In IG stories, the influencers can be even more creative because stories don’t have to be as polished as your usual curated social media posts. This provides the opportunity to deliver your message in a different, more down-to-earth way.

Make longer-form videos

YouTube and IGTV are the ideal platforms for this. In a longer-form video, influencers can teach the audience how to use your product, show the impact of your services over a longer time period, or offer in-depth explanations of some of your brand features.

TikToks & Reels

The most popular form of modern social media content, these short-form videos can go viral if they are creative, done well, and hit a nerve.

Interactive polls

Polls are a way to gain insights from your audience and involve them more in your brand, instead of relying only on one-way communication. This shows your fans that you care about their opinion!

Forum posts

This is a more old-school option, but it’s still applicable in some niches. Forums often have a user base that’s incredibly dedicated to their topic of choice. If you manage to connect with them using well-made influencer content, you could win over some real power consumers to your brand.

Sponsored posts

Image or video posts that draw attention to and/or link to your brand are still effective – if the content is something that resonates with the audience.

Guest blogs

If your brand appears on a high-authority blog in your niche, its authority will rub off on you – which could work wonders for how you’re perceived in the marketplace and prime readers to buy from you. Collaborating with the right kinds of influencers who can deliver this type of quality post is what will make this work for you.

Account takeovers

Have one of your influencers take over your company’s social media accounts for a day. This can be a really entertaining and bonding experience for your audience.

Contests

Contests are a great way to drive impressive engagement! Contests can mobilize the influencers’ followers from being mere content consumers to taking part in the story. As we all know, actively engaged prospects are much more likely to buy.

Launch a new product & unboxing videos

You can coordinate your influencer marketing campaign such that they will launch your new product for you in front of the eyes of their thousands of followers. One cool way to show off the products is to have them make a video of receiving the product, unboxing it, and starting to use it.

Run live events

Creating a live event that followers can take part in is a creative and very engaging way to educate people about your company, display services, and showcase features … but above all: Create a strong, loyal community around your brand – which is massively valuable.

Make your campaigns interactive – think about community engagement

Social influence marketing provides an agile, real-time communication channel with consumers. When doing influencer marketing, like social media in general, brands should engage with consumers and aim for effective two-way communication. 

Too often brands push out a stream of content to their audiences without bothering to also listen. But interactive campaigns lead to increased engagement, brand advocacy and likability, as well as more conversions and better customer loyalty.

Social media provides brands with the unique opportunity to make campaigns interactive and collaborative. You can turn campaigns from brand monologues into conversations by encouraging participation and interaction, as well as incorporating user-generated

content.

What are some examples of interactive influencer content?

  • Challenges
  • Contests
  • Polls
  • Q&A sessions
  • Debates

For example, CoverGirl partnered with eight TikTok influencers to boost product awareness among Gen Z. The campaign encouraged audience interaction with the content by incorporating lip-syncing, one of the central engagement drivers on TikTok. The #CleanFreshHype branded campaign generated over 6.5B impressions and a 5.7% engagement rate.

Be authentic and forge emotional connections

A successful brand is one that’s able to truly connect with consumers and create a real relationship. 

If you manage to create this connection, it will lead to people converting into customers. Customers who are loyal to you for the long term, and will even go out to advocate for your brand and your products or services.

The best way to stand out from the crowd and connect is with emotion, empathy, storytelling, and authenticity. People are craving authentic and real content as well as advice, and look for people and brands they believe in to provide this. 

Authenticity is vital to connecting, and consumers notice it immediately. 

As consumers strive for purpose, they seek out brands that demonstrate shared values. These values must be communicated clearly, while consistently remaining authentic. Additionally, brands can boost their emotional appeal by engaging in people-driven, creative storytelling and advertising that unlocks emotion. 

Leverage your influencer campaigns to tell stories and you’ll give your brand a face people can relate to. You’ll create more emotional connections and make your social media presence much more appealing.

Step #3: Monitor your Campaigns, Improve ROI, Be Agile, & Know When to Stop

Track your performance – Manage your campaigns thoroughly

Successful collaboration means giving your brand advocates clear briefings at the start of your campaign and following up thoroughly. This is so you have a check on what influencers are actually doing for you. Does it match the brief? Does it meet your quality standards? Only then will it positively reinforce your brand.

With a distributed team of different influencers, mistakes can obviously happen. This is why you must monitor your campaign on an ongoing basis. The good news is that if you spot an error promptly, it can be corrected. The bad news is that you must invest the time to monitor if you want to spot errors promptly.

Improve ROI

Fortunately, it’s becoming increasingly easy to measure attribution of social media investments to accurately calculate your ROI. If you’re experimenting among multiple parameters, as recommended, you can then alter future campaigns by increasing investments in the most successful tactics – and thus improve your ROI.

