Influencer marketing has become the talk of the town, with many embracing it as part of their marketing and PR strategies. Slowly, influencer marketing is replacing certain forms of traditional advertising, as marketers realize they can increase their reach by partnering with personalities that have large followings on their websites and social media platforms.
Although the popularity of influencer marketing has grown significantly, many are still unsure as to how to use the influence of social media celebrities to create effective influencer marketing campaigns. As a result, I’ve put together a quick guide on how to create a successful influencer marketing campaign.
1. Determine your goals.
To set up a successful influencer marketing campaign, you need to:
- Identify your target audience
- Set your budget
- Establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
KPIs to consider include:
- Audience reach
- Impressions
- Views
- Engagement
- Click-throughs
- Increase in followers
- Sales
- Chatbot subscribers
2. Choose the right social media channels.
The platforms you use will depend on your end goals. Different platforms are used to reach different audiences. Choosing the right social media channel will allow you to target your specific group of customers.
You will also want to consider the type of engagement you want to achieve. Social media channels offer a variety of engagement possibilities, and the same marketing campaign you run on Facebook may not get the same attention than on Twitter, Pinterest, or any other platform.
3. Identify the right influencer.
Remember, the influencer you choose will be representing your brand, so before you work with someone, you need to ask yourself “is this the best person to represent my company?” You need to do thorough research before approaching anyone.
Some research you can do before contacting a potential influencer includes:
- Looking at all their social media profiles
- Verifying that they do not have a bad reputation online or in the press
- Checking that they do not discuss topics that would undermine the value of your products or services
- Ensuring they are polite, articulate, and that they write well-researched posts
Do not base your decision on the number of followers of your potential influencer. Research about micro-influencers who, instead of charging you thousands of dollars for one post, will allow you to put together a more prolonged campaign or give you the chance to use numerous influencers at one time.
4. Choosing an influencer
Your chosen influencer’s voice needs to align with your brand so that it feels authentic to your audience. To find potential influencers, you can:
- Do a hashtag search to find out who is already posting about your brand
- Do a keyword research
- Use an influencer marketing tool
- Ask others for recommendations
Your influencer must:
- Align with brand messaging
- Have a loyal audience
- Show positive past results for similar work
- Be able to communicate with you quickly and succinctly
- Be seen as an expert
Remember, you are not building an infomercial with a celebrity telling your audience to buy your products. Instead of listing all the benefits your audience will gain from buying your service or products, make sure your influencer generates organic posts that make it obvious and relevant to your consumers.
5. Think about your publishing schedule.
To make sure your influencer campaign is effective, you need to coordinate all your social media platforms and align your efforts with all your other marketing endeavors, such as events, new blog posts, press releases, and more. Developing your marketing strategy around your influencer marketing campaign will help you push your audience through your sales funnel.
6. Review content before publishing.
Before any posts are published, you need to ensure your content aligns with your campaign requirements and your advertising guidelines. Although you must give your influencer creative freedom, it is important that you review all posts, images, and videos before they are published.
7. Optimize the content.
To amplify your influencer marketing campaigns, be sure to promote posts before and after they are launched. You can also ask your influencer to promote posts throughout their social media platforms. This will allow you to put further emphasis on calls-to-action within the posts and publish more content relating to your campaigns.
8. Measure your results.
As with any marketing efforts, you need to make sure that your influencer campaign is performing to the best of its ability. Look back at the KPIs you defined when putting together your campaign strategy and answer these questions:
- Have you made progress?
- What have you learned from your audience?
- Which posts are performing the best?
- Which posts are underperforming?
There are five musts to a successful influencer marketing campaign, and these are:
- Using relevant hashtags
- Splitting your campaign budget to use more than one influencer
- Sharing your influencer’s posts
- Always negotiating pricing
- Ensuring your contract includes the period of time your influencer will work with you
By following the stages outlined above, you will be able to create a deeper connection to your audience, helping you build on your brand’s visibility, enhance your product and service awareness, and communicate with your audience in a more natural and effective way.
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by MURRAY NEWLANDS
source: Entrepreneur
