We’ve already learnt that Influencer Marketing is an online marketing approach that uses individuals with a considerable following on a dedicated platform to endorse products or services. If you’re intrigued by this concept and eager to dip your toe into influencer marketing, it’s imperative that you understand exactly what it takes to develop an effective strategy:
Define your goals and KPIs
Would you ever launch into a media relations campaign without clear goals and KPIs? No. Sure, it’s nice to see your product rack up 500 Instagram likes, but what exactly do you want to eventuate from this? So, before you do anything else, you need to define goals that will inform your influencer strategy and measurement of success. Because much like media relations, influencer campaigns aren’t simply a numbers game. For example, are you driving sales of a new product, or are you simply building brand awareness? Are you creating testimonials or are you cultivating long term communities and relationships? Other goals might include building brand identity, audience building, increasing your digital footprint from a google search perspective, lead generation or customer loyalty. Identifying the answers to these questions will form the foundation of your campaign.
Decide on your influencer strategy
Unfortunately, you can’t just send a product to an influencer and hope for the best! For influencers to promote your brand, you have to employ the best strategy to accomplish your goals. These include:
- Contra: Gifting products or services in exchange for a mention, post, story or review.
- Sponsored content: You are paying an influencer a sum of money in return for their services – pending their follower count and engagement, this sum will differ and is often set by the influencer.
- Competitions/Giveaways: An influencer will either promote your owned competition or create their own competition that will resonate with their audience. This can be agreed upon via both a contra or paid agreement.
- Influencer takeover: An influencer will take control of your social media account/s for a specified time.
- Discount codes: You will provide a unique discount code so their audience can try your product or service at a discounted rate e.g. 10% off.
- Brand ambassadors: This is considered more of a long-term partnership, whereby you have an agreement in place that has set expectations and deliverables.
We often recommend utilising a few of the above strategies in order to garner the best results and to see what moves the dial.
Research and qualify potential influencers
It’s easy to get sucked in by the glitz and glam of Instagram influencers and you might find yourself craving to work with those who have an enviable lifestyle. But are they a good fit with your brand and goals? A few things you should be looking for are their specific niche e.g. homewares, audience size (although this should not be the only thing you look for as micro or nano influencers should have a place in your strategy), their engagement levels, how authentically their followers interact with them and the quality of their content. You should also qualify their messaging and personality – does it align with your brand and is it relevant?
Define expectations with influencers
Once you’ve formed a qualified list, it’s time to reach out! At Agent99, we create an in-depth influencer briefing document that provides background on the brand, describes the campaign and outlines the expectations, deliverables and timelines. This helps to clearly define expectations so both parties aren’t disappointed at the end of the campaign. If you’ve done your research, you’ll know how a specific influencer on your list behaves and produces content. You’ll understand their voice and how they convey thoughts and messages to their audience. Use this knowledge to create guidelines and structure around what they’re about to create for your brand. For example, do you need their post to be as personal and authentic as possible? Or do they prefer video content? Personalisation is key!
Track results
Sure it’s great to see your product on an influencer’s feed, but the real success is when they’ve contributed to your goals. Was the engagement rate high? Did your follower count increase? Did you receive enquiries off the back of this post? It’s important to benchmark your follower count, engagement levels and source of sales at the very beginning to see if the influencer campaign has had an impact. And remember, it takes time! Be patient and ensure you are constantly measuring and employing different influencer strategies.
If you’re interested in hearing more about influencer campaigns, get in touch with us today at info@agent99pr.com.
Agent Amelia
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