You can also combine the power of influencer marketing with innovative campaign management technology. This can substantially increase the efficiency of your campaign and improve outcomes. Some influencer marketing platforms can accurately predict campaign outcomes such as estimated impressions, reach, engagement, interactions, and conversion, based on unique campaign parameters.

Stay agile

Armed with these metrics, don’t be afraid to make shifts if something is not working as it’s supposed to. Influencer marketing can be a very agile tool, and you should make use of that fact! 

Be encouraged to pivot if you identify a direction that’s more fruitful than the current path. 

Fortunately, the personality traits of influencers and the nature of social media, coupled with your campaign insights, will make it easy for you to course-correct and put your campaign on the path to greater success.

Know when to stop collaborating

After you’ve done all the work of identifying good influencers, setting expectations and guidelines, and signing a contract with the specifics, you’ve done all you can to eliminate the risk of your collaboration failing.

But, of course, things can always still go wrong, and a bad or fake influencer could reveal themselves only after you’ve hired them. 

Stop your collaboration if:

  • Communication is continually poor
  • Their values turn out to be misaligned with yours
  • They’re not getting the results you wanted

If the relationship still seems salvageable, you can try to renegotiate. 

If it is indeed hopeless, maybe it’s best to tell them, “Our goals don’t seem to be aligned. This isn’t working.” To maintain your brand’s reputation, always be kind in these situations. You could even offer the influencers in question a parting gift to soothe the disappointment or make them an affiliate (if it was just the scope of the campaign that didn’t work). Never just ignore them or react unprofessionally.

What to do after the event?

Again, be agile, revisit your campaign, and focus on the best way forward.

As mentioned, almost all of these incidents can be prevented by vetting and recruiting your influencers in the right way. And each of these little setbacks will teach you more about what to look out for in the future.

Conclusion

Now you know how you can make your next influencer collaboration a great success! Check out our other blog posts and some of our case studies for more influencer marketing content and inspiration for your next campaigns. We’re glad that you’ll be using the power of influencer marketing to take your brand to the next level!

We’re happy to help if you’d like to find out how to use influencer marketing most effectively for your brand.

TikTok Marketing: The 13-Step Strategy to Boost Your Brand

Posted on by Yoeri Callebaut

TikTok Marketing – How to Make it Work for Your Brand

Check out Kingfluencers’ TikTok marketing services here.

1. Start With Your Target Audience

Tiktok Users By Age

First off, know that while older generations are starting to adopt the platform, a quarter of TikTok’s users are under 20 years old – only 11% are over 50. TikTok is a great marketing channel, and we recommend you get into it. Just be aware that most of its users are Gen Z and Millennials – so if your product or service caters to an older population, TikTok might not be the best platform to market your brand. (Exploding Topics, 2023)

2. Research Your Competitors

You’ll want to know what your competitors are already doing on the platform so you can come up with the best strategy for your own TikTok marketing. If you see they’re investing into TikTok content, this validates that you’re about to tap into a receptive market. You can start by checking out what kind of videos the big players in your industry are creating.

Search for industry terms

TikTok’s search function also lets you find lesser-known brands trying to break out. By searching for different terms around your brand’s niche, you can gain insights and find inspiration from these competitors – who can often be more creative with their content than the big players.

Learn from their popular posts and hashtags

What makes your competitor’s top TikToks more popular than others? If you can find out their winning elements, you’ll know you can be successful with similar content. This doesn’t mean copy their videos – but you can get learnings from which formats are working, put your own spin on them, and then implement them for yourself.

Check competitors’ comments

By monitoring how people are responding to your competitors’ content, you can get valuable information as to what works for them – and where they might be falling short. You can then make your own TikToks better in the areas their audience thought could be improved. Their followers’ comments also often give you new ideas for different styles or content angles you could try.

3. Get On the Latest Trends

If you can join an emerging trend on TikTok, it increases the chance of your content going viral, which can be a big win in your marketing efforts. With TikTok’s algorithm, it’s possible for you to get hundreds of thousands views on a single one of your videos, even if you just started your account – simply by riding the wave of a current trend.

Research trending audio

On TikTok, sounds are part of the fun, and there’s always certain sounds going viral. Figure out which those are, add them to your videos, and TikTok’s algorithm is likely to show your content to a wide audience. 

Caveat: As a business, you’re only allowed to use the copyright-free music from TikTok’s ‘Commercial Library’ – unless you purchase rights from the publisher. But even free sounds can go viral!

Hop on hashtag challenges

Hashtag challenges are huge on TikTok. People love to participate in them, and a good hashtag can spread quickly. If your brand can hop on that train, you’ll benefit from the organic exposure.

