How To Launch A Successful Influencer Marketing Campaign On Social Media
Do you know that one of my random Shopify stores grew by 1 600% through influencer marketing?
That's right!
Influencer marketing can be very powerful when it comes to exploding your business – since you'll be leveraging other people's audiences to get customers.
We all know that building a following takes time – especially if you're doing it organically.
For this reason, you might need the help of influencers – so as to take your business from ground zero in just a short period of time.
But the question which l always get is;
‘How can l launch a successful influencer marketing campaign using social media'
That's what will be answered in this post.
I will share with you 7 steps that you can follow in order to launch a successful influencer marketing campaign for your business.
These includes:
So without further ado, let me jump straight into the meat.
1. Goal Setting
Before launching your campaign, it is key to clearly define your goals i.e. what do you want to achieve from that campaign.
Do you want to achieve brand awareness i.e. to let more people know about your brand.
Is it just a list building campaign i.e. those intended to build a list of targeted buyers.
Or maybe it’s just a social engagement campaign i.e. for getting more likes and comments.
Clear goal setting helps in crafting a ‘perfect' campaign strategy i.e. how you intend to run your campaign.
Without clear goals, it will be difficult to determine whether the campaign was successful or not – since you wont have any standard of measure.
2. Research Influencers
Assuming that you've clearly defined your goals, it’s now high time to start researching about potential influencers.
You can use platforms like NinjaOutreach, Snapfluence, Dovetale, Hypetrace, etc in order to find potential influencers for your campaign.
Obviously, you don't need to pick random influencers – since different influencers specialises in different niches.
Thus, it is key to research about influencers related to your niche – so that you wont waste money on ineffective campaigns.
It is also important to analyse the engagement levels of your target influencers – since engagement rates gives you a clue on how your campaigns will perform.
I have seen some influencers who has millions of followers but has low levels of engagement – since most of their followers are ‘dead'.
Thus, it is key to take some time researching about potential influencers who’re capable of promoting your offers.
👉Just A Pro Tip:
Small influencers tend to be more effective than big influencers.
When someone is still small, he/she is willing to do his/her work whole heartedly – with his/her audience at heart.
However, as someone starts to gain more followers, he/she tends to boast him/herself – thus, losing connection with his/her audience.
Thus, you should always remember this tip when scouting for influencers.
3. Reach Out To Influencers
Assuming that you now have a list of potential influencers, it's now high time to start reaching out to those influencers.
Most people are scared to talk to influencers – since they are overwhelmed about the status of that person.
But believe me – those people are also humans regardless of their huge following.
Most people assume that influencers receives a lot of DMs everyday – which is not always the case.
After meeting some popular influencers in person, I have come to realize that most of them are friendly and they're open to business conversations.
The key is to take a leap of faith and start sending some emails or DMs.
To maximise response rates, you should personalise the emails so that they can feel honoured.
Most influencers ignores mass emails – which are sent to many people at once.
Thus, personalisation is key when it comes to crafting your emails.
Don't pitch them directly during the first glance.
Rather, build relations with them – hence increasing chances of them accepting your proposal.
If you follow this strategy, you will find more influencers to promote your brand.
4. Negotiate Terms
Assuming that you've got some positive responses from other influencers, it's now high time to start negotiating terms.
You should agree on working terms i.e. how you're going to work with each other.
Are you just looking for a brand mention on Instagram?
Or maybe a product review on YouTube?
You should agree on how the person is going to promote your brand – so as to set working parameters for both parties.
You should also agree on how you're going to pay the person.
Is it a flat fee for the whole campaign?
Or maybe a commission based fee?
I always recommend businesses to use the commission based strategy – since the influencer will be paid based on his/her efforts.
This will push the person to work more harder in order to get more commissions.
However, if you're using flat rates, the person might not put maximum effort into the project – since he/she knows that the payment is coming regardless of the results.
Thus, l find this pricing strategy less effective.
With that being said, l always recommend people to have at least a written agreement with influencers – in case something goes wrong.
Written contracts acts as a baseline for solving disputes since you can easily refer to the contract in times of disputes.
5. Organise Content Creation
Assuming that you've agreed on working terms, it's now high time to organise content creation.
This is where the person starts creating content for your brand – based on what you agreed in the contract.
You might need to send your products over to the influencer – so as to make it easier for him/her to review the products.
In case of a digital product or software, you might need to give the person free access to the product – so that he/she can get exposure to the product thereby making it easier to come up with content ideas.
Either way, the key is to come up with great quality content which attracts people to buy.
Once the content is ready, he/she can publish it on his social platforms – so as to share it with his/her audience.
6. Analyse Results
Assuming that the content is now uploaded on various social platforms, it's now high time to track the performance of the campaign.
You definitely need to track clicks and conversions – so as to determine if the campaign is going according to plan or not.
You can use a tool like Clickmagick in order to track clicks and conversions.
Analytics also helps in making informed decisions since you can use the data to twerk some few elements of your campaign in order to yield better results.
7. Scaling
If you want to take things to the next level, you might need to scale-up your efforts.
You can run paid ads using the content created by the influencer – assuming that the person gives you some rights to do so.
This works extremely well if the influencer is well know – since more people will be inspired to buy the product.
For example, when Nivea collaborated with Real Madrid, most soccer fans were inspired to buy Nivea products – since they like to use products which their celebrities use.
Most influencers always agree to give brands the content for ads because it also helps to increase popularity on their part.
Thus, you should run paid ads using that content in order to reach more people.
Wrapping Up
I hope that you have gained some value from this post.
Most people complicates influencer marketing – since they think that influencers are difficult to reach.
Although some might ignore you, most of them are open to business deals.
The key is to communicate with them and negotiate on working terms.
You never know, some of them might agree to work with you.
With that being said, it is important to mention that you should not sorely rely on influencer marketing especially in the long run.
You should also focus on growing your social presence so that you wont depend on other people in the future.
This will save you time and money that is required when dealing with influencers – since influencer marketing involves a lot of stress.
