What is influencer marketing?
An influencers marketing strategy uses popular members on social media platforms to put your products and services in the limelight. People are generally more trusting of people they respect and admire, so this strategy builds trust through the people who’ve already gathered a following. Some influencers make a living through promoting brands and products and no longer need a primary job, so this is a growing industry.
Who uses influencers to promote their business?
Most major companies now use some form of influencer marketing. When household brands turn to a new marketing strategy, small businesses usually follow behind. When your business is brand new, it can be difficult to get discovered. This type of strategy blends well with SEO, Google My Business and social media strategies because it can enhance the effectiveness of your other marketing efforts.
Learn more: What Is SEO?
Does an influencer’s marketing strategy actually work?
Results may vary depending on how aggressive your campaign is, who you select to market your products and the type of business you run. The average return on investment that businesses see is about 1,800%.
That’s enough to make you want to join in the trend. A glaring majority of businesses using this strategy have reported that it produces a return on investment either equal to or greater than their other marketing tactics.
What platforms can you market with?
The sky’s the limit because new social media platforms gain popularity each year. The best platforms to target are ones that have a lot of traffic, allow freedom of expression and have some form of interaction between the influencers and their followers. If you’re considering an influencers marketing campaign, here are the best places to start:
YouTube
YouTube is one of the largest spaces on the Internet for content creators. It has channels for just about anything, from music and how-to videos to product reviews. A lot of YouTubers begin and end their videos with paid promotions and find creative ways to build trust with the brands they promote.
There are a ton of ways you can use YouTube to promote your business. If you find a channel that reviews the type of products you sell, you can send samples and have videos dedicated solely to showing people how they work and what makes them special.
Businesses that provide a service often have the influencer include a segment about the service and how to get started. Offering a discount for people who use a promotional code can draw a lot of interest.
Instagram is a popular platform for artists, photographers and daily bloggers. While influencers post a lot of photos, they can also create short videos. Each post includes hashtags to help people find the content, and some influencers have amassed millions of followers.
Marketing through Instagram can be more subtle, but it’s still powerful. An influencer may post a photo that incorporates your product or use the video feature to highlight it. They may include a comment about what they like about your product or if they use it regularly.
While Instagram is great for art, there’s plenty of content for pet lovers, fitness enthusiasts, how-to guides and more. If you ask the influencer to include a promotional code or hashtag, your advertising becomes more visible and accessible to people who search for the types of products you offer.
Facebook has features, such as Facebook Live and video posting, that allow you to work with influencers who have built a long list of friends. They can link their posts back to your Facebook account, so you have the opportunity to reach out to clients directly. People are more likely to conduct repeat business with shops that post updates, respond to comments and offer special promotions on a regular basis.
You can use Facebook in concert with other social media platforms by asking your influencers to post links to your Facebook page and encourage people to follow you there for updates. It’s really important that you don’t neglect your Facebook account if you use this strategy.
Twitter is a platform that allows users to make short, direct posts to convey their thoughts and opinions about a broad range of topics. If you don’t have a Twitter account for your business, it’s a good idea to set one up and follow the influencers you work with, so their followers can find you easier. Twitter also allows users to upload videos, which is an effective way to showcase your products from your e-commerce business.
Read more: What is E-Commerce? Definition, Advantages and Disadvantages
TikTok
TikTok is an extremely popular platform for Millennials and the GenZ market. Influencers post videos showcasing their unique talent, following the latest trends and challenges, discussing beauty and health topics and communicating with other influencers via duets. If you want to market specifically to younger generations, TikTok is the best place to turn.
An influencer can help you out on TikTok by using your product in one of their videos. They may add comedy or tie it into their channel’s topic somehow, so followers remain interested in their content, and the advertisement is a side note. TikTok is becoming a home for many celebrities, and they often work with popular influencers via cameo appearances and responding to their videos.
How to set up your influencer campaign
Getting started can seem like a daunting task if you don’t know where to begin. A good idea is to start with platforms that you’re interested in and find people who have some form of expertise in your industry. If you want to get involved in influencers marketing, here are some initial steps to get you going:
Know your goals
As with any marketing strategy, you shouldn’t begin investing money until you know exactly what you want to get out of it. Some strategies are all about name recognition and making people aware of your brand. Others are about drawing people to your online store or webpage, so they convert into customers.
Your marketing needs can be much different from other peoples’ due to the industry you’re in or the type of products and services you offer. Influencers who have been working with businesses to drive sales and increase brand recognition have experience and knowledge that can help you.
You can let your influencers know what a successful result looks like for you, and they can adjust their strategy to match. Here are some of the reasons you may use an influencers marketing strategy:
- To increase brand awareness and name recognition
- To create leads you can use to increase sales
- To target a specific market or demographic
Do some research
There are different types of influencers, so you need to understand the platforms they use to reach their followers. In an ideal situation, you would work with an influencer with just enough followers and engagement, so you know your content is receiving maximum exposure. You don’t want to work with celebrities or influencers with millions of followers and low engagement, for example.
When you conduct your research, pay attention to the content on influencers’ channels to see if they’re compatible. You can see how they’re going to promote your brand by seeing what brands they’re already working with and how they pitch products and services. This can give you ideas about how to put your own products forward when you reach out to them.
Create a budget
Heading into a negotiation knowing what you can afford to spend is ideal. When you tell an influencer what your advertising budget is, they can let you know how far that budget takes you.
Try not to put all your eggs in one basket, and save money in your budget for working with other influencers. If you can connect with several influencers who have different followings, you’re able to reach more people with your advertising.
Reach out to influencers
If you don’t know how to actually reach out to the influencers you’d like to partner with, you’re not alone. The best idea is to search for influencers who offer advertising services. You can do this by searching hashtags, such as #sponsored.
The best way to contact them is to see if they have links to accounts on Twitter or Facebook and to message them there. Sometimes, they have websites or other contact information posted that directs people to reach out through the right channels.
Once you’ve reached out and gotten a response, you can communicate your goals and negotiate the terms of the agreement. It’s important to write up a contract, so both parties feel the campaign is fair and have clear expectations about what happens next.
Track your progress
It’s important to be involved in your influencer campaign, so you’re aware of how it’s progressing and whether your objectives are being met. During your initial planning, you should have created key performance indicators (KPI) you can use to determine the success of the campaign.
One KPI could be the click-through rate to your site from the influencer’s posts, while another could be the actual sales conversing from those clicks. It’s impossible to track all this information if you just tell the influencer to begin posting without metrics in place.
Two great ways to see how their campaigns are going include using affiliate links and hashtags. An affiliate link is a link you provide to the influencer that’s unique to their content. When people click it, you can see through Google Analytics that the lead came from that influencer.
You can ask influencers to include specific hashtags with their content, so you can go to the platform and search for posts that include your products and services. This helps you track the number of posts to see whether the influencer has posted all the content you paid for or if the project is still ongoing.
Learn more: A Complete Guide To Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
The bottom line
Marketing through trusted individuals can give you a great return on investment. Most major companies deploy this strategy because it is more personable and direct than traditional marketing plans. If you’re not working with influencers, it’s a good idea to explore your options, so your business isn’t left behind.