To stay up to date on popular hashtags, make sure to frequently browse the app: Go to the For You page and look for trending videos and their corresponding hashtags.

TikTok Content Ideas for Brands

4. Study Examples of Successful TikTok Marketing

You do want to be creative in your TikTok marketing. But – it’s okay to draw inspiration from what’s working for others. In fact, if you have some great creative input to work with, it’ll raise the quality of your own work.

Fun is #1 on TikTok. Find fun angles to your content that show your sense of humor, making your brand appear relatable to your followers. It’s good to push the boundaries a bit. But in general, choose an approach that fits with your brand image.

Mondelez and Warner Bros. promoted the new Batman movie and Oreo’s cookies by creating the ‘Batman x Oreo’ campaign. It became popular and users joined the challenge, making their own Batman & Oreo themed TikToks.

5. Start Your Own Branded Hashtag Challenge

Start your own hashtag challenge: Release a TikTok video that shows you doing a specific action involving your product or tying back to the service you’re marketing. This could be a dance, sports movement, conversation, style of make-up.. there’s many possibilities for creating a viral hashtag challenge. 

Now, encourage your followers to take part in the challenge. If it resonates, you’ll reach a large new audience and gain brand awareness – which will convert to more sales down the line.

6. Get Your Fans Involved in Your Brand’s Account with User-Generated Content

A great way to create loyal fans and brand advocates while marketing your business on TikTok is to intimately involve your followers in your own content. TikTok’s app makes this easy for you with two unique features: Duets and Stitch.

Duets

With Duets, your fans can choose to play their own video next to yours in the same frame – like a real-life duet. This is exciting for them, because they can appear next to you or your brand ambassadors. And it gives you free organic reach to their followers.

StitchIf you enable TikTok’s Stitch feature, users can use up to 5 seconds of your video in their own TikTok, and then add their own content before or/and after it. By encouraging fans to get creative while using your branded content, you’re creating a more loyal audience for yourself and helping spread the word about your business.

7. Use TikTok Influencer Marketing

Influencers are the cornerstone of TikTok marketing: They’re experienced at creating high quality TikToks, people look up to them, and they’re in a unique position to promote your products and services to a receptive audience. 

There’s different ways you can use influencers in your TikTok marketing:

Send your product

Showing your product yourself vs. having a trusted influencer creatively involve your product in their content makes a difference. Striking a deal with an influencer where you send them your product for free and make them an affiliate so they earn a percentage of each sale can both be profitable and give a boost to your brand awareness.

Collaborate on a video

You can also come up with ideas you can act on together with your influencers. For example, them working in your business for a day, you appearing in one of their videos, or simply showcasing your product together in a creative way. 

Partner on a new product line

How do you get many relevant eyeballs on your new product as possible? By picking an influencer whose followers match your target audience, and having them introduce it to their TikTok fans. The reach, status and trust they’ve built up will help drive awareness and sales for your new product or service.

Ready to get started with TikTok influencer marketing? Check out TikTok services by Kingfluencers and contact us.

Executing Your TikTok Marketing Strategy

8. Start Creating Great Content

Once you’ve done your research and created your strategy, it’s time to make your TikTok videos. To do this, you can choose between different formats for your content:

  • Showing off products. Can you make a funny, engaging TikTok in which your product plays a role? This would entertain your audience while creating demand for your offer at the same time. 
  • ‘Day in the Life’ videos. By showing your personality and giving a real, down-to-earth look into what goes on behind the scenes, you’ll make your followers feel more connected to your brand and identify with your more. Over time, this leads to great engagement on your TikToks and your followers turning into brand advocates.

Dance challenges. If your team is up for it, joining or even starting a dance challenge is one of the most fun and creative ways to gain brand awareness. Should your challenge catch on and go viral, you’ll have generated hundreds of thousands of free impressions on your brand’s content – while having fun creating it.

9. Post regularly

TikTok is the fastest-moving social media app. To stay top of mind, you should consider posting somewhat often. You can start with 1-3 TikToks per day – this should already grow your following at a good rate. 

Bigger brands who are investing more heavily into TikTok marketing are posting up to ten times per day. You don’t need to do that at first – but do aim to up your game as you go, because TikTok is such a valuable marketing channel right now.

10. Engage With Your Audience

Engagement is key for TikTok’s demographics – and it’s expected. But don’t think of this as a chore to be checked off: Going back and forth with your followers can be fun, build a deeper connection, and most importantly teach you invaluable lessons about what your target audience wants.

11. Track Your Engagement with Analytics

To know what’s working in your marketing strategy, be sure to track engagement metrics on your TikToks. Your TikTok business account shows you a wide range of different metrics, from likes, comments and shares to average watchtime and trending video growth.

