Why a sound influencer marketing strategy matters. You think you had the right influencer. You think you had the right plan. You thought you were ready. And yet when your much-awaited influencer campaign went up, it failed to generate the results you expected.
Now the question is, what exactly went wrong?
Oftentimes, an influencer campaign we thought was perfect does not generate the results we want. A lack of planning, the wrong influencer, or even a mere misalignment of our marketing goals can lead to a blow to some of our most pricey campaigns. However, all is not yet lost!
Our ultimate guide to crafting the perfect influencer marketing strategy can be just the thing you need. Following these 5 easy steps can not only effectively ensure that your influencer campaign is entirely hassle-free, but will also ensure that it reaps the desired results!
But before we look at how to craft the perfect influencer marketing strategy, let’s first consider whether your brand really needs it…
What is influencer marketing and do you really need it?
Influencer marketing is a kind of collaboration where a business partners with an influential personality to promote its offering.
Even though celebrities were the common influencers used for years to promote products, the on-set of digitization has caused a massive change to the marketing environment. With niches such as makeup, styling, etc in existence, more people are now inclined to listen and pay heed to content creators who are experts in their relevant niches.
Benefits of an influencer marketing campaign
Over the years, influencer marketing has seen a massive surge. According to the Benchmark Report of Influencer MarketingHub, the influencer marketing industry will grow to $13.8 billion by the end of 2021. Similarly, it is reported that 17% of the companies spend over half of their marketing budget on influencers.
So clearly, companies are spending a big chunk of their budget on influencer marketing. But the question remains: why?
An influencer marketing can result in several benefits for a company, ranging from creating brand awareness to providing value to the target audience. But below are some of the key benefits of influencer marketing, which perhaps form the crux of why companies choose to opt for it.
The surge in brand awareness:
You are highly likely to use a brand your best friend recommends. You are more likely to trust a product your sister uses. Similarly, if your target audience trusts an influencer who is an expert in your niche, they are more likely to take her words for it than yours.
Generate sales and ROI:
You invest in making your brand the best. Yet, if nobody knows it, nobody will buy it. In this aspect, the goal of brand awareness is directly linked to generating sales and return on your investment.
At the end of the day, whether you decide to go for influencer marketing or not comes down to whether or not an influencer can help you achieve your company’s target goals. An influencer, after all, can only facilitate you in achieving your goals, but it is not the only marketing tactic a business can use!
Steps to create the perfect influencer marketing strategy
Now, once you have decided that your business requires an influencer marketing campaign to help you achieve your goals, you must devise an influencer marketing strategy to ensure that it brings the results you desire.
The following 5 steps are an easy way of curating a foolproof influencer marketing strategy.
Step 1: Establish the goals of your marketing campaign
How an influencer campaign is run is closely aligned with what goals you aim to achieve with it. This allows brands the liberty to decide who their influencer would be, and what market it would be targeting.
For instance, if your goal is to increase the reach of your company, then a macro influencer (100,000 to 1 million followers) may be the choice for you. But if your goal is to simply target a niche market, you perhaps need a credible face for your brand and hence, may consider a micro-influencer (1,000 to 10,000 followers) as the optimal choice.
Step 2: Who are you trying to influence?
It is extremely important to consider who one is trying to influence before one decides who will be influencing. An energy drink for teens cannot be marketed by 3 grandmothers sipping on it in an ad. The tone and theme of your marketing campaign, as well as who will be the influencer, are decided based on your target audience.
Hence, always (we repeat, always) consider your target audience, to make the right choice of your influencer!
Step 3: Credible Influencers
The choice of an influencer is closely aligned with who you are trying to influence. For instance, imagine a makeup brand hiring Ronaldo to be the face of their newly launched foundation. Sounds wrong, right? Why? Because your target group is probably females of a certain age, who, for all that matters, do not even resonate with what Ronaldo does or say about makeup!
So choose your influencers wisely!
Step 4: Discuss a potential partnership
Once your influencer is selected, go on to approach them for a partnership. Make sure you make it clear what you’ll be offering to the influencer, and what he must offer you in return.
Step 5: Reports of the campaign from the influencer
Make sure to ask your influencer for engagement rates, and other relevant statistics for the promotional post he has done.
Take these up, and don’t forget to study them closely to realign your campaign accordingly!
