Influencers have changed social media from a space to share personal photos, videos, and information to a tool for business and brand management. In the digital space, influencers now have hundreds or thousands of loyal followers, and with a simple post, they can encourage them to buy the products or services they endorse.
In the last few years, influencers have become a key component of customers’ shopping habits, and companies are starting to recognize this. The influencer marketing industry hit $16.4 billion in 2022, and over 60% of businesses are banking on the power of influencer marketing in their budgets for 2023.
If you’re interested in co-creating with influencers, we’ve got some great tips for choosing the right collaborators for your business.
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Understand The Types Of Influencers
Influencers are not just people with millions of followers. Several kinds of influencers fall into different size categories based on their follower amount. You need to understand which types are out there before choosing one to work with.
Nano-influencers have between 1, 000 and 10, 000 followers. They usually post photos of their day-to-day activities and have high levels of engagement with their followers. If you’re a small business, then nano-influencers are more affordable to work with and can help you tap into local communities.
Micro-influencers have between 10, 000 and 100, 000 followers. They’re the most common type of social media influencer and tend to belong to a niche like fashion, food, or art. They experience the highest levels of audience engagement. Because of their niche, their audience views them as well-informed and listens to their recommendations. They have strong personal brand identities and may be pickier with whom they collaborate.
Macro or mega-influencers have between 500, 000 and 1 million followers. They’re also viewed as experts in their niche and can offer your business a lot of exposure. However, they’re usually far more expensive due to their extensive audience, so you’ll need a bigger budget.
Celebrity influencers have over 1 million followers. However, they may have a huge following, but they tend to be unrelatable to their audience, who may not take their recommendations as seriously as other influencers. They also charge huge sums of money for their collaborations and you’ll only benefit if their lifestyle aligns with your brand.
Choosing an influencer to collaborate with should be about more than just numbers. You want one that creates high-quality content that will benefit your company. If the influencer seems genuinely passionate about your brand, this will reflect in the success of their marketing.
Consider Influencers On Different Platforms
Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram have seen a surge in influencers recently, but they’re not the only options available.
Bloggers and vloggers are also effective for influencer marketing. Their content tends to have a longer lifespan and is more informative. They also perform better on search engines.
The longer form of written and video content of bloggers and vloggers gives more information about your brand than social media posts and can attract highly engaged fans. Plus, blog posts can create powerful backlinks to your website.
Consider influencers that work on a variety of platforms to optimize your marketing strategy and increase your credibility.
Be Clear About Your Objectives
If you want to have a beneficial relationship with an influencer, you need to be clear about the objectives of your campaign. Communication is key to any professional collaborative relationship.
You can keep your communication clear by checking up on the little things through briefings and email exchanges. Set up a proper contract for the influencers you collaborate with so that they know when the campaign is ending and what they can expect from you.
Know Your Goals And Measure The Results
Your goals should determine which influencer you collaborate with.
Is your goal to reach new audiences, increase brand awareness, or drive sales? If your goal is to reach new audiences, then influencers with higher following counts are for you. But if it’s to drive sales, then influencers with a loyal audience and a niche that aligns with your brand would be a more effective collaboration.
Know your goals from the outset. This will allow you to measure if the collaboration has been successful and to make adjustments where necessary.
Don’t simply focus on comments and likes as a measure of success. Pay attention to the value in terms of return on investment.
Giving influencers discount codes is a good way to track the sales that they generate. You can also ask them to send you reports on the reach and engagement level of their posts.
Short text codes called UTM parameters are another way of tracking how many visitors an influencer sends to your website.
Provide Easy Guidelines
Give influencers everything they need to help launch your product or service. Create a slideshow or have an orientation session where you provide them with media guidelines and best practices for marketing your brand. Share product photography tips that align with the way you want to showcase your brand and talk about the words or phrases you’d like them to use in connection with your product.
However, just remember that influencers are creators in their own right. If your requirements for collaboration dwarf their brand identities, then they may be hesitant to work with you. You will get better output from your collaboration if you provide guidelines that allow influencers to also showcase their skills through their marketing.
Provide guidelines, but don’t micromanage the entire campaign.
Create Compelling Offers
By having influencer-promoted discount codes, you can get your new audience to act quickly and complete purchases. Influencers can integrate these codes or discounts into their posts to subtly nudge their followers your way.
Offering giveaway events hosted by influencers is another good collaboration tool for marketing. They can ask followers to like, comment, or repost content with the promise of a prize for the winner. This produces a lot of user-generated content and accelerates word-of-mouth about your company.
Launching contests are similar to giveaway events, but you can set more rules for engagement, such as requiring them to attend a live event from your business on social media, duetting a video, tagging your brand in a post, and more.
Let The Collaboration Begin
Any marketing consultant will tell you that trustworthiness is crucial to your brand identity and marketing potential. Using influencers with dedicated followings to promote your business is a sure way of achieving this. Their endorsements expand your reach and serve as social proof that your brand is credible and worth supporting.