Discard or change the content ideas that didn’t work. Identify the winners. Then you can double down on what your audience wants, to grow your following most effectively.

12. Consider TikTok Advertising

TikTok ads are a new feature of the platform. It lets you display your own videos or your influencers’ videos as sponsored content in the feeds of users identified by the algorithms as your target audience.

13. Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment

Creative content that surprises the viewer – and is also being fun and nice to look at – wins on TikTok. 

So don’t worry about following any formula or marketing template to a T. Be guided by your natural creativity, go after what’s exciting to you, while keeping in mind current trends and what your target audience likes, of course. 

As you get more experienced creating TikTok content, you’ll carve out your unique style, zeroing in on content that works for your audience and your business goals.

Work With a TikTok Marketing Agency

That’s a wrap on TikTok marketing you can use to grow your brand! You can now have your team follow these strategies and use your TikTok presence as a profitable marketing channel for your brand. 

If you’d rather spend your time and energy on other high-level tasks in your business, you could also consider hiring an experienced TikTok agency to do the work for you. 

You then gain access to their proven processes for creating sound strategies, content creation, tracking metrics, and collaborating with influencers.

At Kingfluencers, we’re pioneers in influencer marketing since 2016. If you choose to work with us, you’ll benefit from our 3000+ strong network of vetted influencers, as well as our expertise that has gotten great results for prominent brands using TikTok marketing.

Check out our TikTok services and contact us here.

Author: Yoeri Callebaut, @Kingfluencers

Influencer Marketing Stats for Germany, Switzerland, Austria

Posted on by Yoeri Callebaut

Influencer marketing continues to be one of the most profitable segments for brands to invest in. 

Studies tell us that the influencer market in Germany, Switzerland and Austria is set to cross the one-billion-Euro revenue barrier.

We’ve curated the most recent and relevant statistics about influencer marketing in the DACH region to keep you up to date on this powerful branch of marketing.

Work with Kingfluencers, the pioneers of influencer marketing in the German-speaking market

Kingfluencers has been in the influencer marketing game since 2016, helping brands like yours get outstanding results from their campaigns. Let’s have our vetted influencers elevate your brand in the DACH region to trigger new growth for your business.

Check out Kingfluencers’ influencer marketing services.

Influencer Marketing in Germany: 12 Surprising Statistics

Influencer marketing is a mature market in Germany. The country is ranking 5th in Europe for number of influencers. Here are the most important statistics you need to know about influencer advertising in Germany:

How many influencers are there in Germany?

According to a study done by Influencity, 0.7% of the population, or 587,744 people in Germany are influencers. 2.35% of all German Instagram users are influencers. 

This makes Germany the country in Europe with the 5th-most influencers.

Influencer Marketing Stats. Influencers are reaching 61 Million users in Germany.

Influencers are reaching 61 Million users in Germany

Each year, German influencers’ reach is increasing: From 46 million users reached in 2018 to 61 million in 2022. Statista predicts that in 2026, influencers from Germany will reach 71 million people with their social media posts.

59% of German brands are using influencer marketing

The majority of brands in Germany have understood the power of influencer marketing: By using popular and trusted influencers to represent them, they’re gaining loyal followers and new customers for their business.A 2018 study by statista discovered that 59% of brands in Germany are already using influencers in their marketing. This figure is expected to keep increasing as more and more consumers are following social media influencers – and they prefer buying from familiar faces they already trust.

Almost a quarter of German social media users say they’ve been influenced to buy within the last 12 months

In a study by statista, 24% of surveyed German internet users said that within the last 12 months they’ve purchased a product or service because it was recommended by a YouTuber. 19% said they’ve been influenced to buy at least one product by someone they’re following on Instagram.

Influencer marketing market share in Germany is set to reach over €600M by 2024

Since 2019 and forecast into 2024, the compounded average year-over-year growth of the influencer marketing market size in Germany is 22.7%.

The German influencer advertising budget has grown from €223M in 2019 to €477M in 2022, and is predicted to hit €622M in 2024.

Influencer Marketing Stats. Influencer marketing market share in Germany is set to reach over €600M by 2024

Düsseldorf has the most influencers of any German city (per square kilometer)

Despite being smaller and having a lower total number of influencers than the other cities in the top 3, the German city Düsseldorf has the most influencers per square kilometer. This was established in a study done by casinoonline.de.

The cities with the most influencers per square kilometer in Germany are:

1. Düsseldorf, 10,72
2. Munich, 10,46
3. Berlin, 8,69

Fashion, Home, Design – the types of influencers Germans love to follow 

In the 2020’s, almost any industry now has social media influencers. But certain topics are more popular than others – as per statista, German users are no exception here. 

