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Influencer marketing is becoming more and more popular, and it is one of the fastest growing marketing tactics at the moment. Studies show that 40% of customers purchase products based on someone that they follow on social media, whether this is Instagram, YouTube, or Twitter.
However, consumers have become more aware of promotional content, especially the ones that brands have been placing using traditional methods. This is where influencer marketing can give you a push in the right direction. Influencers have the tendency of looking authentic and legitimate when they recommend products. For your brand, this could mean more exposure and more engagement.
Interested to know more? Take a look at our five top tips for a successful influencer marketing campaign.
Set your goals and define your target audience
If you do not set goals for your influencer marketing campaign, then you are setting yourself up for failure. You need to know what you want from your campaign so as to target effectively. There are numerous goals that can be achieved through the means of an influencer. This includes brand awareness, reach, engagement, or generating revenue and leads. These goals will help you set a plan so that you can, in turn, measure your campaign’s success.
If your goal is brand awareness, reach, or engagement, your key metrics should be impressions, likes, comments, and shares. These metrics will give you an idea of how your content is being engaged with your audience.
If your goal is lead generation, you can ask your influencers to share the link of your brand and/or product. Based on these leads generated through their link, you can find out the cost per lead and calculate your return on investment.
If your goal is to generate revenue, you can create custom affiliate links for your influencers, which will enable you to track purchases. You can calculate how much business each influencer is bringing your way.
Apart from setting goals, you should also define your target audience. This will help you create a more successful influencer strategy since you will know who you would like to target. For instance, your audience for a clothing line would be different than if you’re trying to promote the best online slots. You should think about age, demographics, interests, locations, and more to make sure that your campaign is reaching relevant people. This will also help you choose the right influencer for your brand based on their followers who might have similar interests to what your brand is selling.
Do your research on your influencers
Before working with influencers, make sure that you do your research on their brand and their followers. The popularity of influencer marketing has led to an increase in influencers. Some influencers tend to inflate their follower count and engagement. Partnering with such influencer might do more harm than good to your brand since there is no ‘real’ audience to engage with.
Carry background research on your influencers and also check if they have worked with other reputable brands in the past.
Quality > Quantity
Choose an influencer with a ‘high quality’ engagement that matches your target audience rather than going for an influencer with the highest follower count. You should aim to partner with influencers who will truly have an impact on the audience that you are trying to target.
Also, you are better off working with a few influencers with a highly engaged audience rather than more influencers who will have little affinity to your brand.
Sometimes you do not know best…
Sometimes you need to give up control. Influencer marketing is based on authenticity and every influencer has their own way of communicating with their audience. Therefore, they might take a different approach to showcase your brand or product.
Trust your influencers and do not be afraid to give them creative control. They know what works with their audience. The main aspect is that they remain authentic.
Build long-term relationships
Focus on building longer-term relationships with influencers. This is beneficial to both parties. This means that the influencer is invested in you. For influencers, this is also beneficial since it shows their followers that they trust the brand and not simply doing it for the money.
Hopefully, our top tips will help you navigate your way around a successful influencer marketing campaign. Always remember to choose the right influencer for your brand so that both you and the influencer can mutually benefit from this relationship.
