Why Influencer Marketing is Still Important For Brands

We’ve seen a lot of changes in social platforms, search, and even how our influencer marketing is measured over just this last year. As mobile marketing is becoming more center stage for brands it’s more important than ever to stand out to your audience in a remarkable way.
Connecting with the right people in your industry is just the beginning to building an effective strategy — today’s business needs to be authentic, able to solve the most pressing problems, and relatable.
According to eMarketer, 84 percent of marketing professionals have or plan to launch an influencer marketing campaign with 81 percent reporting successful results.
Social Media Today reports that Instagram is the top choice when it comes to engaging with an audience with Facebook coming in closely behind:

There are many ways to build a strong presence online. Social media, videos, and blog content are just a small piece of the branding pie.
Large platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram are the top places to connect with leaders in your industry. Here are a few ways you can successfully build your online visibility in the coming year:

Visual marketing is very effective on Instagram

Because of the instant nature of this social network it’s much easier to connect with industry leaders based on hashtags or through their top posts. It’s easy to find trending posts that fit into your niche where you can ‘like’ and add thoughtful comments. The more original your own brand content is the more likely this will also get noticed with the right hashtags in place.

Facebook can still be used for organic visibility

One of the best ways to connect with others and to find out more about what your audience is after on Facebook is to engage in relevant groups. The key to success is to focus on those that have a large and active membership with a high level of engagement. Since Page reach has declined this is a great way to attract others to your brand without directly selling to them.

Twitter Advanced Search and chat

Use this free feature for finding new influencers, and to follow the hashtags of others who are being mentioned by your niche followers and other brand leaders. Live chat conversations are still a great way to build an interested audience and to attract others to your profile. Start out by joining specific topics, and then add those new connections to a specific list. As you grow your followers you will be able to launch your own hashtag event, which helps to establish credibility and influence.

LinkedIn company pages and groups

Over the last few months this networking platform, owned by Microsoft, has been doing a few upgrades. This includes their company pages and groups, which are two powerful tools your business can use to hone in on a specific influencer, find out who they are connected with, and to build your own community of followers. It is important to include helpful information in order to to generate more interest such as videos, tips, questions, ect.

Start uploading videos to YouTube

Since Google Plus will be phased out over the next few months you will want to shift your focus over to video marketing here. This top social network and search engine is a great place to find the best content from the most popular brands or individuals in your niche. The best part of having your own YouTube channel is that you can also cross promote your videos and double your visibility on other platforms, including your blog.

Pinterest as a website traffic builder and branding tool

Many people now use this website to search for and follow boards that include niche keywords. If you are wanting to build up your own pin do your own research and look for categories that have a lot of engagement and repins. Pay attention the the latest trending topics in the search bar, as these can especially change with each season.
Most high level networkers are not focused on the numbers, but are rather very active online with authentic connections with their target market. These are the decision makers in your industry who have connections to the media and are perceived as an authority by their fans and followers.
When building your own brand influence it’s important to measure your progress and how others are responding to you online. With this information you can find out how to better reach your community and connect with them on their level.
Connecting with the right influencers also opens the doors for new opportunities such as being a guest on a live video, webinar or podcast.  It is also a great way to attract a larger following online, especially if they recommend you. Consumers rely on trusted recommendations from their peers and brands, not just advertising any more.
Establishing brand authority online takes time, commitment, and relationship building with the right people. Make it a point each day to reach out to others, share content, and leave valuable feedback that gets noticed.