While influencer marketing as we know it today has only existed for a little over a decade, it has quickly become a popular and effective way for brands to increase their visibility and grow their audience. With the ever-increasing use of social media platforms, influencers have become a powerful force in the marketing world. Many brands–some in unexpected industries–turn to them to help promote their products and services.

According to Influencer Marketing Hub, the influencer marketing industry is expected to grow 29% this year, from $16.4 billion in 2022 to an estimated $21.1 billion in 2023. This growth is no surprise, as influencer marketing can help businesses of various types reach a larger audience, build brand awareness, and increase sales. 

Influencer marketing can boost your business’ online presence by tapping into highly targeted, engaged audiences and the trusted figures they follow. Additionally, influencer marketing is often more cost effective than traditional advertising methods and can provide increased insights into consumer behavior.

No wonder more and more companies are turning to influencers to help grow their online presence! Here are some tips to start incorporating influencer marketing into your brand’s marketing strategy:

Identify the Right Influencers

The first step in any influencer campaign is identifying the right influencers for your brand. Many brands’ initial strategy is to pursue the influencers with the largest possible following. But follower numbers alone will not lead to success. Consider the following factors, as well:

• The audience’s level of engagement with the influencer’s content
• Whether the influencer’s audience aligns with your brand’s target market
• The influencer’s reputation and track record for being trustworthy and providing honest, fair, and balanced information to their audience
• Whether the influencer regularly responds or engages in conversations with their audience indicates a tighter community and higher level of trustworthiness.
• The quality and style of the influencer’s visual content

Perhaps the biggest factor to consider when identifying influencers is the originality of the influencer’s content. According to Harvard Business Review, the originality of content is the biggest predictor of influencer marketing success. Specifically, they calculated the proportion of an influencer’s posts that were original content (versus content created by others and reshared) and found that “posts from influencers whose originality rates were one standard deviation higher than the average achieved 15.5% greater ROI” for brands. 

Develop a Campaign Strategy

Once you have identified your influencers, it’s time to develop a strategy that outlines the goals, messaging, and specific tactics for your influencer marketing campaign. It’s important that before you pay an influencer to market your product or service, you determine exactly what you want to achieve with your influencer campaign and how you will measure success. 

Then, cross-check your campaign goals against the list of influencers you identified. Ensure your campaign messaging aligns with your brand values and that the influencers you choose are a good fit for your brand and this specific campaign. 

Build Relationships with Influencers

The best influencers know that their market value is tied to their trustworthiness with their audience. Therefore, very few high-quality influencers will agree to a paid campaign promoting a product or service they are unfamiliar with. It’s important to build strong relationships with your chosen influencers to create an authentic, trustworthy partnership. 

We suggest that you start by engaging with them on social media and commenting on their posts. Then, if you can, consider sending the influencers a free sample of your product or a free trial of your service. That will allow the influencer to become familiar with your brand before agreeing to a paid campaign. 

Set Clear Expectations

Once you have established a relationship, it’s time to communicate your influencer campaign strategy with the influencers. Reach out to them (or have our influencer marketing team reach out!) with a personalized message and your campaign proposal. 

When working with influencers, it’s essential to set clear expectations about the project deliverables, content quality, messaging, and any other guidelines they need to follow. Also, be clear about compensation–we firmly believe in paying influencers for the time, energy, talent, and experience it takes to create the photos and videos for your campaign and access to the targeted audience they’ve built. 

In addition, expect to pay more if your brand wants to use the influencer’s content or likeness in paid advertising or if you want copyright ownership over the finished content. 

Create High-Quality Content

Influencers are content creators, so giving them the tools they need to create high-quality content is important. Do not expect influencers to pay for your product or service to create brand content. Provide them with product samples or access to your services. 

Give them creative freedom to develop content that aligns with their brand and style as well as the goals and messaging of your campaign. When possible, have fun collaborating with the influencers. Many influencers love working closely with brands and doing so will make sure the content they create aligns with your brand messaging and values.

Distribute and Amplify Your Content

Once your influencers have created content, it’s time to amplify it. When the influencer posts the content on their social media channels, share it on your social media platforms, as well as on your website and in email marketing campaigns. Encourage your followers to engage with the content by liking, commenting, and sharing it.

Measure Success

As with anything we do at our agency, the last step is to measure the success of your influencer marketing campaign and tweak your strategy for future iterations. Track metrics like engagement rates, click-through rates, and conversions to determine your campaign’s effectiveness. When necessary, collaborate with the influencers to provide analytics from the finished content. You may choose to include in your contracts which data points your influencers must provide to your company. 

Use this data to make improvements and refine your strategy for future campaigns. Based on the data, you may choose to maintain long-term relationships with certain influencers, double down on certain types of content, or modify the logistics or messaging of future campaigns. 

Let us Create Your Influencer Marketing Strategy

Influencer marketing can be a powerful tool for growing brand awareness, but creating an effective, replicable influencer marketing campaign is no simple task. That’s where our experienced team comes in! With both OG influencers and client-side influencer marketing experts among our ranks, you can count on us to create an authentic influencer marketing strategy that works for your brand.

Are you looking to create an effective influencer marketing campaign that grows your brand awareness and bottom line? Connect with us today!