There is a shift in advertising spends with businesses and brands realizing influencer marketing is the real deal in Thailand. The old way of advertising is harder to engage audiences (‘customers’) as they are adverts squeezed around the content users are reading or watching online – so in that respect – they are disruptive, they get in the way.
Influencer marketing allows businesses to collaborate with influencers – be that vloggers or bloggers – to share their business messages with their followers. Their followers have a level of trust with the influencer and are therefore far more receptive to the advertising message than, for example, a banner advert.
If you are a business in Thailand it is a good idea to add influencer marketing into your advertising spends and in time it could become the bulk of where you spend your advertising budgets.
Here are 5 tips to make influencer marketing work effectively for your business in Thailand:
(1) Choose the correct influencers for your business
There are many influencer agencies you can look to help you with this as you need to choose carefully. It is important the influencers followers are aligned to your business offer. It is the current craze and although effective the follower is not stupid and they can increasingly tell when they are being sold too. So be sure you are not to pushy in your message.
If you need to target Expats or International visitors in Thailand a very well trusted site is www.danaboutthailand.com. It has twice been voted the best blog site in Thailand and often works with the Tourism Authority of Thailand to help promote the country.
Influencers do create good content to help promote your business, so do try.
(2) Find the popular individual that can help your business
Another suggestion is to look for social influencers that could help you, that are closely linked to your business. These do not need to be ‘influencers’ but have a good circle of friends that listen to what they post. A bit like the popular kid at school and the influence they have. The big difference here is their followers are friends, whereas for social influencers there is no personal connection. It means when these individuals share a post or comment about your business, their friends are far more receptive – and that is good news for your business.
(3) Provide a compelling message
Many influencers have become a little complacent about promoting certain services and if they lack imagination, that reflects on your business message and traction among their followers.
Be sure to provide a clear brief and suggestion for how you want them to position you. Be creative.
(4) Don’t only work with Influencers but work with regular social users too!
People know when they are being sold to by influencers far more than a couple of years ago. Now when an influencer endorses a product, restaurant or service their followers is more skeptical.
The real influence on social media is among friend to friend, rather than influencer to follower. The relationship is closer and so, therefore, is the trust. If a business can tap into this they will get a much better response from their campaign posts.
In Thailand there is an online service that connects businesses with relevant social users (matched by age, gender, interests and location) so that these users can share social posts for them. It’s proving very effective as the post looks authentic and genuine, and so their friends and family reading the post are more inclined to read the post and click any links. The site is called www.youaremia.com and well worth checking out.
(5) Remember you are also an influencer!
The online market has changed and now people are far more comfortable watching a video than reading some text. People buy into people before they buy into the business.
Start doing video vlogs and sharing on your social media – maybe include an interview with customers or staff too. You don’t need to do a fancy edit and can shoot the video direct from your mobile phone and upload directly to your Facebook, YouTube, Tik Tok or Instagram account.
Put yourself out there and have fun. Your customers and new customers will thank you for it with more custom and loyalty. It builds trust.
Let Dan know where you need help and he will send you recommendations and help you get set up
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