Influencer Marketing is transforming both the business and marketing platforms in this world like never before. From global brands to domestic ones, all business entities from different sectors are inclining more and more to this new-age reality named Influencer Marketing.
Gone are the days when the quality and success of a brand’s social media presence were measured based on the number of followers.
The marketing game has evolved immensely, and today’s marketing experts will agree that social media influencers play a major role in determining the success of brands and the products or offerings they provide. According to a study done by Meteor Solutions, 30% or more of the strategies designed by a business entity or brand to enhance its online presence revolve around influencer metrics.
Why has Influencer Marketing become an essential element of modern marketing strategies? There are several reasons, and the most crucial of them all is that influencers create a significant impact on the reputation and image of a brand or a business. Influencers are considered to be the experts in their respective niches, and hence people rely on their suggestions and recommendations more than ever.
Brands that want to execute a smart marketing strategy are more likely to rely on influencer marketing. Brands are eager to invest considerable resources and time in establishing brand collaborations with influencers and building strong long-term relationships with the influencers.
Two key advantages of Influencer Marketing campaigns are that it helps drive and accelerate both reach and leads. However, if brands want to get the best out of influencer marketing, they have to carefully design and execute well-structured influencer marketing campaigns that will help in increasing reach and leads.
A careful study of successful influencer marketing campaigns by brands can help you to design the perfect campaign for your business entity. Here is a study on American Express influencer campaigns that brought the brand a solid online presence, generated significant leads, and also gave the brand increased reach
Influencer Marketing Campaign By American Express- A Study
American Express is one of the top brands and companies in the banking and finance sector that has always invested heavily in marketing– both B2C and B2B marketing. The brand is at the forefront of designing and executing influencer marketing campaigns to join the bandwagon of the new-age marketing technique. The credit card industry is extremely competitive, and every American Express influencer campaign is a brilliant strategy by the brand to stay ahead in the game.
American Express has implemented several influencer marketing campaigns that have been designed to achieve specific goals. While some campaigns were meant to attain corporate clients, some others have to be targeted towards consumers. The brand chose to focus on the purpose of its core product or offering and has searched for social media influencers who are the perfect match for the brand’s vision and philosophies and who are efficiently capable of keeping the brand conversation running.
How successful have American Express influencer campaigns been? Consider a few examples:
One of the most successful American Express influencer campaigns was “Love My Store”. American Express collaborated with well-known bloggers Grace Bonney and Emily Henderson. Grace Bonney comes from a creative background and hosts a blog that is focused on interior design. Emily Henderson has risen to social media popularity by creating content related to home and personal styling.
The “Love My Store” campaign was targeted to reach out to small businesses. Since both of the bloggers often promoted products and services from small-scale businesses in the interior and home design sector, they were the perfect choice for the campaign.
The purpose of this American Express Influencer campaign was to create awareness that even small businesses accept credit cards and to promote the American Express credit card. What results did the campaign produce?
- The “Love My Store” campaign resulted in the distribution of 400,000 AmEx decals
- The brand helped the brand to earn 5 million impressions on social media
Another American Express influencer campaign that was successful on a global level was the “AmexAmbassador” campaign. This American Express influencer campaign was focused on attracting executives and businesses to the premium services provided by the credit card brand.
Several Instagrammers have benefitted from the AmEx product and rewards scheme. Several top-tier social media influencers have reached the top of their game, improved their lifestyle, and experienced the perks of being an influencer that includes glamorous travel.
For this influencer marketing campaign, American Express joined hands with Adam Gallagher. The collaboration highlighted the luxurious lifestyle of Gallagher, the perks he enjoys from the rewards membership by AmEx, and sent a message about how luxury and indulgence can be achieved. Since his social media ambience of Adam conveys the desired traits, he was the perfect medium to reach the target audience and the perfect way to send the brand message.
This American express influencer program also focused on other niche influencers like Vegan mom-blogger MyEpiphany, aka Nyja, and the Founder of Not So Mumsy, Marcia Leone. Both of them are ambassadors of American Express and posted content concerning vacations with their families and photos at the airports, thereby sending a message to the target audience concerning how the AmEx rewards program can benefit them.
