Influencer Marketing: Crucial Do’s and Don’ts
From checking Facebook in the grocery line to sharing our brunch on Instagram Stories, social media plays a critical role in our daily lives. In fact, people spent an average of 2 hours and 22 minutes per day on social media in 2018, and this statistic is only continuing to grow. When we take this rapid growth and combine it with celebrity endorsements, we discover the world of influencer marketing.
What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing is a type of marketing that uses social media gurus with a large following to promote authentic content in order to influence their followers to buy a product. And it seems to be working. Influencer marketing content reaches to a larger audience than a single ad campaign ever could, making them a great asset to any brand due to their high ROA. For every dollar spent in an influencer marketing campaign, advertisers earn $6.50
If you’re thinking of getting into the world of influencer marketing, there are some definite things to consider. After all, you want to be smart and strategic when it comes to putting your resources towards this growing marketing strategy so that you are achieving its maximum benefits. Here are the basic do’s and don’ts of influencer marketing:
The Do’s
Find the Right Match
When it comes to deciding who would be the perfect influencer for your brand, you want to consider someone who is professional, positive, and connected and engaged with their audience. Your influencer should be able to share key points about your product or service while keeping an authentic tone. Look for influencers who create high quality content. If they are using video content to promote your brand, make sure they use best practices like having good lighting and a good quality camera. Additionally, their followers should closely match your business’s target audience. Influencers with these qualities will make the ideal brand advocate, which will help build credibility and social proof. Taking the time to find the right match will ensure maximum ROI for influencer marketing.
Make a Good Offer
We’ve all heard the phrase “Make them an offer they can’t refuse.” While you might not have a huge budget to dedicate to influencer marketing, you should keep in mind that influencers, like any other hired help, need to be compensated fairly for their work. Preparing and executing a promotion for a product or service takes time and industry know-how. Now is not the time to cut corners and put your brand’s reputation at risk! You don’t want to insult an influencer by offering a low rate, or worse–expecting them to work for free. Offer an attractive incentive to reflect the quality of influencer content your brand deserves. Here are some tips on setting a budget for influencer marketing.
Set Goals & Measure Results
As with any marketing effort, you should set goals for the campaign as well as how you will measure its impact. If you’re not sure where to start, consider that most social media influencers hang out, well… on social media. And that’s where their audience hangs out, too. Look for an increase in your brand’s engagement on your social media following a paid promotion. Or, if your goal is to boost sales, set a goal for the number of visitors on your site or an increase in traffic in store. Whatever your goals, it’s important to relay them to your influencers so that they can tailor their message or call-to-action accordingly.
The Don’ts
Be Overbearing
While it can be tempting to write a word-for-word script for your influencer, don’t. Influencer marketing shouldn’t come off like a pushy sales pitch. Instead, provide the influencer with a few key points you’d like them to mention about your brand. You can specify things like “mention the brand name at least three times” or “show the product in use” which can help guide the content, but avoid anything too complex. Keep in mind that in order to maintain authenticity, influencers should be trusted with a bit of creative freedom, too.
Set Unreasonable Expectations
Despite the incredible success many brands have with influencer marketing, it should not be viewed as a “hail mary” for a failing business. If you approach influencer marketing with the expectation of seeing an instant and drastic growth in sales, you may be disappointed. Instead, focus on the long-term growth of your brand by building meaningful, ongoing relationships with influencers. When you invest in your influencers by putting out consistent, quality content, the overall impact will be far more valuable, and your brand will benefit for years to come.
Need help with influencer marketing for your business? Contact Social Fire Media today to see how we can strategize and execute the best plan for you.
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