These are the categories Germans most love to follow influencers in:

1. Fashion: 71%
2. Home and Design: 62%
3. Cosmetics & Make-up: 49%
4. Travel: 45%
5. Fitness & Sports: 42%
6. VIPs: 40%
7. Health & Nutrition: 38%

44% say German Influencer Marketing is increasing in quality

In a survey of German social media and influencer marketing professionals, 44% said that within the last two years quality in the influencer marketing segment has skyrocketed. 

Only 11% were of the opposite opinion and believed quality to have decreased significantly.

A third of young Germans are influencers or want to become one

A third of young Germans are influencers or want to become one

YouGov Germany found out that among those born between 1997 and 2010 – also known as “Generation Z” – almost one third are full-time influencers or plan to become one. 6% of respondents had already been earning a living from being an influencer in 2021.

Followers of German influencers skew younger – but a good amount of “Boomers” are still in the mix

50% of German social media users are following influencers. 

According to statista, the percentage is highest among 16- to 29-year-olds, at 81%. But the rate of 30- to 49-year-olds following influencers is still high at 57%. 

And while the percentage goes down in higher age groups: Even among over 65-year-old German users of social networks, 21% claim to subscribe to influencer accounts.

How much do influencers charge in Germany?

A sponsored post from a German influencer with between 1.000 and 5.000 followers costs between €10 and €60 on average. A German mega-influencer with over 1M followers might charge €15.000 and more per post. Most German-speaking influencers working with our agency are making between €200 and €2000 per post.

The top 5 influencers in Germany with the most followers on Instagram

These are Germany’s top five Instagram influencers:

1. Lisa und Lena Mantler @lisaandlena – 18.4M followers
2. Pia Wurtzbach @piawurtzbach – 13.9M followers
3. Pamela Reif @pamela_rf – 8.9M followers
4. Bianca Claßen @bibisbeautypalace – 8.2M followers
5. Dagmar Kazakov @dagibee – 6.7M followers

Influencer Marketing in Switzerland: 9 Interesting Stats 

Relative to its population size, influencer marketing is stronger in Switzerland than it is in Germany. Swiss influencer advertising market share is around 1/6th that of Germany, despite the country having only 1/10th of the population. 

Per square kilometer, Switzerland also has 40% more influencers than Germany. Ever since Kingfluencers pioneered Swiss influencer marketing in 2016, the industry has been thriving in the country.

There are currently 47,321 influencers in Switzerland.

How many Swiss influencers are there?

According to Influencity, there are currently 47,321 influencers in Switzerland.

55% of Swiss brands are using influencer marketing

A 2020 survey showed that around 55% of Swiss brands are already using internal or external influencers. Another 12% are planning to start investing into influencer marketing soon.

60% of Millennials are following influencers on social media

According to a survey conducted by the University of Lucerne in Switzerland at the end of 2019, 60 percent of the millennials surveyed – that is, people aged 13 to 30 – said they follow influencers or are friends with them on social platforms.

Swiss influencers have a higher engagement rate

Swiss Instagram influencers have a significantly stronger bond with their followers than the global average. In September 2019, the engagement rate among Swiss micro-influencers (between 5,000 and 20,000 followers) was around three percent. 

For comparison: the global engagement rate in this segment was 1.83 percent.

Influencer marketing market share in Switzerland is set to reach almost CHF200M by 2027

Currently the market share of influencer marketing in Switzerland is around CHF150M. The Swiss influencer marketing market size is set to grow even further, by around 30 percent until the year 2027.

12% of young Swiss social media users count influencers in their top 3 sources for making buying decisions

A 2019 study found that 12% of 13- to 30-year-olds in Switzerland look to social media influencers as one of their top 3 advisors on which products to buy.

Geneva, by far, has the most influencers per square kilometer

It was found that per square kilometer, Geneva has many more influencers than any other Swiss city. The top five cities in Switzerland with the most influencers per square kilometers are:

1. Geneva: 55,59
2. Zurich: 20,08
3. Basel: 14,72
4. Bern: 14,18
5. Lausanne: 7,74

Geneva has many more influencers than any other Swiss city

58% say influencer marketing in Switzerland will strongly increase its market share until 2025

According to a study by Datatrans 18 of 31 surveyed marketing professionals expect purchases made directly from social media or influencer accounts will grow significantly until the year 2025.

The top 5 influencers in Switzerland with the most followers on Instagram

These are Switzerland’s top five Instagram influencers:

1. Dean Schneider: 10,24M
2. Nicocapone: 9,7M
3. Pamela Alexandra: 5,6M
4. babymama: 3,6M
5. RICH NANA: 3M

8 Essential Statistics about Influencer Marketing in Austria

How many influencers does Austria have?

