Brand and product manufacturers are making quite the use of influencers to promote their merchandise with the use of social media platforms and a series of sponsored posts as well. If you’ve got no idea about what we’re talking about, don’t worry because we’ve got you covered.
This post covers the basics of influencer marketing, looks at how to conduct it and also problem solves many of the most typical issues people face when dealing with influencers. It’s well worth diving into and if you go down this route, it’ll help you kill it in your space.
Let’s Begin – What Is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is when a brand makes use of the influencers authority and reach in order to significantly increase their visible audience while creating awareness, loyalty and of course, sharing their desired message. In order to properly connect with your desired influencer, brands can do any of the following as they encourage them to:
- Create the buzz and spread the word of not only their brand but their content – influencers readily make mention and share brands as they persuade their audience to visit social accounts, dive into content and even browse websites.
- Encourage them to become the one and only spokesperson for their particular brand – most of the times, influencers are sought out to become the brand ambassador and they even mention on the regular interesting things about your brand as well as share important content.
- They can also write about a specific brand – as of recently, being an influencer has become quite the career and influencers now create their own personalised content focused around a particular brand story, service or product.
Finding The Perfect Influencer
Besides having a series of positive effects, investing in influencer marketing has honestly quite the waste if you don’t work with the right people. However, it’s also quite tempting to make use of single metrics such as their current number of followers or even unique visitors. So, when it comes to choosing your influencer, be sure to take a deeper look into all the aspects involved.
Use Influencer Marketing Platforms
At times, it can be quite difficult to find the right influencer, especially if you’re looking for one that best suits your desired niche. Statistics have shown that more than 60% of all businesses find it quite difficult to find a micro-influencer that perfectly suits them. So, if you’re interested in finding one, it’s best to do so manually. However, this particular task can be quite daunting and create extra stress.
As a result, you can make full use of platforms that deal specifically with influencer marketing. And you’ll be able to find the perfect yet authentic and completely relevant micro-influencer for your brand. With that said, you’ll want to take a closer look at sites such as BuzzStream, Reelio and BuzzSumo.
Reelio has been known to readily find the perfect match for those searching. And you’ll be able to find influencers that are purely based on performance, audience and much more. This is the perfect solution to finding your influencer without taking too much of your own time.
Find Influencers Who Are Related To Your Industry
When you’re still in the planning phase, you’ll be brainstorming on ideas about how to find an influencer within your niche. And the best place to start looking at those who are not only well-known, but those who are quite famous within your desired industry. Influencers within your industry will be perfect for spreading the word about your brand as you target the markets big and small.
If you’re interested in this particular type of marketing, it’s best to set up your Google alerts to notify when related terms come online. And you’ll be able to see updated content as well as relevant topics that are posted on various forums. This particular feature even allows you to see those who are even responding to questions which relate to your specific industry.
Find Influencers With Great Reach
This particular metric is not even the most important but should be given some form of consideration. Additionally, marketers should aim to look beyond just the number of unique visitors and pay attention to followers as well as traffic. As such, both traffic and followers are highly important since they allow you to reach your targeted audience.
So, if you’re into the hotel chain business or even a manufacturer of car seats, it’s best to look at travel blogs with a smaller reach than that of a food blogs with over 100000 unique visitors each month. Additionally, it is also important that you consider the various social platforms of your potential customers. And if you’re branding food or even fashion, a huge following on Instagram as well as Pinterest is also a great idea when you’re looking for an influencer.
Don’t Sweat Small Follower Counts
You’re going to need to look beyond the typical A-list of social media celebrities. So, forget how great the stats look on paper because its about being relevant and reaching your desired audience. And if your influencers are doing the perfect job at reaching you target for your specific brand, you’ve perfectly outdone yourself and it truly doesn’t matter how big or small their reached audience is.
Don’t Be Shy
If you’re just getting into the habit of reaching out to influencers, you’re going to need to be bold and never overthink your method of approach. And you’ll soon understand that sometimes all it takes is a simple direct message to their social account. These can be either Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, so you’d better use this to your advantage. However, while crafting the perfect message, you’re going to need to pitch with how you can both help each other while sharing the same goals and values.
With that said, be unique and not generic. You’ll need to personalise each message and if for some reason you didn’t receive a response, you’re going to need to do a follow up. So, be persistent!
Engaging With Your Potential Influencer On A Human Level
Influencers are normal people just like you and I. And some days are going to be bad and some going to be better just like the days you may have had at some point. Your influencer will also have their own set of specific questions as well as problems, so if for some reason they’re seeking help for something, it’s best if you make a truly honest attempt to help in any way you can. And help can come in a number of ways, even a positive word works wonders.
And if you know they prefer one platform to another for blowing steam off, you should share some light banter. Don’t forget to keep it funny as you break out your personal stash of memes. Simple things allow you to better connect on a much more personal level.
