Nowadays, it is common for most people in New Zealand to use some form of social media. Indeed, most people spend much of their days looking at social media. Previously, most brands would use celebrities to advertise their products. However, social media influencers are starting to take over this role. If you run a business in New Zealand, you may consider looking at advertising through an influencer marketing campaign. However, there are a few things that you must first consider.
This article will outline the most effective influencer advertising strategies and the laws you should consider when engaging with influencers for marketing.
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What is an influencer?
An influencer is someone with a successful brand on social media. Furthermore, social media refers to websites and apps such as:
- YouTube;
- Instagram;
- Facebook; or
- TikTok.
Influencers have a significant number of people who follow their accounts, often ranging between a few hundred to millions of followers. These followers feel that the influencer is authentic and credible. In addition, in most cases, social media users generally admire influencers’ lifestyles. Therefore, influencers can generally ‘influence’ their followers to purchase products or engage in particular services.
As a result of their significant influence, many businesses now use social media influencers to market their products rather than traditional advertising methods. For example, an influencer could make a post or video endorsing and explaining some information about the product.
How Can I Make My Influencer Advertising Most Effective?
It is crucial to choose the right influencers to become brand ambassadors for you. Make sure you choose an influencer who shares values with your brand. Further, you should avoid choosing an influencer based on their number of followers. Generally, you will struggle with customers if you are advertising to the wrong audience. Furthermore, you should take into account the influencers:
- location;
- rates of engagement;
- gender;
- brand; and
- lifestyle.
Additionally, ensure a clear brief when you begin advertising with an influencer. Generally, you should clearly outline:
- a timeline;
- the critical values of your brand;
- what you hope to achieve from the relationship;
- the amount of content you expect the influencer to produce.
In most cases, you can collaborate with the influencer to create this approach to ensure that this relationship works best for both of you.
Before you start advertising your products through influencers, you should also ensure that your business’s social media presence and website are sophisticated and comprehensive.
If an influencer advertises your products but your website has a poor layout, the advertising will likely be pointless. Instead, you could hire a professional social media consultant to help assist with your social media presence and website design.
Continue reading this article below the formWhat Legal Implications Are There to Working With Influencers?
Influencer marketing is still a type of advertising. Therefore, you need to obey all relevant advertising laws in New Zealand. This means it is illegal to make;
- misleading or false conduct or statements; and
- unsubstantiated claims.
Additionally, you cannot use unfair sales tactics. If you and the influencer mislead consumers, you could face severe legal penalties. Furthermore, this could be a fine of up to $600,000 for companies and other businesses.
Primarily, you should ensure that the influencer clearly states that your company is paying them to advertise a product. If the influencer conceals a paid promotion, this could be a misleading statement. Further, payment does not necessarily mean monetary payment. It can also include:
- free products;
- free event tickets;
- paid-for travel;
- store credit.
You should ensure that the influencer understands the importance of clarifying this. Additionally, you could create a system to ensure you regularly check their compliance with this. Moreover, if you are sending free products to numerous influencers, you should ensure that they all clearly state that the product they are receiving is free for them.
Key Takeaways
Influencer marketing is a highly effective way to promote your business. First, however, you must ensure that you comply with all advertising laws and regulations. Primarily, your relationship with the influencer should be evident during any advertisements.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Influencers typically advertise products and services through social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and TikTok. They may also promote the product through their own blogs or websites.
This would be making a misleading statement. The influencer, and the business who sponsored them, could face legal penalties for this breach of advertising law. It would help if you made it as straightforward as possible to any influencers you hire about the importance of clearly disclosing pay for an advertisement.
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