Influencer marketing has become a potent strategy for businesses wanting to connect with their customers. For example, Nike’s marketing strategy is based on almost entirely influencer marketing, beginning with its partnership with Michael Jordan and continuing with new rising athletes.
The difficulty marketers face is finding the right influencers to collaborate with. Partnering with the wrong influencer can, at best, lead to no conversions, and, at worst, damage the brand’s reputation.
Here’s some hot tips on how to collaborate with influencers.
What is an influencer?
Influencers have large, devoted followings on social media and can easily get the word out about new products and endorse them. Just about any industry you can think of has people of influence.
Influencers live on a variety of social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. They also engage with their audience through different mediums such as blogs, videos, and podcasts.
What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing is a marketing tactic companies use to raise brand awareness and gain exposure for their products by leveraging the fame and credibility of influencers.
The idea is not a new one. Ethos is one of three proofs, or appeals, in Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, which is a book all about persuasion and argumentation. Ethos refers to the character of the speaker. Are they trustworthy? Do they have integrity? Are they experts in their field of study? If yes, then you can generally believe what they are saying.
An example would be: “I’ve been in marketing for 12 years and have helped sell over $10 million dollars worth of products through my advertising. This is what you want to say ____.”
What should you look for when collaborating with an influencer?
Success will look different depending on your goals. Before choosing an influencer to partner with, answer this question: What are you trying to accomplish?
A few common goals for influencer marketing campaigns include
- Increasing website traffic
- Growing social media platform
- Gaining subscribers to your mailing list
- Growing your sales pipeline
- Raising awareness of a new product
- Making sales
The first step to collaborating with an influencer is to know your end goal.
Finding the right influencer
Depending on your goals, developing a list of criteria before you begin your search will speed up the process, such as
- Relevance: Look for influencers whose niche aligns with your industry or target market. Their content should be closely related to your brand or product.
- Audience demographics: Analyze the demographics of the influencer’s audience to ensure they match your target market. Consider factors such as age, location, interests, and buying behaviors.
- Engagement metrics: Assess an influencer’s engagement metrics, including likes, comments, shares, and views, to determine their level of influence and audience interaction.
- Authenticity: Evaluate an influencer’s authenticity by reviewing their content, tone, and relationship with their audience. Ensure they have a genuine connection and can authentically represent your brand.
You can obtain this information by looking at an influencer’s follower count, video views, and by reaching out and asking them about their audience demographics.
Different types of influencers
Various types of influencers are available to choose from, including bloggers, YouTubers, podcasters, and creators specializing in visual content social posts.
If you’re unsure about which type of influencer is the right fit for you, here’s a handy reference outlining the differences between them:
Bloggers
Bloggers are content creators who primarily use written posts to share their thoughts, experiences, and expertise about a brand or other various topics. This category of influencers establishes highly genuine and interactive connections with their audience, which brands are now acknowledging and endorsing.
One alternative approach to having a blogger endorse your product is through guest posting. By securing a guest posting opportunity on a prominent blog, you gain control over the content and are usually permitted to include a link to your own website in your author bio. Overall, having a blogger as a partner is highly beneficial, allowing them to boost your brand awareness but also leverage the influencer’s credibility for increased engagement and conversions.
YouTubers
With YouTube as a top video-content-based platform, influencers in this division stream and create engaging videos covering various trending subjects. Their visual storytelling approach allows them to connect with their audience through vlogs, tutorials, reviews, challenges, and more, fostering a sense of personal connection due to the medium’s intimate nature.
The advantage of teaming up with YouTube influencers is that it enables access to a vast audience that elevates brand visibility while leveraging the power to drive significant growth in sales and engagement.
Podcasters
In addition to written and video-based content, Podcasters convey their message exclusively through audio-based episodes that users can stream or download. They host discussions, interviews, storytelling sessions, and provide diverse, informative content on various topics, offering flexibility for on-the-go listening and appealing to those seeking convenient and insightful material.
Social Posters
These influencers exclusively use social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or TikTok to share and promote content. Solely relying on short-form posts, images, and captions to capture their audience’s attention, their appeal lies in conveying concise messages through visually appealing photos or videos that resonate with their followers.
Now that you have pinpointed the perfect match, it’s essential to discover the proper way to engage in a professional and suitable partnership with influencers. Take advantage of these five valuable methods to collaborate with influencers, allowing you to maximize your brand’s impact and boost your business strategy.
How to ask influencers for collaboration
Knowing what to look for is the first step. Now for the hard part: reaching out.
Below is a tried-and-true email template you can use to develop your own message. This email can also be easily adapted for DM on various platforms. Sometimes you will have greater success by sending a message to an influencer’s DM than their email.
Depending on the influencer’s value, you can negotiate free products as part of compensation.
Measuring & evaluating influencer campaign performance
Partnering with influencers sounds fun, but it should be confirmed you’re getting a solid return on investment. Here are a few metrics to keep track of:
- Click-through rates (CTR)
- Conversion rates
- Website traffic
- Social media mentions
- Sales
Compare the results against your predefined goals and objectives.
Analyzing the data allows you to identify successful strategies, optimize future collaborations, and make informed decisions about your influencer marketing initiatives.
Conclusion
Consumers don’t want to spend their time watching ads. However, they will spend time watching their favorite personality talk about their favorite product or give a product review. The goal of influencer marketing is to add value to the consumers’ time, not take it away.
The Trade Group is a full-service trade show and event marketing company. We will work with you to create an exhibit or an event that brings in leads and helps you achieve your business goals. Contact us here or give us a call at (800) 343-2005.
Photo credit: Pexels
