Using Influencer Marketing

It can be an uphill battle trying to persuade new prospects to do business with a new brand on social media, using PPC, or bringing in traffic through organic SEO. That’s why new brands can look to social media influencers to leverage online marketing efforts. Influencers have a large audience that trusts them for the news, information, and relevant advice. These influencers have built a deep trust with their audience which makes their message very influential.

The goal of an effective marketing campaign should be to engage an audience and establish credibility.

How do you work with influencers?

Find the Right Influencers

Rather than look at only the subscriber count, you should research if their audience is the right fit for your content, brand, and products and services. Is the audience engaged? Do they interact with an influencer and are they leaving comments on his or her posts? It pays to try to work with an influencer with the right audience because your message, content, and marketing will be relevant to their needs and interests. Trying to target an audience that is broadly targeted to your brand can work, but it’s a much more complicated process that involves additional steps, resources, and time.

Build and Nurture Relationships First

The first thing that marketers try to do when targeting influencers is to try to get them to promote your products and services for a cut of the profits. The better alternative is to start building a relationship and work to nurture that relationship. You may want to start by purchasing a sponsorship spot on their blog or social media accounts. Another great way is to share their content with your audience and let them know about it.

You can even start by leaving genuine comments on their blog posts to get noticed. There’s no proven formula for building a relationship but you want to start by getting noticed and then extending some generosity. Nurturing a relationship does take time and it might take a while for the influencers to work with you because of all the other projects they have on their plates.

Customize Your Message to the Influencers and Their Audience

When you feel like it’s the right time to ask for the influencers to promote your products or talk about your brand, take a time out to customize your message to their audience. Does your branding resonate with the needs and wants of the audience? Does digital marketing really speak to them or are you shouting to them? What kind of writing style, tone, or personality are they used to? Do the research and put in the work to really custom tailor your message to the audience for the best results. It will also increase the chances of influencer working with you.

Keep the Conversation Going

When you post your content, mention the influencer when relevant and let them know about it through social media (due to its practicality). You want to keep the interaction with them going. Don’t worry about not getting anything in return when you give them mentions in your content. You have to keep in mind that it’s not going to take away from your marketing (if done right), and a short link to them does not cost you anything.

Come Up with Win-win Projects

If the influencer does not have room to support your branding campaign, or promote your business, come up with other projects that do not require a big commitment. For example, if they are looking for more subscribers, ask if they’d be interested in co-promoting a designed whitepaper you wrote collectively. By distributing it to both audiences, it can lead to greater exposure and an increase in subscribers for mutual parties, given that it’s well-written and gets shared by others. There are many other ideas that you can come up with. The only limit is your imagination. One is essential; the influencer needs to love your brand and believe in it personally.

Photo by Andre Sebastian on Unsplash