Like it or not, every brand needs content. Content is necessary for CPG and DTC companies to show off who they are and what products they offer. In this high-tech age where social media get the majority of consumer attention, the key to providing high-quality, relatable and engaging content is rapidly becoming influencer-generated content.
Influencers aren’t just scattered groups of young people on Instagram and TikTok anymore — they’ve created a $5 to $10 billion industry that has revolutionized the way companies market. How did influencers achieve this feat? By creating high-impact content.
But why might influencer-generated content be the perfect choice to create content for your brand? Read on to learn more about how influencers can create content that resonates with your audience and helps boost your products to the forefront of the digital realm.
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Why Use Influencer-Generated Content?
Going outside your company to work with an influencer may seem intimidating, but it can have huge benefits. Some of these include:
Influencers Are Cost-Effective
Forget partnering with professional photographers or videographers. Forget needing to hire talent and a production company. Influencers are your one-stop shop for all your content creation needs. They have their own equipment and they’re skilled at using it, making photo or video shoots with influencers far more cost-effective than those run by expensive advertising firms.
Influencers’ Content Is Creative
Not only do influencers have their finger on the pulse of what’s hot in their industry, but they also likely achieved their fame and success by seeing things in a unique and creative light. Working with an influencer can help you come up with ideas that an in-house team may have never even considered.
Influencers’ Work Is High-Impact
With the rise of Internet ad blockers and the decline of TV-watching among key demographics, the impact of influencer-generated content has skyrocketed within the past five years. Tech-savvy influencers also know how to promote themselves throughout a wide variety of social media platforms, which means that their messages can travel far and wide throughout the Internet — no expensive Super Bowl commercials required.
Influencer-Generated Content Is High-Converting
With 96% of people claiming that advertising lacks integrity, an endorsement from a trusted influencer can carry far more weight than a well-crafted advertising campaign. Although a recent study found that influencers have an average rate of conversion of 2.5%, this percentage can be driven much higher with the right experience in designing and executing an influencer marketing campaign.
Influencers Are Authentic And Unique
74% of consumers use one or more advertising avoidance tactics, with nearly HALF using ad blocking technology on their computer. Because influencers attracted their large followings by presenting an authentic image to their followers, they’re typically well-trusted, and their endorsements carry weight in their communities.
Influencers’ Work Is Visually Pleasing
So long, expensive photo shoots — the carefully crafted aesthetic of influencer-generated content can make your products look great without requiring any work on your end. And the influencer’s audience that can’t get enough of their content provides the proof that their content resonates.
Influencers Can Potentially Go Viral
The only thing better than successfully partnering with an influencer is partnering with an influencer whose content goes viral! With the right approach and the right influencer partnerships, you increase your chances of your brand’s influencer content going viral and building massive, organic buzz for your company.
What Platform Is Right For Your Influencer Partnerships?
Brand-created content simply can’t compete with user-generated content anymore. But if you want to get some real bang for your buck, you’ll need to pick the right platform for your influencer partnership. Remember that the platform whose influencer you’ll partner with will be determined by the content you need to generate — not the other way around. Some of the most popular platforms for influencers include:
YouTube
YouTube is best known for its long-form videos, which are primarily product reviews. Many YouTube influencers charge based on the number of subscribers they have or views they get, and they offer product reviews for everything ranging from beauty products to consumer tech and fitness equipment. With a fairly equal 1:1 gender demographic and a wide variety of age groups represented on the site, YouTube is a great place to reach a vast array of potential consumers.
Instagram is known for providing static images, IGTV, and 24-hour “stories”, which can comprise videos, images, or text. As the most popular platform for influencers, Instagram skews slightly more female than male and attracts mostly medium- to high-income users. With Instagram influencers typically charging based on their number of followers, as well as the capability for influencers to embed a “shop” link directly in their content, partnering with an Instagram influencer can both raise awareness of your company and have a lucrative payoff.
TikTok
As the new kid on the social media block, TikTok is rapidly becoming a new hot spot for breeding successful, creative influencers. TikTok involves short-form, viral videos, and its global user base skews young, with a high proportion of Gen Z users. If you’re looking to create content that has its finger on the pulse of what’s hot right now, then partnering with a TikTok influencer might be a great way to help you succeed.
What Else Should You Know About Influencer-Generated Content?
Partnering with an influencer can have enormous benefits, but it’s important to keep a few things in mind. First, when designing the contract between an influencer and your brand, it’s important to obtain full licensing rights to the content. This is a good idea since you’ll want to repurpose the content generated by your influencer partners across all of your brand’s marketing channels to maximize the impact of their content.
Finally, it’s important to consider all the other benefits of an influencer marketing campaign — not just content creation. Your campaign will receive a variety of other benefits such as a boost in web traffic, increased brand awareness, and sales generation.
Influencers Can Bring Your Content To The Next Level
Partnering with influencers is far from just trendy — it’s also a great way for consumer brands to create high-impact, high-converting content. Influencer-generated content has been proven to outperform brand-created content in nearly every aspect, and it’s far more affordable. Additionally, savvy brands can repurpose influencer content to fulfill all of their marketing needs.
Interested in learning more about how to partner with influencers to generate the content your company needs? Don’t hesitate to contact us today to learn more and get started.
