Marketing Focus – How to harness the power of influencer marketing
Everyone is talking about influencers, but what is an influencer and how can you get them to market your product or service?
According to Influencermarketinghub an influencer is someone with the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of their authority, knowledge, position or relationship with their audience. They have a following in a particular niche, which they actively engage with. We’ve been marketing to influencers for years via PR to the media, but now, it is more often applied to bloggers, vloggers and Instagrammers with large online followings and we have had some excellent results using this approach for our clients.
Influencer marketing is something which can work very well, if you understand it and know how to maximise the effect for your business. In this post, we will give you 10 tips on the topic of influencer marketing to help you see if it’s right for you.
- Have clear understanding of influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is a type of marketing where you are trying to have blogger or influencer experience your product or service. Once they have sampled the product, or visited your restaurant, they will then share their experiences with their followers. Influencer marketing is increasingly replacing traditional advertising channels, due to the power of the internet and the lower price point.
- Ask yourself whether influencer marketing is right for you
If you are advertising any type of product, this type of marketing could be for you. The most common products are things such as beauty products, computer games, clothes and electronics. It is also works well for restaurants, bars and hotels, where you have something attractive and appealing to offer and something which is easy to share.
- Define the key points about your product that you want shared
If you feel it’s right for you, don’t just send a product and hope for the best! Decide how your products stand out from the crowd and make clear to any influencer what the unique selling points are. A press release or fact sheet sent along with the product can really help the influencer get your message across in the right way and maximise this opportunity for your brand.
- Carefully select the right person for your product
In order to get your product advertised properly you need to find the right person. Their image and profile needs to fit with your company or product identity and their followers need to be in the right age group and demographics for it to work for you. Look at their followers and think whether they look like the people you want to buy your products, if not – stay away. Also check that their posts have a high engagement to ensure that your post will have maximum value.
- Decide what country the influencer should be from
You should also consider where your product is sold, where you have a physical shop, or where you are happy to ship to. You also need to consider what languages you are marketing in and what you can offer customer support in, so you can choose the right influencer with the following in those target countries. Ask the influencer to provide information about their demographics in order to assess this correctly.
- Choose the right platforms
The best performing platforms for influencer marketing are YouTube, Instagram and blogs, because they are well developed for advertising and include lifestyle content. Consider your product and how much information you need your influencer to share and then look at the platforms and how the influencer is sharing this information. Detailed reviews are best supported by blog and YouTube, but many younger influencers only have Instagram, so decide if that’s right for you.
- Don’t be afraid to ask what type of promotion they will provide
In order to achieve your marketing objectives, you should ask the blogger or influencer what promotion you would get in return for sending a product or sponsoring a post. For example, will you get one video or post on blog, or several photos on Instagram. Only by knowing this and asking for what you need, will you be happy with the advertisement.
- Allocate a budget for influencer marketing
Major influencers charge for posts and reviews, on top of any free product. Decide how much budget you will allocate and what profile, interaction and promotion you will expect for any marketing spend.
- Be generous with what you offer
In order to create a good relationship with an influencer you should be as generous as possible with them. You may do something such as giving them a bigger range of products, or offer them more opportunities during a stay at your hotel for example. You do this in order to make them a fan of your brand and encourage them to give more back. A longstanding relationship with an influencer will pay dividends for your brand.
- Become strong on social media yourself
Set up accounts, generate good content, and provide the right tags so the influencer can tag you and allow you to attract their fans to your channels. Also interact with influencers on your social media, show their posts some love by liking or commenting. This will increase your visibility with them and make them more responsive when you approach them.
I hope these tips helped you to get some inspiration on influencer marketing and learn something new. We have helped beauty and lifestyle brands to tap into the potential of influencer marketing and we can help you too. Please contact us to find out how your product or service could benefit from influencer marketing.
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