Given the overwhelming presence of social media, influencer marketing is a keen tactic that both B2C and B2B businesses should consider. In fact, 67% of digital marketers believe influencer marketing is an effective medium to influence consumer decisions about a product or service purchase. Similarly, 60% of consumers find reviews and social media posts to be helpful in making a purchase decision.
If your influencer marketing campaign is executed well, you’ll achieve increased brand awareness, higher sales, and stronger reputation and trust. Here are 3 keys to building a quality influencer marketing campaign.
Pick the right influencers
Built-in credibility is the grease in the gears of influencer marketing. Rather than searching the web for people who could be interested in your product or service, start in the places you know your audience is already hanging out and listening to someone they trust. To do that, define your audience personas based on age, gender, education, geography, professions, interests, etc. Then work backward to find the influencers (yes, more than one) who are followed by those personas.
If you sell cosmetics or dating advice, your audience is likely single, Millennial women. Therefore, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner are likely to be good influencers for your products and services. But if you offer a SaaS solution for eComm companies, an executive from Google or Amazon would be far more effective influencers to endorse your solution.
Tools like Buzzsumo can help you determine the perfect influencer for your campaign.
2. Make collaboration easy
Beyond simply having the influencer review your solution and talk it up, give them an easy way to promote you.
Design a discount code specifically for the influencer to share with their audience to promote sales. This also gives you tracking to monitor the effectiveness of your influencer campaign.
Help the influencer run a contest, selecting winners to receive free products so they can test them out and post their own reviews. This allows you to expand the reach and builds buzz around your brand.
3. Show some love
When you pitch your product to the influencers and ask for their support, make it clear that the back scratching goes both ways. Of course, you’ll post on your site and include in your marketing, “Our product is used by ….” But influencers are in the business of exposure. They want to get their name and image out there as much as you do.
Mention your influencers and their social media locations on your website. Backlink to their posts — not just the ones that mention your products and services, but also the topics that are companionable to yours.
If you have a new product release coming, give your influencers a sneak peak so they can be the first to share the good news.
Show your appreciation by giving your influencers bonus products and services beyond the ones they’re reviewing for you.
Bottom Line
Influencer marketing can be a powerful tool for spreading the word about your products and services to large targeted audiences. Just be sure you make it worth your effort and theirs.