Influencer Marketing: Expanding Your Reach

Entertainment outlets are readily available to us 24/7, platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube can have us hooked for hours each day. This can be correlated with the pandemic causing an online shift and leaving us searching for new forms of entertainment. As a result, the rise of influencers has increased dramatically over the past two years. As well, influencer marketing has taken off immensely, causing more than 50% of all marketing agencies to invest in influencers.

The consistent reach that influencers can attract on platforms is like nothing ever seen before. In particular, TikTok has over 1 billion monthly users and engagement through the roof. 

The short video concept allows creators to hold the attention of the audience with the endless feed offered. So what’s the difference between marketing on a platform like TikTok compared to Instagram or YouTube? The algorithm of TikTok makes it so it doesn’t matter how big or small your following is, the feed pushes out videos and you can generate millions of views. 

The addictive layout of TikTok keeps users engaged all day, laying the ground for an enormous amount of advertising real estate. This as a result has created a platform for hundreds of thousands of influencers to promote their affiliations as well as their own brands. So how does this benefit a business? What is in it to gain for the marketing department? 

Let's take a look at what we know: 

Why Should Your Brand Use Influencers?

If you’re a brand in 2022 looking to grow, and you’re not already using influencer marketing, you could be missing out on double, even triple the audience you have now. Users trust influencers, particularly millennial users, 40% of whom believe influencers understand their needs. But how many people even really buy products they’re shown on social media?

Instagrams 2020 data found that more than 130 million people shop for products shown to them on the platform every month. To narrow that down, even more, over 85% of women take shopping advice from social media.

How Are Influencers So Effective?

Brands are partnering with influencers to share their audience for marketing their products. For example, a cosmetic company could partner with a fashion influencer to market their latest concealer. The influencer would then post a video of them with no makeup on, getting ready with the product, looking very nice and happy at the end, providing directions on where to buy it. These videos typically average tens-hundreds of thousands of likes and even more views.

The ability influencers have to connect with their audience is extremely valuable. Audiences become obsessed with the lifestyles and personalities of these individuals. As a result, the cost to work with them does not come cheap. 

How Much Can You Expect To Spend?

The amount companies spend depends on the number of followers the influencer has. Accounts with 10-100k followers can range from $100-$5,000 per post, while accounts with over one million typically have a 10k minimum. These estimations will vary based on the situation and agreements between influencers and brands, but the bottom line is that this will be an investment. 

What Can Companies Gain From Influencers?

The return on investment for influencer marketing campaigns is estimated at $6 for every $1 spent, this is leading over 60% of marketers to spend more of their budget on influencers. The creativity influencers apply to marketing products cannot be achieved the same through traditional advertisements. Influencers are trusted, their content attracts people all over the world by just being themselves. Their ability to market themselves translates into marketing products, if they say they use it, the audience will take their advice. 

Conclusion 

Creativity is increasingly being delegated to influencers instead of a creative team with a whiteboard. This can save companies time in their planning and provide a more efficient focus to invest in their marketing. Now, of course, we cannot disregard traditional methods of advertising as companies do need to still have their messaging developed in-house. Influencer marketing is simply a tool to keep an eye on in today’s marketing world.

We work with successful companies to increase their net profits using exceptional custom software solutions, contact us here to see how we can help your business grow!

Tips to Excel at Networking in 2022

The business world involves more than just ideas and work, to enter this world, building your network by meeting people in the industry is your key to opportunity. This can be a challenge, going out to events and introducing yourself to strangers is not in everyone’s comfort zone. However, it is leaving the comfort zone that will help you succeed in any area of your life. 

Building connections opens up an array of opportunities in business, not only can it lead to partnerships or job opportunities, it can be a great teacher. Networking with experienced individuals can allow you to learn a bit about how they think, the path they took, challenges to expect, and mistakes to avoid. It can also be the first step to getting leads on job opportunities.

The most sought-after skill someone in business can have is the ability to communicate effectively and build relationships. These are reflected in your ability to sell yourself, to sell people on your vision, and to connect with the people you meet. 

So we know networking is necessary for our success, but it can leave us confused on how to get started. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to get started and help you build a network that can lead to opportunity.  

Join Associations Related To Your Field

Networking can be the difference between you hearing about a job before someone else. For whatever industry you’re interested in you should join a networking association. For example, someone who is interested in fashion may join something like Fashion Group or someone looking to start a business can join Entrepreneurs Organization. Joining associations can allow you to meet people in the industry, even those who have decades of experience.

Also, meeting someone in a social setting as opposed to a formal meeting will allow your relationship to genuinely build itself, leaving the opportunity for it to become more meaningful. 

Be Prepared

Have an understanding of the point you are making by meeting people in the field you’re interested in. You should be able to answer the basic concepts of what it is you do (or want to do) and why it’s important. Don’t make it so you are walking them through your entire origin story, but be able to casually converse about what you’re doing. This will come with practice and a good understanding of your purpose. 

