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It’s achievable even on a small budget. With the right strategy and tools behind you, you can turn those with a prominent social presence into your biggest brand advocates.
Influencer marketing is predominantly a social media strategy in which brands and their products or services are promoted by a third party individual. These individuals have a loyal (and large) social following, and their opinions are widely valued.
It works because these influencers have built the trust of their followers, so when they make a recommendation it gives the brand in question added credibility. In short, if you can get the right people talking about your brand online, you gain valuable social proof whilst reaching a much wider audience.
The right influencer for you is someone admired by your ideal customers, so you need to get to know them first. Who are they? What are their interests, hobbies and typical behaviours?
This is where the power of data comes in. Analytical reports from your eCommerce store, order history, and traffic analytics can all help you better understand your target market. We know just how important data is, so made it easier for brands to collect it by adding attributes to review invites for deeper customer insight.
Use this data, and give that ideal customer a name. Having a well defined audience profile will help determine where you focus your marketing efforts and how you communicate - and it’ll also help you identify the influencers whose followers are the perfect match.
Now you’ve got your ideal customer defined, you need to consider what you’re looking to achieve. Are you looking to raise awareness in general, promote specific products, or grow your reputation by communicating brand values?
Influencers work in different ways, and if they’re going to help you achieve your objectives, your strategies need to be aligned. You might consider paying influencers to reach out to your target audience, or offering discount codes and gifts in return for product mentions and images. You might be looking for a brand ambassador who shares a passion for a cause you’re actively involved in.
Lay out your goals to help you connect with the right influencers. And be sure to measure the impact of every campaign you run. Just like any marketing strategy, if you’re not tracking ROI you may end up throwing time and money down the drain.
If you have influencer doing things off their own back which works, then look to work with those that already love your brand.
You might think bigger is always better, but that’s not necessarily true - research suggests that targeting bigger influencers doesn’t always help capture more customers. Macro influencers of course have an advantage in the fact they have a greater following, but while the initial impact may be larger, it tends to be short lived.
With micro influencers, you get more over a longer period of time. These people are more likely to be invested in your brand to begin with, and their followers are incredibly loyal, giving you greater long term value. Studies have actually found that micro influencers tend to attract four times the engagement of sponsored posts.
And of course there’s the financial investment to consider. Micro influencers are more accessible for those on a tight budget. That said, if you can stretch to it, a combination of macro and micro influencers can lead to the greatest return.
Influencer marketing is a two way relationship, so always be prepared to offer something in return. Depending on who you target and what you expect from them, they may look for payment, or be happy to accept free gifts or discounts as a form of recompense.
Consider what you’re willing and can afford to offer, and have a deal structure in place before you reach out to anyone.
Before you start approaching influencers at random, consider that you might already be on someone's radar. Who’s buying from you? And who’s leaving positive feedback on their experience?
Review collection has grown to be much more than it once was. Not only do you now get valuable social proof in the form of customer feedback, our tools will also show you which of those customers have a large social following.
Essentially, we’re connecting the dots between you and those with the potential to become influential brand advocates.
Our Instagram tool brings the review space and influencer marketing together as one. In just two easy steps you can leverage the power of key influencers to grow your brand reputation:
Discover - view a dynamic list of Instagram users that have an existing connection with your brand - through mentions, purchases, and reviews - and sort them by follower count to identify powerful brand advocates.
UGC - see all posts relating to your brand in one place, and turn engaging user generated content into branded marketing collateral. You can also create shoppable Instagram galleries using authentic images of your products to build trust and boost buyer confidence.
Successful influencer marketing relies on strategy. It can be a costly affair reaching out to the wrong people, so it’s crucial you connect with influencers that match your campaign objectives, and have a loyal following among your target demographic.
Interested in leveraging brand advocates as part of an effective marketing campaign? Learn more about how to grow your business with powerful influencers to unleash your influence with REVIEWS.io.
