5 lesser known influencer marketing tips from Kalyan Karmakar

Here are some influencer marketing tips Karmakar shared in his Live interview with Social Samosa.

Brands have been increasingly incorporating influencer marketing in their advertising strategy lately. According to a research, 86 per cent of marketers used this strategy in 2016 and some have even doubled their investments this year.

The reason, why Influencer marketing is the current heart throb for digital marketers is because it delivers much higher engagement as compared to the traditional digital marketing channels.

Kalyan Karmakar, food blogger, Finely Chopped and author of the book, the Travelling Belly shared rich insights on the world of Influencer Marketing.

"We tend to speak to people, whom we know have knowledge on a particular field and want to get their recommendation. While, mass media channels may have much larger reach, but in terms of impact and conversions, it will always be, people you know or the word of mouth. Influencers are part of the ecosystem of the last mile conversions, as marketers realized that this is a good way of reaching out to consumers, they started reaching out to influencers and saw how they can work together and that is how it became a professional engagement," Karmakar shared.

Here are some influencer marketing tips Karmakar shared in his Live interview with Social Samosa.

1. People usually think that influencers get to take home a lot of free things, when they are working with brands. But there is nothing called free in this world, there is always a catch with it.

2. The biggest obstacle working in this domain is the need for more transparency and clarity. For e.g. if you are working for any brand on a particular content, there should be a disclosure at the end. I feel, the consumer surely deserves it.

3. Brands also need to look at engagements with influencers much more professionally, just like they would look at any other media channel.

4. For the upcoming influencers, I would like to say, don't be in a hurry. Focus on things that are in front of you. Don't take up every brand offer, evaluate, if it is going to add value to what you do.

5. The relationship between an influencer and a brand should be more than just a client and a vendor, there should be respect in it and it will bring great results to the table.

"If you are an established brand, then getting people to know about you is not much of an importance as much as what you stand for and that is where influencers come in. On the other hand, if you are a new brand, then you need reach and you need to look at avenues, which give you that," Karmakar concluded.

You can find the entire session in the Live chat below.