Influencer marketing has become quite commonplace, with leading brands collaborating with social media stars to promote their products. As influencers hold their audience’s attention, and are likely to inspire them to purchase your products, influencer marketing is definitely a marketing avenue you need to include in your strategy. With both, influencers with massive followings and smaller ones being able to offer decent ROIs to brands, all it takes is being able to identify the right person to watch your sales skyrocket. While working with influencers, make sure you:
Let influencers have creative control
Influencers have amassed a fan following by sticking to their own brand of communication, and changing the same to fit a brand’s tone to the T can sometimes alienate audiences. While it’s important that the influencer showcases core brand values and stick to certain communication styles, they must also sound ‘like themselves’. Letting your chosen influencer have creative control over communication is a great way to strike the perfect balance between something that only sounds like a sponsored post and something that’s a generic post.
Pick your influencers wisely
All influencers – even the huge ones – operate within specific niches. An influencer that promotes minimalist fashion will have a vastly different approach to communicating with audiences than an influencer that promote couture lines. It is essential to find an influencer that fits your brand’s voice and ideologies as they can then promote your products effortlessly. While you are researching the influencer’s background, it is essential to identify whether they have organic followers or paid ones as the latter will not translate to sales or engagement with your brand.
Nurture long term relationships
If you run an organisation that outsources work to vendors, you know that nurturing a long-term relationship with your vendors is far more beneficial than on-boarding new channel partners every few months. The same logic applies to working with influencers. Long term relationships that are mutually beneficial can result in fruitful collaborations for both parties, with the influencer growing more willing to go out of his/her way for the brand. At your end, opening doors for the influencer or offering perks that they’ll enjoy is a great way to ensure their loyalty in the long run. Cultivate such relationships with more than one influencer and you’ll end up with a network that you can rely on anytime you’re launching something new.
Work with micro-influencers
Micro-influencers (people with a following between 1-10k) can prove to be more valuable for brands as they come with a tightly knit network that’s highly likely to take everything they say seriously. Often, micro-influencers offer far better engagement and ROI than their counterparts with massive followings (as not all followers are active listeners and are just following for the sake of it).
Influencer marketing may be in its infancy; however, it is one of the most successful ways to strike up a conversation with your target audience. Make space in your marketing budget to forge relationships with these social media sensations.
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