Have you ever heard of the term “influencer marketing”? In the digital world, you may have encountered names of people on the internet that have been dubbed online celebrities. These are bloggers, social media stars, and Instagram models who have built their fan bases by creating entertaining and engaging content.
Influencer marketing is an approach where business owners work with influencers to increase their brand awareness, product sales, and customer loyalty. It is a marketing approach that helps small businesses challenge industry leaders. In fact, influencer marketing is expected to grow by $15 billion this 2022.
If you want to try influencer marketing, check out these tips on starting your influencer marketing strategy to grow your business:
1 – Do competitor analysis.
If you have no idea how to start with your influencer marketing approach, the best way to start is to analyze your competitors. Look at the industry leaders and study how they do their influencer marketing. This will give you an idea of how you can start your marketing approach.
Ensure that the approach you plan to apply to your marketing strategy will work with your brand goals. For example, check the type of content your competitors are using and determine which type is most engaging to their audience.
Aside from finding out the most effective type of content, you also need to note any errors to know what not to do with your future campaigns.
2 – Choose the right platform.
You can find the most popular influencers on social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and others. But before you start influencer marketing, you need to know first which platform your target audience frequently visits. Each platform has its different format, strategy, and target audience.
For example, if you sell fashion jewelry, the first platform you should try is Instagram. There are many fashion influencers you can work with, so they can introduce your jewelry to their followers.
3 – Approach influencers with relevance.
Relevance is important for the internet algorithm to show your brand online. Thus, you must approach influencer marketing with relevance on top of your mind. You should not blindly deal with influencers just because they are famous. You need to find ones with followers that fall under the category of your target audience.
For example, if you sell a high-end gaming mouse, you will need to reach out to popular gaming streamers on YouTube and Twitch because their followers are also interested in gaming. This way, you get the attention of audiences that are gamers who may need a brand-new gaming mouse.
4 – Plan your content strategy.
As stated earlier, each social media platform offers different formats. And when it comes to marketing, businesses need to plan their content strategy depending on the best format on their chosen social media platform.
In recent years, video has become the most consumed type of content online. It is incredibly effective and entertaining and can share information quickly with users.
Work with influencers and tell them to create videos that don’t just promote your business but also capture their followers’ interest. Always focus on a customer-centric approach when planning your content strategy.
5 – Set a budget for your marketing strategy.
Influencer marketing does not come for free, but you may encounter influencers that may be happy to receive freebies from your brand alone. Working with popular influencers generally requires money. The amount depends on how often you want them to post your product on their feed. With this in mind, you must consider setting aside a specific budget for this marketing approach.
You also need to plan how to manage your influencer marketing strategy. This should include determining how much time you will need to create, implement, and assess your approach.
6 – Track your performance.
You need to have numbers to determine if your marketing strategy is working, and this rule also applies to influencer marketing. Find a way to track the performance of your brand links.
Tracking your brand links effectively checks if your influencer marketing is helping your conversion rates. You can add UTM parameters to the brand links your partner influencers use in their posts. These links are connected in Google Analytics so you can track down how much traffic and conversion in your website are coming from influencer marketing.
7 – Start a referral program.
If your small business still doesn’t have the budget to work with popular influencers, you can start by turning your loyal customers into influencers by creating a referral program.
Announce a referral program on your social media channels to attract customers willing to promote your brand to their circle. Some consumers tend to believe in reviews more than influencers. In fact, customers referred by brand loyalty members have a 26% higher retention rate.
***
Want to start your influencer marketing today? Cybertegic is a local marketing agency in Pasadena specializing in digital marketing. We can help create a marketing strategy for your social media platforms and your influencer marketing approach. Contact us for a free consultation!