Be Open 

In social settings, nerves can set in making us feel shy but this is counterproductive to the purpose of networking. Don’t shy away from small talk, although it is commonly talked about negatively, you should embrace it. These conversations may turn into a bigger conversation, networking isn’t all business discussion from the jump. As well, be ready to give people your contact information (a business card is most useful) you never know what could come.

Approach Appropriately

Read the room from the jump, look for who seems open to talking (so that you are not interrupting) and introduce yourself or make a comment. The nerves can kick in when you get there and are looking for an opportunity to talk to someone. This is when using your body language to appear open and confident is useful. Remember that you are in a space where people are there to be social, there is unforeseen opportunity in these situations. 

Ask Questions

Talking about your goals and small talk can only go so far, remember you are here to build a network that involves people beyond your circle. Asking people questions about themselves and their careers can teach you a lot and express your genuine interest. You’re not interrogating the person, but make sure to always be curious. 

Be A Listener

We all love to talk about ourselves and all the success we’ve reached. However, we want to treat networking like a normal conversation, we must realize the opportunity we have to learn. Don’t always look for ways to bring the conversation back to yourself, listen to what they have to say. Being an effective listener will not only allow you to learn, but it is a skill that people notice and value. 

Conclusion 

Networking doesn’t have to be something to be nervous about, preparing yourself and knowing what you want to gain will serve you well in your confidence. Every time you meet someone in your field, online, or in person, it is a chance to build your network. You can never know what building a relationship with someone will do for you. It can lead to relationships that stretch beyond your professional life which is especially valuable. Take chances, take risks, give yourself the chance to meet someone.

We work with successful companies to increase their net profits using exceptional custom software solutions, contact us here to see how we can help your business grow!

Effective Decision Making Guide For Leaders

Owning and running a business is the most fulfilling feeling one can experience, bettering people's lives while also creating jobs. This position does not come without its share of responsibility, enough of which can make decision-making and advancing the vision difficult. The toll this takes on business owners will wear them out over time if they take on the responsibility alone. As well, It’s hard to make decisions as a leader without frustrating others in the organization. For these reasons, it is extremely useful for leaders to have a support system that will guide them and the organization to success. 

Constructing a support crew to assist your ability to lead the team effectively involves surrounding yourself with the right people. You don’t want these people to be ones that just simply agree with what you say and don’t provide a lot of feedback. You want individuals with edge, experience, people who are going to challenge you to think differently.

A common mistake of leaders is not being open to feedback, as a result, they involve people who would be classified as a “yes man”. Openness to feedback is the only way anyone can improve at anything, unfortunately, many associate critiques with negativity. The position of a CEO, President, VP, etc, requires decision-making to be based on applying systems that can be trusted to benefit the organization. 

Analysis of what works and doesn’t work can only be identified by individuals directly working with the systems in place. For this reason, it is best for all business leaders to have an open-door model where those working for them can freely voice their opinions.

Now, the decision-making process should not be left solely up to the one person in charge, they need a crew to weigh options and outcomes. This is not to say that every decision made should be left up to the top of the chain, it is best to give responsibility down the chain when necessary. Different situations require situation fitting responses from leadership to assist.

With that being said, let's look at how leaders can involve others to assist with decision making:

Involve The Right People

Analyze the situation, identify the key stakeholders as well as those who will be involved in carrying out the task. With these individuals having heavy involvement in the situation, their opinions will come from having worked directly on the front line. It is not useful to make decisions without weighing the opinions or needs of the people being impacted by these decisions. They will tell you what resources they need and a timeline of when the task can be completed. 

Analyze The Input

Once everyone has expressed their feedback, leaders can weigh the risk, potential benefits, and logistics behind the requests. Leaders must take into account the level of resources available to them (budget, time, team size, etc). Remember to communicate when and if requests cannot be fulfilled, decisions should be made in the best interest of the organization.

Mitigate Risk

Identify the areas of risk, review them with those involved in the task and prepare them to be able to handle issues that may arise. This can be done by scenario-based training where individuals run through simulations of a problem arising and practice handling them. Using situations that are likely to occur whether it be an upset client or a resource failing, managing their quick response time will be beneficial. How they do in the simulation will help leaders to decide who to put in what position when executing the task.

Of course, it is impossible to anticipate everything that will or could go wrong, but preparation nonetheless will translate into readiness for other situations. 

Post Task Review

After the team has completed their task, hold a debriefing and highlight what went well and what needs improvement. This will be a useful tool for leaders the next time they go into a task to see how their decision-making benefited or limited the team. It will also help leaders evaluate which of their team members to delegate certain tasks to. Input from employees can only help so much, experience-based outcome analysis is the cherry on top for leaders' decision-making development. 

Conclusion

Making decisions is the main duty of leadership, these decisions of course are to guide the organization towards a collective vision. To be successful in doing so, leaders need the help of those working for and with them. This is to ensure that everyone in the organization is capable of doing their best work with all the necessary support.

We work with successful companies to increase their net profits using exceptional custom software solutions, contact us here to see how we can help your business grow!