In 2024, this direction is undergoing a transformation, becoming a key factor in the sales system. Influencers now not only increase brand awareness, but also influence purchasing decisions.

In this article, I will share how marketers can rethink traditional methods of working with influencers so that they become real sales engines. Based on my experience and analysis of current trends, I will offer specific recommendations that will help you productively integrate work with opinion leaders into your business.

The main trend in influencer marketing

Today, influencer marketing is becoming more and more like a sales department. If earlier the main role of bloggers was reduced to solving brand problems, such as strengthening the image and increasing attention to the product, today the industry requires opinion leaders to influence customer decisions, among other things.

It is sales that become a key indicator of the effectiveness of cooperation. They reflect the quality of the content, the engagement of the audience, and its willingness to respond to the blogger's recommendations. If the influencer consistently achieves his sales goals, he can be considered as a reliable partner for long-term cooperation.

Add creativity and your company will be noticed

Organizing work with bloggers in the same way as the work of the sales department is not just a trend, this is exactly the train that you should jump on right now. Brands that are the first to realize and implement this approach will be one step ahead of the competition, will be able to set standards in the market and form audience preferences.

How to Launch Influencer Marketing in the New Reality

Sales and influencer marketing have a lot in common: a similar funnel structure, evaluating results, and using the same tools. In both cases, turnover is generated by the efforts of managers, and therefore it is logical to use a similar motivation system. Therefore, in order to productively organize work in this direction, it is worth taking the proven methods of the sales department as a basis. I will tell you what is important to consider here:

Hire an influencer marketer who knows how to sell and evaluate the effectiveness of bloggers' integrations. The first step to success is to find the right specialist. The ideal candidate should not only be a theorist, but also a practitioner who can actually increase sales. They must understand the intricacies of working with bloggers, be able to analyze the effectiveness of integrations, and accurately assess the impact of each influencer and their content based on data on engagement, reach, and conversions. It is important to have a deep knowledge of the market and understand what strategies work today.

Such a specialist is not afraid to experiment, try new methods and quickly abandon those that do not bring results.

Implement a motivation system. To keep the team engaged, introduce a motivational system in which managers receive a percentage of revenue based on the results of KPIs. Similar to the sales team, set key goals and metrics that will encourage everyone to actively seek out cool influencers and build long-term connections with them. This will not only increase sales, but also unleash the creative potential of the team.

When allocating your budget, consider the following elements:

Cooperation with influencers. This is the main expense item in your budget, regardless of the project. Determine how many posts you plan to post and multiply this number by the average cost of the post depending on the size of the influencer's audience.

Management costs. Do not forget to allocate funds for hiring and remuneration of managers who will manage the processes. To work with a large number of influencers, you may need several managers. For example, one specialist can effectively work with 30-40 bloggers per month. Determine how many such employees are needed and what motivational mechanisms (percentage of deals, bonuses for overfulfillment of plans) stimulate them to work better.

Marketing activities. Investing in event organising, press tours, and influencer giveaways will help strengthen relationships and grow your social media presence.

Platforms, tools for working with bloggers and research. Consider additional costs, including platforms that will help automate communication with bloggers, such as GetBlogger. Also, allocate part of the funds to analytical resources that provide a detailed analysis of the effectiveness of the campaigns carried out. A platform like Yoloco allows you to measure reach, audience engagement rates, and conversions.

Pay attention to market research — it helps you understand current trends and audience behavior, and provides valuable data to adjust marketing strategies.

Build an influencer marketing funnel. To do this, consider the type of distribution of your product:

For online services and products with direct control over distribution (SaaS, e-commerce, fintech), use end-to-end analytics to accurately track every click and subsequent user actions. This will give you the opportunity to correctly allocate your budget across different channels and types of content, identify the most effective influencers, and quickly make changes to advertising campaigns based on up-to-date data.
For brands that use point-of-sale distribution, partners, and retailers, planning an influencer marketing budget is different, as there is no tracking of the customer journey from advertising to purchase. In this case, analysts must first calculate what coverage is needed to increase sales by a certain percentage. Then, invest in content creators to achieve that reach. Also track your Net Promoter Score (NPS), engagement rate, comments, and likes to better understand your audience's response and campaign performance. Monitor brand awareness: you can use platforms such as Cint and DISQO for this.

Analyze. The effectiveness of the results of cooperation with opinion leaders should first of all be manifested in income. Therefore, it is important to accurately and quickly assess revenue and sales – business KPIs. If you can't quickly analyze and adjust data throughout the day, it can be a barrier to productivity. In addition to revenue, track the following metrics:

Sales Volume — the total number of units of a product or service sold;
CPS (cost per sale) and CPL (cost per lead) show how much it costs to attract one customer or potential client;
CTR (click-through rate) — the percentage of users who click on an ad after viewing it;
CPV (cost per view) is the average cost per view.

If a business can track the entire sales chain generated by bloggers, from clicking on a link to the final purchase, with the help of end-to-end analytics and tools such as Google E-commerce, then this opens up the opportunity to create a blogger department similar to the sales department.

Tips and hacks to make your campaign even more effective

All successful projects always start with a good strategy. Here are the key principles that will help make an influencer campaign more productive:

Work with new bloggers. Traditional use of influencer collections often does not lead to the desired results. Instead of launching on a predetermined list, experiment and explore new faces, testing their impact on real sales. I allocate between 30 and 70% of my monthly budget to testing, while keeping my total cost of acquisition (CAC) within acceptable limits. If you have a selection of opinion leaders for the week ahead, but you notice that the plan does not work, do not be afraid to adjust it, but do it in such a way that bloggers are also comfortable.

Analyze competitors. Study their strategies, pay attention to who they cooperate with and what methods they use. If you notice that your competitors aren't succeeding through bloggers, but their approach could potentially work in your industry, it gives you the advantage of developing your own, more effective campaign.

Offer influencers creativity. No one knows the product better than you or your team, so actively engage with bloggers to create unique and targeted content that resonates with the audience and supports the goals of the project.

Be flexible and do not be afraid to experiment, use technology to optimize processes and increase efficiency, constantly study the market and conduct trendwatching.

Today, influencer marketing is a comprehensive tool that requires creativity, analytics, knowledge of key performance indicators, and constant learning. Advertising industry players must not only adapt to the changes, but also use them to create new business opportunities.