According to Influencity, there are currently 57,624 influencers in Austria.

31% of Austrian brands have used influencer marketing

In a survey on the use of influencer marketing conducted among communications managers in Austria in May and June 2018, 30.8 percent of communications managers stated that they had already worked with influencer marketing several times.

33% of Austrians say they’ve bought something because of an influencer’s recommendation

In the 16-60 age group, 8.9% have bought multiple times, even directly from the influencer. 8% have bought multiple times because of the influencer’s recommendation, but not directly from them. 16.4% have bought, but only once. This was established in a study by mindtake, commissioned by Handelsverband.

The top 5 influencers in Austria with the most followers on Instagram

The top influencers in Austria with the most followers are Stephanie Davis, Manuel Bechter, Johannes Bartl, LM. Inspo Creative & Mindful and Doina Barbaneagra, according to statista.

The top 5 influencers in Austria

Salzburg has the most influencers per square kilometer in Austria

It was found that per square kilometer, Salzburg has many more influencers than any other austrian city. The top five cities in Austria with the most influencers per square kilometers are:

1. Salzburg: 11,76
2. Vienna 6,87
3. Innsbruck: 3,04
4. Linz: 2,20
5. Klagenfurt: 0,77

Food, Fitness, Beauty – The types of influencers Austrians love to follow 

The most popular product categories or topics for which influencers are followed are food (56 percent), fitness (41 percent) and beauty (33 percent). The MindMinutes study by Mindshare also shows that 30 percent of Austrians aged 15 to 59 are interested in influencers in the field of fashion.

20% of Austrians follow influencers on social media

Presenting the product in a convincing way is the no. 1 criteria for 82% of Austrians buying from influencers

Influencers have a decisive influence on the purchasing decisions of many Austrians. 82 percent of the Austrians surveyed named a convincing product presentation by the influencer as the decisive criteria for the purchase decision.

20% of Austrians follow influencers on social media

Statista reports on a survey on the perception of influencers conducted in Austria from July to September 2018. 20 percent of those surveyed stated that they currently follow one or more influencers.

Harness the power of influencer marketing in the DACH-region

Kingfluencers has been in the influencer marketing game since 2016, helping brands like yours get outstanding results from their campaigns. Let’s have our vetted influencers elevate your brand in the DACH market to trigger new growth for your business.

Check out Kingfluencers’ influencer marketing services.

Author: Yoeri Callebaut, @Kingfluencers

B2B vs. B2C Influencer Marketing – The Top 10 Differences

Posted on by Yoeri Callebaut

How is influencer marketing different when you’re targeting businesses as opposed to consumers?

B2B (business to business) influencer marketing is based on using an expert’s authority to reach, educate, and influence prospects to buy in the long term. This is different from the more entertaining and transactional nature of B2C (business to consumer) influencer marketing. B2B influencers often have smaller audiences, but their impact can be massive.

Let’s take an in-depth look at the top 10 differences between the two.

1. The time frame is different in B2B vs. B2C influencer marketing

B2B buyers research more

As a matter of course, your prospects spend more time analyzing a potential purchase than a consumer would. They are highly educated buyers who will do all they can to educate themselves about what it is that you offer – consulting reviews, educational websites, books, and industry reports. They’ll go to your competitor and compare offers. In short, your product or service will undergo much more scrutiny than it would from consumers in most B2C situations.

According to research, B2B buyers are 57% – 70% through their buying journey before contacting sales. They come to your sales team once they’ve thoroughly prepared – and this obviously takes a lot more time.

Generally, the B2B sales cycle takes at least four months to complete – as opposed to consumers seeing the same message from their favorite creator a few times and clicking ‘add to cart’ immediately.

There are more people involved in the buying decision

And this makes complete sense. In B2B, multiple entities participate in deciding which products and services the company buys. Different stakeholders and different departments in the company will be impacted by the decision. These decision-makers are usually dealing with other people’s money, not their own like in B2C buying.

B2B buyers usually wait to get opinions from a number of important people on the team. In that way, it’s completely different from B2C buyers, who mostly just consider their desires, their wallets, and maybe their friends or spouses before following an influencer’s recommendation to buy something.

2. B2B influencer marketing is not as simple as B2C

First off, B2B influencers might be harder for you to work with. Why is that? These people are acclaimed experts. 

They are authorities in their niche, often with degrees and accolades – tech insiders, professors, journalists, and scientists on the cutting edge. They surely don’t want to risk their status by haphazardly promoting some random product or service. It would be highly detrimental for them to be labeled a “sell-out.” So, they might be apprehensive about working with you as an influencer. And rightly so.

