Influencer marketing is the most trending promotional tactic for modern businesses. The global influencer marketing market value has more than tripled in the last five years, currently sitting at around 24 billion dollars. Some of you have a vague idea about this concept, but what is influencer marketing, and how can you use it to promote your business?
Influencer Marketing Explained
Many people think that this is a modern trend, yet we’ve seen examples of influencer marketing for generations. Decades ago, brands would partner with TV or film celebrities to promote their goods. Influencer marketing follows the same idea, only you partner with social media influencers.
An “influencer” is defined as someone who affects or changes the way that other people behave. In modern terms, this refers to online figures with highly engaged audiences. They’ve gained loads of followers who trust them, meaning their influence is very strong.
Influencer marketing involves working with these figures and using their reach to your advantage. Rather than running social media marketing campaigns to help grow your following, you tap into their existing markets and use their influencer to promote your brand, services or products.
It’s a remarkably lucrative partnership – but only when done right. That leads us to the second big topic in this article:
What Are The Best Ways To Use Influencer Marketing?
The best ways to use influencer marketing to promote your business involve:
- Finding micro or nano influencers
- Picking the right platforms for your demographic
- Running affiliate marketing campaigns
- Sending out promotional products
- Encouraging influencers to create unique content
Finding micro or nano influencers
An influencer can fall into any of four categories:
- Mega influencers (also known as celebrities) – Over 1 million followers
- Macro-influencers – Between 100,000 and 1 million followers
- Micro-influencers – Between 10,000 and 100,000 followers
- Nano-influencers – Between 1,000 to 10,000 followers
Your immediate instinct is to seek out the mega and macro-influencers because they have the largest audiences. In your mind, this makes you think that a larger audience equals more profitability from your marketing campaign. The thing is, large influencers will command much higher rates that most companies can’t afford.
As a result, 44% of marketers look to utilise nano-influencers and 25.7% turn to micro-influencers. These two categories are the most popular because they’re more affordable, yet the influencers are still extremely effective. When someone has a smaller following, they tend to have an even bigger influence over them. The smaller group feels like more of a close-knit community, meaning the followers are more likely to listen to their influencer’s recommendations.
Find smaller influencers who align with your target market perfectly. They’re in the best position to promote your products or services to people who will genuinely be interested in them. Every penny you invest will end up coming back – and then some.
Picking the right platforms for your demographic
Running an influencer marketing campaign only makes sense when you pick the right social media platforms. Every platform is technically “good”, though your chosen ones depend on two factors:
- Your target audience
- What you’re trying to sell
For example, Instagram is a great platform if your audience is relatively young – normally Gen Z up to Millennials – and your products are highly visual. Instagram influencers can effortlessly display your products or show them in action through photos, videos and stories. You ensure the right people see your products and that they’re shown in the best format.
Contrastingly, LinkedIn would be the perfect platform if you want B2B influencer partnerships. Find people with big followings here to promote stuff like business services, etc. You instantly tap into your target demographic, and the nature of LinkedIn allows the influencer to craft blog posts or articles explaining your products/services.
Don’t get sucked into the idea of working with influencers on popular platforms because they have large user bases. For instance, TikTok doesn’t work if your target demographic is business owners who are 50 years or older. It doesn’t matter how many users TikTok has; you’ll struggle to see the right results because your ideals don’t align.
Running affiliate marketing campaigns
You can utilise influencers in multiple ways to promote your business and brand to their audience. Running an affiliate marketing campaign is a smart long-term tactic to try. The basis of this idea revolves around your influencers getting money every time someone completes a specific action.
Most affiliate campaigns work like this:
- You provide an influencer with a unique affiliate link
- They promote your products/services in their content and display this link
- Their followers click on the link and buy a product on your site/sign up for a service
- The influencer gets a commission for making the sale
It’s highly simple – and lots of micro and nano-influencers will always be keen to join affiliate programs. They can simply post the link in their bio, potentially driving traffic and sales to your website. The best part about it is that it barely costs you anything. You only pay the influencer when there’s a sale, so you’re guaranteed to make a profit.
Sending out promotional products
The most traditional way of leaning into influencer marketing is by sending out promo packages to influencers. Contact them and ask if they’re interested in a collaboration. If they say yes (most do), then send out a package full of different promotional products.
You can go about this in two main ways:
- Send your actual products
- Send branded gifts
Sending your real products will give the influencer an opportunity to show them off to their following. This is the best way to advertise and promote a product – the influencer’s recommendation carries a lot of weight and can convince many of their followers to buy it as well.
Additionally, sending branded merchandise can help the influencer promote you even when they’re not specifically making advertised posts. Sending out some branded tops, hats, or mugs is a brilliant decision. These things can be worn or placed in the influencer’s room, meaning they’ll often be on screen during their videos. People will see your brand logo and name in the background of normal content, which raises valuable brand awareness.
It’s probably smart to work with an influencer for a short time before sending them branded material. You gain their trust and forge a strong alliance, then give them some extra freebies to wear or place in their setup. It’s a clever approach that yields long-term results.
Encouraging influencers to create unique content
Influencers are happy to promote your products (for a fee) but you should take full advantage of their unique set of skills. They reached this position because they’re good at captivating an audience through content. So, set up a contract with the influencer that encourages them to make unique content for your brand.
Typical ideas include:
- A certain number of social media stories/reels
- Numerous posts on social media
- Blog content
- Video content on YouTube
Getting them to do this makes everything seem more genuine. You offer them the freedom to be themselves and make content they enjoy. It reflects in the way they promote your business through their content – and their followers are far more likely to make purchases or look up your company if the influencer looks like they’re enjoying themselves.
Where To Find Influencers
You’re now ready to start using influencer marketing by adapting the five tips shown above. There’s just one final question to ponder: how do you find the right influencers to work with?
Three approaches reveal themselves:
- Connect with online agencies
- Find influencer directories
- Search using hashtags
Online agencies, like Upfluence, work directly with influencers to help them find work. Contacting an agency like this means you have access to their talent pool. They’ll listen to your requirements and find the right influencer for your project.
A myriad of influencer directories exist online nowadays. These websites are designed for influencers and brands to use. Influencers create accounts on the site and receive a listing, while brands can then search and scroll through all of the registered accounts. You can contact the influencer through the directory – or find their social media page and contact them there.
Lastly, you can go down the old-fashioned route of picking a social media platform and searching for specific hashtags. These hashtags should relate to your business and will reveal influencers that use the same one. From here, it’s a case of clicking on many accounts, sizing them up, and deciding which ones to contact.
Promote Your Business With Influencer Marketing
You should never avoid key marketing trends, and influencer marketing is one of the biggest out there. Companies are constantly increasing their spending in this sector as more and more businesses see the benefits of working with strong influencers.
Find the right people to partner with, ensure you’re using the correct social media platforms, and then take full advantage of their influence over your core demographic. When done correctly, this approach will present huge profits and can help your business explode in popularity.
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