Influencer marketing has developed into a powerful strategy for brands to connect with their target audiences in an authentic and relatable way. Knowing how to work with influencers and leverage the power they have helps give brands the potential to drive engagement, increase brand awareness and boost sales.
Influencer marketing is now a mainstream form of social media marketing, and is becoming increasingly important to the success of different brands. Influencer marketing doesn’t need a big celebrity name, instead it takes its marketing power from individuals who have become recognised online. The secret of how to work influencers to market your brand is targeting someone who has the power and connection with their audience.
How to work with influencers: the Dos
1. Set clear goals
Clearly outlining your objectives is important before you begin an influencer partnership. Whether your goal is to increase brand awareness, or to boost sales, having clear goals will help guide your strategy and how you will work with the selected influencers.
2. Research and choose the right influencers
Being picky and choosing the right influencers for your brand is essential, as not all influencers are suitable. Do your research to identify influencers who have the same values as the brand ethos, and whose audience will match yours.
3. Authenticity
Being authentic in this very competitive digital age is so important. Encourage influencers to create content that resonates with their followers naturally. Allowing them some free reign on how they speak to their audience, and the type of posts they share will reflect positively on their followers.
4. Transparency
Ensure that influencer and brand partnerships are transparent across social media to the audience. Transparency builds trust and credibility with consumers.
5. Build relationships
Building strong relationships can help lead to ongoing collaborations for the future and will increase loyalty.
6. Track and analyse results
Making sure you have software to track and analyse data from the influencer posts is essential to see if the collaboration has been a success. Assess metrics such as engagement rates, web traffic, and sales.
How to work with influencers: the Don'ts
1. Don’t overlook relevance
Don’t select an influencer just because they have a lot of followers, as this could end up having a negative effect if they aren’t relevant with your brand. Select influencers whose niches align with yours.
2. Don’t micromanage
While guidelines are important for the marketing of your brand, it can work in your favour to give the influencers creative freedom. Letting them creatively roam free also helps to maintain authenticity.
3. Don’t push quantity over quality
A large following doesn’t always translate into more engagement. It is best to focus on influencers with an engaged audience, who are likely to resonate with your brand.
4. Don’t only rely on influencers
Influencer marketing can be extremely impactful, however it shouldn’t be all that you rely on. Combine it with your other strategies and see what can happen.
