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2.28.20 |

The Value of Social Media Influencers

116 & West

Marketing your business, organization, or brand on social media is no easy task, especially when the market is ever-changing and social media use becomes more and more ubiquitous. Finding ways to represent your brand, message an elusive target audience (what’s up Gen Z?), and do it all convincingly is a tall order.

Since Facebook added business pages in 2007, it’s slowly but surely limited the amount of reach a business’s organic posts will have. A 2019 TrustInsights study found the median engagement from a Facebook brand post, unpaid, received was 0.0215%. To put simply: one out of every 4,647 people engage with a post.

Although the statistics are much better for Instagram (.47% engagement rate for an organic brand post), it’s pretty clear unpaid brand content doesn’t get much love on social media.

Over the past 5 years or so, businesses have been getting creative with their social media marketing. Instead of allowing an algorithm to be the primary distributor of organic and paid posts, businesses of all sizes have been utilizing actual people to help communicate their brand and market products and services. These people usually have some semblance of celebrity or brand equity from which a business can draw.

As more and more users join social media platforms, the number of people with a large following (influencers) has increased. However, social media users are also growing more aware of influencer advertising, and may not be as likely to engage. So, it takes a lot of front-end research to discover the right partner for your brand.

But once you do, you may find it’s exactly what your business needs. “Ultimately,” says our Integrated Media Director, Sean Winnett, “You can get an ungodly amount of value if you do it right. You can create a lot of loyal following. Your influencer might love your product and might keep posting about it for years.”

Finding and Evaluating Influencers

Winnett explains how important research is to finding and using social media influencers: “Your primary goal needs to be understanding the market. Sure you can do 30 minutes of research and come up with a list of 100 popular influencers, but whether anyone on that list is good for your brand is a different story.”

You can utilize influencer search tools, such as BuzzSumo and Awario, but those tools can only present data. For anything in-depth, you’ll have to do the digging. “Look deeply at an influencer’s voice, audience, and engagement,” says Winnett. “What is their photo quality and style? Does it match your brand? Look through their post history and pay attention to how they interact with their followers. The most comprehensive search will occur if you do the research yourself because you know your brand.”

It’s also important to understand the nuances between social media platforms. Each platform engages a particular demographic with a particular content style. If your business is aiming to reach teenage boys, for example, a YouTuber is a much better option than someone with a large Facebook following.

You’ll need to evaluate success a little differently on each platform as well. For example, the TrustInsights survey found the median engagement rate for an Instagram influencer was 1.5%. To the untrained eye, that might seem like very little. That engagement rate, however, is 157 times greater than the engagement rate on Facebook. To complicate this further, Instagram has removed any public-facing metrics, so you’ll have to have open lines of communication with your influencer to learn metrics. If you find your Instagram influencer has an engagement rate of 2%, you’ll know he or she is doing much better than average.

Depending on the platform, influencers may also help you market your business in fresh ways. For example, a YouTube influencer may only publish four times per year, but can provide your business video content, which may help diversify how you’re reaching your audience. On the other hand, if you find someone with a popular blog, there could be interesting opportunities for new affiliate or email strategies.

Alongside the platform, you also need to assess what kind of influencer you’re looking for. Are you looking for one individual with a huge following? If that’s the case, be prepared to shell out some cash. Or, are you looking for someone with a local following? Maybe you’re trying to find an influencer in a particular vertical, such as fitness or photography.

If, for example, you own a sporting goods store in Denver, CO, you’d be better served partnering with an influencer with a smaller, local following rather than one who has a larger, more national following. If you own a small or local business, an influencer who knows your community, it’s people, and the competition, can be hugely beneficial as an endorser of your brand.

Campaign and Structure

Ideally, influencer marketing is one part of your larger, integrated media strategy. Sure, you can pay someone to rep your brand or product on their channel, but without having some specifics in place, you may find it difficult to see the value.

