You may or may not be familiar with influencer marketing, but I’m sure that you’re still trying to figure out how to achieve your marketing goals for the year. Social media usage has been on the rise for quite some time. Brands are able to reach consumers faster with the help of influencers. Continue reading to learn how influencer marketing can help you reach your business goals.
Plan!
Plan is the first step in any influencer marketing campaign. Planning is essential for any new marketing strategy. To avoid confusion, however, influencer marketing is a form of marketing where much of the control is given to others.
There are three main elements to be aware of when discussing the planning process:
1. What are your goals
Understanding your goals is a key element in the initial process. What are your goals for an influencer campaign? Each business has different goals. Here are some that influencers can help with. These goals could include increasing brand awareness, increasing content creation, driving site traffic, and growing your social media following.
Influencers can help you achieve your goals, whether it’s a short-term campaign or a long-term partnership. Brands are increasingly looking to establish trusted partnerships with influencers that can add value to their organisation. For more information, see our blog post How a long-term collaboration with an influencer can benefit your brand.
2. Who are your target audiences?
Your target audience is the second aspect to be considered in your planning process. Your current audience may still be your target audience. Or you might want to reach a new demographic. Perhaps you’re a female clothing company that recently launched a male clothing line.
The rest of your planning process will be affected by your decision to determine who your target audience are. So make sure you get this step done early. You will later need to decide which social media platform is the best. This will depend on who you are trying to reach. Consider their age, gender, location, and interests.
3. Budget
You will need to establish a budget before you can move forward with your campaign. The type of influencers you are able and willing to work with as well as the incentive you offer will be determined by your budget.
You need to be aware of a few factors that can impact costs. You should remember that each social media platform is different, the media types and content will all affect the cost. Shipping and handling are often overlooked. The influencer marketing guide will help you understand the influencer incentive and create a budget plan.
4. Timeline
Your timeline can have a huge impact on other aspects. In reality, influencers cannot be reached at a click of a button. It is important to plan ahead. You should also remember that influencers have busy schedules and that you might need to contact many people before you find one.
You should also consider the campaign timeline in relation to important dates, events and seasons. This could help you decide when it will take place. If you plan to release a festive product, for example, you need to make sure that an influencer is available in the right season.
Social media channels
Whatever your business goals, each social media channel offers great benefits. Some may be more beneficial than others. Instagram is widely recognized as the center for influencer marketing. According to recent data, 89% of marketers consider Instagram the best channel for influencer marketing . Depending on your target audience, platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are also very popular. TikTok, and other emerging platforms have seen a rapid increase in demand.
This is the best place to start learning about Instagram if you don’t know what it is. Instagram is visually appealing with a lot of static content that grabs attention quickly. This makes it necessary for content to be visually appealing and of high quality. Consider colour schemes, design elements, and photography skills.
Instagram has many media types that influencers can use. You can post both photo and video content as a story or as a posting. Video content can be uploaded on IGTV Reels and Live.
YouTube
YouTube is a video-only platform. You need to determine if this content is appropriate for your target audience. YouTube videos are a great way for consumers to interact with you.
While video content is more expensive, it can be well worth the investment if you work with an influencer who has a large audience. If you create a partnership with an influencer, in which you sponsor their videos regularly, your brand will be more visible to their viewers, which can lead to loyalty from consumers. You will make them feel like they know you better and trust the recommendations of their favorite influencers.
TikTok
The platform allows users to share short videos and has seen great success in the past year. This platform has seen a lot of brands jump into advertising. TikTok influencers quickly became the next big thing in the industry. TikTok is a great tool for targeting younger audiences. You may have difficulty reaching older consumers with TikTok.
Influencer marketing has a unique selling point: It is authentic and more authentic than traditional advertising methods. TikTok is a platform that allows consumers to share creative video content in a way that feels natural and engages them.
Find influencers
You may be wondering how to find an influencer or a KOL (key opinion leader) for your campaign. You can search directly through social media or you could use an influencer marketing platform.
If you’re searching for Instagram influencers directly, I recommend that you create your own account. Keep an eye out for the following:
- Influencers in your comments or likes
- Influencers on your brand tags
- Influencers who may have mentioned you within content
You can then see if they are already fans. You want influencers who love your brand.
You could also work with an influencer-marketing platform like Heepsy. This will allow you to be more efficient with your time and resources by being able search for influencers using dedicated filters. Once you have determined the type of influencer you want to work with, you can simply input the information and the platform will take care of the rest. You can search by location, size, engagement, language and many other criteria.
You can also follow up with a detailed analysis on influencer profiles. This data will help you determine if this influencer is a good fit. It is important to look for influencers who have high engagement rates, great audience authenticity metrics, and, most importantly, are in line with your target consumer group’s demographics and interests.
Take away
There’s a lot to be learned about influencer marketing. Did you see the earlier guide? This guide is a great place for you to start. You can start to reap the incredible benefits of influencer marketing by getting to know the industry and planning your campaign carefully.
