Greetings, dear community! Today, we’re discussing how to work with influencer traffic: what to pay attention to when choosing an influencer, which verticals this is most relevant for, and more. So fasten your seatbelts, because we’re taking off!
Before we begin, let’s remind you that we recently wrote about who influencers are and why they are beneficial for us. We recommend checking it out!
Is Influencer Traffic Popular at All?
Not many affiliates work with influencers. There are probably two main reasons for this:
- The relatively high cost of advertising when working with well-known influencers;
- The lack of understanding of which offers and when it’s worth driving such traffic.
While we can’t help you with the budget, we can offer some insights on the second point.
The first thing that interests us is the state of the influencer traffic market. Last year, it was valued at over $21 billion, which is a substantial amount. However, according to forecasts by Influencer Marketing Hub, the market is expected to grow to $24 billion by the end of this year, setting yet another record for the industry.
Why is this? Well, first of all, it’s about effectiveness. Many companies collaborate with influencers, and this trend is only new to our market. In 2021, 7 out of 10 American marketing agencies working with companies that had at least 100 employees planned to collaborate with influencers. This statistic is provided by Skillademia.
In the context of our discussion, it’s also worth mentioning the numerous predictions and even full-fledged studies on how influencers will impact various affiliate verticals. For instance, some publications suggest that influencers could significantly influence iGaming and become almost the primary advertising platform.
In summary, influencer traffic is highly relevant, the market is continually growing, and in certain verticals, influencers could help affiliates achieve significant profits.
Types of Influencers
Let’s start with the basics—resources. The main resource of any influencer, which we can measure, is the number of followers. Assessing an influencer’s actual influence is more challenging. However, it’s possible by analyzing audience engagement or even the results of their past campaigns (if available).
The aforementioned Influencer Marketing Hub offers the following classification of influencers based on their number of followers. And we have no doubt about their objectivity, since they even have the word “Influencer” in their media name, so they must be experts, come on.
They propose the following categories:
- Nano-influencers with 1,000-10,000 followers, costing up to $1,000 per post;
- Micro-influencers with 10,000-100,000 followers, costing $500-2,000 per post;
- Macro-influencers with 100,000 – 1,000,000 followers, costing $2,000-6,000 per post;
- Mega-influencers with over a million followers, costing approximately from $3,000 per post.
The cost of advertising is approximate, based on data from Semrush. They also provide the following example of pricing depending on the social network where the influencer “operates”:
The cost of an influencer’s services will depend on their scale, which is quite obvious. What is less obvious is how the vertical can influence the cost of advertising. In particular, most modern influencers, bloggers, or streamers typically collaborate with something like gambling only when they are offered payment above their usual rates.
How to Choose an Influencer for Collaboration?
If you plan to collaborate with influencers, you’ll have two communication options:
- Directly
- Through an agency
The latter option is more convenient, as an agency can collaborate with many bloggers. This allows you to launch large campaigns so that your call to pawn the last iron for free spins is heard everywhere. Additionally, this eliminates the human factor and allows you to formalize more or less official contracts, which will guarantee you high-quality services.
Moreover, if you don’t know whom to approach for advertising your product, the agency will help you choose an influencer with the most relevant audience. This is extremely convenient, especially for beginners with a large campaign budget.
Collaborating with an influencer directly is more optimal for those who:
- Want to save money (though this point is somewhat conditional, as the absence of a “paid intermediary” in the form of an agency is inherently a cost-saving measure);
- Plan to build long-term relationships with a single person whose audience fully matches the product being advertised.
When choosing an influencer for direct collaboration, you should follow the same rules as when selecting any advertising platform: analyze the audience, check the quality of traffic and engagement, and ensure that the content aligns with the product you’re promoting.
Once you’ve chosen the right blogger, you need to create a brief. This process requires great attention. If the advertisement doesn’t meet your expectations, but all the points of the brief are fulfilled, the blogger may refuse to redo it, and you won’t get your money back. In this situation, the blogger would be in the right because the brief was fulfilled, which is the condition for them receiving payment. Therefore, all nuances must be included in the brief, as it is essentially your employment contract and should be drafted with great care.
Conclusion
Influencer traffic is a modern way to promote offers and advertisements in general. Undoubtedly, the cost of services from even relatively small bloggers can be quite high for small companies or individual affiliates. However, if the influencer’s audience aligns with your product’s target audience, it guarantees profit.
Have you ever collaborated with influencers? Share your experiences in our Telegram community!
Best regards, Your Geek!
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