How to Help Your Business Rise Using Influencer Marketing

How to Help Your Business Rise Using Influencer Marketing

Fifty years ago, marketing your business was straightforward: you had some leaflets made and posted out, put an ad in print media, on the radio, or TV. You might also have put up a banner somewhere, or run a competition. It was a much simpler time.

Now that we’ve moved into the social media age, things are a lot less straightforward. Nowadays you have all the options previously mentioned in addition to email marketing, mobile marketing, social media marketing, and influencer marketing.

In this post, we’re going to look at influencer marketing. Why? According to statistics compiled by SmallBizGeniusinfluencers helped com panies increase their profits by 520% in 2018.What other marketing media boasts those kinds of stats?

Who Are Influencers?

Influencers are people who have worked up a significant following online. This happens as a result of their own celebrity, through a blog, YouTube channel, Instagram, or otherwise. The defining characteristic of an influencer is a loyal fanbase that trusts them completely. Kim Kardashian is a typical example of an influencer.

 

What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is the promotion of products and services by influencers. This might be a quick shout-out, a review, or the influencer using your product. Let’s say that you designed the clothing in the photo above and that the model was an influencer on Instagram.

 

When she wears your clothing, she’s essentially telling her fans that it’s a good fashion move. They’ll buy the clothing because she wore it. (wheatonsportcenter.com)

Influencer marketing is being hailed as one of the hot trends for 2019. Find out more about the other best marketing trends for 2019 here.

Can I Afford It?

Here’s the catch. The influencer is using its brand to make money. So, if you walk up to someone like Selena Gomez and ask her to promote your product, you’ll have to have a cool $500 000 to pay. That’s a lot of money.

Now, here’s the good news, there are a lot of ways to get around this. Remember that your product or service is valuable to the influencer as well. It gives them something to recommend to their followers and helps them boost their image at the same time.

If you partner up with the right influencer and they love your product or service, they’ll be happy to help you promote it.

Finding the Right Influencer

There are a lot of so-called influencers. Sorting out the good from the bad is extremely important. You could start by asking for recommendations from friends and family. What do they read, watch, or listen to online?

Check out who your friends are following on social media. You’re looking for accounts that have a lot of followers and are active in your field. If yours is a walk-in business, restrict the list to people in the same area.

Next, check your followers. Who are they following? Maybe you can get some ideas there. If they’re active on social media and a die-hard fan, it might be worth approaching them to be a brand advocate.

Finally, use the internet to find blogs in your niche. Look for people who have the same target audience that you do.

Finally, consider looking into local journalists, celebrities, and so on. Create a list of all the potential influencers. Check that each of these people has values that complement your brand.

Also check, how well they engage with their followers.

Once you’ve narrowed the list to your top choices, start following them and learn more about them and their followers.

Approaching the Influencers

Influencers will get a lot of requests to promote goods or services. If you aren’t smart about your approach, you may not end up getting the results you want.

Create a Connection

Cold calling seldom works in these situations. It helps to create a connection before approaching the influencer. Start by reading their blog, checking out their social media pages, and getting to know more about them.

Do make meaningful comments on their posts and look for ways they could boost their brand by collaborating with you.

Making Contact

When you make contact for the first time, make sure to mention a piece you loved, or one which sparked a debate in your office; something to show that you are a follower as well.

Next, it’s time to come in with your proposal, and what they’ll get out of it. Here it could be useful if you found a post that tied in with an issue that your product could solve. Say, for example, that you’re selling hair care products and they’ve posted about how to deal with troublesome locks.

Reference back to that post, and suggest a killer follow-up idea using your product. You could even offer to write the piece yourself to save them some time. Do make sure that they see the full benefit of your product for their readers.

If you want to go a step further, why not send them a free basket of goodies that they can try out, or offer to create baskets for a giveaway.

You’re going to have to make sure that they get great value in return for the promotion they’ll be doing for you. You can sweeten the pot by:

· Sharing their posts on your channels

· Linking to their chosen posts in your newsletter

· Providing the opportunity for them to test a brand-new product before it hits the shelves

· Publishing a testimonial or interview from them that links back to their channel

· Adding a link to their site on yours.

Even if you’re not paying the person, it might still be worth their time and effort, so don’t let a lack of funds put you off.

Do answer any questions that they might have and do everything you can to set their minds at ease.

Thank Them for Listening

Thank the influencer for their time and always be polite and sociable with them. You want to be able to maintain a long-lasting relationship. It doesn’t matter whether they say yes or no, always be friendly and polite. Maybe later down the line, they’ll change their minds.

All in all, Influencer marketing is a big thing this year for good reason. People are more likely to trust recommendations coming from real people. Find influencers in your area and ones that can fit your niche and work on building a relationship with them. The rewards could be great! For more resources on influencer marketing, check out this stat-packed influencer marketing infographic.

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