The American Express influencer campaign has also collaborated with the famous videographer, photographer, and YouTuber Jamie Perkins, who has 1.7 million subscribers on YouTube. He posted sponsored content with his family. Natasha Oakley, who is known for her swimwear promotional content, has also used the campaign hashtag to address her 3.1 million followers on Instagram. Caroline Juen, who is known as @loveandloathingla is a famous US food and travel influencer who was also part of the campaign.
As you can see, the American Express influencer campaign left no stone unturned. The brand drove collaborations with a wide array of influencers from different niches and industries for the campaign. In addition, this American Express influence campaign was executed on all verticals ranging from mega to micro-influencers. What has this campaign been able to establish?
- A long-term influencer relationship that spans different sectors and niches
- It drew out individuals that are connected by their lifestyles
- The brand established a single platform for different consumer affinities.
Why Are Influencer Marketing Campaigns Essential For Brands
- Modern consumers no longer believe in mere advertising words or messages of a brand. On the contrary, they connect better to word-of-mouth recommendations. Hence, social media influencers are the best way for brands to make their brand message sound trustworthy.
- Campaigns and promotions executed through influencers on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have a stronger potential to succeed than offline advertising campaigns.
- A study conducted by Forrester observes that influencers are responsible for 80% of post impressions achieved by brands on various social media platforms.
- Influencers can drive consumers to resound to CTA’s. They can motivate consumers to take action by promoting a brand’s website or social media handle, products, and offerings through well-defined influencer campaigns.
- Influencers also help enhance a brand’s image and reputation among the target audience. In other words, social media influencers are the way to build credibility.
Lead Generation And Reach Through Influencer Marketing
The American Express influencer campaign strategy has volumes to tell about lead generation. This is a marketing process that involves apprehending and invigorating a customer’s interest. The goal is to lead them to buy the product or the offering. Generating desired leads can be understood as creating interest among the target audience for the products, services, and offerings of a particular brand or business.
The ultimate target of a marketer is to sow and cultivate the interest in a potential customer that will motivate him to buy the product or service. In other words, lead generation means that brands will reach out to the target audience, create interest in the brand’s offerings, and convert them into buyers. As illustrated by the American Express influencer campaign strategy, lead generation takes place in the following steps:
- Discovering the brand: A visitor discovers the brand and its offerings through an influencer via an influencer marketing campaign, social media handles, blogs, or sites.
- Clicking on the CTA: A CTA can be a website link, a form, a button, a post, or an image that will coerce the visitor to take the desired action.
- Coming to the landing page: After clicking on the CTA, the visitor reaches a landing page or a specific location that consists of information and insights about the products or offerings of the brand. The landing page will be curated in such a way that it will compel the potential customer to buy the product or the service. Hence, a studysays that 85% of marketers believe that leads are the primary goal of an influencer marketing strategy.
Key Takeaways From The American Express Influencer Campaign Strategy
- Ensuring that all influencer campaigns are personalised and curated to make them more relatable to the target audience. That way, lead generation will be easy.
- Employing analytical tools and tracking website performance to keep a tab on the source of CTA clicks or leads.
- Create ingenious and likable content. Give your next influencer campaign a good story.
- Utilise the best and latest automation tools to accelerate sales, reach, and lead generation.
- Curating interactive and winning content that will appeal to the target audience.
- Creating video content because pictures and music speak more than a thousand words. 70%of marketing strategists agree that videos are 100% effective in converting leads to sales.
Conclusion
Influencer Marketing campaigns call for a continually evolving strategy. Brands should realise that having a quality audience base is more important than the number of followers. Expert-curated and uniquely designed influencer marketing campaigns are vital to attaining a quality audience for any brand. Hence, brands should stay updated about the ever-transforming trends of their customer base. If yours is a small business, a well-structured campaign like the American Express influencer campaign will help you to improve your brand visibility and reach. This way, you will get revenue from your current customers and also endure that there’s a continuous flow of new ones.