After the big move towards social media, influencer marketing is the new wave of digital marketing that’s having a BIG impact for big and small brands alike. So what is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing is the new word-of-mouth advertising. It has been around since the dawn of time. Cavemen sharing with other cavemen where they might find food. Your girlfriend sharing their latest frosé discovery with you.
A recommendation from a friend or family member is word-of-mouth, but it’s only one-to-one. Influencer marketing gives this old idea scale. By tapping into bloggers or social media influencers and their huge following, you get word-of-mouth but it’s now one-to-many.
If you’ve seen another salon Instagramming their latest work with the blogger-of-the-moment, chances are it wasn’t an accident. Bloggers and social media influencers are being enlisted by salon, spa and barber brands globally to create content and share their story with a new audience of followers.
And it’s paying off. Local retailers have seen increases in appointments, and online brands have reported up to 20:1 return on investment from investing in influencer marketing.
So how can you leverage influencers for business growth?
1. Content
Influencers are amazing content creators and brands often struggle keeping up with producing the volume of content required to maintain a solid digital presence. By inviting an influencer into your salon for a service or sending them product, you can work with them to create a bank of content for use on your social media platforms. (Note: depending on the influencer you work with; they may also require payment).
2. SEO
Remember bloggers? They’re still here! Influencers with blogs are often tapped on the shoulder to review products and link back to a brand’s website – creating that good Google juice! By asking an influencer to review your business or products, you can have them include a link to your website in their article. When potential customers are searching for relevant keywords, your business pops up!
3. Event attendance
Nothing creates FOMO like having the hottest influencers at your event. Finding influencers that are popular in your community is a great strategy to get on the radar of locals. Similarly, a new product launch can get in the feeds of millions with the help of popular influencers in your category.
4. Awareness
There is no quicker way to get your brand in front of millions of eyeballs than having influencers spread the word to their followers. Many salons now have agreements with influencers to post about their services in exchange for free treatments and payment.
Influencer marketing doesn’t have to be complicated – you can get started in minutes, just by connecting with a local influencer to find out if they are interested in what you have to offer.
The team at Scrunch would love to chat with you about how you can grow your client base using influencer marketing! If you need a little extra advice, check out the Scrunch blog or cut straight to the good stuff and signup for one-month free Scrunch using the code SHORTCUTS.
