Author: Catrina Touchette, Marketing Strategist
An influencer is exactly what it sounds like, someone who has influence over others to affect their decisions. Social media influencers can be a powerful tool when it comes to marketing your brand, product, or service. We have all seen commercials with celebrities endorsing a product, and influencer marketing are very similar. These steps and tips can help you promote your brand through a social media influencer.
Finding Your Influencer
There are influencers on every type of social media from Instagram and Tik Tok, to YouTube and Twitch. The first step in your influencer marketing journey is to determine which social media platform your brand would be best received. Generally, Instagram is a great platform to begin social influencer marketing. On Instagram, there are niches for every audience type and a range of influencer types to best fit your budget. There are also many ways to share information through Instagram like photo and video posts, stories, reels, and paid advertisements.
Once you have determined the platform, it is time to research what type of influencer you are interested in working with. This will be affected by the marketing budget you have. Larger influencers tend to be growing quickly across many platforms, but the larger the influencer, the more expensive and selective they will be about the brands they promote. Research influencers that could relate to your brand and fit within your budget. Check out other marketing they have done for brands and the response they got from their followers by looking at engagement on the posts. It is smart to compile a list of several influencers that you would be interested in reaching out to work with.
Creating a Plan
The next step is planning pricing, a timeline, posts, and goals. Some influencers will prefer to have creativity in how they promote your brand on their platform, but it is in your best interest to have expectations for them ahead of time. Come up with a number of posts you expect from the influencer, for example, one photo and two stories on their Instagram, as well as a timeline of when they will post and any follow-ups. You can also share slogans or messages for influencers to incorporate into their content in order to control how your brand is conveyed.
We highly suggest that you allow the influencer to be creative in the content they post promoting your brand. Most influencers have a certain way of sharing their content that appeals to their audience, so it will be beneficial to let them have some control. With that being said, you should also be sure to have the right to approve or change content related to your brand prior to their posting.
Contacting Influencers
Now you are ready to reach out to the influencers you would like to work with. Most influencers will have an email list for business inquires which is the best and most direct way to reach out with a business proposition. Smaller influencers may be reached by direct messaging on their social media.
Reach out with the plan you developed and see if they are interested in promoting your brand. Be flexible and open to suggestions but keep your goals and budgets in mind. This is when you will be able to discuss pricing more specifically with each influencer. Experienced influencers will likely have set pricing that you can use to determine what will work with your budget, while newer influencers may be more open to negotiating price points. Always make sure to follow up and be clear in what you are looking for in your brand marketing and what you can offer for them.
Key Takeaways
Take advantage of influencer marketing. Influencers have gained audiences who value their opinion and will be interested in the products or services they promote. One post can expose your company to thousands of new prospects. Choosing the influencers that you work with is based on your target audience, marketing budget, and engagement. It is important to create a plan to pitch to influencers with your goals and ideas for the content they post related to your brand. Allow influencers to be creative in how they share your brand, but be sure to oversee the entire process from content creation to the results and enjoy watching your company grow alongside the influencer.
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