Social media marketing is an industry worth billions of dollars, and a large part of that economy is the work performed by influencers. In this article, the Clearwater team have provided some information on when to work with influencers, and how you can create positive relationships to generate a strong return on investment.
What is Influencer Marketing?
How many times has a friend or family member recommended to you a product or service that has heavily influenced your decision to give it a try? How about finding someone on social media talking about a particular purchase or item in their lives, giving it a glowing review, and leaving you considering to make a similar purchase, or at least review the brand?
This is influencer marketing – a form of social media marketing based on the endorsement of other brands by individuals with a strong and dedicated following on their profiles. Essentially, your two brands partner up to explore the benefits and use of your products or services in the form of engaging content on their channels, to garner a rapid interest with their followers. This builds brand awareness, engagement and – hopefully – direct conversions.
When to Use Social Media Influencers
There isn’t a particular moment in your business’s trajectory where it will be ‘time’ to engage with influencers. This form of marketing works to get instant exposure of your wider brand, or specific product or service, to an extensive range of potential customers. This can prove useful at any stage of your business; whether you are a start-up looking to have a strong entry into the industry right out of the gate, or an established brand searching for better ways to gain excitement around a new product launch. As such, you should decide to work with influencers when it benefits your wider marketing and business goals.
How to Work with Influencers
Allow Creative Control to Your Influencers
Despite what you may hear, it is fairly difficult to build a strong following on social media. Influencers have to offer consistent streams of content that engages their audiences, meaning they will know a thing or two about the types of creatives to publish in order to receive a good response. Don’t do all the creation yourself and simply pay them to publish it – instead, hand them the reins to organically introduce your brand to their audience for optimal results.
Establish Realistic Goals for Influencer Driven Campaigns
Just because you are affording creative control to your influencers doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have actionable goals and milestones to achieve. After all, brands engage with influencers to accelerate their awareness within engaged audiences. Work with your influencer to build a strategy of what content you are going to create, how it is going to be distributed, and the associated goals off the back of it.
Only Work with Those Who Appreciate Your Offerings
Audiences are often a savvy bunch, and they can tell when an influencer is spruiking a product for the sole purpose of receiving a paycheck, rather than promoting something they truly value. Don’t settle for influencers who will include anything on their profile, as you will likely not rear the type of return on investment you are hoping for. Instead, find those who only work with brands and products they appreciate to ensure they provide an authentic representation in their content.
Accept Reciprocal Relationships
Working with an influencer is a business decision. Don’t expect someone with a large following to simply adopt your product out of the goodness of their hearts. They are offering you value, so in return, be willing to provide adequate payment. This can be financial amounts, but can also be cross-promotion, invitations to new events or networking occasions, or even a consistent supply of freebies and goodies.
Audit Their Audience Engagement
Influencers are not in short supply for brands to choose from. Before you engage in any form of relationship, however, you want to do your homework to know that your investment has a good chance of bearing fruit. A great way to start is with an audit on their audience engagement. If they have a smaller follower count, but are receiving an enormous amount of engagement on a regular basis, then that will likely be far more lucrative than profiles with hundreds of thousands of followers, and only a handful of likes or comments per post.
If you would like to learn more strategies that can improve your wider social media strategy, book a free discovery session with the specialists at Clearwater today.
