While traditional advertising remains an essential part of promoting a tour or show, industry influencer are much more trusted by consumers, and therefore can be a powerful promotional tool. in this piece Georgina Rutherford explains the power of the mico-influencer.
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By Georgina Rutherford from the Eventbrite blog. Georginai the Head of Marketing and Communications at IMA.
92% of consumers trust an influencer more than an advertisement or traditional celebrity endorsement. So how can you work with influencers to sell more tickets to your event?
Enter influencer marketing: using influential individuals to promote events. But if you’re only looking at influencers with follower counts in the millions, the price may be more than your event’s entire marketing budget.
On the other hand, ‘micro-influencers’ have smaller followings but are extremely valuable to your event. Because of their hyperlocal and engaged followers, they can be very effective in converting fans to attendees.
Micro-influencers are a powerful way to reach new audiences and sell more tickets. Here are just three reasons why you should be using them.
- Relationship-driven/trust: Micro-influencers maintain intimate relationships with their very engaged audiences. This means that people are hearing about your event from a source they really trust.
- Better ROI: It also means that the message will actually resonate. Micro-influencers are perceived as more authentic than larger-scale influencers and are actually 6.7 times more efficient per engagement than influencers with more followers.
- Targeted location: Since they have a very targeted audience in a specific niche or even geographical location, micro-influencers are a great fit if you’re promoting an event in a specific city or to fans of a unique music genre.
Ultimately, micro-influencers drive the power of word-of-mouth at scale. They know their audience better than anyone and have the ability to tell stories about your events that will turn their followers into your fans.
Putting your micro-influencer strategy in motion
Done right, this micro-influencer marketing can deeply impact the success of your events. Make sure your strategy is solid from the start with these four tips for micro-influencer marketing.
- Pinpoint your objectives: You are most likely looking to create awareness about your event as a stepping stone to selling tickets. But what about increasing online visibility, reaching new markets and encouraging consumer loyalty? Getting these goals down on paper will help you better understand which audience you need to be tapping into before you invest in the wrong one.
- Find the right micro-influencers: Start by looking close to home: perhaps on your business page, existing social channels, or through relevant hashtags for people who have followings and are already fans. Once you start “social listening” you will be able to determine who your micro-influencers are, what kind of content they’re creating, and where they’re sharing it.
- Consider investing in tools or an agency: There are agencies set up to help you identify micro-influencers, shape your strategy and take the work out of your hands. You can also use social media tools to do so at scale. Keep in mind that building a personal relationship and aiming for a long-term partnership are important. If a micro-influencer feels they have the freedom to create content and grow with you over time, you will have a much more successful collaboration.
- Work with several micro-influencers to create the best possible reach and impact. That doesn’t mean you have to pay them. In fact, providing micro-influencers with experiences such as VIP passes or exclusive parties is a great way to generate earned media that will maximize the impact of your message.
Ready to connect with the right micro-influencers for your event? Check out The Secret to Sell-Out Events: Selling to the Social Ringleader to find out why social ringleaders — the people who attend the most events, invite the most friends, and spread the most hype about your event — buy tickets.