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Most companies have made the leap to social media to establish an online presence for their brand, and one of the easiest ways to do this is through influencer marketing. This form of social media marketing uses influencers who have a sizable following to convey a brand’s message to their target audience. Based on a 2019 survey by Mediakix, the most popular goal for influencer marketing campaigns was building brand awareness. Focusing on how you want consumers to perceive and interact with your brand is the most important step in marketing because if done successfully, sales and audience size will grow, and trust from consumers will subsequently follow.
Via BigCommerce
What is Brand Awareness?
Brand awareness is how familiar consumers are with a company and its products. As consumers, we never really stop to think about how prevalent and impactful the concept of brand awareness is in our everyday lives. For example, if you need a good cup of coffee, do you go to Starbucks or to Dunkin’ Donuts? The brands we prefer over others, think favorably of, or recommend to our friends are most likely companies that have established a distinguishable brand in a competitive market, which can be accredited to their level of brand awareness.
To have a strong sense of brand awareness in the eyes of a consumer, consistency is key. A brand must be consistent in their values, messages, and purpose. This makes a brand more recognizable and trustworthy, thus compelling loyalty in return from customers. The easiest way for customers to distinguish a brand is by their physical traits – a logo, a tagline, or even a color scheme. This is what makes influencer marketing the go-to in generating brand awareness. Whether it’s an Instagram post or a YouTube video, the visual aspect of a brand is the most compelling for buyers in either peeking their interest or feeding into their curiosity.
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How Influencer Marketing Increases Brand Awareness
1. Choosing the Right Influencer
@charlidamelio @cerave is skincare you want to share💙 #cerave #shareskincare #ceravepartner
Picking the right influencer to partner with will either make or break the brand’s ability to generate awareness. Different influencers attract different audiences from the content they post (duh). But, this causes companies to think critically when choosing which influencer they want to work with. The influencer must represent the brand well enough that their followers will naturally be inclined to hear about the product or service. There’s nothing worse than seeing your favorite influencer promote a product you know they don’t actually use – it comes off disingenuine and might even land the influencer in hot water with followers.
But, if the ad is placed in a way that seems organic and true to the influencer’s creative style, followers will be more likely to listen and interested in the brand. The more potential customers tuned in, the more circulation and engagement the brand receives, whether that be through likes, comments and shares on the post, or increased website traffic, sales, and likeability.
Want to make sure you pick the right influencer for your brand? Check out our list of the top influencer search tools here.
2. Delivering the Brand’s Message
How consumers perceive a brand will determine the level of awareness it will receive. That’s why it’s imperative for a campaign to send the brand’s message in a way that will encourage favorable responses and call-to-actions on the consumer’s end. On the company’s end, though, formulating the perfect brand message is about conveying the essence of their brand in a consistent, strong and easy-to-comprehend way. Here are a few ways that brand messaging is used in influencer marketing to increase brand awareness:
- Reinforcing the company’s mission statement, vision statement, and core values – Influencers are chosen to tell the company’s target audience about why the brand exists and why people should care about it, where the brand is headed in the future, and beliefs the brand values.
- Explaining why the brand is better than the alternatives – Are products cruelty free? Is your price point lower than the alternatives? What are you doing that brands in your market aren’t? Pointing out what sets your brand apart from competitors takes minimal effort and time, but leaves a lasting impression on customers.
- Being relatable – An example of relatability could be carried out through comedy. Targeting your audience through humor can encourage communication and interaction with the brand. Using influencers with comedic talent could help set the brand apart as well.
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3. Long-Term Partnerships
Collaborating with an influencer long-term generates more brand awareness than a one-off partnership ever could. The difference between a long-term and a short-term partnership is that followers begin to attach the brand to their favorite influencer over time – it becomes a part of who they are. This can be especially helpful to brands if the public figure is a positive force in social media who is respected and listened to by followers.
Looking to run an epic influencer marketing campaign to increase brand awareness? NeoReach has the best experience in creating viral campaigns that convert on social media. Sign up here!
Successful Influencer Marketing Campaigns in Building Brand Awareness
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#CobraKaiChop
@damiendoylejr It’s Cobra Kai time! @netflix #AD #NETFLIX #cobrakaichop
In preparation to release the third season of Cobra Kai, Netflix used the power of influencer marketing on TikTok to generate awareness. With the help of NeoReach’s TikScore, ten of the most followed and fastest growing creators were chosen to participate in the campaign. Using TikTok’s interactive Cobra Kai filter as well as the hashtag #CobraKaiChop, influencers were allowed creative freedom in uploading their videos. Just days after the TikToks were posted, there were a total of 500 million views of the hashtag. As traction picked up even more, the hashtag and filter were being used by more creators as well as fans of the show. The relatability of influencers to their audiences and the call-to-action incorporated in the trend both worked together to bring many different audiences’ attention to Cobra Kai’s third season.
Want to learn more about Cobra Kai’s success? Read the full case study here.
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HelloFresh
HelloFresh is a meal delivery service that sends fresh, pre-measured ingredients to customers’ doors with a recipe to follow. HelloFresh is notorious for its influencer marketing tactics and it’s what skyrocketed its sales and popularity over the last couple of years. Specifically, on YouTube, HelloFresh has partnered with many influencers to create buzz for their brand.
Kelsey Kreppel has been a long-term partner with HelloFresh and promotes the brand in her cooking videos that she titles “Dinner with Kelsey”. With over 15 videos on her channel that are dedicated to her cooking different HelloFresh recipes, the brand has become a part of her regular content. It’s clear to her audience that she genuinely enjoys cooking and it’s authentic to her lifestyle. In each video, Kelsey attaches a link where her subscribers can receive a discount on their first 9 meals. She also explains how the meal delivery service works and reinforces the company’s mission and values. Kelsey’s long-term partnership with HelloFresh has organically built awareness for the brand by attaching it to her personality, and in return, her 813K subscribers have grown to trust, respect, and value the brand.
