Recently Tomasz Dyl, Founder and Managing Director of GottaBe! Marketing chatted to Aleksandra Fiddler from Wiadomości Wirusowych and Jacek Tomkowicz – journalist, YouTuber and content creator about Influencer Marketing.
The full video is available in Polish here or, we have summarised it in English below. If you are not Polish-speaking and would love to listen, fear not, we have an English version in the works and will be bringing this to you shortly!
Over 3.6 billion people around the world use social media – Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, the latter is leading globally when it comes to new user acquisition.
Along with the growing popularity of social media, the costs of advertising through them also increase. Between 2014-2019, there was a £3 billion increase in advertising spend across social media in the UK. More brands are starting to use the services of influencers – bloggers and YouTubers. It is estimated that the market on the channels will double over the next few years.
Facebook is still the market leader among all social media in the UK. The content posted on this portal has as much as 60% of the market reach.
Instagram is the second most popular platform in the UK with around 35% of the share of market reach. However, it is worth adding that the popularity of Instagram has increased – in the past five years it has grown significantly, increasing its reach by as much as 20%.
When it comes to advertising in social media, whether that’s a sponsored post or Facebook groups – influencer marketing itself is a form that attracts large groups for the help of a specific person and their recommendations.
An influencer is a person who gains a reputation as a knowledgeable person, someone reliable, who is an expert on a given topic. As a result, they have many followers who rely on them and their expertise.
Interestingly, being an influencer has become quite a desirable career path. As many as 18% of teenagers (aged 13 to 20) in the UK, want to become influencers or social media managers.
Influencers typically have “power” to influence the purchasing decisions of their followers – due to their position as indicators in the industry. Some of the most popular influencers are within the fashion, beauty, lifestyle, fitness, travel, food, and drink market. Recently, there has been an increase in influencers in the “parenting” category.
Over 25% of social media users after the age of 25 to 34. When it comes to content creators, 54% of influencers are aged 25-34.
84% of influencers are female with a vast majority of these using Instagram as their primary platform.
According to statistics, an average of 23% of people click on links to advertise a product after seeing it on an influencer’s profile. Comparably – marketing programs carried out via television or cinema range from 0.7% to 3% or 4% in terms of click-through rate (CTR).
We distinguish several categories of influencers: nano from 1,000 to 10,000 followers, micro from 10,000 to 50,000. The averages range from 50,000 to 100,000, macro – 100,000 to 1 million, and mega – over 1 million followers. Obviously, the greater the growth opportunities for influencers, the greater the post rates and the greater support for sales.
Jacek Tomkowicz – a radio presenter on RMF FM and YouTuber.
“Once I started at the radio, I dealt with radio production, and there, I started to experience creating content – both for the web page as well as their YouTube channels,” says Tomkowicz.
“Given people’s interest and the growth of the platforms, I started to create new shows and ideas. The ideas started at the radio station and then it comes to creating content on YouTube. When YouTube started – some 7-8 years ago, Instagram and Facebook were not as popular as they are today. Back then, YouTube was already very popular and was filling up with content – although no one had suspected that it would replace TV for some people and the advertising budgets would so big. “
Aleksandra Fiddler – from 1 like to 117,000 likes within just a year
Aleksandra Fiddler is a translator and English teacher by profession. However, on Facebook, many users will know her as Mrs. Ola. her channel is aimed at Poles living in Great Britain.
“My niche is very small, but for some reason, no one has filled this niche. Poles living in Great Britain either listened to news from Polish media – which does not concern them whilst they live in Great Britain. Or, they listen to the news from Great Britain their lack of knowledge of the English language acts as a barrier, ” says Aleksandra Fiddler.
“In March, when the virus hit and we had the first lockdown – everyone needed information and the lockdown created a certain sense of community and being together.
On May 17, 2020, I thought exactly – how would Poles know what had just happened and what had been decided, if they were watching Polish TV. Polish TV will typically show cover news items with either a two-day delay or inaccurately. So, I thought that I would record such an explanation myself – I took the phone in my hand, recorded a video in which I said – listen, this is my first live in my life and … this live was watched by 60,000 people. It showed that what I did is necessary. Then I did another live and so throughout the lockdown – until June, I recorded it every day.
Many people at the same time started trying to do the same, but I think my success lies in being systematic and reliable in preparing this information. I shot myself down to the need that was there to the minute. “
“There are people for whom being an influencer is their number one job. Anyway, this research also shows it – many teenagers want to become influencers, YouTubers, or Instagramers in the future. And today it has become so mainstream that many people think – it will be mine profession, I’m going into it “, says Jacek Tomkowicz.
“There are also many people who are professionally involved in something else, and being an influencer is an accessory for them, a hobby, for example, only after some time – with money or reach, being an influencer becomes the number one profession for them” adds Tomkowicz.
There is also a third group – pseudo influencers, people who even wrote to restaurants asking for a free dinner in exchange for a post on their social media.
“I would never have expected my story to go like this and now I had to limit my daily duties as a sworn translator in a translation office – because it turned out that my new career was so exciting that I wanted to focus on it” adds Aleksandra Fiddler.
“I think it is worth saying one more thing. The word INFLUENCER itself means that we have an influence on someone, and I do not feel good about it. I would like to say that such “real influencers “- people who do not buy likes, they do not do it for gifts – they must also have a certain sense of mission. It must be a mission, a service to our listeners because without it nothing is behind it “, emphasizes Aleksandra, adding that real influencers will not do anything that is against themselves.
