Today, the world of influence and that of advertising are getting closer and closer. It is no longer uncommon to come across posts in feeds sponsored by brands but whose content was originally created by an influencer. We are talking about amplification. Zoom in on this technique which has always proven its effectiveness in extending and increasing the performance of influence campaigns.
What is amplification?
L’amplification est une pratique très populaire venue tout droit des Etats-Unis. En effet, rares sont les campagnes dont les contenus ne sont pas amplifiés outre-atlantique. En Europe, le procédé n’est pas aussi mature, mais gagne de plus en plus du terrain.
Amplification is a very popular practice coming straight from the United States. Indeed, there are few campaigns whose content is not amplified across the Atlantic. In Europe, the process is not as mature, but is gaining more and more ground.
Why use amplification?
The use of amplification has many advantages. Firstly, and this is no longer to be proven, users will tend to be more receptive to the content of influencers they follow and who are considered more authentic, than to traditional advertising. Users will indeed have an easier time to identify themselves.
Moreover, as things stand, the organic publications of opinion leaders never reach 100% of the individuals who make up their communities, but only a part. By providing an amplification budget, the brand ensures that the majority of the community is reached.
The technique also makes it possible to increase its reach by reaching a so-called “affinity” audience, i.e. who share the same criteria and interests as the influencer’s community, but who are not part of it. Thus, instead of being only focused on the community of the influencers, the brand will be able to target the entire Instagram community that shares the same criteria and interests. It also helps to direct the visibility of content to a specific part of the audience, by location, gender or age group for example.
Compared to an organic post from a content creator, the amplification allows to multiply by 4 the performance of influencer campaigns. In addition, a significant advantage to sponsoring this content is the possibility of adding a call-to-action that will redirect to a link of your choice.
The influencer, whose post gains visibility, also comes out a winner: this technique will allow him to gain subscribers and visibility, while being paid by the advertiser! The affinity audience concerned by the advertising campaign will be able to discover the content of the influencer that they do not yet know and thus subscribe if the content interests them. Besides exposure, brand awareness improves when associated with the image of a creator who looks like him. All of these factors can ultimately increase conversions.
How to do amplification?
There are two ways to do amplification: from the advertiser’s account or from the influencer’s account.
Amplification from the advertiser’s account is the most used format today. The brand collects the content published as part of its collaboration with the influencer and reposts it on its social networks. Through their accounts, they then create advertising campaigns and amplify the content to reach more people. By using this technique, the influencer becomes a brand ambassador.
It is also possible to amplify directly from the influencer’s account, but this format remains rarer in Europe. The mechanics are simple: the influencer gives, for a given time, access to his account to the advertiser who will then set up the campaign to amplify the post(s) in question. In the United States, brands no longer hesitate to do so. In Europe, on the other hand, it is much rarer to amplify content directly from influencer accounts; the latter are still very reluctant to open access to their accounts to set up the campaign.
What are the limits of amplification?
You guessed it, amplification offers a multitude of significant advantages to increase the visibility and impact of an influence campaign. In fact, all influencers should be up for an ad campaign that gives their content more visibility. However, some of them are still reluctant to use this technique during collaborations. Indeed, like any technique, it has its limits to be taken into account before considering its use.
The weariness of users for advertising
When setting up an influencer marketing campaign, and when choosing the influencers who will represent the brand, the audience (its number of subscribers, age group, interests, location,…) is taken into account. It is therefore normal that when the influencer’s content is of high quality, the brand wishes to share it with as many people in the community and/or who share the same criteria.
But it is important not to fall into the trap of amplifying content excessively and without interruption, at the risk of falling into aggressive advertising. Indeed, overexposure to the same post could have negative consequences on your campaign and lead to negative feedback and comments from the target.
Choose instead for a moderate and transparent amplification: it is no longer a question of the size of the budget that counts but rather of its use. By finding the right balance, you make sure not to tarnish your image, nor that of the influencer, and also take into account the needs of each actor in the campaign, including those of Internet users.
The impossibility for influencers to have control
One of the fears of influencers in the use of amplification is not having control over the setting up and deployment of the advertising campaign, as well as over the use of its image.
Reassure your ambassadors about the use you want to make of the content produced and agree on the conditions of use from the start of the collaboration. This will allow you to create a relationship of trust and transparency with your influencers and avoid any misunderstandings. How many times will the publication be shown to the public? What will be the budget for this operation? What will be the end date of the ad campaign? Answer these questions together when negotiating the contract.
Stellar tips
- Do you plan to start amplifying content? Good choice of strategy! Take all the information you need before you start or get help from agency experts, like Stellar, who will guide you through your first steps.
- Wanting to soften the costs of creating content with influencers by amplifying is completely normal, but don’t fall into the trap of overdoing it! Indeed, users are tired of aggressive and continuous advertisements.
- Agree on the terms of use of your influencers’ posts and their image before your collaboration. This will allow you to avoid any misunderstandings, to create a relationship of trust and to structure the advertising campaign.
- Explain the advantages to the influencer to add an amplification stage to the campaign. Indeed, he may not yet master the technique and could be convinced to offer more visibility to his profile and content!
