Recent research from Mckinsey & Company estimates that the global value of the health and wellness market has exceeded $1.5 trillion, with an annual growth rate of between five and ten per cent. What was once considered to be a ‘trend’ has flourished into a booming industry that is becoming saturated as more businesses emerge, competing for the attention of consumers.
One tactic wellness brands can use to cut through the noise is influencer marketing, in doing so tapping into a thriving community of online influencers that provide a direct line to their target audiences.
Influencer marketing is one of the fastest growing digital channels raking in an expected £10 billion in 2021, so incorporating influencer engagement into your marketing mix has become a must for any consumer-facing brand.
For many brands getting into this market can seem a daunting challenge, especially so with the emergence of new channels such as Tik Tok. That said, here we break down four influencer marketing tips to get you started:
Consider a range of audiences
One benefit of using influencers is their power in reaching a more diverse customer base, essentially helping you engage new audiences. A one-size-fits all approach rarely works with influencers as their content is tailored to their experiences and personal identity. They are ‘known’ and therefore followed for a range of reasons, whether that be for a focus on post-natal fitness, fitness for working professionals or for vegan nutrition. These varying focuses mean their followers come from a range of disparate groups, so engaging with a wide spread of influencers will enable you to maximise your brand’s audience reach.
This authenticity and diversity is a contributory factor as to why audiences tend to trust influencers more with 49% of consumers stating that they depend on influencer recommendations when making purchasing decisions. The sheer volume of influencers across social media means consumers can find accounts they relate to for a variety of reasons, thereby increasing their likelihood to take notice of products their favourite influencers are promoting.
Mega vs micro?
An influencer’s following, values and interests are all important things to consider in relation to the product, brand or business they are promoting. It’s important to strike the perfect match between the influencer and the business in order to be deemed authentic, and most importantly to influence and engage your desired audience.
Influencers that speak out to more niche audiences can often have smaller followings but more engaged audiences. Consumers often deem the influencers to be ‘experts’ and will look to them for recommendations and product/service reviews. This is especially important for wellness brands that are pioneering completely new technologies or innovative concepts. An endorsement from a niche influencer could be the prompt needed to urge a consumer to research your brand further.
Gifting, paid for and affiliates
Gifting, paid for and affiliate programmes are three methods for engaging with influencers, but it’s important to consider when’s best to consider each, especially so with the uprise of social media meaning influencers are constantly being bombarded with senseless offers, advertising and spam. Because of this, it’s without question become harder to get the attention of influencers.
Gifting is a great way to foster a relationship with an influencer. This can require a high-value product or service dependent on the level of influencer you are engaging, but can be a cost-effective way for brands to gain exposure for their products without paying an influencer fee. The competition for gifted posts is high, so by offering influencers education sessions that provide genuine value to enable them to get the most from your product is an extension to this tactic that can help secure coverage.
Paid for content can be expensive but is effective when trying to target influencers with a larger following. At the high end of the scale are mega-influencers, those with more than one million followers. They are often celebrities who are famous outside of social media. A more cost-effective alternative is micro influencers, who have fewer than 100,000 followers but may offer higher levels of engagement from their followers. Paid for posts give brands more control over what an influencer will share and can ‘guarantee’ coverage in a way gifting may not.
Affiliates is a system used by brands that allows influencers to gain additional income by promoting their products or services in the form of a commission from the clicks or sales they generate. This is a great incentive because brands can track how successful each influencer is and pay them accordingly.
Engaging influencers can be a labour-intensive task, so if you are outsourcing this activity it’s vital the agency you select has a history of working with influencers that are relevant for your business.
Using a goal, cause, awareness day or wider campaign
When looking to engage with external creators it can be helpful to use a cause, awareness day or wider marketing campaign to pique their interest. Using these bigger ‘moments’ will not only provide context for your messaging but can also help an influencer buy into your brand and its story.
Awareness days are also useful when forward planning, and if coupled with a created hashtag can increase your brand’s visibility. A branded hashtag which encourages users to share their own content can create viral movements placing your brand at the heart of conversation.
We ran a campaign with mental wellbeing platform Thrive in the run up to World Mental Health Day, utilising influencers and user-generated-content (UGC) around the hashtag #BehindTheSmile. Although engaged on a completely unpaid basis, the influencers engaged throughout the campaign reached over eight million users and generated over 150,000 likes, comments and shares on the campaign hashtag.
If you’d be interested in discussing how an influencer marketing strategy could add value to your wellbeing brand get in touch today.
