Social Media

10 Strategies to Boost Your Influencer Marketing Campaigns

In a world dominated by hashtags, pins, tweets, and mentions, influencer marketing is the newest trend. It might be a novel idea for businesses to adopt, given that they are ready to deal with the ever-evolving buying decisions of the consumers. Without doubting the potency of influencer marketing in the age of rapid digitalization, let’s check out some of the best practices.

01. Learn to distinguish between an advocate and an influencer

An influencer is someone with a prominent social presence. These individuals tend to have thousands of followers on Twitter and Facebook. They are frequently interviewed, quoted, retweeted, or invited to speak at conventions. Influencers enjoy a humongous amount of reach. Most big brands want to leverage their popularity by paying the influencers to promote their products.

An advocate is quite different from an influencer. They may not have a huge number of followers and may not be into blogging either. The major difference is that advocates don’t need or want incentives. They will talk about the brands they appreciate, even if the brand completely ignores them.

02. Ensure that the influencer is perfect for your brand

It’s essential that you do your research before you pick an influencer for your brand. So, take a minute to scan through all of the social media profiles of influencers in your industry and check if there is anything wrong with their conduct.

While selecting an influencer, you need to remember that this individual is going to be representing your brand. If a consumer notices that your brand is being promoted by someone that indulges in hate speech, or makes derogatory posts, it’s going to have an adverse effect on your brand.

03. Determine the objectives of your influencer marketing initiative

To prepare a foolproof marketing campaign, you’ll need to understand how it matches with the goals of your business. Every marketing outlet has a part to play in setting the process of growth in motion, and your influencer marketing program should be no different.

Ideally, businesses expect the influencers to create and promote brand content regarding a product launch or an event. But, these aren’t the only reasons why they choose to leverage influencers.

Once you’ve decided on the objectives of your program, attach 2-3 key KPIs for each of these goals. For instance, if you want to up the content promotion, think about your business’s engagement, social media reach, and follower growth.

04. Learn about the goals of the influencers and approach accordingly

One usual way to implement influencer marketing is by presenting expert opinions on your blog. This is an excellent tactic as it ultimately brings value to your audience, and the influencers you want to associate with. When you pick the right people, it turns out to be advantageous for both of you.

You need to learn about the personal objectives of the influencers you are trying to reach. That way, you can appeal to them when trying to engage them in your campaign.

For instance, if you’re going to run a social media campaign on “why students are inclined to opt for homework help?” Then your best place to start is finding individuals who have quite an influence in the domain of academics.

Once you know the objective of the influencer you’re trying to get onboard, create a pitch that emphasizes what the viewers have to gain. Also, determine how it fits with whatever they’re already doing. Other than that, you can include some numbers to your audience (traffic + email subscribers), and explain how you plan to promote the content that will feature them.

05. Make it easy for the influencers

When you’re inviting someone to promote your product or services, it’s best to approach them with everything on a silver platter. Consider it a partnership.

Now, assuming that the influencers have a busy schedule, you can make it easier for them to talk about you and your product. Whenever you associate with influencers, make sure to do all the hard work such as creating content, writing emails, designing collateral, etc. The most significant thing you can do is identify that their time is precious (as is yours) and respect the same to maintain a strong relationship.

06. Understand that you aren’t producing infomercials

An influencer raving about your product with a caption “highly recommended” isn’t going to be enough. Unless of course you aim to create an infomercial that simply lists all of the benefits that your product comes with.

You want the influencer to present an organic post, something that doesn’t come off as overly promotional. When you join hands with the right influencer, a picture of them with your product in a natural setup is all it takes to convince the consumers. They don’t have to spell it out to their audience to buy it; the audience is likely to notice it anyway.

07. Allow your influencers to enjoy creative liberty

Influencers have earned the right to be popular. So, it’s crucial for you to trust them to wield their creative control while promoting your product or service. What you think might not click with your audience and produce the exact opposite outcome.

Moreover, these influencers engage with their audience on a regular basis and understand what their audience will accept. When you trust them with the reins of your brand, you are going to end up with a much more organic post and enjoy more favourable outcome.

08. Maintain a genuine interest in the influencer’s content

The most appropriate way to reach out to a social media influencer is to be genuine in your approach. Buy their books, read their content, share their content, and send them “social signals”. This way, when you actually want to get in touch with them, you’ll know about them and vice versa.

Social media influencers are contacted by hundreds of brands every day. You need to unleash your genuine interest in their content to nurture a real relationship with them. It will help you to catch the attention of a social media influencer in a way that will allow you to develop a mutual value.

09. Measure and analyze your influencer marketing campaign

You must be able to decipher whether your influencer marketing efforts are working or not. There isn’t any rulebook or success formula to go by. The number of likes, shares or comments a post receives isn’t a parameter of a successful campaign.

So, go to your website’s Google Analytics and monitor your referral traffic to see if you find a sharp increase in the social networks where you’re running influencer campaigns. If you have already established your goals, did you see a considerable boost in the sales? Are your sales numbers shooting through the roof? These are obvious questions you need to address.

10. Tell a compelling story via influencer marketing

There’s a huge misconception regarding the term “influencer.” Most people labeled as influencers are basically just popular. Influence is the quality to actually convince someone into taking some action. Popular people often build trust with their community and are perceived as an authority, but they might lack the quality to influence others to take an action.

While the influencer may not always provide an intriguing story, simply sharing one can make all the difference. A story that resonates with the audience, coupled with the trust and authority of the influencer will lead most people to conversion.

Wrapping it up,

Influencer marketing has redefined how social media can be leveraged to meet the needs of business organizations. Today, it is not just the social media channels that are influencing the buying decisions of the consumers. It’s the peer-to-peer content and personal storytelling present on these channels that bring a positive influence on the sales. Influencers are the flag bearers that drive more customers your way. Implement the strategies mentioned in this write-up and take your business to new heights.

Author Bio: Marceline Joseph is an online math solver, programmer and an academic writer associated with Tophomeworkhelper.com. Besides being associated with the education and teaching industry, Marceline is a passionate stamp collector and chess player.