Influencer Marketing – Our Insider Tips!

Influencers…the celebrities of social media. They have the potential to wield more power than the most perfectly crafted marketing campaign and are happy to share it with the right brands.

Whether you are planning your first influencer marketing campaign or wanting to refine your current influencer strategy, there are some foundational steps to take.

So, let’s address the basics before we dive into the juicy stuff…

Research

Before you commit to an influencer, be sure to research their audience. Go through their past 10 – 20 posts and check WHO is commenting, and what the ratio of ‘likes’ are compared to their followers. Be sure the followers who interact the most are genuinely engaging with the content and are aligned to your target market.  Watch for comments that feel too ‘staged’ or generic as this can be a sign of bots or engagement pods.

Take particular attention also to the quality of their photos. Depending on the goals of your campaign, using the influencer to create amazing photo or video content for your brand or business is a valuable objective!

Get Quotes

There is wide variation on what influencers charge for posts, and it is best to always have a mutually approved agreement that outlines the fee, number of posts, type of posts dates for posts, and any other details of the relationship. Where possible, also negotiate to have the influencer share their results from the content with you, particularly noting reach, shares and saves which you won’t be able to see publicly.

TIP: When agreeing on the content, be careful to check for any fine print (eg use of Instagram Stories versus Instagram post to feed, agreements on the length of time to keep the photo on the feed etc) 

Creative

When planning the content with the influencer, don’t think of the posts as ads, but rather as content people will want to watch, share, and engage with. Allow the influencer freedom to create content that feels natural to them, which they know their followers will love.

Know the Rules

There are guidelines for how influencers share content they have been paid to create or post. Ensure they are following the guidelines such as using appropriate hashtags and tagging the post as a ‘Paid partnership with…’

Once you have chosen your influencer/s to partner with, you want to make the most of the relationship and the investment.

Our tips for taking your influencer campaign to the next level include:

  1. Broaden Horizons

Don’t limit your influencer marketing to Instagram. Consider your business, your customers, and where your customers are spending their time. Channels such as YouTube and Podcasts have a high male audience ratio – whereas Instagram has a higher percentage of female users.

  1. Commit

When choosing influencers, consider who you would like to build a long-term relationship with rather than a short-term exchange of posts for payment. The campaigns and content you can create with a future vision in mind will better serve your brand and message – and help you optimise your investment over time.

  1. More than a Number

Don’t get dazzled by the big follower numbers, as power is not always in millions. Micro influencers (those with less than 10,000 followers), can deliver stronger results than those with the big numbers – provided they have an engaged audience.

MORE READING: Micro-Influencers: The Marketing Force Of The Future?

  1. Measure Success & Optimise the Opportunity

Consider how you can best measure the success of your campaign with each influencer – and how you can optimise the opportunity with a unique discount code, affiliate link, hashtag, competition or limited edition product release.

  1. Think Outside the ‘Gram

Don’t limit your relationship and content creation with influencers to standard content/posts. Take your partnership further and invite them to be involved in your brand by inviting them to events, to be part of photo and video campaigns, or to ‘take over’ your account for a day. Get creative and find something that works for both parties, while also holding the attention of your audience.

And our final piece of advice… 

Nothing stays the same for too long in the world of social media, and while many are predicting the start of the decline of influencers, here at Social Tap, we believe they still have a place in the marketing mix.

Our advice is don’t just chase the quick win. Be strategic, be creative, think long term and place value in quality over quantity in your partnerships.

Where to from here?

Looking to run an influencer campaign and need a helping hand? We can help! Complete the form below and one our team will be in touch to discuss how we can help.

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