What Is Influencer Marketing? The Basics and 5 Steps to Get Started

“I’d like influencers to introduce our product, but I don’t know where to start.” This is one of the most common questions we receive from company representatives.

Drawing on our experience with many campaigns in the field of casting, this article summarizes the basics of influencer marketing and how companies new to it should proceed.

What Is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is a marketing method in which people with influence over many others on social media (influencers) introduce your products or services. On the social media platforms consumers view every day, such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and X, you can present your product from the same perspective as their usual posts.

Because the message comes in the words of someone their followers trust, rather than from a company’s own account, it is easier to spark feelings like “I’m curious” and “I want to try it.”

How It Differs from Advertising

Both general social media ads and influencer campaigns are ways to get your product known on social media, but they excel at different things.

• Social media ads: You can precisely define how many people and which audience to target, making it easy to reach many people in a short time
• Influencer campaigns: Because the product is introduced through the person’s own worldview and words, empathy and trust come easily. Posts can also lead to a “secondary spread,” where fans make their own videos

Rather than asking which is better, it is effective to use them separately or combine them depending on your goals. For example, a common combination is to create buzz with influencer posts and then run the well-received posts as ads.

Products and Services Suited to Influencer Marketing

The following products and services are an especially good fit.

• Things whose appeal comes across by showing how they are used or the changes they bring (cosmetics, hair care, food and beverages, etc.)
• Things where you want to convey the fun of the experience (theme parks, exhibitions, events, etc.)
• Things you want younger generations to know about (music, entertainment, new brands, etc.)

At nicoichii, we have supported influencer campaigns across many genres, including TikTok promotion for cosmetics brands, PR for exhibitions and theme parks, and new song promotion for artists. You can see specific case studies on our Works page.

5 Steps to Get Started

1. Decide on a single goal

First decide on your top priority, such as “expand awareness,” “increase visits to the product page,” or “increase videos that use our song.” The goal changes which social media platform to choose, which influencers to feature, and which numbers to watch.

2. Decide who you want to reach

Define the people you want to reach, such as their age group, gender, and interests. Then choose the social media platform that audience watches most.

3. Choose influencers

Rather than choosing by follower count alone, check whether the followers match your target audience, whether the mood of their posts fits your product, and whether their regular posts get solid engagement (likes, comments, saves, etc.). We plan to cover selection tips in more detail in another article.

4. Decide what to communicate, and leave the expression to them

Share in advance the product’s features, what must be communicated, and what must not be said. At the same time, having them read from a script makes the post feel too much like an ad, and people end up not watching. Leaving room for the person’s own style of expression is a major key to results.

5. Review the numbers after posting

Review the numbers that match your original goal, such as views, likes, saves, comments, and visits to the profile or link. By applying the traits of successful posts to your next campaign, accuracy improves little by little.

A Rule You Must Follow: Labeling Ads as Ads

Since October 2023, promotions that hide the fact that they are ads (so-called stealth marketing) have been subject to regulation under the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations. When a company commissions an influencer to post, a label such as “PR” or “Ad” must be included so it is clear that the post is an ad.

The regulation applies not to the influencer who posts but to the company that commissioned the post. To run your campaign with confidence, make sure to confirm the labeling rules at the outset.

Summary

Influencer marketing is a method that can produce great results by clarifying your goal and target audience, choosing people who fit your product, and having them communicate in their own style.

At nicoichii, centered on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, we support you end to end from influencer casting and planning to post-campaign review. Even if you are at the “I just want to hear what is possible” stage, please feel free to Contact.