A recent poll found that 42% of marketers now have a "always-on" influencer strategy, and that 66% of marketers launched three or more influencer marketing campaigns in 2018.
Now, more than ever, companies realize the need to form partnerships with social influencers and public figures in order to increase brand awareness and interest.
Although developing and overseeing an influencer marketing strategy is a significant time commitment, the potential benefits of include it in your marketing mix may be well worth the effort.
A definition of Influencer Marketing
Businesses still frequently employ the services of celebrities in the promotion of their products. Influencer like to write about topics related to the field or community in which they are already well-established. The majority of them build their audiences organically, making them a credible and approachable resource for product evaluations. The brand and influencer can work together in a variety of ways, such as:
Sponsoring a giveaway for the influencer’s following
The influencer will "take over" the brand's social media account and post it as the brand for a set amount of time
Rewarding/gifting influencers products or services
Requesting the influencer to write for the brand’s blog
As much as 57% of respondents said that influencer content performed better than brand-created content. To that end, an influencer marketing campaign could be a terrific addition to your marketing efforts if your company's aims include broadening its audience and fostering more trustworthy relationships with its current clientele. But first, you'll need a plan of action. How can we make one that actually works?
How to Get Your Program Started
1.Set Your Goals
Start by discussing the goals of the program as a group. It's possible that you wish to increase your customer base, boost your brand's visibility and reputation, and increase sales (of purchases, newsletter signups, etc.).
Then, be detailed. Consider how you will track the success of your influencer marketing campaign and how many new customers you hope to attract before you launch.
2.Set Your Budget
You must now decide how much of your marketing budget you are willing to allocate to testing out your influencer campaign. You could either give the influencers you want to target a sample of your product or service, or you could invest in tools that will help you find them.
You should investigate the average rates and methods of payment used by influencers in your field. Details will emerge as you progress, but setting a budget in advance will be crucial for estimating your program's return on investment.
3.Understand Your Target Audience
Target your plan at the right audience now. Create a list:
How many followers (But note that a bunch of followers ≠ the right followers)
Topics of interest
Average posts per day
Average shares per post
Average likes per post
# of interactions with your brand
Whether or not they follow you
Other helpful info
3.1 Take Advantage of a Marketing Influencer Tool
It is essential to do research to identify relevant influencers for your brand. Fortunately, there are resources available to aid in the identification of suitable brand influencers.
Some sites worth looking into are Keyhole, BuzzSumo, and Upfluence. There are a variety of resources available, some of them free and others that need a subscription, that can assist you in finding the most influential people to contact.
3.2 Use Relevant Hashtags for your Campaigns
Hashtags are a terrific method to discover who the influencers are in your field. To begin, conduct searches using the same key phrases you intend to use in your SEO strategy. In addition, you may monitor the popularity of a particular hashtag by looking for mentions of your brand inside it.
3.3 Check the Number of Followers and the Rate of Engagement
When looking for influencers, it's important to check out their numbers. If the influencers have a sizable following, it's crucial to verify that their posts are actually being engaged with by real people and not just bots.
4.Reach Out to Key Opinion Leaders
Now that you have established your social media marketing budget and identified your target audience, it is time to start interacting with influencers in your field. Connect with others by pointing out the positive aspects of their posts. Please let them know which of their recent blog pieces attracted your attention. Acknowledge and spread their work.
After establishing trust, it's best to continue talking via private channels like email or DMs. There, you can elaborate on your company's brand and the reasons you think they would be an ideal partner in helping you promote it. Maintain an open line of contact with the influencers and be as detailed as you can when outlining your requests, timetable, and expectations. Your program's influencers would benefit from having access to a master document outlining all of the program's specifics.
5.Share Your Content and Helpful Links
Your goal should be to make it as simple as possible for the influencer you intend to cooperate with to spread the word about your company by giving them access to relevant material and resources.
You can see who is most influential in generating interest in your brand by providing them with special tracking links.
Make them use AllValue to promote your offerings. You're able to see who drives more engagement with your brand and how much engagement they're driving. Each block on AllValue's one-page website is clickable and trackable. It's completely free to use.
6.Monitor Your Campaign Success
As a last point, measuring the results of your influencer marketing efforts is essential.
When crafting an influencer marketing strategy, keep these crucial metrics in mind:
Number of visits to your landing page or website
Number of individuals who signed up for an offer you are marketing
Quantity of new followers
Engagement with your posts (comments, likes, and shares)
AllValue allows you to view page analytics within a custom date range. You can get valuable insights including views & clicks track, social media analytics, location-based analytics and marketing traffic analytics. This way, you are able to better measure your business goals and optimize your content
A successful influencer marketing initiative does not begin and end with a single effort. Influencer marketing for your brand will require time and energy, as well as some strategic planning.
In addition, this is an iterative procedure. As you continue to collaborate with influencers, you will gain invaluable insight into the success and failures of your brand's various marketing initiatives. To that end, make course corrections as necessary and keep your end aim in mind.