Tag: Influencer marketing

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A Comprehensive Social Media Influencer Checklist

To make any new process easier, it is good to develop checklists and templates to streamline the process. Even experienced authors and pilots use checklists to ensure they don’t miss a step.

 

Checklist to develop a successful social media influencer campaign:

 

  • Defined Target Audience – Who are they, what do they want? Create an audience persona for each stage of the buying journey, so you know, and you can show the influencer who your audience is.

 

  • Outline Important Key Performance Indicators – Using the information in the blog post about the KPIs to track during your social media influencer campaigns, always set up a new spreadsheet to enable you to track the KPIs exclusively for each campaign.

 

  • Create Clear Influencer Marketing Goals – Your goals will include the specifics of what constitutes success for the campaign. For example, you may have the goal to get more follows, but you need to state exactly what you want. Remember, even if you’re working with someone else, the goals need to be SMART goals.

 

  • Choose The Best Social Media Channel – Do your due diligence to ensure there are enough of your audience on that channel to make it possible for you to reach your goals.

 

  • Choose The Right Influencer Campaign – Don’t just pick anyone. Take the time to get to know the influencer before choosing them to work with. Watch as many of their shows as you can to make sure you vibe.

 

  • Set A Budget – You must set a budget to have a guideline before searching for the right influencer. For example, if you know how much you earn per click, it’ll help you figure out a good budget.

 

  • Identify Your Influencer Type and Size Needs – What type of influence do you want? Make a list of the characteristics you want.

 

  • Influencer Qualities Needed – What do you want the influencer to be like. It’s fine to choose outside of the business model. Even if your product has nothing to do with the issues you care about, if you want to work with only redheads, that’s fine.

 

  • Influencer Outreach – You’ll want to track how you reach out to the influencers so that you can keep track of how it’s working.

 

  • Influencer Vetting – Always check out the influencer before offering them the job because you never know if they’re doing something in their personal life that would be off-putting or even career-ending for you.

 

  • Influencer Contract – Don’t do a single deal with an influencer without a written and signed contract.

 

  • Compensation Package – Spell out and define what the compensation package is for each influencer, and don’t expect it to be the same for every one of them. Tip: Let them tell you their fee. It might be cheaper than you think.

 

  • Influencer Brief and Training – Set up a package that explains your products, offers, and branding to the influencers so that they know everything they can about your product.

 

  • Remember FTC Guidelines – Familiarize yourself with the FTC rules for communicating on social media as a business. It’s important to follow these guidelines whether others do or not.

 

  • Plan, Publish and Promote – Set up a schedule that allows you to plan the campaign, publish it, and promote it simultaneously.

 

  • Track ROI – Nothing is ever done, as they say until the paperwork is done. While paper is not always necessary these days, you still need to do the math and track the return on investment to ensure you are making money the way you think you are.

 

When you use a process to get things done, it’s easier to figure out what went right or wrong so you can do more of what is right and less of what is wrong.

Define Your Influencer Marketing Goals

 

 

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The Do’s and Don’ts to Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is pretty straightforward. First, you want to find the right influencers who already impact an audience that will want and need your products, services, and offers. Even if you have zero sales yet, and no audience of your own yet, using influencers who already promote to an audience who wants what you have will substantially shorten your journey to success.

Start with the Right Influencer and Target Audience

Included below are the top five do’s and don’ts to follow so that you can run a successful influencer marketing campaign and repeat the success over and over again.

 

#1 Don’t: Focus on Follower or Audience Count Only

 

Remember, just because a YouTube star has a million subscribers does not mean they are ready to buy. Not all audiences are equal. Plus, often, a smaller influencer can have more sway over their audience than one that has grown really large. So you may get more results from a niched down small channel than a huge channel with wide appeal.

 

#1 Do: Consider Influencers of all Levels

 

When you try to find the right people to work with to promote your products, offers, and services, don’t just pick the big movers and shakers. Instead, look at smaller influencers that are more intimate with their audience. You may even end up making more sales due to the higher level of engagement many smaller audience influencers have.

 

#2 Don’t: Micromanage Your Influencer

 

When you finally weed through and pick the influencers you want to work with, avoid trying to tret them as employees. Your influencer likely already has a particular way of doing things, and you want them to stay true to themselves and their audience, giving them plenty of freedom. Avoid micromanaging them by giving too many guidelines and rules.