For example, are you utilizing your influencer(s) to help you during a specific campaign? “Realistically,” says Winnett, “you should have a campaign or goal in mind. Working with an influencer doesn’t necessarily mean you have to constantly use him or her for a brand play.” Instead of always using them for “brand awareness,” influencers can be used to help you reach particular monetary goals, or new customer/client goals, or even drive traffic to a website or landing page.

If you are engaging your influencers to help you reach a specific KPI (key performance indicator), then set them up for success. Are you giving your influencer the right collateral and information about your business and brand? Do they know your relevant hashtags and account tags? Are they sending traffic to a landing page? You need to work with your influencer to ensure they’re helping you reach your goals.

You chose your influencers for a reason, so it’s also essential you give them their freedom in how they’re representing your brand or product. “That’s the point of using influencers,” says Winnett. “If you want them to say your words exactly, then do a paid ad. You want to tie your brand into their messaging in a way that feels organic and true to both your business and their personality.”

That’s what makes your original research so important. Someone might have a big following, but if the language and style of their posts don’t mesh with your brand, then you’re doing yourself a disservice.

Contracts and Compensation

“One of the more difficult parts of using influencers is figuring out how to compensate them,” says Winnett. “There is no standard influencer rate card. So, you may find yourself negotiating a lot. An influencer with 2k followers who is a perfect fit for your brand may cost more than someone with 10k followers. Your job is to feel great about your choice, no matter if you’re giving them free product, cash, store credit, or a mix.”

And while it may seem like a casual partnership, use a contract—especially if you’re going to pay your influencer. Contracts not only lay out a compensation plan, but also put into writing your expectations. “Use your contract to temper any expectation they might have for what you’re giving them,” says Winnett. “Also make sure to provide a clause about discretion and disclosure. They need to properly disclose they’re getting paid to talk about your brand or product. It’s the law.”

They key takeaway, according to Winnett, is that there are no right ways to compensate an influencer. “But, there are plenty of wrong ways.” To get the most out of your partnership, you treat the influencer as a valued part of your business. “You can get a lot of great value from non-paid partnerships if the value of the product is there and the brand and influencer are in alignment. However, you can’t rush the process or expect the world if you aren’t willing to pay for it.

“If your attitude toward an influencer is, ‘She’s lucky to work with us. She’s getting exposure,’ it’s doubtful the influencer will value your brand. No matter how your relationship works, the point is that you both benefit. It’s partnership in the truest sense,” says Winnett.

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We know a thing or two about working with influencers. Let us know how we can help you! Drop us a message: whatsup@116andwest.com.

 

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2.19.20 |

What is UI/UX and Why Is It Important?

116 & West

You don’t need to be a developer to have come across the term “UI/UX.” Most people in the worlds of ecommerce, marketing, or design know the term. Although you might be familiar with it, you may not be so familiar with what it means for your business growth, your customers/clients, and your bottom line.

Today, it’s nearly impossible to run a successful business or organization without an online presence. Although some businesses can get away with having only a Facebook page, most need a website. Moreover, many people are creating their own personal websites to display work, expertise, blogs, etc.

UI/UX goes hand-in-hand with having a website. If you or your business have a website, and you haven’t really thought about your site’s functionality or how your users are interacting with it, here are some things you should know:

UI/UX and Website Goals

UI stands for “user interface,” which is another term for what a website looks like. UX stands for “user experience,” which is how a person navigates through the site, or, ultimately, the site’s functionality. In general, UI/UX is short for what a user sees on a website and how that website works.

“The interesting thing about user experience,” says Megan Nicholls, our brilliant Senior Designer and UI/UX Specialist, “is that you don’t notice it unless it’s bad. If you land on a website and are frustrated and confused about where you should go and what you should do, it’s a bad experience.”

In order to develop a good user experience, you first need to establish a goal. What do you want the user to do when they land on your site? “Just like any sort of marketing funnel, the website should gently guide a user down a path toward action,” says Nicholls.

