Every business owner understands the importance of building a solid online presence and using the right mix of digital marketing strategies to strengthen their branding. Influencer marketing is a cost-effective and a fast-growing avenue in this aspect. Let’s take a look at what influencer marketing is and how you can succeed in your efforts while using it.
Influencer Marketing – what is it?
This type of marketing focuses on using key market leaders to spread your brand’s message to a wider audience. Rather than just marketing to a larger group of consumers, business owners instead hire influencers to drive the word for you. This type of marketing often works in tandem with both content marketing and social media marketing.
Most influencer marketing campaigns have some aspect of social-media in them, and the expectation is that the influencers will use their personal social media channels to spread the word. Most of these campaigns also have the content aspect and either the influencers or you may create the content. While both these components are included in influencer marketing, it isn’t a prerequisite that they are a part and parcel of the strategy.
Tips to follow
The fact is that there are a number of complexities involved in influencer marketing and you need to adopt a strategic approach and an entrepreneurial mindset while planning for it. Here are some tips that will help you succeed in your influencer marketing efforts.
Look for the right influencers
This is probably the very first thing you should be focusing on. Look for someone who is genuinely interested in your service or product. It would just be a thorough waste of your time to hire someone who isn’t interested in using your product, as they just wouldn’t be proactive in providing you any real-world feedback.
Understand the difference between reach and depth
Even if a person has a very wide reach it doesn’t automatically mean they would be successful in reaching a wider audience. Having a large following isn’t synonymous with the influencer being able to attract the attention of that audience. There are times when influencers buy followers and hiring these types of “experts” can only lead to failure of the strategy. Look for influencers that engage with their audiences and have a very credible online presence.
Accountability matters
When you hire an influencer, you need to first define your goal and identify in which way the influencer can help you achieve that goal. Even influencers need to be held accountable for the results. This is why you need to define a certain number of followers that you’d like to have by the end of the month and be very explicit when it comes to stating your expectations. When you define targeted goals and expectations, you will be able to set yourself up for success right from the outset.
Summing it up
You also need to be consistent with following up with the influencers and the progress they have made. Only when the influencer knows that they are accountable will you be able to see a return on investment. While there are a number of benefits to using influencer marketing strategies, you need to plan these well, identify the right people and then hire them to help you extend your reach and build your brand image.