 

#2 Do: Allow for Creative Freedom

 

Creative people like to create. If you stand in their way, they won’t want to work with you, and even if they do, it might not work out and allow them total creative freedom. Of course, you can always include an option for approval to ensure nothing goes wrong, but if you do the research and choose the right people, letting them be themselves will work out best for you. Plus, it’s less work for you!  

 

#3 Don’t: Expect Non-Monetary Work

 

There are plenty of self-named gurus out there who will tell you to try to work with everyone for free, but the truth is, you really do get what you pay for. So instead, reward the influencers you work with according to what’s right and fair. Do not expect them to work for you for free because if you both get value from the partnership, you’ll want to repeat it.

 

#3 Do: Compensate Fairly

 

When you do work out a payment plan for your influencers, make sure you compensate them fairly. As mentioned above, you don’t want to expect them to work for free, but you also want to build a reputation as a great company to work with. So believe it when I tell you that word gets around. Ask them for their fee schedule instead of telling them what you’ll pay. Influencers will be happy with what they ask for, even if it is less than they thought it would be.

 

#4 Don’t: Only Use Instagram

 

It’s tempting to go to the number one social media platform and start using only that for your influencer campaigns, but the truth is, this is a mistake. You don’t even know until you do your research if your audience is on the platform, and if your audience is not there, neither is your influencer.

 

#4 Do: Consider Multiple Platforms

 

Find out what social platforms your ideal audience uses. Find out how many are on those platforms. Then look for the influencers you want to help you promote. Try doing a multi-platform campaign as long as your audience is there, and you’ll get amazing results because the more often you show up in front of your ideal audience, the better.

 

#5 Don’t: Create Deceiving and Generic Content

 

It can feel overwhelming to create all the content you need for your business, but you want to refrain from deceiving and generic content for your influencer campaigns. Remember, you have an influencer who is a creator who can give you amazing ideas on how to promote your product. If they love it, they’re going to be the best person to help you. Each time you promote something, you want the content to be unique and specific for the audience you want to influence.

 

#5: Do: Follow all FTC Guidelines and Plan Content with Your Influencer

 

Remember, when using the internet to communicate, you must follow the Federal Trade Commission’s guidelines (and any guidelines in any country where you do business) to have no problems. Also, please work with your influencer to plan the content they will create for you but remember to give them creative freedom.

 

As a content creator, it’s important to stay aware of the dos and don’ts of using influencer marketing. The great thing is when you do engage in influencer marketing, you’re not alone. You have someone who is already an expert at creating content for their audience. Supply an amazing product, service, or offer and let them do the rest within the guidelines. To learn more about the FTC guidelines for social media, you can visit the government website here. (https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2019/11/ftc-releases-advertising-disclosures-guidance-online-influencers)

 

 

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Influencer Marketing Vs. Brand Ambassadors

It can be easy to think influencers and brand ambassadors are the same thing. They promote your products and influence your audience in some way. However, influencer marketing and brand ambassadors are not interchangeable as they have many key differences.

 

Promote Vs. Example

 

Ambassadors promote your products and are seen as the experts on the product. This is made into a full-time position for larger brands where the company provides them the details they need to know to become a master. They are the ones consumers can go to and get almost any question answered.

 

While influencers show your audience by being the example and sharing how and why they use your products or services, they may love your products and understand them quite a bit. Still, for the most part, they don’t have the extensive knowledge brand ambassadors gain when working with one or a few brands.

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Influencers tend to work with many different brands and campaigns over the months and years, making it impossible for them to be a real expert on all the information your brand has to provide.

 

Long-term vs. Short-term

 

As stated above, influencers typically work with more than one brand or company. On the other hand, brand ambassadors only work with your company to master the knowledge and understand how your products and services work.

 

Influencers may recommend your business once or twice while brand ambassadors repeated it daily. They are your brand loyalists or journalists and will find them at the top of the pyramid of influence right above influencers.

 

Audience vs. Experience

 

Brand ambassadors are sought out due to experience and devotion to the product. They are committed to your brand and truly believe in the benefits. They are likely coming to you or directly applying. On the other hand, influencers are contracted due to their audience, engagement rate, or other important conversions you need for your business. They do not have to have tried your product or care too much about it. These conversions give you a clear insight into what kind of return on investment you can expect to see.

