Chris Christoff November 13, 2021 If you’re a small business owner, a solopreneur, or an early-stage startup with the goal to create quick brand exposure, build brand authority, drive traffic and boost your conversions, try using influencer marketing.
According to sources, 9 out of 10 brands are using some form of influencer marketing to reach their goals faster. And why won’t they? After all, it makes their marketing campaign so much more effective. But some markets avoid it thinking that influencer marketing can be a costly affair. However, it is not always true.
A decade ago, influencer marketing was all about celebrities and renowned personalities whom people would recognize easily. But today, the concept is no longer the same. Now you’ll see a number of influencers in your social media feed as you scroll through it.
Many dedicated bloggers are taking this career seriously to gain recognition as an influencer. Luckily for them, the influencer marketing business has become a huge success. And it has emerged to be a $ 5-10 billion dollar industry.
If you aren’t sure what influencer marketing is, this guide is for you. Here we’ll discuss it in detail and look at ways through which you can leverage it for your business.
So let’s get started.
What is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is a way in which businesses leverage the popularity and status of an individual to boost brand awareness, drive traffic and increase conversions.
These individuals are popular faces on different social media platforms and usually have a very large and engaged audience. They form a partnership with brands and agree to expose the brand’s content, products, or messages to their audience in exchange for a payment.
This exposure gives the brand a chance to get in front of a target audience in a very natural and meaningful way. The best thing about influencer marketing is that by collaborating with the right influencers, you can tap into the audience that is already following them and maybe far vaster than your own following.
Now let’s look at how to develop a strategy for a successful influencer marketing campaign.
1. Know your Goal
It’s important to understand that influencer marketing is not about how big the influencer’s fan base is. It’s more about connecting with influencers with the right target audience. But for that, you first need to identify what your business goal is.
If you aren’t sure about your goal, here are a few options you can consider.
- Building brand awareness
- Increase followers
- Lead generation
- Link building
- Boost sales
- Generate engagement
Depending on your goal, you can choose an influencer of your choice. Knowing your goal is helpful because it makes it easier for you to measure your success at the end of your campaign.
Once you know your goal, it’s time to figure out the type of campaign you want to hold.
2. Know the Right Campaign
There are various types of influencer marketing campaigns. Knowing the right campaign is important if you really want to achieve your goal.
You may want an influencer to simply mention your brand on their blogs, do a detailed product review, or co-create content with you. Sometimes marketers also let the influencer take over their social media profiles and let them handle it for a specific period of time.
You might even run a contest or a giveaway and then want the influencers to share it with their audience. So think about the campaign type properly before you approach the influencer.
3. Find the Right Influencer
The next step is to find the right influencer for your campaign. But before that, you have to know the type of influencer you want to collaborate with. Just like the campaigns, there are different types of influencers too.
For example, there are social media stars, bloggers, industry experts, thought leaders, customers, etc. Depending on the type of campaign, choose the type of influencer you want to work with.
Once you do that, start looking for influencers in that category. The easiest way to get started is to use hashtags. Use relevant hashtags so that you can discover new influencers and the content they are producing. Then click on the hashtags to discover more influencers.
Another way to find the right influencer is by following your competitor’s mentions and tags. You can also check the posts that they have been tagged on. It’s a great way of discovering influencers to collaborate with.
You can also use influencer tools or databases to find their websites, email addresses, and social profiles.
So if you’re considering influencer marketing for your business, follow the tips mentioned above. It will surely make your campaign a grand success.
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