Influencers for Social Media Marketing: Is It Worth It?

influencers for social media marketing Philippines has grown in the past few years. Their presence has helped many businesses — especially SMEs — grow digitally and even improve foot traffic in their physical stores. 

Since most local influencers are social media natives, they’re easily considered masters of all things related to social media marketing. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and even YouTube — you name it, they likely know the best practices for it. In this article, let’s look deeper into collaborations with influencers and why this strategy is one of the best social media marketing techniques you can adopt for your business.

Do influencers for social media marketing Matter?

The answer is an easy, resounding yes — let us explain why.

Unlike mainstream celebrities, most influencers build their digital presence around a particular niche. Think of how Alodia Gosengfiao-Quimbo successfully built an empire by focusing her content on cosplay and gaming. Or how Erwan Heusaff solidified his position as a go-to expert on Filipino cuisine and food reporting through FEATR.

These influencers inspire followers that later transform into authentic communities with whom they often interact. This makes them perfect partners for businesses wanting to build solid and genuine relationships with potential customers, especially if this target audience belongs to a specific interest group (ex: gamers, foodies, fur parents).

In the Philippines, influencer marketing has taken off due mainly to the rise of eCommerce. More and more Filipino brands are collaborating with influencers to promote their products on social media and leverage influencers’ strong connections with their followers. 

These online personalities are powerful brand advocates for businesses. Since they’re lauded and trusted as experts whose knowledge of a niche is rooted in experience, relatability, and sometimes skill, their opinions and recommendations are held in high regard. Partnering with them allows companies to stand out and directly speak to the demographic that matters most to them. 

This means influencers can build up a brand’s credibility and position it as a product worth purchasing. Without a doubt, influencers help businesses cut through the online noise as quickly as butter. 

Pro Tips for Choosing the Right Influencers

Finding the right influencer to represent your brand is crucial if you want to reap the effectiveness of social media marketing. The best collaborations happen when influencers align with your brand’s values and appeal to your target audience. This means taking into account all aspects of a given influencer’s demographic. Sure, their content is focused on travel, and you’re a hospitality brand, but does their audience match the type of customers you’d like to book your place?

Remember this: A well-matched influencer can amplify your message, while a mismatch most likely can harm your reputation. To help you land the right influencer, consider the following tips:

Set Clear And Measurable Goals For Your Campaign

Before launching any influencer campaign, it’s important to establish clear goals. Are you aiming to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive conversions? Different goals require different approaches, so it’s better to have that laid out from the get-go.

For example, if your objective is brand awareness, you should focus on influencers with large and established follower counts to amplify your message and reach a wide audience. This mainly works if you’re aiming for a broader demographic. On the other hand, if the goal is lead generation or sales, collaborating with niche influencers with a highly engaged following, regardless of the actual size, might be more effective.

Localize Your Influencer Marketing Strategy

Especially in the Philippines, influencer marketing works best when it resonates with local culture, values, and trends. Localization means creating content that speaks to the interests and needs of Filipino consumers. If you want more specific results, you can target certain regions or ethnicities (ex: Kapapampangan or Bisaya). By doing so, your brand can create a deeper emotional connection with your target audience.

Filipinos have a strong sense of community and often rely on personal recommendations from friends, family, or trusted experts. This puts influencers in a remarkable position of authority, especially if they’re known for making time to engage with their followers authentically relatable. Influencers who can infuse local elements, such as language, humor, and references to Filipino culture, tend to connect better — and sell more.

Work with Micro-Influencers

Don’t overlook micro-influencers — you’ll thank us for it. While it’s easy to dismiss micro-influencers relevance level because of their relatively low follower count, they’re often the ones with the most vital connections with their followers — for the same reasons. It’s easier for them to reply to comments and maintain conversations with people who regularly watch their content. This practice gives the impression that they’re more authentic and approachable and can easily make their recommendations more trusted and impactful.

Even B2B companies can benefit from this strategy. For one, niche influencers with specialized knowledge can help you find more small businesses that may find value in your product or service. For example, if you offer product photography services, getting influencers involved in your campaigns can undoubtedly open doors for you to secure new leads.

3 Strategies to Make Your Influencer Collaborations More Effective

Partnerships should benefit both you and the other party. To ensure this, take time to properly and carefully plan a collaboration. Below are some practical tips to help you maintain meaningful relationships with influencers:

Build Long-Term Relationships

One-off promotions can be helpful for quick campaigns, but long-term relationships with influencers provide more lasting value. When influencers work with a brand over time, they naturally become more familiar with the product or service, and their endorsements feel more genuine. This creates trust with their audience, leading to better engagement and more meaningful results. 

Know the Different Types Of Influencer Collaborations You Can Explore

You can explore many forms of influencer marketing to ensure the approach you choose aligns with your goals.

Sponsored Content

This is a common way of engaging influencers for social media marketing Philippines campaigns. Sponsored content is the posts or videos influencers create that feature your product or service.

Affiliate Marketing

Another effective strategy is to have influencers share a unique link or discount code, earning a commission on any sales they generate. This approach benefits B2B companies by directly connecting promotion to measurable conversions.

Giveaways

Asking influencers to hold giveaways of your product can be an excellent tactic for letting prospects experience your offerings free of charge. For B2B brands, you can have influencers give away more experiential prizes, such as free attendance at events. Partnering with influencers can organically rouse interest surrounding the event, helping boost attendance and make it more successful.

Maintain Transparency And Authenticity

Audiences can easily spot inauthentic partnerships, especially when following your influencer for a long time. Let influencers be personal and create content in their own style and voice instead of giving them strict directions on what to produce. Authenticity helps build credibility and trust with followers. It’s also essential for influencers to disclose their collaborations to avoid losing credibility with their audience.

Influencers who feel overly restricted by brand guidelines or forced to use scripted language may need help to connect with their audience. Allow influencers to use their voice and style while aligning with the brand’s message for more compelling, believable content.

Boost Your Influencer Campaigns with Eight Media

Collaborating with influencers for your social media marketing campaigns can be transformative for B2B brands that want to resonate with an enormous scope of prospects. But what’s the use of this strategy if your execution falls flat?

Maximize your influencer marketing to its full extent. We at Eight Media, an expert agency in digital marketing in the Philippines, specialize in helping local and international brands get the most out of any strategy they roll out. 

Featuring influencers for your social media marketing? Ensure you have a team that can provide you with top-notch content and design. Don’t just chase after likes and shares — drive real results and boost your brand’s presence by updating your marketing arsenal with quality tools.

Book a free consultation with Eight Media today and explore how our digital marketing solutions can open up new opportunities for your business.