Influencer Marketing 2018

Develop your social media influencer strategy for Influencer Marketing 2018 with Influencer Marketing strategy of ours.

What is Influencer Marketing 2018?

Influencer marketing is when a business collaborates with an influential person on social media to promote a product, service, or campaign. These people, know as “social media influencers,” have dedicated and engaged followings.

What is a social media influencer?

A social media influencer is someone who wields that influence through social media. The right influencer is someone who can reach your target audience, build trust, and drive engagement. They will create original, engaging content that is in line with their own brand. Therefore, it’s critical to work only with social media influencers whose creative vision aligns with your own.

How to find the right social media influencer for your brand

Before reaching out to a potential social media influencer, you’ll need to consider the three Rs of influence:

• Relevance: The influencer is sharing content and has an audience relevant to your business and industry.
• Reach: The number of people you could potentially reach through the influencer’s follower base will bring value to your business.
• Resonance: The potential level of engagement the influencer can create with an audience that’s relevant to your brand. Bigger isn’t always better. A huge follower count is meaningless if those followers aren’t interested in your business’ offerings. And a smaller follower count can be very powerful if it’s a niche area and the potential influencer has a dedicated and engaged following.

Know who you’re trying to influence

Your influencer campaign can’t be all things to all people. An effective strategy requires you to speak to the right people using the right tools (and, in this case, the right influencers).

The first step is to define who your audience will be for this specific campaign.

Developing audience personas is a great way to make sure you understand who you’re trying to reach. Once you’ve done that, create a matching set of influencer personas. This will help you understand the qualities you’re looking for in your influencer partners.

Look for engagement and trust with the right audience

For marketers, the key is trust. Your audience must trust and respect the opinion of the influencers you partner with. Without the trust component, any results will be superficial and you’ll struggle to see a tangible business impact from your efforts.

How do you tell if your potential influencer is trusted? 

Engagement. That means plenty of views, likes, comments, and shares—all from the precise follower segments you’re trying to reach.

A good engagement rate also means a loyal following, rather than an inflated follower count bolstered by bots and fraud accounts.

Go for a consistent look, feel, tone, and values

Besides finding a fit for your influencer marketing strategy, find someone who’s producing content with a look and feel that complements your own. And the tone must also be appropriate for the way you want to present your brand to potential customers. This will ensure things don’t feel disjointed in either party’s social media posts for influencer marketing 2018.

How to approach a potential influencer

 

Once you’ve identified the influencers you’d like to work with, it’s time to reach out. Here are some key ways to increase your chances of bringing your most coveted influencers on board.

Show you’ve done your research

In-demand influencers get lots of offers. When you first approach an influencer, show that you understand what their channels are about, who their audience is, and how the partnership could benefit both parties.

Reach out privately, and personally

A direct message is a great place to start. If you can find an email address, try that too. But don’t send a mass email or generic DM. It may take a little longer to write a personal message to each influencer, but it will show you’re serious about a potential partnership and increase your chances of striking a deal.

Have a compensation plan (and budget) in mind

Influencers with extensive reach rightly expect to be paid for their work. Free product might get you some reviews from those who are just starting out, but a serious influencer campaign requires a budget.

Think about what kind of payment structure makes the most sense for your goals, but be willing to consider the influencer’s needs, too. For example, an affiliate or commission structure might be an option instead of a flat fee, or to reduce the flat fee. Remember that micro-influencers will have more flexible payment terms.

Influencer marketing tips

Be willing to give up some creative control

A social media influencer who has worked hard to build a following will not accept a deal that makes their own personal brand seem inconsistent. When developing your influencer marketing strategy, note that influencers are content creation experts. You will get the best value from their work by allowing them to showcase those skills.

Measure results for your influencer marketing strategy

When you launch your influencer campaign, it can be tempting to focus on vanity metrics like likes and comments. If your influencer has a much larger following than your own, you might feel a little dazzled by the sheer number of likes that can rack up.