Influencer marketing is a proven way to increase your sales through strategic partnerships. With the right influencer marketing strategy in place, you can consistently strengthen your brand presence. You’ll be able to reach new customers and grow in ways you didn’t know were possible. Many brands are making as much as $5.78 ROI for every $1 spent on influencer marketing. It’s a productive marketing strategy that can be what your business needs to scale.
Before we go over influencer marketing best practices, let’s cover what influencer marketing is for those unfamiliar with the strategy.
What is influencer marketing?
If you don’t know what influencer marketing is, that’s ok. We’ve got you covered.
Influencer marketing is the use of individuals with social followings who can post content that will directly affect consumer behaviors. Brands will team up with these influencers to promote their products and services in order to increase revenue. As long as both the influencer and the brand have the same target audience, they’ll be more likely to get the results they want.
Step up your influencer marketing strategy with these tips
Now that you have a better idea of what influencer marketing is, let’s dive into some best practices. Keep in mind that these tips will help you improve your current strategy. Part of moving your brand in the right direction is the willingness to improve and test out new ideas.
Establish your brand and stick to it: If you haven’t created a clear and distinct style guide, now is the time to do so. You can’t expect the influencers you work with to have any idea of how your brand works if you haven’t figured out your branding. Having a clear branding guide makes it easy to collaborate with creators who can produce content you can repost.
Don’t just focus on large followings: Just because an influencer has 100k followers doesn’t mean the influencer is a great fit for your brand. Pay attention to engagement rates. Scroll through the comments they receive to see who is commenting. You don’t want to work with someone who pays for bots to like and comment on their posts. Sometimes a micro-influencer with 3k-5k followers may be the best for your brand.
Clarify deadlines and expectations: One of the ways to prevent frustrating collaborations is to discuss the details and stick to your agreements. Set clear deadlines and review the expectations with the influencers you’re working. Get everything in writing and follow up with the influencers as it gets closer to the deadlines of when you’re expecting posts to go live etc.
Invest in your best influencers: Do you have influencers who are generating better results for your business than others? Find ways to incentivize them. It’s in your best interest to keep them on your team. There are a few different ways you can invest in your relationship with them like giving them a percentage of sales they generate and giving them access to special events/products/services.
Play the long game: The results you’re wanting won’t happen in an instant. Everything from finding influencers to planning campaigns takes time. Be patient as you work through your influencer marketing strategy and establish new partnerships. Playing the long game requires the right mindset but it’s worth the hard work.
The 5 tips above are all doable and will help you get the results you need to grow your business. Put influencer marketing to work for you and use these tips to increase brand awareness and sales. It’s up to you to reap the rewards that come from this marketing strategy.
What are the next steps in improving your influencer marketing strategy?
The right influencers for you have spent time building their own brand and working on only endorsing brands their audience relates to. With that in mind, do your research before pitching. You’ll want to be prepared as you reach to them to develop new partnerships. Have your details worked out and ready then get to work!
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