Influencer marketing is a form of advertising in which an individual or company pays a social media influencer to promote their product. The word “influencers” can refer to anyone who can reach large numbers of people and have them pay attention, like celebrities, athletes, artists, and others with huge followings on social media platforms such as Instagram. Therefore, influencer marketing is a form of marketing that uses social media influencers to market products.
It can be used in many different ways, but it is best when it works together with other forms of marketing like content marketing, social media advertising, and public relations. The Internet is a loud, congested environment. Gaining traction for your brand may be difficult, and convincing your audience to buy-in can be much more difficult. So, how can you persuade folks to listen to you? How can you get from being a little fish in a big ocean to being a well-known brand, if not a household name? Influencer marketing is one method that has been demonstrated to work. Over the last several years, many companies utilizing this method have exploded. “Interest in influencer marketing has increased more than 90x from 2013 to the present,” according to the report.
Here are some more numbers to give you a better understanding of where this approach stands right now:
- “Influencer marketing content has an 11x better return on investment than typical digital marketing.”
- “When exposed to promotional material from influencers, Twitter users report a 5.2x increase in buy intent.”
- “40% of consumers say they’ve bought something online after seeing it on Instagram, Twitter, Vine, or YouTube being utilized by an influencer.”
The list might go on forever. I believe we can all agree that influencer marketing has a positive impact. When it comes down to it, though, the phrase “influencer marketing” might be a bit hazy. There’s a lot of uncertainty about using it and how to get the most out of it. What are the best ways to attract an influencer to connect to your website, share your material, promote your product, and so on? I’m going to be completely candid with you. It’s not an easy task. There’s a lot more to it than sending an influencer a cold email and asking them to “please give my company a shout-out.” That isn’t how it works. There is, however, a formula, like with most types of marketing. It worked for me, and it could work for you as well. So let’s get down to business.
Ways to make influencer marketing work:
Identifying an appropriate influencer.
This is the most straightforward stage, although it does need some study. So what’s the best way to find an influencer? For starters, you’re undoubtedly already aware of at least a few influential people in your field.
Consider the following scenario:
- Bloggers with a significant audience
- YouTubers with a following
- Experts in the field
- Contributors to prominent magazines regularly
- Celebrities
However, if you need some assistance or want to know how likely a particular individual is to share, I prefer BuzzSumo. “View Sharers” is one of my favorite things there. Let me demonstrate how it works. First, I choose a topic relevant to my business or specialty. It’s “content marketing,” in my instance. This is what comes up:
After that, I choose an article and click “View Sharers.”
Here’s what’s showing up right now:
Suddenly, I have a list of individuals and businesses that have shared that specific item.
I can also inform you that:
- What is their Twitter following?
- Their retweet to retweet ratio
- Ratio of responses
- Retweets on average
These indicators are significant because they allow me to judge whether or not they are an influencer with whom I would want to interact. I also know how likely it is to get a response from them. And I can quickly follow or tweet them for immediate communication. Traacker and Little Bird are two more tools worth examining in addition to BuzzSumo. For further ideas, I recommend reading this Kissmetrics article. I’m not suggesting that you utilize a program to locate influencers, but it does make the process much easier.
- What kind of influencer should I go after?
Marketers unfamiliar with the notion sometimes wonder if they should target a macro-influencer (such as Tim Ferris or Seth Godin) with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of followers or a micro-influencer with, say, 15,000 followers. Starting small and working your way up is something I believe in. Micro-influencers, in my opinion, are considerably more responsive and simpler to contact than huge players, who may get hundreds of emails every day. However, you are free to choose the route that makes the most sense to you.
- Contacting key decision-makers
This is by far the most challenging portion of the procedure. You’ll need to find out a means to:
a) Make contact with an influential person and
b) Establish a rapport with them.
You may do this in various ways, but I prefer sending an email or utilizing the contact form on their website. Unless they’re enormous superstars, most influencers will have a way to be contacted. Investigate your options until you discover one that works for you. Move on to the next prospective influencer on your list if you can’t locate their contact information.
- What should I say to them?
The template you select will be determined by the exact request you have.
For example, there is a:
- template for curation
- template for influencer mentions
- blog template for visitors
as well as others.
I propose that you read this Entrepreneur article. It will provide you with five basic templates to use when initiating contact, so you’ll know what to say.
Here’s a sample of their early outreach:
Being genuine, engaging, and honest is the key to gaining a reaction. Just keep in mind that you need to give them an irresistible offer (using my best Vito Corleone voice).
You might mention them on your blog, offer them a sample of your product, or even reimburse them if the case warrants it—whatever you believe will pique their interest. On the other hand, compensation should be used with caution since it might make you seem insincere. However, it’s a viable alternative to consider. Let me say this now. Before approaching an influencer out of the blue, it’s best if you communicate with them on some level. For example, you may leave a month of consistent comments on their site before approaching them for a favor. I know I’m more responsive to requests from regular blog readers than ones from strangers.
Have a thick skin type.
There are a handful of more nuggets of knowledge I’d like to impart to you. First and foremost, you should expect to be rejected. Anticipating the first influencer, your reply, and your pander to your every wish is unrealistic. Most of these folks are overworked, and their inboxes are already clogged with similar requests. You’re not going to receive a lot of answers, no matter how charming or captivating you believe you are. Don’t take anything too seriously. It’s all about the statistics. To begin, I suggest making a list of at least ten prospective influencers. The more, the merrier, though. It will need endurance and patience if you want to be successful. Just keep plugging away until you have a breakthrough. Here’s another suggestion. Like this one from HubSpot, use a free email tracker to see who opened and didn’t open your emails. It’s a quick method to check what kind of action occurred after clicking “send.” If you don’t hear back from someone who opened your email after a few days, I suggest sending them a follow-up email. Don’t be obnoxious about it, but a courteous follow-up may pique an influencer’s interest and earn you the answer you need.
Getting people to share your material is a difficult task.
Finally, be sure that what you’re giving them (and their audience) is valuable. If you want an influencer to share a blog article you wrote, for example, you need to make sure it’s of good quality and relevant to their audience. Likewise, if they agree to allow you to guest post on their site, the material must be excellent. It won’t do to settle for anything less. In other words, you must follow through and demonstrate to them that by assisting you, they are making a wise choice. This is important for establishing a solid connection and might lead to future changes. You never know what may happen.
Conclusion
On paper, influencer marketing seems to be straightforward. Don’t hesitate to contact someone powerful and ask them to support your company somehow. This will help you get more visibility. But, of course, nothing is ever as simple as it seems, and there are several twists and turns along the road. I’ll be the first to say that influencer marketing is a challenging endeavor. But it’s something you can do well if you take the appropriate approach and persevere long enough. And once you’ve gotten it to work, your confidence will soar, and you’ll feel much more at ease with the process. You may then rinse and repeat to expand your brand even more.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to use influencer marketing?
A: Influencers have an audience that trusts them, so if you pay them to advertise your product or service, their followers will be more likely to trust it.
How do I get started in influencer marketing?
A: Influencer marketing is a form of advertising involving influencers or people with large audiences and influence over consumers. These individuals are often personalities in the field you’re trying to advertise your product with, such as fitness influencers if you’re selling an exercise program.
What do I need to know about influencer marketing?
A: When you are trying to market your brand, influencers come first to mind. They have an extensive reach and can act as your voice in their community. There are many different types of influencer marketing platforms out there.
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