Which formats are used in influencer marketing?

Three Different Influencer Marketing Formats

Deciding on the right format for your content and putting it on the right platform with the right influencers is crucial to any successful campaign, and it’s something that you need to put a lot of thought into. If you end up using a format that’s not suitable for your product, you run the risk of hurting the campaign and ultimately even your results. Likewise, certain formats only work on some platforms, and this has to be taken into consideration.

When it comes to influencer marketing, you have three main content formats to choose between, images, videos, and text.

Influence Marketing Format: Images

The image format is the most commonly used format for social media influencers since it’s easy to use, versatile, and suitable for most platforms. There is a saying that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” and this has never been truer. Good images posted by the right influencer can have a huge impact on your brand in terms of sales, traffic, followers, sign-ups, and all the other goals you might have.

Platforms that Work Well With Images

• Instagram is the leading platform for influencers on the market right now, and it’s all about the images. The format is great for selling aesthetically pleasing products and trendy lifestyles. Remember that the focus on Instagram is on the image. Long descriptive texts should be avoided since it can come off as spammy and distracting.
• Facebook can in some situations be very good for image content. Unlike Instagram, text is more important to use on Facebook, and it’s a good option for products that need a little explaining.
• Image Bonus Tip: Try to make use of the images that are posted on influencer’s profiles by reposting them on yours. This is a great way of getting the most out of the created content, and it tends to provide great results since the pictures are made for your target group. Just make sure that the influencer is okay with you re-using the content.

Influence Marketing Format: Videos

After images, videos are the most popular content format for influencers, and it’s growing at a rapid speed. In the past few years, every major social media has implemented some sort

of video feature on their platform, and it’s perfect for influencer marketing campaigns. Be creative - produce product reviews, tutorials on how certain products are used, lifestyle videos, or videos that are more like regular commercials.

Video Platforms and How to Best Use Them

Instagram Stories is one of the most used tools for influencer marketing with video. Stories often tend to be personal and product based. The format of stories is practical if you want to promote a new post on Instagram or drive traffic to a site using the “Swipe Up” feature.

Snapchat is 100% based on an unedited and “real” video format - a format that the platform helped to shape. The short and personal video format is great for product reviews and branding for companies trying to reach a younger target group.

YouTube is the king of online videos and a platform that has become increasingly popular for influencer marketing. Unlike Snapchat and Instagram Stories, YouTube is best for longer, professionally edited videos that have been produced with the intent of selling or informing. Do you have a product or service that needs a lot of explaining or do you want to create a guide? Then YouTube is perfect for you.

Facebook allows you to upload videos directly to the platform or share videos from YouTube and other similar platforms. That means you can share all your video content on Facebook, either as its own post or to promote a post from another platform.

Live Video: Live video is a format that has exploded in recent months, and it’s something you should consider for your next campaign. Use it to provide insight and show how your product is created “behind the scenes,” or have an influencer use your product live. Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat all have features that support live videos.

Influencer Marketing Format: Text

Text is the original way to advertise and few things are as effective as well-written copy. It’s also extremely versatile and can be used on every platform whether it’s short lines of copy on a Snapchat video or a longer description for other formats on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Then, of course, there are blog posts that can be used to produce and sell detailed content about products and services.

Since text can be used on every platform we won’t make a list for the available platforms. However, we want to emphasize on how important text can be for any influencer marketing campaign, and it's something you should strongly consider.

Fortunately, influencers are usually experts at producing good content and converting text for their specific platforms and followers. In fact, a good influencer should be able to produce the copy and content you need for each campaign, based on guidelines from you.

That being said, if you work for a company that has skilled copywriters, you can always consider having them collaborate with the influencer, at least for the next part of your projects. 

Are you still not sure which format is best for your next campaign? Contact Beatly and we’ll help you figure it out!