Launching Your Influencer Marketing Campaign

Implementing marketing campaigns takes significant research, strategy, and planning – and an influencer marketing campaign is no different. This is why we have outlined steps to help you get your influencer marketing campaign off the ground.

1. Know your target audience – including where they consume their information and who they follow on social media. Use the tools at your fingertips – such as Google Analytics, social media analytics, surveys, and interviews – to take a deep dive into who they are and what they, as consumers, want.
2. Strategize the most valuable platform for your company’s influencer marketing campaign. Your target audience research will assist you in this decision.
3. Research influencers who share your target audience – and company values. There are several toolsavailable to you, as you search. Remember, relevancy is more important than reach. In fact, the more followers the influencer has, typically it will mean lower ROI for the company. Influencer Marketing Hubreports companies have higher ROI when working with smaller influencers. So if the influencer you find has a major following – but isn’t relevant to your target audience – keep looking.
4. Connect with the influencer with whom you would like to start an influencer marketing relationship. Visiting with him/her in real life is always preferred, but you could also start through social media messaging or by leveraging a mutual connection.
5. Once the influencer agrees to the influencer marketing relationship, consider working with your company’s legal team to draft a contract with your influencer.
6. Develop a content plan, while also reviewing goals and expectations together. Remember that your influencer’s content needs to be both genuine and inspirational.
7. Start simple! Invite your influencer to be a guest blogger on your blog, or co-host a social media contest. Remember to disclose the paid partnership and ensure your influencer’s messaging is consistent with your brand’s values and goals. Here are some other ideas to get you started:

• Shout-outs: The influencer gives your company a shout-out!
• Giveaways: The company provides the influencer with a product or something of value that they can offer their followers through a giveaway, such as a like/follow/share promotion.
• Platform takeovers: The company provides the influencer with access to their social media channel to then create content for them and invite their followers to the company’s account.
• Sponsored content: The company creates content for influencers to share, or the influencer creates a post for the company.
• Product seeding: The company sends the influencer a product or products, with the possibility of the influencer posting about it.
• Brand ambassador: The influencers consistently share videos, posts, images, etc. about the company’s brand and products. When entering a brand ambassador partnership with an influencer, it is most genuine when the influencers have been a long-time customer and have sincere enthusiasm for your company and products.

8. Remember to track your progress. Metrics will be an important part of your influencer marketing campaign.

Influencer marketing is a dynamic marketing approach that every brand in 2021 should consider. Whether working with a nano-influencer – or a major celebrity – the testimony from another party boosts companies’ images both online and offline. Research carefully – and then dive into the influencer marketing arena!