Social Media Influencer Marketing Guide for Mobile Apps

When lockdowns posed logistical challenges in carrying out traditional advertising shoots or deploying billboards, social media marketing became more influential in reaching audiences. Social media grew in terms of usage as people searched for their choice of content.

A refreshed wave of influencer marketing campaigns came to the fore, courtesy upended budgets, and brands increased focus on attaining short-term business goals. Influencer marketing quickly shone like a gleam of stars, owing to marketers' rising interest in increasing ROI and enhancing campaign effectiveness. This new marketing concept is gaining precedence over other traditional ways, thanks to the cost versus returns benefit. Influencer campaigns cost significantly less than TV or print campaigns and offer compelling ways to promote branded content.

Another vital facet is how much value Indian consumers find in a product or a service vis-a-vis the asking price. And it is often an influencer or an expert who helps them identify the value-based products or services. These experts provide them with specific tips, extensive how-tos and share inspirational content that lifts the mood of their followers.

Onboarding an Influencer

Before onboarding an influencer, marketers must identify the synergies that will ensure the right fit. Measure a prospective influencer's reach and engagement metrics such as shares, likes, and comments. Also, study the influencer's personality and quality of content, and determine if that aligns with the brand's values.

A positive trait to look out for when communicating with influencers is their interest in your product. It's a good sign if an influencer is taking the time to understand the details of your product so that they can create compelling content on their social media channels.

Running a high-performance Influencer Campaign

Influencer campaigns are more results-oriented - and are more likely to succeed than other traditional forms of marketing., there are important considerations for running a high-performing campaign, . Here are three best practices.

Respect your influencer’s creativity - While it’s natural to want to offer some input, being too prescriptive may backfire as it will reduce your influencer’s authenticity. Remember, influencers have built a large, active community because they possess an authoritative voice or expertise and understand what best works on their platform. When working with influencers, ensure that you use their talents to your advantage by giving them opportunities to channel their creativity and - most importantly - be themselves.

Be true to your values - When choosing influences to work with, look beyond their follow count for content that aligns with your company values. Researching previous examples of sponsored content - and how it was received by their followers - is a smart way to set expectations.

Measure your influencer marketing efforts – As with any marketing strategy, it’s essential to measure the results of your influencer marketing efforts. This will help you learn the best ways to attract new users, the type of content that positively impacted your brand image, and how your influencer marketing has raised brand awareness.

Influencer Marketing Guide for Apps

For mobile apps, influencers can help embed deep links into their social media posts. Upon clicking these links, a user can navigate to a specific section of a brand's app. With such strategic use of deep links, apps can promote their premium features and generate more revenue. Marketers can also work with influencers in different ways depending on the nature of their mobile app. Below are some valuable tips for fashion, lifestyle, and gaming apps.

❖ Influencer Marketing Ideas for Fashion Apps

Product placement - Marketers can pay influencers to wear and display products as paid advertisements on their social media channels. Marketers can also work with influencers to post competitions, a type of paid product placement that directs users to a call-to-action. For example, users who follow your account, install your app, or sign up for your newsletter will be entered into a competition to win some of your products.

Freebies - Brands can also send influencers products and gift cards to be featured on the influencer's social media channels, a cost-effective marketing method that can generate authentic exposure for your brand.

Content Collaboration - If you have an e-commerce website and blog, you can work with influencers to generate exclusive content, such as books, articles, and videos. This content can then be shared on social media by the brand and influencer. When negotiating with influencers, note that collaborative content can be mutually beneficial: not only will their followers be directed to your app, but your audience will also be exposed to the influencer across several channels.

❖ Influencer Marketing Ideas for Lifestyle Apps

Social media takeovers - This requires you to give an influencer control over your social media channels for a set period. Takeovers are a great way to get original content and encourage an influencer's fanbase to download a lifestyle app and subscribe to its updates.

Discounts - Lifestyle apps can drive installs and engagement by offering discount codes and promotional deals to an influencer’s social media followers.

❖ Influencer Marketing Ideas for Gaming Apps

Sponsored streams - Live streams are a core component of gamer culture that marketers can leverage to drive installs. Marketers can pay influencers for a live stream of their gameplay — an effective way of sharing your gaming experience with an influencer's audience. A sponsored live stream can also be a good starting point for identifying influencers who may be effective brand ambassadors.

Freebies - Just like fashion apps, mobile games too can offer goods in exchange for exposure. For gaming apps, this could be a free subscription service or in-game currency, ensuring the influencer gets the best possible user experience for your game.

Gamer events: Marketers can also recruit influencers to participate in gaming events and tournaments like India Gaming Show to promote their app. The India Gaming Show is an international trade fair and exhibition focused on video game software, and it has seen the growth of compelling content with social and cultural context, which is key in engaging the Indian consumer.

Conclusion

Net-net influencer marketing works because it leverages the tremendous potential of word-of-mouth marketing and social proof. To be constantly relevant, marketers must keep pace with consumers' fast-evolving behaviors and changing preferences to be on top of their influencer marketing strategies.

April Tayson, Regional VP, INSEA, Adjust