 

Their Similarities

 

Both brand ambassadors and influencers want to promote your product and see you succeed. Each can be added to your marketing campaign to drive more engagement, traffic, and brand awareness. However, they both need to sign agreements to protect their rights and promote your product authentically and enthusiastically through unique and creative content.

 

Overall, it is important to understand the difference to choose the right person for your campaign goals. Each offers many similar benefits, but the type of relationship, compensation, and metrics needed will determine who is right for the job.

 

 

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Define Your Influencer Marketing Goals

 

A successful and sustainable influencer marketing campaign requires a plan to maintain focus and direction and identifying your goals. This means before you make any content and before you determine your campaign type and find your influencers.

 

If you do these steps before identifying your goals and setting proper key performance metrics, you are less likely to see appropriate returns. This is because the content and influencer you pick more than likely won’t correlate. Thus, wasting your time and other valuable resources required to run a positively functioning campaign.

 

Each goal you set will require a different type of influencer, budget, and resource needs and for you to produce a set of relevant and unique content. You can’t just use any influencer and throw out poor content and think it will work. Over time this will cause more work, confusion, and eat up at your profits and other resources.

 

  • Brand Awareness and Reputation – Your customers need to notice you several times before they feel safe enough to spend money. The more touchpoints you create using your content, the more notice you will get. Running a social media influencer campaign can make all the difference for your business.

 

  • Increased Sales and Leads – Another goal you can have with your influencer campaign is to make more sales. One way to do that is to use the campaign to build your e-mail list. One tactic is to offer the influencer a freebie to give away that only requires their audience to sign up for a newsletter. This act alone will increase sales today and tomorrow.

 

  • Higher Engagement Rate – Another goal is to increase your engagement rate. When you have more engagement and communication that is two-way with your audience, they get to know you better, and you get to know them better. When this happens, they will be more likely to accept your offers because your offers will be more likely relevant to them.

 

  • More Followers or Traffic – If you want more followers, more leads, more anything, you need more traffic. One type of influencer campaign you can do is designed to bring traffic to your site so that they see what you have to offer. Another option is to get them to another social media account instead, but it’s typically best to push traffic to your website.

 

  • Product Launches and Promotions – Using influencers to promote your next product launch or your sale on your products is a no-brainer. Influencers love to help people announce a new product to their customers because it makes them seem like VIPs.

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Remember when you create your influencer marketing goals not to skimp on your goal-setting process. Instead, use the SMART goal-setting process to ensure that your goal is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. Then, you’ll never regret planning and implementing an influencer campaign that you’ve seriously planned out because you’re more likely to be successful and reach your objectives.

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Top Social Media Platforms for Influencer Marketing

When you start using influencer marketing, it’s important to understand that not all platforms will be viable for your needs. Only the platforms that have influencers who market to your audience will work for you. It will help you understand what the personality is and the audience is of each platform to make the right choices.

 

Instagram

 

This visual social media platform has grown so fast that hardly anyone hasn’t heard of it. Over a billion people use the platform at least monthly, and most of them are based outside of the USA, with 140 million residing in the USA. Even during the 2020 pandemic, Instagram grew by leaps and bounds. So if you have a visual product or know how to make your offers visual, this platform will work for you.

 

YouTube

 

It’s hard to imagine life without YouTube. It’s only been here since 2005, but it has changed the landscape of media. Anyone can truly get their “15 minutes of fame” by starting their own YouTube channel. YouTube is still growing its influence by expanding its member base by 14 percent in 2020, and it’s still growing. Today, there are almost 2 billion active users on YouTube. So there is no doubt that your audience is also on YouTube. Even if you don’t have a particularly visual niche, you can usually find what you need here.

 

TikTok

 

As a micro media visual platform, this social media network has taken off in a big way. Some of the explosion is due to “bad press,” which proves that there is no bad press if you’re ready to use it for your needs. This platform is in over 150 countries and is most loved by the younger generation.

 

Twitter

 

One of the most long-lived platforms on social media platforms has gone from a text-based solution to a multimedia solution used by millions every day. Many people use Twitter to get all their news and information. The audience on Twitter is mostly from the USA, and in fact, more than half of all citizens in the USA are using the platform regularly.

 

Blogs

 

You may not initially think of a blog as a social media platform, but it is because you can have plenty of engagement through the comment section of any blog. Influencers who have very popular blogs can help you get more views for your offer just as easily as a YouTube influencer can. If they have an engaged audience that needs your solutions, it will work for you.