For the same reason, they probably don’t have as much experience participating in influencer marketing campaigns – and onboarding them will probably be more complex than with your B2C influencers for whom that’s simply business as usual.

This means that your strategy with these influencers will have to be different. It’ll be more oriented towards a high-trust, long-term collaboration instead of a quick one-off campaign – a more complex strategy is needed for B2B influencer marketing. 

3. B2B influencer content is not as flashy as B2C content

If you’re used to highly engaging social media content from influencers, some B2B content might seem more bland and boring in comparison. Of course, ideally, B2B posts should be as engaging as possible, too. But it’s just normal that when you’re dealing with numbers, statistics, tactics, and strategies, for example, it simply won’t be as sexy as showing off your latest fashion accessory by making a dance video for social media.

Whereas B2C influencers often seek primarily to entertain their audience, B2B marketing is about educating potential customers and displaying expertise in complex topics – which is less flashy by nature.

A good influencer will be aware of this inherent difference and try to make their content as engaging as possible while focusing on providing high amounts of value to the audience and maintaining the professionalism that B2B demands. They’ll be able to strike the right balance.

One way a B2B influencer might do this is by talking about how the different features of your product will help users increase revenue, save time, reduce costs, or mitigate risks – rather than discussing every product feature in isolation.

4. Businesses who use B2B influencers focus more on lead generation – vs a wide range of B2C goals

Whether this is the right strategy or not – the data show that businesses’ main goal with using B2B influencers is generating leads: 80% of brands focus on gaining leads through these campaigns, vs only 20% focusing on gaining brand awareness.

As a reminder, here are the different goals a business can aim to achieve with influencer marketing:

  • Improve the visibility of your brand and create awareness
  • Gain social media followers and boost engagement
  • Generate leads
  • Increase traffic to your company website or/and build backlinks
  • Conversions, such as email sign-ups
  • Improve your brand’s reputation
  • Generate revenue and social selling

With B2C influencer marketing, companies choose a multitude of these goals for their campaigns, as opposed to mostly lead generation with B2B.

5. Authority and expertise are even more important in B2B vs B2C influencer marketing

For B2C influencers, there are many ways to gain influence: They can accumulate more followers by consistently entertaining their audience, being very charismatic on camera, and looking classy in their photos.

While some of these things also play a role in B2B influencer marketing, one metric trumps all the others: Strong, real-world expertise in the topic they’re discussing.

A survey from Demand Gen Report showed that 65 percent of B2B buyers said their consumption habits have changed to prefer credible content from industry influencers.

This is because the influencers are talking to other experts in their industry. These people must be compelled primarily by authoritative facts, intelligent explanations, and novel insights vs charismatic appearance.  

It doesn’t mean that some emotion-based marketing can’t also contribute to your B2B marketing success. After all, you’re still talking to humans, not machines. But factual authority remains the bread and butter of B2B influence. 

B2B buyers need more tangibles vs intangibles to work with. 

6. B2B influencers focus on different platforms than B2C

When most people think of the term influencers, they think of TikTok and Instagram. And that’s absolutely true for “traditional” B2C influencers. Their top platforms are Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.

While B2B influencers do use Facebook and YouTube and are also beginning to work on Instagram, their main focus has historically been LinkedIn – the largest social media platform for professionals.

LinkedIn has over 500 million professionals (of which 61 million are influencers and 40 million are business decision-makers). It’s a great way for influencers to connect with business buyers.

Other prominent platforms for B2B influencers are webinar platforms such as BrightTalk. Remember, this kind of influencer marketing is mostly about educating the prospects as much as you can about your product or service, and proving your expertise on the topic – which webinar platforms are a great place for.

Also, do not discount the impact of B2B influencers on offline platforms: “Old-fashioned” conferences, trade shows, and seminars. An influential person reviewing your services or mentioning your product in one of their talks can lead to more awareness for your brand – and sales down the road.

7. Content types are different for B2B vs B2C influencer marketing

This point again highlights the more serious nature of B2B vs B2C influencer marketing: While the latter focus on posting photos and videos of themselves, supplemented with captions meant to entertain – the former will post educational texts, statistics, diagrams, infographics, etc. 

It’s what their prospects want and need from their content: Deep information, reassurance about the product’s or service’s quality, and how-to guides. In one study, 47 percent of B2B buyers said they find case studies the best type of influencer content, webinars 39 percent, reports 35 percent, and user reviews and video content, 32 percent. 

In summary, the most-used forms of B2B influencer content are:

  • Webinars
  • White papers
  • Guest posts on authority websites
  • Video tutorials
  • Speeches at conferences and seminars
  • Infographics
  • Diagrams

8. B2B influencers operate on a different (smaller) scale than B2C influencers

“Traditional” influencers who market to consumers have often grown huge numbers of followers: More than 100k, sometimes into the millions. Many of them have real mass appeal. 

