Influencer marketing in 2022 will move more towards creating authentic content rather than just focusing on pitch-perfect campaigns. One of the vital ingredients for the success of influencer marketing has been the authenticity of the content that resonates well with the influencer’s followers. As a result, content creators will increasingly start promoting less filtered posts to differentiate their content from being seen as advertising. Studies have found that even social media users have now started to engage more with content that appears to be authentic and provides real value to them. This blog will discuss how brands can create genuine influencer marketing content to increase their campaign’s reach and engagement.
Onboard influencers who understand your brand’s ideology
To create content that appeals to the influencers’ followers, it has to be authentic and genuine. Therefore, authenticity is considered the most crucial factor in generating authentic content that ensures the continued success of influencer marketing campaigns. For example, suppose the influencer does not connect with the brand’s ideology and does not understand the product’s unique selling proposition; in that case, the authenticity of the content will be missing. Therefore, the brand’s job is to ensure the influencer knows the product inside out and is clear about the campaign’s objective. For this to happen, brand marketers must invest time with the influencer and involve them in the creative process.
Also, building trust with the content creators is a must. When the brand builds trust with the influencer, it shows in the quality of the content, which has a deeper connection with the audience. Also, when an influencer promotes a product over a more extended period, their audience is likelier to become brand loyal.
Also Read: Best practices for influencers to up their content game
Provide creative freedom to influencers
Brands should be flexible in understanding the influencer’s point of view when it comes to content creation because they are the ones who know their audiences inside out. So, rather than just asking them to create content for the campaign based on the pre-decided script following the strict brand guidelines, brands should be prepared to explore deeper collaboration with the influencers on their campaigns and not shoot their ideas down. Once organizations start following this approach, they will see that influencers will churn out content that looks more authentic to their audiences and will have more reach and meaningful engagement, as the former deeply understands the content that resonates well with their followers.
Unfortunately, according to various research reports, around 40 percent of influencers are not allowed creative freedom by the brands. Instead, the brands are rigid on how the content should look and ask influencers to adhere to the strict guidelines. This scenario, in turn, leads to mediocre content creation by the influencers who take it as any other campaign which needs to de delivered under specific guidelines. However, another influencer marketing report showed that more than 70 percent of influencers are likely to work again with brands that allow them creative freedom and trust their skills.
Leverage user-generated content
Brands must utilize the power of user-generated content as it is considered the most authentic form of influencer marketing because the brand’s actual customers are talking about it without prejudice. Also, most social media users are not professional content creators; thus, their results may appear unpolished, adding to the campaign’s authenticity and creating trust among other users. In addition, user-generated content like how to use products in a daily routine, their benefits, and features attracts the potential consumer toward the brand because of the content’s authenticity. Therefore, brands should focus on getting vast numbers of user-generated content through specially curated hashtags. They can do this by urging the influencers to encourage their followers to post their content using the hashtags and incentivize them based on their content quality and performance. User-generated content will also help brands understand the mindset of the customers and the improvement they want in the products and services.
Apart from the points mentioned above, brands should look to develop a long-lasting relationship with the influencers as this will significantly help improve the authenticity of the influencer marketing content. Furthermore, as influencers start promoting the brand over an extended period, the audience and the followers are more likely to become brand loyalists.
