Brands use influencer marketing in order to raise awareness, drive traffic, increase sales, and gain new followers via social media. It works so well, influencer marketing has become a $13.8B industry in just a few years.
So if you’re working with or wanting to try out this strategy, here are 10 ways to improve your influencer marketing campaigns.
Tip 1: Define a clear, actionable goal
If your campaign doesn’t have a clear objective, it can’t get started. The goal also must be actionable. This means that there should be clear steps to get you there.
As it will impact your choices throughout the campaign, plan out your goal and strategy roadmap now. Once you have decided on your goal, set some KPIs (key performance indicators), to track your progress.
KPIs connect to your objective. So if you want to get more branding, KPIs may be impressions, website visits, or mentions on social media.
Tip 2: Choose the social media network that your target audience uses most
Successful marketing is dependent on knowing your target audience. And with influencer marketing, it’s no different. It’s important to identify who you want to reach and how and where they spend their time.
Now is the right time to do market research about your buyer personas if you haven’t done it before. With all the information you have about your target market, decide which social media platform will best help you reach them. This is the place you’ll look for influencers, and later launch your campaign.
TikTok influencers, for example, can help you reach teenagers. TikTok boasts lots of users from Gen-Z, so influencers from that network can help you connect with the younger generation. On the other hand, if your users are older, another network might serve you better.
Tip 3: Find out the different levels of influencers
There are many different types of influencers. You can group them by how many followers they have. An influencer’s tier will determine how much they’ll charge to use their influencer services.
These five tiers are:
- Nano influencers, 1-5K followers
- Micro influencers, 5-50K followers
- Medium influencers, 50-100K followers
- Macro influencers, 100K-1M followers
- Mega influencers, 1M+ followers
Each tier has its own pros and cons. Mega influencers have the highest reach, but they have the lowest engagement rates. Nano and micro influencers, on the other hand, have smaller audiences but higher engagement rates than the rest of the industry.
Outside of these tiers you have another type of influencer: the KOL, or key opinion leader. These are individuals who are widely regarded as experts in their chosen fields. They are also often able to back up their reputation with years of professional experience or education. Oprah is an example. KOLs have an influence that goes beyond social media and are therefore not restricted to any particular follower group.
Tip 4: Learn about influencer incentives
In simple terms, you can pay influencers in two ways: product or fees. You can offer products to your customers as free gifts. Fees are money that influencers charge for their content creation services.
You can have flat fees, such as a one-time fee for a certain type of content. Or, you can have commission-based fees, where influencers get a specific percentage or amount on the acquisition that you define.
In collaborations with micro and nano influencers, you can often give them products for free in exchange for content. However, once you move into the medium-range and beyond, expect to pay in products and fees. KOLs may also have different ways of charging for collaboration. As an example, Oprah regularly gives everyone in her audience a product that she mentions on her show.
Tip 5: Analyze influencer content, performance
You can’t just pick the profiles that look the best when you start looking for influencers. You need to dig deeper into their profiles and evaluate their performance.
Look at the influencer’s content and see if it aligns with your brand and what you are trying to achieve. Does their content reflect your values? Do their styles complement yours? Make sure they can communicate the message that your brand wishes to convey.
Also, look at their profile performance. You should examine their followers growth, engagement rates, demographics and authenticity. Any unusual behavior could indicate that they bought fake followers, or had fake interactions.
Tip 6. Content can be whatever you want it to be
You have no restrictions on what content you can create for your influencer collaborations with social media. You can do anything you like: photos, videos and podcasts, webinars, live streams, events, etc.
You can also go back to your target audience to find the content that resonates most with them. Get some ideas for yourself and also check out the thoughts of influential people. They may have a brilliant idea that you didn’t even consider. You should be open-minded to their suggestions.
Tip 7. Double the amount of influencers you contact
Not everyone will respond to your influencer outreach. Some people won’t even read your email. So contacting double the amount of the influencers you want to hire is a good idea.
Email is the most popular way to contact someone about collaborations. However, if you are unable to find the email of an influencer, don’t worry. You can always reach them directly through social media. Send them a DM, letting them know you would like to connect.
Tip 8. Decide if you are in need of a contract.
Contracts are not required for all influencer partnerships. The thing that will determine whether or not you need a contract is how you are paying influencers. A contract is not necessary if you’re paying them with free products and you do not intend to pay any cash. But you’ll need one if the product you are giving is highly valuable, like a new vehicle.
The contract should contain the terms and conditions of your collaboration. An influencer contract template is available for free download if this is your first time creating such a document. Just modify the details according to your collaboration. And a legal expert can review your contract if you have questions.
Tip 9. When creating, give influencers the freedom to be their own creative selves
It’s fine to set publication guidelines. Talk to influencers about:
- Hashtags, mentions, and discount codes that you would like them to share along with your content
- Aspects of your brand or product you want them to focus on
- Certain aesthetic guidelines in order for your branding to be consistent
- Adherence to disclosure requirements set out by regulatory agencies
Don’t forget to give influencers complete creative freedom while creating content. They are the ones who have grown their following and know them best. This gives them the greatest insight into how to communicate your brand message to their followers. Let them do that!
Tip 10. Keep in mind that success is relative.
You need to gather all results from the campaign and then analyze them. Some people are too focused on comparing their results with competitors or other campaigns. Success is relative. You should only compete with yourself.
If the campaign’s benefits exceed the cost of the investment, that is one way to measure success. It’s clear, for instance, that if you pay $200 to an influencer to promote your product and generate $300 in revenue, it’s a success.
Another way to look at success is if your results exceed your expectations. Let’s use an example. Imagine that you paid $100 for an influencer to publish content about your brand. They expected to receive around 20,000 impressions. The CPM (cost-per-mille or cost per thousand impressions) for this projection would be $5.
But let’s assume that the influencer is able to get 30,000 impressions. Your CPM is now at $3.33. This is cheaper than what you initially projected. So this too is a huge success!
Conclusion
Influencer marketing campaigns are complex. You will need to plan and organize them well, as well monitor and analyze the results. But hopefully these 10 tips will make the process easier.