Marketing in this day and age is very different than it was in the past. No longer are things like TV and radio ads the main ways companies get their messages out about products. Today, the internet and social media play an even bigger role in shaping the buying decisions of consumers. In regards to social media, influencers can have a huge impact on products and brands they suggest to followers. If you’ve been thinking about starting an influencer marketing campaign, here are some tips that can help.
Determine Your Goals
Like any marketing campaign, you must have a specific goal in mind. Beyond that, the results of the campaign should be able to be quantified and measured. These can be referred to as key performance indicators or KPIs for short. For example, you may want to sell a certain product. The number of units sold due to the marketing would then be a KPI you would use to measure your success. There could also be other goals of the course. You could be trying to get consumers to install an app on their smartphones. You could also be trying to get users to sign up for a subscription service or gain more followers on your social media accounts. Whatever the case, know what your goal is.
Choose the Right Social Media Platform
The social media platform that is used for such a campaign is also quite important. Not every platform is the same. Certain platforms attract certain kinds of users, and you need to be sure that reflects your target customer base. Users of Facebook, for example, tend to be much older than the users of TikTok. While certain social media platforms may have been useful in the past, trends change. Many formerly popular social media networks, such as Tumblr, have been largely abandoned by users in recent years. You don’t want to choose a platform that no one actually uses.
Choose the Right Influencer
It’s also quite possible to choose the wrong influencer. While a person may appear popular on a certain network, you may end up overestimating their reach. In that case, you may be wasting your money. Similarly, while they may have a large audience, their audience may not be the demographic group you are targeting. They may, instead, be resistant to buying your products. Overall, choosing the right influencer requires some research. The process of influencer recruiting to find individuals you can use can be complicated. Don’t be afraid to negotiate on rates and the terms of the contract. Some flexibility is needed.
Give the Influencer Some Freedom
One of the reasons why influencer-based campaigns are so profitable is because they don’t come off as “commercials” to that person’s audience. 92 percent of people, in fact, prefer influencers to traditional ads. With that in mind, you shouldn’t try to exert too much creative control over just how your product is promoted. That is not how influencers operate. Providing something like a script with taglines is not something that will work. Instead, you should give that influencer some creative freedom in regards to how he or she chooses to promote your products. That will allow them to perform the marketing in a way that comes off naturally to their audience.
Track Your Progress
To ensure that your campaign is a success, accurately track your progress towards your goals. If this is sending social media users to a specific landing page, make sure to track the right metrics to see whether or not the influencer in question is delivering for your company. If a specific influencer does not seem to be having a big impact, look for another one who may be more in tune with your target demographics. If you do see an increase in sales, subscriptions, hits, and other KPIs, you may be able to forge a lucrative long-term relationship with that influencer and their audience.
Overall, an influencer can deliver for your company and bring in scores of new customers. First, you must perform some research to determine whether a specific influencer and social media platform would be a good fit for your company and specific goals. Allow the influencer some creative freedom. However, also make sure to track your success like it was any other marketing campaign. Doing so will help ensure that your money is well spent.
