You have a product, service, or event that you want to promote, and you’ve heard a lot about influencer marketing. It has, indeed, become one of the most popular marketing techniques of brands and marketers alike, so your instinct are dead on. Influencer marketing offers brands the opportunity to extend their reach, increase brand awareness, boost engagement, and increase conversions. But only when done correctly.
If you are thinking about taking advantage of this powerful marketing channel, here are a few things you should know before you launch your first campaign.
Focus on Relevance and Engagement, Not Reach
Marketers often make the mistake of going after influencers with the largest reach. But in influencer marketing, the level of engagement an influencer is able to drive, and their relevance to your niche, matter more than the number of followers they have.
Let’s suppose you team up with a celebrity influencer who has millions of followers on Instagram. Most of those people likely only follow that influencer because they’re a celebrity, not because they trust the influencer for advice or product recommendations.
Consumers are more likely to purchase a product because of a recommendation from a micro-influencer than one from a celebrity or mega-influencer. Partner with relevant micro-influencers or mid-level influencers for maximum results and ROI from your influencer marketing campaigns.
Build Strong Relationships with Influencers
Influencers deliver the best results when they actually share a connection with you and your brand. When an influencer honestly likes your products or services, they can create more authentic, and engaging content.
Therefore, it is very important to connect with your influencers beyond the business level. Appreciate their hard work, offer incentives and gifts, and also share their content on your company’s social media profiles.
Don’t Interfere with an Influencer’s Creativity
Your brand should give influencers the freedom to create content in their own voice and style. If you try to control or restrict their creativity, it can affect the authenticity and quality of the content they create for you, which can impact the effectiveness of your influencer marketing campaign.
Don’t Expect Influencers to Directly Sell
Do not expect influencers to directly sell your products to their followers. Influencers can help your brand reach a relevant and engaged audience. They can introduce your product to their followers, and tell them about the benefits and features. Influencers may even review or recommend your product.
But after that, it’s up to their followers to decide whether or not they want to make a purchase. To increase conversions and sales, you can give each influencer a discount code or promo code to share with their followers.
Learn more in the following infographic about influencer marketing from HireInfluence:
