In the modern digital age, influencer marketing has become one of the most effective ways to promote your brand. It has been estimated that by 2022, the influencer marketing industry would be worth approximately $16.4 billion. This data shows how massive the influencer marketing industry has become and how crucial it is for brands to jump on the bandwagon.
Social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube have created a platform for all kinds of influencers for a variety of niches like tech, fashion, lifestyle, and everything in between. It is the perfect way for different brands to approach their target audience with their products and services. Hence, this leads us to the most important question – how to create an influencer marketing strategy? Let’s find out.
How To Create An Influencer Marketing Strategy
Brands have realized that influencers are not just a one-time thing or just a fad that will wear out after some time. Influencers have become key figures in almost all aspects of life. Think about it like this, if you are interested to buy the new Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, what is the first thing that you will do?
If your answer is looking up some reviews on YouTube, then you already have an idea about how powerful the words of an influencer can be. The opinions of famous tech influencers like Marques Brownlee can have a huge impact on the total sales of Samsung’s newest flagship smartphone. That is why companies and brands leverage the power of influencer marketing to portray their products in a positive light. So, let’s see how it is done.
1. Clearly Define Your Goals
The first step to an effective influencer marketing strategy is to clearly define your goals. Decide what you want to achieve and outline key metrics. These goals may include getting more people to recognize your brand, see your brand values, follow and subscribe to you, create engagement through likes, comments, and shares, purchase your product or service, stay connected and engaged with your brand in the long run, etc. If you can properly determine what you want out of your influencer marketing strategy, then you will be able to understand how effective the campaign was.
2. Survey The Influencer Landscape
Once you have set a goal for yourself, the next step is to do some research on the influencer landscape. The best influencer for your marketing strategy will be the one that closely relates to your own niche. That way you can reach an audience who is more likely to engage with you and buy your product.
For instance, if you are a beauty or fashion brand, then Instagram is the perfect place to find suitable influencers. Similarly, if you have set up your own game development studio, then you can promote your product through sites like Twitch and YouTube. Therefore, do some research and find out which influencers will best fit your brand.
3. Select An Influencer Marketing Campaign
The next step is to decide what kind of influencer marketing campaign you want to run. There are a variety of different kinds of marketing campaigns. These include:
- Giving Gifts: You can give a sample or a free product to an influencer in exchange for a review or mention.
- Sponsored Content: Sponsored content is when you pay an influencer to be featured on their platforms.
- Social Media Mention: Getting mentions on posts or having your posts shared on social media sites by influencers is a great way to create engagement.
- Hosting Giveaways: Partnering with an influencer and asking them to share your giveaway event with their audience is an excellent form of exposure.
- Affiliates And Discounts: Give influencers discount codes for your products or services where they can earn a small percentage from every sale.
- Brand Ambassadors: As brand ambassadors, influencers will constantly share posts, images, and videos about your brand or product for a long period of time.
These are just a few of the popular ways companies run influencer marketing campaigns to promote their product to their target audience via influencers.
4. Set A Budget For Your Campaign
Setting up a budget for influencer marketing can be a challenging task. That is because how much you will pay an influencer depends on a few different factors like their reach, relevance, authority, and relationship with their audience.
Other factors such as how many posts you want the influencer to share, which platforms the influencer will post on, how much effort is required from the influencer, and agency fees, all play a vital role in the cost of influencer marketing.
The compensation also varies from influencer to influencer. If you are pursuing a celebrity with a massive following, then you can expect to pay anywhere from a few hundred thousand to millions of dollars per post. On the other hand, micro-influencers with a few thousand followers will cost significantly less, and you can expect to pay in the range of a few hundred dollars.
One thing to keep note of is that just because an influencer has a large number of followers, doesn’t necessarily mean that they will also have a very high engagement rating. As a matter of fact, it has been discovered that micro-influencers are more likely to have a higher engagement rating than celebrities as their followers trust them more.
5. Approach The Influencers To Put the Plan Into Motion
Finally, it is now time to approach the influencer. However, before you do so, there are certain things you need to keep in mind. Always remember that the best way to approach an influencer is by first developing a relationship with them.
Don’t just jump the gun and say that you want them to promote your brand. Rather start by following them, subscribing to their channel, engaging with them in the comments section, etc. Once you have established yourself as a genuine follower, you can then message them or reach out to them personally. Another great method of approaching influencers is by letting them be actively involved in the influencer marketing campaign.
Let them have their say in what they think would be the best approach to market your product. This is a much more effective way to collaborate with an influencer rather than just designing the entire campaign without their input. Once you have ironed out all the details of how to promote your brand and product with the influencer, now it is time to put it into action.
6. Track And Analyze The Outcome
After some time has passed since the launch of your influencer marketing campaign, the next step is to track and analyze the results of the campaign. Remember how you set certain goals in step 1, now it’s time to refer back to those goals and see how effective the campaign was.
Check your web traffic, page views, social mentions, number of visitors, time spent on your site, follows, shares, comments, likes, customer retention rates, renewal rates, and of course sales. If you meet all of your target goals, then congrats! However, if you don’t, then you need to reevaluate what went wrong and how you can improve it.
Final Thoughts
This article covers everything you will need to know on how to create an influencer marketing strategy. However, how you take the initiative depends on your judgment and what you think is the best course of action for your company.
Always remember, influencers can have a huge impact on the success of your brand. But their opinions can also have a negative impact on how the general public perceives you as well. So, treat them with respect and maintain professionalism while dealing with them.