“I am also prepared to post my stuff on TikTok and Instagram. I started with Facebook, and it was a total coincidence for me. Perhaps I missed a trick and should have been on different platforms too” explains Aleksandra Fiddler.
“I had the same – if someone told me now, in retrospect, how it would go – I would probably have started Instagram or Facebook right away” adds Jacek Tomkowicz, emphasising that both Facebook and Instagram are a certain supplement to the YouTube channel.
“I feel less involved in Instagram myself. There you have to externalise yourself in some way, and I don’t feel that way. I’m trying to convince myself of that and it would be nice if there were more. Of course, some people from Facebook or Instagram go to YouTube. When it comes to YouTube itself, it generates amazing reach by itself. If you compare the percentage of people who follow my programs on Facebook, and how they are viewed on YouTube – Facebook is quite poor, around 5-7%. It is also known that these platforms are competing with each other – so Facebook cuts the ranges where YouTube links appear in the posts. It also works the other way around – YouTube has also created a social card that works similarly to Facebook “says Tomkowicz.
“As you know, creating content takes hours – it’s a huge amount of work and you know that you want to get something out of it. In your case, Jacek, you create music content, partly informative – but sponsors and brands that you place on your channel are very different companies. There is swimwear, money transfers companies, cashback sites, “notes Tomasz Dyl.
“As for the content itself – whether something fits can have an impact more on the creation of the content, less on the audience. My viewers, apart from the fact that they like music – also use a money transfer site or can use a cashback service.”
“I think an influencer’s honesty and compliance with what he believes is very important,” adds Aleksandra Fiddler. “My listeners know that I will not advertise things I don’t believe in. This builds the audience’s trust in me, but also the effectiveness of the campaign.”
“I’m just beginning, and my main sponsor has been Skrill since November,” says Aleksandra.
“There were some small campaigns of big and small brands. There was a campaign by Robert Lewandowski’s coffee distributor in the UK – I got a mug and a coffee sent through, and I didn’t advertise the product – I just put a thank you for the gift. And this is such a typical thing that an influencer does – he gets a gift and thanks publicly I didn’t even expect the impact it would have.
I’ve also had several campaigns for small emerging brands. It was a pharmacy and a jewelry store. And when the sponsored post appeared, so many people entered the site that the server crashed within 5 minutes. It shows a strength that I am not fully aware of. “
“It is more convenient to place a very well-known brand – because you know what you are advertising. Then we have greater certainty – if something is known, tested and you have used it yourself. However, there were also such situations that I did not know the client’s product before, I started using it and now I use it all the time “, emphasizes Jacek.
“I hope the pandemic will end,” adds Aleksandra Fiddler, stressing that although the pandemic news has garnered her a huge audience, she hopes she won’t have to publish it anymore.
“However, it seems to me that it gave me such a wind in my sails that it will allow me to move into a different content without any problems. It will be something in line with my personality – it will be something funny, with humour and a lot of talking. So that’s about it – I think I will naturally move on to other topics. “
“My viewers reacted very well to sponsored content. Viewers also understand that man does not live by “virus” alone and that my channel is my passion and mission – it does not mean that I can spend 12 hours doing it practically starving to death”, says Aleksandra adding that she was initially reluctant to enter into a deal with a sponsor (Skrill). However, she quickly realised that influencers had virtually no chance of survival without a deal with a sponsor or advertiser. “Later I realised that if it wasn’t for this arrangement, I would not be there anymore – I would not be able to afford it financially.”
“It certainly does not bother me. In my opinion, it complements nicely. Of course, there are some people who, after two years of watching me on YouTube, pay attention – this Tomkowicz on the radio is the same? Some people listen to me on the radio every day, and they don’t know that I run a YouTube channel” says Jacek Tomkowicz.
“There is a difference between single cooperation and long-term cooperation. The easiest way to negotiate with a YouTuber or influencer is for a longer period. The more so because then the profits and advantages are on both sides. Besides, you can negotiate the price, then if you have one placement planned for six months ahead – for example, a month – I am writing the schedule of episodes to start with arranging those that are long-term “, emphasizes Jacek Tomkowicz.
“The client should also think whether, by spending the same money in other media, he can buy an advertisement with such coverage. Here – yes, a certain amount for one episode may seem large – but if it translates into advertising prices in other media – then it is not comparable. Besides, nowhere else other than YouTube or other digital channels will you get such precise information – how many people have seen it, whether they viewed your product or scrolled … “
“I think it is very important to match the influencer to the product and the customer,” adds Aleksandra Fiddler. “The fact that an influencer can change our business – it is possible.”
“What we see on mine or Jacek’s page is just the tip of the iceberg. Behind this success of each influencer, there is a lot of work, learning … And a lot of giving for free. Don’t start with selling – first, give something for free, create a community of which you are a leader and then your channel will grow, ” highlights Fiddler, who managed to grow her following to 118k followers in less than 12 months.
“Regularity – it is very important. And not to be discouraged by the first 5 or 10 episodes on YouTube. They won’t have a million views overnight” ends Jacek.
Jacek and Aleksandra were incredibly helpful throughout the webinar, and we are proud to work with them and many more influencers across Ethnic Minorities in the UK. Influencers can be a great way to target ethnic audiences as the influencers audience resonate with them and their ideal as someone of their own background. If you would like to speak to a member of the GottaBe! team about Influencer Marketing, please get in touch today to start your campaign!