Whether you’re looking to elevate brand awareness or increase sales, influencer marketing is a tactic worth considering. But to ensure success, it’s important to start with a clear set of goals in mind.
A well-coordinated influencer campaign can be a highly effective way to drive short-term engagement and increase traffic to your site. To maximize near-term results, focus on content that is creative, authentic, and highly relatable to your target audience. Also, avoid posting content that focuses too heavily on product launches or other newsy items. Instead, opt for posts that highlight existing products and highlight how they are being used in real-life situations.
Finding the right influencer can be a challenging process. Consider searching for influencers with whom you already have a relationship and a common understanding of the type of work you do. You can also search social media for influencers who are creating relevant content or who have been involved with projects that are compatible with your business. For example, if your business sells fashion accessories, look for an influencer who is known to post about style or shopping tips and has built a following around these topics.
Once you have found a potential influencer, reach out to them directly to see if they are interested in working together. If they are, then make sure you share your brand guidelines and details about the types of content you’re looking for from them so that all parties remain on-brand throughout the duration of the campaign.
If you’re not comfortable reaching out to influencers directly, you can hire a marketing agency that will help you coordinate and manage influencer campaigns. However, be aware that these agencies can add additional costs to your overall budget.
Influencers typically create a post that features your product or service and then links back to your website. Ideally, this link will be an affiliate link that offers the influencer a commission on any purchases made via the link. This is a mutually beneficial way to generate high-quality content that will ultimately improve your site’s conversion rate.
To get the most out of your influencer marketing efforts, you should also plan to have a pre-determined date by which you will measure the impact of the campaign. For example, if you’re running an Instagram campaign that includes an Instagram takeover or another type of live post, you can use Instagram’s analytics to track how many views and engagements the content receives. These metrics can be a good indication of how much traction your campaign is getting and help guide your future strategies. Likewise, you can monitor the performance of any affiliate links to determine how well your influencers are driving sales through their content. This will give you an idea of the ROI on your influencer marketing campaign and can be helpful when determining future partnerships.