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The concept of engaging and working with bloggers and influencers to activate your audiences is more than just a trend. It seems to be a concept that many brands are beginning to explore. And rightly so.
Influencer marketing is essential for your brand to remain current and to keep up the conversations with your audiences. We won’t go into the merits of why working with influencers is valuable and crucial. You already know our thoughts.
However, whilst the need for engaging with influencers becomes strong, a strategy is needed.
- Scope
Like with any marketing activity, you need to determine what the scope of working with an influencer really is.
You might engage an influencer to drive sales, build brand awareness or build a perception about your brand. Whatever your scope is, it must be clear in your mind.
Selecting influencers and outlining the message you want them to portray through their content, will be influenced by your scope for going down the influener marketing route.
- Your audience & Influencer Fit
So you now know why you want to spend some of your marketing budget on influencer marketing. Now let’s work on a strategy to select influencers.
The influencer you pick should fit your brand goals and your particular campaign goals. The influencer must also have an audience that aligns with this. You need to know the gender, location, interests, hobbies, and desires of the audience you want to connect with. Work with bloggers and influencers who have audiences matching these criteria.
Great so you know what audience your influencer should have, but don’t be deceived by numbers. A good community is more valuable than reach alone. A community who engages with the influencer on a frequent basis should be preferred.
When you know the influencer DNA that you should look for, we also recommend you don’t just work with one influencer. Approach multiple influencers, even for the same campaign. The reason is that each influencer has something different. They might have the same style of an audience but they may be based in different locations. More importantly, look for influencers with different content creation skills. By picking influencers who have variety in the way they create content, you are really creating different touch points for your potential audiences who will interact with your brand.
By determining the influencer fit, you may be able to work with influencers you may not have previously thought of. If you think of a travel company, don’t just think of the typical travel couple or nomadic millennial. Think of the mama blogger who could talk about needing a break, think of the female yoga instructor who could talk about practising yoga in new places.
Bottom line, seek influencers who align with your brand and campaign goals but those who have an audience you want to build a direct connection to.
- Content
When you work with an influencer, you are essentially engaging them to carry out a campaign on your behalf. They are promoting your brand as part of your campaign. You might be inclined to create the content yourself and ask them to share, however, we suggest you don’t.
Why might you ask? Well, an influencer is generally popular because they create content using their own unique voice and style. By telling them what to say and how to say it you lose the authenticity.
Therefore, give the influencer instructions, be clear and precise. They will then use their own voice and turn it into branded content. The Infiltrend Campaign Brief (see step 2) will guide you with this.
- Fair and square
The influencer has the attention you need. They have the real estate in the most popular street and you need to rent it. They are driving engagement for your brand and on a very direct and personal level. They are activating your audiences who choose to listen to them.
Therefore you must understand that an influencer deserves a fair amount. Through Infiltrend, you will pay an influencer either per the campaign or per the engagement they generate. This depends on your strategy. Our team is here to guide you with pricing and which campaign to select.
- Results
A campaign has started and ended.
What now? Have your sales tripled, have you seen 1000’s of likes on your Facebook page and has your Google analytics spiked? Nope, then influencer marketing sucks.
No it does not. It takes time. And you might have to run multiple campaigns. Be patient.
Through Infiltend, we give you statistics that shows you which campaign faired better than an another. In the campaign, you are able to see which influencer performed better than the other. This will help you and guide to understand whether one campaign brief was better or whether some influencers are closer aligned with your brand than others.
You need to use your long-term vision though. Remember, the attention of the customer is with the influencer. Be with the influencer as long as your customer is there. Once they move, you should too and so will we. This is attention arbitrage and it’s what marketing is all about. (Thank you, Gary Vaynerchuk, for this insight).
Ok, so we’re over for today. But we will be back next week to talk about how to start a campaign on Infiltrend. Until then, speak to our talented team who are here to help you create and powerful and successful influencer marketing plan and startegy that works best for your brand and your goals, on [email protected].