In today’s world, getting your business seen and heard has never been more difficult. There are new pieces of content being churned out by the second which may leave your own communication strategies drowning amongst the many. With ad blockers and the likes of media fasting getting in the way of your marketing efforts, you may find yourself scrambling for ways to get through to your target audience.
That’s why we value the use of influencer marketing. Influencers offer businesses a highly engaged and niche target audience who trust and believe in their voice without the clutter of your competitors. At a fraction of the cost, you can start building your online presence with your ideal target audience and begin to bring in the sales you desire.
However, despite the benefits, it doesn’t mean that success comes easily. In fact, it takes a lot of careful planning and execution to really perfect the art of influencer communications. Luckily, we’re here to help you navigate this new marketing field.
The Perks of Influencer Marketing
With social media taking the world by storm, influencers are the new celebrity. To state the obvious, these social media stars have been titled as “influencers” for the very reason that they’re important to businesses - their influence. Instead of waiting for Cristiano Ronaldo to sign a million dollar deal to be the face of your brand, influencers offer the same prestige and trust.The best way to capture the perks of utilising influencers is to compare their voice to a trusted friend of yours. Think of that one friend you can always go to for the best places to eat or for the newest trends in business - have you got someone in mind?
Well, that’s exactly what influencers are for their audiences. They are a pillar of style, inspiration and “life goals” that audience members strive for. People know that they can turn to these public figures for advice and the best way forward in just about every aspect of their own lives.
When you mix this sense of authority and trust with the likes of a brand endorsement, you can only expect success. Choosing the right influencer means that your brand could reach up to millions of people who are actively engaged in these communication channels. It’s especially handy to use this marketing tactic if you’re a fairly new business who is looking to grow their reach.
It’s not just getting a larger brand exposure that your business can benefit from, but you are able to make use of an extremely targeted audience too. This way, you won’t have to spend hundreds and thousands of dollars producing content that might not even come into contact with your ideal customer!
How to Choose the Right Influencer
Target Your Niche
Like with most marketing strategies, it all gets down to your audience. Your audience segmentation will largely impact how well your message is well received.To find your perfect niche, you will have to do your research first. Take the time to explore your chosen social media platforms and see where your audience “hangs out” the most. By assessing who your target audience follows and which material they often interact with, you will get a better sense of who’s best to work with.
The trick to using the right influencer is to see which person’s group of followers aligns with your brand the most. After all, you wouldn’t go to a vegan foodie influencer to promote your new butchery, would you?
Choose Between Micro vs Macro Influencers
To help manage your expectations from your social media ambassadors, you should get to know the differences between micro and macro influencers. This will largely prepare you for the type of results you can expect to see.Firstly, let’s take a look at the macro influencer. This cultural icon has reached more of a celebrity status with higher numbers of followers and bigger brand deals. A macro influencer status is achieved once the person has hit 50,000 followers and more. That’s a large number of people that you can hope to engage with!
While they do have a bigger following, it does mean, however, that their engagement rates are lower. This is probably the biggest downfall of using a macro influencer. As the majority of their posts are sponsored, they lose the sense of credibility and trust that you see more of in micro influencers.
Micro influencers are those who have followers in between the 10,000 to 50,000 bracket. These lesser known people produce content that is authentic to who they are and have built up a strong sense of community on their channels. It’s for this very reason that people prefer to work with smaller influencers and the fact that it’s a lot cheaper too!
Assess Their Content
Before finalising your pick of a content curator, spending some time on their channels is a must. By assessing their content, you will be able to see if this person’s identity and voice is in line with your brand’s messaging.The goal of your social media campaign should be to resemble a product or service that your choice of influencer would normally purchase. The more authentic the brand relationship is, the more believable your sell will be.
Managing Your Influencer Marketing Strategy
The best tip we could give you when it comes to influencer marketing is that you should always keep your lines of communication open. From the initial email to your last form of contact, try and be as clear and precise as possible. This way, you’re diminishing the chances of letting your campaign fall flat.Here are a few areas that should always be determined before starting your campaign:
- Which social media channels will be utilised
- A copywriting brief
- Remuneration per post
- Posting frequency
- A content curation brief