Did you know the average return on investment for influencer marketing is $5.78 for every dollar spent? In addition, most marketers acknowledge that utilizing influencers is an effective approach to generating a higher ROI and bringing greater value to their brand. This indicates that small businesses can reap significant benefits from influencer marketing.
In today’s world, influencer marketing has become a key player in the advertising industry, generating a whopping $16.4 billion in revenue. Whether you’re a small or large business, failing to leverage the power of influencer marketing could result in missing out on numerous benefits and opportunities for growth. Seeing all these influencer marketing statistics, you can’t help but wonder what would be the effective way to use influencer marketing strategy for small businesses. So in this article, we are going to explore how small businesses can use influencer marketing to compete with big brands.
How Can Small Businesses Find The Right Influencers?
In the world of influencer marketing, there are five tiers of influencers, classified by the number of followers they have. These tiers include Nano-influencers (1,000 to 10,000), Micro-influencers (10,000 to 50,000), Mid-tier influencers (50,000 to 500,000), Macro-influencers (500,000 to 1,000,000), and Mega-influencers (1,000,000+).
Looking into the success of influencer marketing strategy many hire an influencer marketing agency for small businesses as well. So, now that you’re all aware of different types of influencers, here are some ways to do so without using an influencer marketing program.
Ask Your Customers
Your current customers can be a valuable source of information when it comes to finding influencers in your niche. Ask them how they found your brand or who they follow on social media related to your product or service. This can help uncover both micro and macro-influencers who may be a good fit for your brand.
Do a Google Search
A quick and easy way to find influencers with larger followings is to perform a Google search for “Social media influencers in the specific topic” This can bring up a list of influencers who are already well-known in your industry.
Ensure Brand Alignment
No matter how you find your influencers, it’s important to ensure that they align with your brand values and niche. For example, if you sell a bacon product, you would want to find an influencer who speaks positively about bacon rather than someone who speaks negatively about its health effects. By keeping your brand values in mind, you can find influencers who will authentically promote your brand to their audience.
Benefits of Influencer Marketing For Small Business
Influencer marketing has become a popular marketing strategy for businesses of all sizes. As the name suggests, it involves partnering with influential individuals on social media to promote your brand, products, or services. These influencers have a loyal following and can be a valuable asset in increasing brand awareness, and credibility, and ultimately driving sales. In this section, we will discuss the benefits of influencer marketing for small businesses in detail.
Increase Brand Awareness
One of the primary benefits of influencer marketing for small businesses is increased brand awareness and reach. By partnering with influencers, you can tap into their followers’ network, which may not have been aware of your business before. This increased exposure can lead to new followers, and potential customers, and ultimately drive sales.
Let’s say you own a small bakery that specializes in custom cakes and cupcakes. You’ve been in business for a few years, but you’re struggling to expand your customer base beyond your local community. To increase your brand awareness and reach, you decide to partner with a popular food blogger and Instagram influencer who has a large following of foodies.
Enhanced Sales and ROI
Does influencer marketing increase sales? Well, 60% of marketers claim that influencer-generated posts outperform branded posts and the ROI of influencer marketing is 11x higher compared to other digital media strategies. So, influencer marketing can result in higher engagement and conversions compared to traditional marketing strategies. Influencers typically have an engaged following that interacts with their content regularly. When they promote your product or service, it can lead to higher engagement, such as likes, comments, and shares, and ultimately drive conversions.
Improve Credibility and Trust
Influencers have a loyal following that trusts their opinions and recommendations. When an influencer promotes your product or service, it can improve your credibility and build trust with your followers. This is especially true when influencers share their personal experiences and testimonials with your product or service.
Suppose a small business drugstore price makeup products. They partner with a micro influencer or nano beauty influencer who has a following of people interested in beauty products in a budget. The influencer creates a video showcasing the small business’s products and shares her personal experience using the products. Her followers trust her opinions and recommendations, so they are more likely to try the products themselves. As a result, the small business gains credibility and trust with the influencer’s followers, which can lead to an increase in sales.
Cost-Effective Marketing Strategy
Lastly, influencer marketing can be a cost-effective marketing strategy for small businesses. It allows businesses to reach a wider audience without investing in expensive traditional marketing tactics like TV, radio, or print advertisements. Additionally, many influencers are willing to collaborate with small businesses in exchange for products or services, making it a more affordable marketing option for businesses with limited budgets.
How To Use Influencer Marketing For Small Businesses?
Partnering with influencers can help small businesses access new audiences, increase brand awareness, and drive sales. By implementing the right influencer marketing strategy small businesses can create compelling content with influencers, leverage them across social media channels, and measure and analyze the success of their campaigns. But how does influencer marketing help small businesses?
Determining Target Audience
It’s crucial to identify your target audience before selecting an influencer. Understanding your target audience will help you choose the right influencer and create content that resonates with them. Who do you want to reach? Who do you want to serve? Who will be more interested in your offerings? Ask these questions. Selecting a target audience will also help you get in touch with the right audience.
Define Goals
Determine your goals for the influencer marketing campaign. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive sales, or both? Defining clear goals will help your collaboration with the influencers even smoother. They would have a clear notion about their job and what they have to achieve.
Find The Right Influencer
Look for Perfect influencers who align with your brand values and have a strong following in your target audience. Micro-influencers can be a great option for small businesses as they have a more engaged and niche following. Interestingly, smaller influencers have a bigger potential for a higher ROI, despite their smaller following. For instance, micro-influencers on Instagram have an average engagement rate of 3.86%, while mega-influencers receive only 1.21% on the same platform.
Meaningful Relationship With Influencer
How to attract influencers to your brand? Well, maintaining a healthy and non-hostile relationship with influencers would be a good start. Building a meaningful relationship with your chosen influencer is key to a successful campaign. Ensure that you communicate your expectations and collaborate with the influencer to create content that resonates with their audience.
Monitor The Metrics
Track the metrics of your campaign to measure its success. Key metrics to monitor include engagement rates, reach, and conversions. Analyzing the metrics will help you optimize your future influencer marketing campaigns for better results.
Small Business, Big Influence!
Small businesses may have smaller budgets, but with influencer marketing, they have access to big influence. With the right approach, influencer marketing can be a game-changer for small businesses looking to compete with big brands.