No matter what your business is, your website should help a person do something. “If you run a bank, maybe the goal is to have a person open a savings account; if it’s a store, maybe the goal is to buy something,” says Nicholls. “People like to be told or shown what to do. Whatever the action is, we use what are called “CTAs” (calls to action), as signposts to help people perform it.”

“If a user isn’t ready to act,” says Nicholls, “we then offer more information. As a user moves through the site, good user experience reminds people what to do. Usually, it’s with ‘learn more’ or ‘buy more’ buttons.”

UI/UX: Information Hierarchy

A good website has a sense of visual prominence. “If something is important and you want people to see it, the design should draw people’s eyes to it,” says Nicholls. “Business owners can be a little fearful of white space in their websites. They’re worried that it’s wasted real estate. But, numerous studies have shown that people can only absorb so much information at a time. If you overwhelm them with images and copy, they’ll leave.”

That’s why it’s important to develop a hierarchy of importance for the information on your site. That’s a difficult task, of course, but it’s an essential exercise for business owners who are in the market to have their sites developed or redesigned. A website should organize the information by specific goals and then guide people through those goals in the clearest way possible.

“Whatever is most important should be the most noticeable,” says Nicholls. “We usually do that with a bold slice of color, an enticing image, and a hero statement.” This primary image is called a “hero image,” and is usually the very first experience a person will have with your site. It’s vital that images and copies contain the most important information.

“We also want to minimize clicks,” says Nicholls. “People naturally use the easiest route. A good web designer will reduce the amount of effort it takes someone to perform the action we want them to perform.” For most websites, that means consolidating information by thinking about what can fit together and what can be removed altogether.

“Not every piece of information needs its own page,” says Nicholls. “Too many pages can make navigation difficult, and can make organizing the site a nightmare.”

Designing for Audience Expectations and Needs

Along with establishing a goal for your website, it’s essential to understand who the audience is. If your primary audience is people over 50, then the website needs to be tested and designed with that audience in mind. If, on the other hand, your audience is kids, the site will have to be designed so both kids and their parents can find what they need on the site.

“Tech-savvy young people may not have the same experience with a website as an older person, so it’s important to test all types of users and how they navigate your site,” says Nicholls.

Over the past 30 years or so, people have gotten comfortable with using a computer. Along with that comfort, however, comes some expectations about usability. “There are expectations about how a website will look,” says Nicholls. “There’s an expected format. We generally know there will be a menu at the top of the page. We know the contact information is at the bottom. We know to scroll for more information.”

Going outside the boundaries of how your website is organized can be risky. “You don’t want to stray too far from the usual experience because people can get frustrated. But, you also want your site to look unique and interesting. Combining those things in the right way is the challenge,” says Nicholls.

Good UI/UX designers also take accessibility into consideration. Websites should be navigable for those with audio, visual, and motor disabilities. There are accepted standards for accessibility; these guidelines are known as WCAG. “It’s also important to design within the guidelines for accessibility. Everyone should be able to use your website without trouble,” says Nicholls.

“Websites need to serve a purpose,” says Nicholls. “Sure you can be really fun and break the mold; but at the end of the day, if your website isn’t helping people do what you want them to, it’s not really worth having. Your site has to drive action. Bottom line.”

Implement Analytics

One of the more important aspects of having a website is using analytics. Analytics can help tell you how many people visit your site, what pages they’re visiting, where they’re clicking, and what process they go through to perform an action.

“Analytics help paint a real picture. Sometimes, a client will think things are important and will give them great weight on the website. Analytics can show what people really are clicking on. It’s good to know because we can move things farther toward the top of the page and give prominence to where people are clicking,” says Nicholls.

How 116 & West Can Help

We know our shit. If you need a website, or just want us to take a look to make sure it’s doing all the things it needs to, hit us up! whatsup@116andwest.com

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