With B2B influencers, it’s a little different: They tend to operate in specific niches – which is a big reason why they were able to build up so much authority in the first place – by learning everything about it and becoming a niche expert. So it’s definitely not all about the numbers. It’s about expertise and engagement.

A 2021 study by Influencer Marketing Hub found that influencers with followers between 1,000 and 5,000 have an engagement rate close to 5 percent, while those with followers between 5,000 and 20,000 have an engagement rate of just 1.7 percent. As the numbers go up, the engagement goes down: Those with 100,000 followers to 1 million followers had an engagement rate of 1.06 percent. Comment rates follow a similar trajectory. Influencers with higher followers have lower engagement rates than influencers with few followers.

So even if an influencer has fewer than 10k followers, they can get you great results in B2B marketing. 

9. B2C influencer campaigns are easier to price than B2B

Whereas the market is dictating an average price of CHF200-1000+ per influencer post on social media for marketing to consumers, it’s not that clear-cut at all in B2B influencer marketing.

The value that a subject matter expert is able to provide to your brand by helping you market to businesses is immense. They can provide industry connections, prop up your company in the eyes of many involved in the niche, and lead to sales – sales which could measure in the millions of dollars in the B2B space as opposed to the small purchases that B2C influencers mostly promote.

And as we’ve seen, this type of marketing is really only effective as a long-term strategy. Brands should be prepared to budget for a long-term financial investment in their B2B influencers as well.

10. B2B influencer marketing is harder to measure

It’s easier to measure the results of your B2C influencer marketing campaigns. You can record the number of impressions each post received, how strongly people engaged with it, how many clicked on an affiliate link, and how many sales were generated.

But as we’ve covered above, the B2B buying process is more complex. Prospects will never click on just one social media post and order your product right away. Their decision is much more involved than that. They must talk to other team members and higher-ups about it … and it simply takes a lot more time.

So it’s hard to know which of your posts had an effect – or didn’t. In the end, it’s the sum of your marketing messages, sent out over a long period of time, creating a deeper relationship with the prospects that are going to lead to the sale. It’s hard to isolate any one factor that led to success.

Thus, it’s important to be patient in B2B influencer marketing and look at the bottom line months later to see whether it worked. Don’t second-guess your marketing efforts too early.

Conclusion

There you have it, the top 10 differences between marketing to businesses vs to consumers using influencers! We hope this has given you more clarity in planning your next influencer marketing campaign. Should you need help in bringing your campaign to life, feel free to reach out to us.

Volvic Case Study

Posted on by Yoeri Callebaut

To navigate the Volvic Case Study, simply click on the arrows in the document and enjoy!


VolvicSuccess Story EN

Check out more of Kingfluencers case studies and build your own success story with us.

Kingfluencers presents an engaging series of “Case Study” articles, exploring successful collaborations with diverse brands from different sectors and industries. Consumer Goods, Beauty, Finance, Tech, Gaming, Retail, Fashion, Insurance or NGOs, we’ve got it covered. Explore these articles to discover how Kingfluencers helps companies achieve impressive outcomes in the realms of influence – from influencer marketing on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn or beyond.

The success stories with Mondelez for Oreo Batman, V6 or Philadelphia, as well as Nestlé for Cini Minis Churros, Paramount Pictures’ Babylon case study, Garden Gourmet, or hohes C Super Shots unveil the secrets of creating viral content and attracting new customers and follower growth while generating buzz for new product launches.

Our cases with L’Oréal on Instagram and TikTok demonstrate how Kingfluencers blends creative strategies with influence to promote a brand – from yearly campaigns to get-ready events.

Ever heard of our Influencer TV Spot and ready to make use an omni-channel marketing approach thanks to a brand new advertising format? Check out our yearly campaign highlights of our success story with Ochsner, that also includes our premieres of the Influencer TV Spot on SRF 2 with Alison Liaudat & Whiteny Toyloy and SRF 1 with Christa Rigozzi.

If you would like to learn more about specific sectors your brand is present in, make sure to check our our sector-specific case studies – covering:

Your brand is not only home in Switzerland but present in DACH? We’ve got you covered. Dive into one of our first cases for Germany with Neoperl and Miele Deutschland.

We’ve got even more news. Influencer marketing only works for B2C brands? Not for us. We assure you that B2B brands can benefit from influencer marketing and brand ambassador programs even more, see for yourself in our first B2B case with a Swiss Telecommunications brand.

Together, these case studies provide a comprehensive view of Kingfluencer’s ability to achieve successful results in various industries and sectors.