Marketing is one of the chief cornerstones of any business venture. You must know the inner-workings and dynamics of how to market especially in this digital age. There are innumerable strategies one can apply when it comes to marketing. The great thing about marketing is that it is open to varied approaches and interpretations. This means that you have the room to research, analyse and come up with ways in which you can do your own marketing. Alternatively, you can take a cue from how other business players are doing it. In this article, however, I want to let you in on how Nike does its marketing – lots of lessons to learn from their marketing strategy. I chose Nike because it is a global brand worth US$34 billion so it is worth looking at.
Potency Of Influencer Marketing
Often times I have talked about influencer marketing; it is a thing these days. This is the type of marketing that entails tapping into the influence of key public figures to market your brand. So for instance, a business can partner with a celebrity so that they market their brand either directly or subtly. There are also what are called social media influencers – they could actually be celebrities but it is not always the case. It can just be people who have huge and highly engaged followers on social media. Why am saying all this? Well, it is because that is the underlying focus of Nike’s overall marketing strategy – influencer marketing. Influencers are able to appeal and reach out to target audiences in relatable ways. So what is it that Nike does in its marketing?
The Keyword is Partnerships
One of the coolest things about Nike is that it does not directly talk about its products when marketing. This is a strategic approach because people despise intrusive advertising. In order to easily tap into target markets, you have got to be as subtle as possible. In your marketing strategies is it vital that you always bear that in mind. For instance, when Nike is advertising a new sneaker design they can just have an artiste hold it up during a music video. You would think it is just the artiste flaunting their sneakers yet it is actually being advertised.
What Nike does is that it takes note of high-flying personalities e.g. sportspersons. It then honours them by probably making limited edition sneakers for them. This will be in the hope that people will be eager to buy them especially due to the involvement of the key personality. This is very common in basketball, for instance – Nike does a lot of partnerships with basketball and soccer athletes. They also partner with music artistes and fashion designers.
How Can We Bring This Home?
We do have our own such personalities; they might not necessarily be in sports but several other disciplines. They can be radio DJs, music artists and so on. The moment you partner with key personalities that have huge followings and influence people will scramble to get anything the key personalities endorses. The idea is to set a trend that people will be desperate to be a part of. We need to see more of this locally because it is not really a thing yet.
Some Things To Know About Influencer Marketing
How To Identify The Right Partners
There are 5 metrics that you need to look at when musing on which personalities to partner with. You have to ascertain the quality of your audience (essentially the prospective influencer’s) – remember that there are fake accounts. So when you consider a prospective partner you must measure the authenticity of their following by looking at the genuineness of their followers. An influencer is someone who already has a following (could even call it a niche). Thus your brand should gel with theirs otherwise there will be conflicts amongst others things. An influencer, be it they are a sportsperson or an artist, must be original and a thought leader in their space. If they are not like that they will not have the necessary influence to inform people’s buying decisions in your favour.
How many times are they mentioned in social circles? You can easily check this on social media platforms or even print and electronic media platforms. This is important because it will give an indication of their media value. The last thing is target group accuracy – are their followers the exact types of people you are targeting with your brand. They could be famous and all but having a following comprised of people who are not necessarily your brand’s target audience. Make sure you tick all the boxes on these 5 metrics before you settle for an influencer.
This is the how Nike goes about its marketing strategy and stands out from other brands. Of course, it can be expensive to have partnerships like Nike does but emulate the concept. This can open avenues for you that you never thought possible for your business.
