There is no longer talk about whether partnering with an influencer is a good idea or not.
Instead, it is now all about how to incorporate influencers into your social media marketing strategies. Influencer marketing is not only an effective tool for product promotion, it can also have a big helping hand in amplifying your brand’s presence online.
Why is there a need for massive online presence nowadays?
With the 2020 lockdown came the move of consumers to digital, which has led to brands following them in order to stay afloat. Sadly, the downside to this is now a congested digital market. To navigate their way out of this, an influencer marketing agency will think outside the box and show their true genius by coming up with new and innovative ways to amplify their respective brand partner’s social media presence.
Here are some tips for getting influencers involved to help with this.
Involvement right from launch phase
You should be looking to form long-term relationships with the influencers you partner with. Involving them by including them in the initial phases of your products life cycle, is guaranteed to do this, as they will understand that you view them as trustworthy; persuading them to want to work with you again.
Opt for long-term collaborations
Going hand-in-hand with the previous tip, long-term collaborations are the way forward. Finding influencers who can serve as brand ambassadors is an effective long-term marketing strategy, as you will not have to spend time on any last minute adjustments, due to the influencer already speaking your language, and you know that anything pending campaigns are guaranteed automatic success to a certain degree.
Partner with local influencers
Partnering with local influencers who have a following in your location is a great way to increase brand awareness, engagement, walk-ins and sales.
Partner with micro influencers
The magic and power of the micro influencer has taken the marketing industry by storm. They have maximum persuasive power all neatly wrapped up in a small package; a package that your brand would greatly benefit from. Not only do they help brands engage with their target audiences, but they are also extremely cost effective. 87% of them charge less than $500 per post. Finding micro influencers whose image and values align with yours can be a tedious task, but boy, they are worth it.
Give influencers more creative freedom
Influencers are usually in the position they are due to their ability to create unique and memorable content. Utilise this by handing creative freedom over to those you partner with and trust them to deliver exceptional, on-brand results. 77% of influencers say they prefer to partner with brands who offer creative flexibility.
Make influencers the centre of your campaign
Putting certain influencers at the centre of your campaign will attract fans of that influencer and could increase your ROI, as the consumer will want to purchase something associated with their favourite influencer.
Look beyond Instagram
Despite Instagram being the most used social media platform for influencer marketing, it does not produce the most ROI. That is Facebook. This does not mean that Instagram will become obsolete, but it does mean that marketers are looking elsewhere to begin placing their efforts.
Avoid fake influencers
Among all hard working influencers, there are those who are fake. Because of this, you should thoroughly undertake your vetting process when looking for influencers to work with. Manually checking each of your influencer’s engagement rates is a good way to avoid this problem.
Monitor, analyse and optimise
Utilise influencer marketing tools to help you stay organised, manage content schedules, keep track of payments etc..
Don’t expect overnight success
Last but not least, keep an open mind when running an influencer marketing campaign. Remember, you are building a reputation; something that takes time. Adopting a slow and steady approach, while remaining dedicated and consistent, will reap great rewards.