 

Research each platform to see if you can find influencers who entertain or inform your ideal audience who wants and needs your offers. If so, you can surely work out a deal to get the word out that is beneficial for you both.

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Why Influencer Marketing Works

In 2020, Influencer marketing was worth more than nine billion dollars. It is now expected to grow beyond thirteen billion dollars. Showing you that it is here to stay and only growing stronger. Influencer marketing is a form of worth-of-mouth or online marketing using social media platforms and influencers who share content to promote products or services for companies with similar target audiences.

 

The goal is to influence their audience to increase their conversions, usually in increased sales, traffic, or engagement. Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok are currently the top three social media platforms used by many influencers and companies worldwide to market their products, services, or ideas.

 

Here are the main reasons why influencer marketing works and why it is so beneficial to your brand:

 

Influencers Build Trust and Establish Creditability

 

Not only can influencers help you find your target audience more easily, but they can also help you connect and engage with them. An influencer has an audience because they have similar interests to them and appreciates their opinion.

 

Meaning the influencer already has established trust and credibility. When they partner with a company, that trust and credibility often transfer over. Without these two factors, you can’t expect to make a sale or increase your conversions. Customers need validity in exchange for their time and revenue.

 

Influencers Create Engagement and Long-Lasting Relationships

 

Along with trust comes needed engagement. What kind of engagement you need is up to you and your business goals? For many, that includes more likes, comments, shares, and clicks to their websites to make a sale and increase their revenue or exposure hopefully. Not only do they increase your engagement rate, the relationship is more personal too. Meaning they can form deeper and stronger relationships, further increasing the trust and loyalty to your brand.

 

Influencers Expose You to Larger and More Loyal Audiences

 

Establishing a relationship with several different influencers allows you to get in front of more people with the same target audience as yours, especially when comparing it to traditional online ads. In addition, your target audience is less likely to skip over it when an influencer is involved as it humanizes your brand.

 

As you can see, if you haven’t added influencers to your marketing strategy yet, then you are likely missing out. In fact, according to a Mediakix survey conducted in 2019, nearly 17% of companies use or will use half of their marketing budget on influencers alone. While that is a small percentage, many companies reported in the same year that they want to significantly increase their influencer budgets to keep up with the current demand for social media content. They believe influencer marketing is paramount to their success now and in the future.

 

 

 

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Influencer Marketing and the Pyramid of Influence

The pyramid of influence is a great model or image to categorize your different audiences and the influencers who represent them. It’s designed to quickly show you who and what makes up the most of your engagement to create the right content and materials to develop and run a successful campaign.

 

To put it simply, a pyramid of influence is designed to allow you to quickly understand who makes up your community and how they each influence your audience. This way, you can easily develop content and strategies to reach your target audience more efficiently and ensure you get the right influencer on board.

The pyramid of Influence is made of the following levels:

influencer Pyramid

First Level: Brand Content Creators

 

They are the brand experts and make up most of your content that your influencers can’t wait to use, share with their audience, or use inspiration to make new content. The content is produced by your company, by those you hired, or even mega-influencers.

 

Second Level: Influencers or Leaders

 

This is where digital influencers come in and make up the bulk of the content and engagement. They spark interest within those who want and must get your products. They inspire and influence transactions and engagement. They are the ones that will do anything to get their hands on your product and share it with their audience because they love your products or services. They are the leaders of your content and mission.

 

Third Level: Prosumers or Seed Planters

 

Prosumers are active in the community consistently, usually using third-party platforms such as Facebook or YouTube. They are the ones that build groups and posts questions or spark interest in topics supporting your niche or brand. In other words, they plant the seed of interest and increase engagement and interaction.

 

Quite a few people in this level of the pyramid will eventually move on to the second tier as low level, or nano influencers can also be found in this level as they often plant the seed. They look up to those above them in the tier to help them create content, answer any questions, or sound the alarm to a common problem within the industry.

 

Bottom Level: Consumers or Readers

They consume content but don’t generate it. They are known as consumers and will make up the bulk of your audience and are responsible for revenue. They are the ones that are influenced by the rest of the pyramid and make purchases or other actions that can positively affect your conversions.

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Understanding the pyramid of influence helps you see how your customers, influencers, and content writers can influence different types of people. The ones on the top have the most impact, while those on the bottom make purchases and increase your conversions.