A-Z of Influencer Marketing!

Influencer marketing has catapulted into mainstream digital services over the years, so much so that it can be hard to keep track of terminology and what is what.

Well, have no fear! Here at Disrupt, the team has pulled together the Influencer Marketing alphabet, so you know your CPM from your ROI. 

A – ‘Ad’

One of the most important things an influencer should include on their sponsored posts is AD, or some other form of declaring the partnership. Without this, it can mislead consumers/followers and get the creator, brand and agency into hot water with another A – the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority). 

B – ‘Brief’

One of the key stages in a partnership is a good briefing. Influencers need to know brand messaging, tags and hashtags to use as well as general info on the brand. They can then pair this with their creative freedom and produce content that is aligned with their own aesthetic and values to create something truly authentic. 

C – ‘CPM’

…or cost per thousand. In influencer marketing, this is an expression of how much it costs to generate a thousand impressions – a method used a lot at Disrupt!

D – ‘Data’

At Disrupt, we’re driven by data. We analyse the insights across creators and platforms, and add creativity and culture to deliver high performing campaigns. 

E – ‘Engagement’

Each influencer or social media page will have an engagement rate, this is a % of how much of their audience is interacting with their content. So, if someone has 10,000 followers and is averaging at 100 likes, comments and shares, this is a 1% engagement rate. The industry standard is constantly changing, but we normally work towards 2% or above. 

F – ‘Followers’

The most basic requirement for being an influencer is followers, how many a creator has is increasingly becoming less relevant, but building a dedicated audience is key. 

G – ‘Goal’

What are the main goals and objectives of your influencer campaign? Having these set in place at the start will help with strategy. Whether it be brand awareness, website clicks or downloads, establishing this at the beginning is crucial. 

H – ‘Hashtag’

Does the client/brand have any campaign hashtags in mind? If not, helping them determine these is good for influencers to use in content. This ensures consumers recognise a campaign and further aids that wider reach. 

I – Impressions

One of the main metrics used in influencer marketing, impressions are used to measure how many people have seen a piece of content. Often, impression targets will be set for a campaign and it is the team’s job to hit that. Targets are made from an estimation on how a campaign is set to perform, based on how many influencers are taking part and the average following of them. 

J – ‘Job’

We can sometimes forget that being an influencer is often their full time job, and they will rely on brand partnerships for their primary income. Something to consider and ensure brands/agencies are paying creators fairly and on time.  

K – ‘Knowledge of Audience’

Knowing and understanding who a campaign should be targeting will help with key elements such as which platform content should be sitting on. If a brand is targeting Gen Z, the influencers should not have Facebook as their primary platform as that isn’t where Gen Z primarily consumes content. 

L – ‘Link Clicks’

One way to measure campaign success is through link clicks. By providing influencers with trackable links, we can get the data on how many of their followers clicked it via their content. However, it is worth noting that a high click through rate is difficult. It takes a lot for consumers to leave the app they are on. Is the brand/product something worth clicking on? Thinking about where you want followers to be directed is an important step in any campaign. 

M – ‘Marketing’

The definition of marketing is the action of promoting and selling products or services. We don’t know about you, but we’d much rather be convinced to buy a new pair of shoes from our fave influencer who we trust the opinion of, than a giant billboard; but that’s just us…!

N – ‘Nano Influencers’

There are lots of different influencer tiers and nano’s sit first. Creators with less than 10k followers are typically defined as a nano. While these creators can sometimes be overlooked, they actually have great value with their highly engaged and dedicated audiences. Nano’s are becoming increasingly popular within influencer strategies, you only have to read our blog to see that!

O – ‘Organic Use’

In influencer marketing, this refers to how a creator’s brand content will be used once published. If the brand simply wants to repost on their channels, with no spend behind it, this is organic usage and most influencers are happy to give this for free (for a certain amount of time). 

P – ‘Paid Usage’

If a brand wants to use an influencer’s content in advertising or social media boosted posts, this falls under the paid usage umbrella. This needs to be clear when contracting talent so there is transparency around how something they created is being used. Naturally creators will charge extra for this so something to consider with budgets. 

Q – ‘Quality Content’

As influencer marketers, our main job is ensuring that creators deliver high quality content that is suited to the brand and aligns with all parties. 

R – ‘ROI’

…or return on investment. Used in most industries, ROI is a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency or profitability of an investment. In influencer marketing, this can be done in numerous ways such as tracking how much website traffic an influencer drove and the conversions which resulted from that – compared to how much they were paid for the collaboration.

S – ‘Shopping’

Shopping via social media is becoming increasingly popular (as seen in our 2022 trends report!). Thanks to the likes of TikTok and Instagram, you can now get your bestie a birthday present and watch a funny video all in one place.

T – ‘TikTok’

The first social media platform called out in this list and for good reason. While still relatively new in terms of a marketing tool, the most visited website on the planet is becoming essential in any influencer marketing and social strategy. 

U – ‘Underestimate’

Rule number 1, NEVER underestimate the power of influencers. They have loyal followers who hang onto every word they say, so if you’re going to invest in any marketing strategy this year, make it influencer.

V – ‘Video’

Most social platforms are constantly introducing new ways of creating video content. From Instagram stories to YouTube shorts and Twitch Livestreams to TikTok’s, every single platform has multiple ways of sharing video content. This year will show no slowing down of new and innovative forms either so it’s super important that video is the heart of influencer campaigns.

W – ‘What’s Trending?’

A question we ask ourselves daily. Social media is constantly changing and we need to be able to keep up with the pace. This helps us stay relevant and spot the trends our partnerships should be jumping on.

X – -‘ Xtras’

Okay so we’re cheating a bit here…BUT make sure to consider all possible ‘xtras’ you’ll need to be aware of within an influencer campaign. This includes exclusivity, do the influencers need to be exclusive to that brand for a certain amount of time? If so, this will come with an extra fee. 

Y – ‘Youth Marketing’

Did you know that Disrupt started out as a youth marketing agency 8 years ago? When we saw the world moving, we knew we needed to move with it. So, influencer became a key part of our services and in 2018, we became who we are today!

Z – ‘(Gen) Z’

An audience that has helped the likes of TikTok become the giant that it is, Gen Zers are a key demographic within most brand strategies now.

While we could talk about influencer marketing all day, 26 word definitions will hopefully give some insight into the industry. Are there any other marketing terms you think should be on this list? Let us know!