{"id":114257,"date":"2017-11-06T18:28:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T23:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/six-tips-working-digital-influencers-christmas\/"},"modified":"2024-12-23T00:36:07","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T05:36:07","slug":"six-tips-working-digital-influencers-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-gb\/insights\/blog\/strategy\/six-tips-working-digital-influencers-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Six tips for working with digital influencers this Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

The festive season is almost upon us, and now’s the time for online retailers to be promoting their Christmas bestsellers, if they aren’t already. Christmas is such a critical time of the business year, and as James Murphy, chief executive of ad agency Adam & Eve DDB, put it in an interview with\u00a0The Guardian\u00a0<\/a>,\u201cif Christmas goes well, the year goes well.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Christmas ads and creative will have most likely have been signed off months ago, online retailers should really be thinking about how they can seek the support of a few well-chosen social influencers to reach the digital-native generations particularly. With the bulk of Christmas shopping being done online, and increasingly on our mobile phone, campaigns have moved from macro (i.e. TV and billboards) to micro (i.e. in our pockets) channels. Also the peer-to-peer world in which we now live demands that businesses are engaging in meaningful conversation with their online communities, and creating interesting and well-tailored content.<\/p>\n

There’s the perception that influencer marketing is solely for brands with deep pockets, but this isn’t necessarily the case. Increasingly, there’s a growing trend towards brands collaborating with non-traditional and micro influencers, who don’t demand nearly the same price tag as well-established digital talent. This means that businesses working with smaller budgets can still go after a piece of the influencer marketing [mince] pie! However, this can all seem a bit daunting to a business new to influencer marketing, so here are five top tips to help get you started…<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Undertake in-depth audience research<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Identifying the right influencers to work with can be a tricky and laborious task.\u00a0 While it can help to ask your audience who they respect and listen to, this won’t always return the best results, and likewise personal recommendations from industry peers are unlikely to aid the discovery of newly emerging talent. If budget allows, the most sensible way to go about finding an influencer who resonates with your brand, and who shares the same core values, is to invest in an influencer research tool. Nowadays there’s plenty of choice, with differing price tags, and if the cost is prohibitive there are free tools available too. For smaller businesses, focus on finding an expert within your product field, who is passionate about what you produce. Maybe they are a loyal advocate of your brand already.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Think beyond gifting<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Up until very recently, gifting was the primary way for businesses to reach out to online influencers, who they hoped to gain the attention of. They would pop a free product in the post, often without an agreed brief in place, and pretty much hope for the best. Unsurprisingly, it was an ineffective approach and led to a backlash in influencer marketing, with the younger generation particularly questioning the authenticity of many collaborations. But the industry has matured, and nowadays businesses are focused on building a meaningful collaboration and campaign. Businesses would be advised to focus on quality over quantity, and work with maybe just a handful of well-chosen influencers, where it won’t seem overly commercial or sponsored.<\/p>\n

      So instead of ramming a product down the throats of followers, be more creative and think about how you might tap into the influencer’s knowledge, talent and expertise. You could get them to speak about a cause that you share mutual passion for, or get them involved in a creative challenge. If they’re a Parkour expert, DJ, tap dancer, trumpet player, etc, think about utilising what they are good at, and build that into your campaign idea.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Be truly collaborative<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n \n
        \n
        \n

        \n Stay Forward <\/h2>\n

        \n Get exclusive insights into digital
        media's top-trending topics delivered
        directly to your inbox. <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

        \n
        \n
        \n
        \n \n