Put simply, the social media landscape is always evolving. Facebook announced early this year that they plan on changing the algorithm that dictates which content you see on your News Feed. At Alternative Strategies, our team of social media experts are hard at work thinking of new ways to utilize social media marketing campaigns that complement these changes. The first, and most obvious, is to increase paid social media advertising, and decrease the quantity of organic posts. However, simply throwing more money at a campaign isn't the only option available to social media marketers. When done correctly, influencer marketing is a viable strategy aimed at targeting consumers in a way that interests even those who may be immune to traditional online advertisements.

Influencer marketing uses existing communities on social media as a resource. These communities are often tied to a specific person, group, or niche, with upwards of thousands of active community members, or followers. By following these influencers, fans trust them to produce content which is of interest to them. Brands can then tap in to the relationship that influencers have with their followers by partnering with the influencer to promote their product or service, often with the influencer receiving some form of compensation, whether that be payment, sponsorship, comped meals or products.

The nuance in influencer marketing occurs when brands determine their choice of influencer(s). The most important metric for determining whether an influencer is worth pursuing for a partnership isn't what one might initially think. Most marketers make the mistake of reaching out to macro-influencer accounts that have a high number of followers, which can be a costly and ineffective strategy. Alternatively, brands should instead look towards the number of engagements that the influencer receives per post. Engagement can be measured by how many likes, comments, tags or shares a post receives. By partnering with high engagement "micro-influencers," a brand is likely to benefit from the direct personal connection a follower has with the influencer. Partnering with micro-influencers also carries the added benefit of allowing brands to diversify their campaigns to hone in their key demographics, which can in turn help with other marketing campaigns.

At Alternative Strategies, we are constantly on the lookout for social media influencers that would be a great fit for our clients. If you have any questions on how to implement an influencer marketing strategy for your business, contact our social media team at info@altstrategies.com.