With widespread stay-at-home orders in 2020, social commerce has grown and changed rapidly. With this, many companies have turned to influencer marketing to boost their brands’ names in cyberspace. Why? Influencer marketing works. Of course, like anything else, there are best practices companies should follow if they want to get the most mileage out of their efforts.
With this in mind, let’s look at tips you can use to improve your influencer marketing strategy.
What Is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing utilizes endorsements and product mentions from people who are known as influencers — individuals who have procured a loyal following on social media and are seen as experts within their niches. Influencer marketing works because people place a high amount of trust in the influencers they follow. Endorsements from these influencers serve as social proof that helps brands’ reputations with their audiences.
Questions to Ask Before Beginning Your Influencer Marketing Campaign
Since influencer marketing is estimated to be around a $10 billion industry, it’s obvious why companies are leaning in this direction when they’re trying to connect with their target audiences. It can be an invaluable tool for creating brand awareness, but it requires a bit of preparation before diving into the deep end.
Here are some considerations you should make before developing a plan:
1. What Types of Influencers Will We Engage?
There are three types of influencers:
- Mega: Influencers with 1 million or more followers. These influencers usually offer low engagement.
- Micro: Influencers with 10,000 to 40,000 followers. These influencers often have high engagement.
- Nano: Influencers with 1,000 to 5,000 followers.
When you consider mega-influencers, think about real-world celebrities who come with a substantial price tag if you want them to associate your brand with their image. Because they have so many followers and such a presence online, you’re not likely to get much direct interaction with your brand from followers, but you’ll certainly be seen by lots of people.
Conversely, followers of micro- and nano-influencers tend to be fiercely loyal and are more likely to have boosted engagement with those influencers and the brands they represent.
Chart created by Marketing Charts: Influencer Types Marketers Want to Work With
2. How Long Will the Campaign Be?
The length of your campaign will vary depending on how many influencers are part of the project. Generally, it’s best to have a short activation period when posts are live. This is because shorter windows maximize your campaign’s visibility and may ensure the best chance that people will see and share the campaign’s content. Let the ideal outcome of your campaign guide the timeline, but, of course, be flexible in case the campaign needs to pivot.
Chart created by Marketing Charts: Social Media Marketers’ Platform Usage Trends in 2021
3. How Much Creative Freedom Will You Give Influencers?
Your team should decide how much flexibility your influencers will be able to exercise when it comes to images, copy and scripts. If you’re too controlling over creative aspects, you could risk your posts coming off like stuffy advertisements. This could result in your influencers and audience losing interest in your brand.
Fortunately, there is a sweet spot between having too much and too little creative control. Work with influencers to create a collaborative landscape in which you can each trust that everybody is trying to present content that aligns with your brand and tells a story that entices your audience.
4. How Do You Plan to Interact With the Content Once It’s Posted?
The ways in which you interact with the published content will depend on the social channels you use. You might decide to like, comment or re-post your influencers’ content. You could also share them to your stories if you’re using Instagram. The more engagement your posts have, the more likely other people will see those posts. Interactions with your influencers also help establish rapport, which can then build further trust.
5. Which Stats Are Most Important for Measuring Success?
Develop KPIs that help you understand the metrics of success regarding your campaign. Knowing what you’re trying to establish will help you create a baseline from which to measure outcomes.
Here are some goals and statistics you might want to consider tracking:
- Reach
- Impressions
- Likes
- Comments
- Shares
- Followers
- Link clicks
- Purchases
- Promo code usage
Chart created by Marketing Charts: U.S Adults Social Platform Use, by Demographic Group
How to Build an Influencer Marketing Strategy
You don’t have to conquer the world in one night. Start small, then scale accordingly. Launch a campaign with half or even a quarter of your total budget so you have the flexibility to make spending changes to maximize ROI once you see how your campaign is performing.
Continue to analyze your data, too. Within the first day or so of a campaign, the numbers will tell you if your strategy is working. Then, once you know which aspects of your campaign are performing optimally, you can capitalize on those elements with the rest of your campaign budget.
Author bio: Kyle Austin is founder and Managing Partner at Beantown Media Ventures, a digital marketing agency that has helped hundreds of high-growth companies drive inbound leads and build valuations. Throughout his career, he’s created, executed and managed successful marketing communications campaigns for startups to Fortune 500 companies. Austin has been a member of teams honored with some of the industry’s most prestigious awards, including a Silver Anvil from the PRSA and the IPRA/United Nations Grand Award. He has an MBA from Babson College and is a mentor at MassChallenge, one of the world’s largest nonprofit startup incubators.