How to Build an Influencer Marketing Strategy

In recent years, influencer marketing has grown exponentially. In fact, the industry is expected to reach $13.8 billion^[i] in value by 2022.

So, who are influencers?

Social media users and bloggers, influencers have audiences that trust their opinion.

They enable businesses to drive engagement and convey their message to these audiences.

In this blog post, we’ll look at the benefits of influencer marketing and how you can build an effective strategy to make the most of what influencers have to offer.

Let’s begin!

Major Benefits of Influencer Marketing

Increase Brand Awareness

Businesses partner with influencers for a niche that aligns with their products and services. This gives them the opportunity to approach and nurture prospects.

When an influencer shares their views about products, it increases brand awareness. Consider the ‘My Travel Style’ campaign by American Express, for instance.

Recording a 400%^[ii] boost in acquisition rates on Facebook alone, they used video content featuring popular faces.

Did you know that 85%^[iii] of millennials embrace product information shared on social networks?

Influencer marketing can open doors for marketers who want to reach millennials.

Build Credibility

Approximaltely 70%^[iv] of teenagers trust influencers more than celebrities. In fact, influencers become popular because of their expertise.

Having built a relationship with followers, people trust their recommendations. Since the information comes from a trustworthy source, it doesn’t look like advertising.

While influencers deliver the brand message on your behalf, people become receptive to your business.

Drive Cost-Effective Campaigns

Influencer campaigns^[v] earn $5.78 for every dollar spent, with some businesses witnessing as much as a $18 return-on-investment.

The costs of collaborating with an influencer depend on the size of their audience and the niche concerned.

As the cost of paid advertisements rises, influencer marketing stands out among other forms of marketing.

Inform Purchase Decisions

About 82%^[vi] of customers trust social networks to guide purchasing decisions.

It’s likely that your brand will receive a positive response when collaborating with an influencer.

This also gives marketers the opportunity to promote products and get discovered by new audiences.

Best Practices to Develop an Influencer Marketing Strategy

Document Marketing Objectives

The first step you need to take when planning a marketing campaign is specifying objectives.

With influencer marketing, there’s so much more you can do than just sales. You can reach a new set of audiences, and build brand awareness.

What you need to do is explain to the audience you’ve chosen to work with how your brand helps them.

Research Potential Influencers

When approaching an influencer, you should know exactly what their channel is about and who their audience is.

Find out how often they post and how much sponsored content they share. Go for organic content to keep followers engaged.

Brainstorm and think about how you will approach the influencer.

Decide how many promotional posts you want them to send and what the time frame will be.

Since influencers are commonly protective of their audiences, your approach should be to build interest by providing value.

Fix a Budget for Your Campaign

Spending on influencer marketing has gone up in recent years and is going to rise. Marketers spend^[vii] up to $100,000-$500,000 on influencer campaigns.

Once you’ve decided your goals and researched an influencer, it’s time to set a campaign budget.

Planning the budget requires you to understand budget allocation. For every 10K followers, keeping a budget of $100 is standard^[viii].

That said, other factors such as exclusivity, usage, promotional rights, and event appearances need consideration, as well.

Consider the platforms that will be a part of your strategy. We’ve listed platforms from the least to the most expensive, here:

a. Twitter/Pinterest

b. Facebook

c. Blogging

d. Instagram/TikTok

e. YouTube

Measure Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Measure the performance of the strategies you’ve implemented.

To guarantee success, measure KPIs generated from your campaigns.

Analyze the following KPIs:

a. Brand Awareness: If your primary goal is to build brand recognition, keep track of increase in follower count, impressions recorded, as well as hashtag mentions.

b. Social Engagement: This metric determines how your campaign performed. While likes received on a post are a sign of approval, it is comments that show active engagement.

c. Click-Through-Rate: Analyze the number of clicks generated with your Click-Through-Rate. Use Google Campaign Manager to find out which piece of content got you the most clicks.

d. Sales: The goal of any brand is to generate revenue through sales. Measure conversions, downloads, and subscriptions generated via campaigns.

Wrapping Up

Influencer marketing has emerged as a powerful and effective tool in today’s highly competitive marketplace.

Following best practices will give you traction as well as engagement.

Need Help Planning Successful Influencer Campaigns? Contact Us!

References

^{[i][iv][v][vi][vii]}Digital Marketing Institute

^[ii]Simplilearn

^[iii]Engaio Digital

^[viii]CreatorIQ