Connect Over Their Passion For Your Brand Or Cause
Some of the most effective partnerships are known to have developed over the true passion that an influencer has for a particular cause or brand. Or more so, your brand or cause. When you establish the right connections and collaborate with those who connect personally to your desired message, this creates the tangible difference and creates a truly authentic depth of experience.
This becomes quite the passion filled interaction for the influencer. We’re sure that you can already see how positively this affects their engagement. And it adds a greater sense of value in the way they deliver your content to their audience.
Practice Due Diligence
Popular brands have made it their business to clamp down on influencer fraud for the best reason ever. Simply put, since so many brands are now seeking a partnership with influencers, their fees have gone sky-high. And most of the times, these fees are associated with the number of followers that they currently have. However, most times, brands are paying high prices for interactions with a fake audience or rather fake followers.
And while some fake followers don’t matter since they were not gained by the influencer themselves, there are some who actually create their own fake followers. Social platforms have been overrun by that of bots for years and most of the times, brands lose quite a lot when they pay and don’t get their results. As such, it is of great importance that brands perform routine checks in order to ensure due diligence is met as they work with influencers.
Treat Them Like You Would A Journalist
Before you settle on a particular influencer, you’re going to need to know their brand and you’re going to need to know what type of material they cover. This just simply means that you’ll need to create a personalised message for each and not just put them on an email blast with hundreds of the same type of messages. And keep in mind that they will only respond to things that are related to the work that they do.
Establish a Clearly-Defined Deal
Before you rush to make any type of deal, you’ll need to ensure that it is properly established before working with them. If you skip this step then you can look out for a series of miscommunication as things progress. And don’t forget that you’ll also need to ensure that you’ve gotten the best deal for your money.
So, before you contact an influencer, you’ll need to consider the following:
Is their following larger enough to receive a high payment?
- How much content do you expect them to post?
- Will it take them a long time to create the content that you desire?
- You’ll need to properly consider the above and make a deal that’s fair for both you and the influencer of your choice. This will also create a means for you to set a desired amount to be paid. Additionally, you’ll both chat and create a deal that benefits both of you.
Trust Your Influencers Judgements
Influencers are great at what they do because they know how to properly connect with their followers in an effective manner. Simply put, people listen to the things that they say because they have a great deal of respect for them. As a result of this, they are quite successful and they even go on to create their own businesses.
When you ensure that they are treated in the way that they ought to be treated, this motivates them to be the best that they can be. In most cases where the above is not really considered, it creates complications for not only the influencer but you as well.
Approach Content Collaboratively
As they continue to grow as individuals, influencers go to great lengths in order to produce beautiful and truly authentic pieces of content for collabs with businesses and brands alike. And as you seek to form a partnership, be sure to keep things flowing in a collaborative manner between the personal brand and your influencer. As such, this fully maximizes on the potential as well as the broader audience.
Make Influencers Your Brand Ambassadors
When you send influencers to sponsored events, you simply playing a classic strategic move. And it might also be a great idea to allow your influencer to be a reporter for these particular events. This just simply allows people to trust your brand more each time they see them at these highly organised A-listed events.
Help Build Their Community
Beside the fact of just dropping a comment or two, it’s a great idea to reply to other comments as well. However, be sure that you do so for social networks in addition to their personal blogs. A simple way of doing this is by asking new members to introduce themselves. And if you’ve found yourself in a chatty situation, be sure to respond and ask questions.
Track Your Results.
When you first launch your campaigns, you’ll need to ensure that you’re tracking all of your desired metrics. This will readily indicate if you’ve reached your target. And when you’ve completed your campaign, you can analyse the results and decide if you’ve reached your desired end point.
And if for some reason you didn’t or you did on the small scale, be sure to learn and use it for the future. In cases where you’ve failed, you’ll also want to stop the engagements and find another way for better production and results.
Evaluate The Process
Marketing strategies will require you to overlook your process and how effectively it worked. However, this involves both influencers that you created a relationship with as well as those that weren’t interested. In some cases, influencers may not be receptive simply because they were not interested in forming new relationships or they didn’t fancy your approach. If for some reason your approach wasn’t successful, you’ll need to see where you went wrong.
If for some reason you didn’t achieve the results you were hoping for, you can look to see how this same strategy affects your email traffic. In essence, it can very well be much more powerful when compared to other forms of advertising. It’s also a great idea to track posts and social media shares in order to assess the influencer that has created the most impact on your specific goals.
So, be sure to properly evaluate all that you’ve learned and if you can improve, be sure to improve. And you can also use influencer outreach by leveraging with those who are in your niche. In no time, your brand will grow and become quite the success.
Look Outside The Obvious
If you’re just getting started, it might be a bit harder to hit your targets right away. So, don’t just go for the high-end influencers the first time around, it’s best to stick to those who are not a bit lower in the ranks. And you’ll also need to properly identify those who have also just started out because this creates the perfect environment for growing together right from the very beginning.
