Social media marketing is here to stay. There are many ways to market using one or more social media platforms available today, with influencer marketing known as one of the most effective. Promotional influencers choose their marketing niche, representing themselves as experts. Successful influencers know how to best connect and interact with their social media followers, with many building up millions of followers.
While it matters how many followers an influencer has, don’t dismiss any up-and-coming influencers that may have a smaller audience. While it may be tempting to immediately gravitate towards top influencers finding your perfect match is more important. It’s better to choose a micro-influencer whose audience matches yours vs. a macro-influencer whose audience doesn’t.
More brands than ever are now taking advantage of the many benefits of using a social media influencer. These brands are looking to access a different set of consumers, and influencer marketing allows for just that. Reaching new audiences using influencers allowing for a new marketing perspective, giving brands a new way to increase online sales.
Look for top influencers on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok, Grin, CreatorIQ, Tagger, AspireIQ, and Influence.
Many people, businesses are now deciding to hire an influencer to increase their online sales. Smart. Over the past few years, many social media influencers have impressively stepped up their professional game. They know what it takes to market online sales successfully. Popular types of influencer marketing include using endorsements, mentioning products or services, and brand promotion.
David Robson, global community and influencer manager at Deep Silver, offers this advice when it comes to choosing a macro or micro-influencer, “Macro-influencers are used to drive brand or product awareness so that you can look at the number of views. Micro-influencers have a stronger connection to their audience so that KPIs might include clicks or sales conversions.”
Top social media influencers are pros when it comes to effective targeting. They’ve already fine-tuned their demographics, which takes time and skill. This makes it easier than ever for you to get access to your target audience, as all you need to do is find an influencer who shares your audience demographics to see if you’re indeed a match.
Two popular tactics social media influencers use to educate and persuade their followers to take action.
Emotional Response. The high majority of influencer followers are 100% loyal. They look forward to seeing what their chosen influencer has to say, show them, teach them. Top influencers know how to trigger emotional responses in their followers, encouraging them to buy what they’re selling.
Informational vs. Pushy. Most consumers prefer receiving informative yet straightforward information about a particular product, service, brand, etc., so they can make an educated decision. Top influencers know how to inform in a way that supports vs. forces.
Creating an influencer marketing strategy is your first step to find the best influencer(s) to promote your brand, product, service, etc. Detailed planning is key to finding the right influencer. This makes putting the time and effort into creating a strategic marketing strategy necessary to ensure success. Feel free to add more brand strategies that align with what you’re offering to the public.
Goals. What is your goal for hiring a social media influencer? While the most common goal is to elevate brand awareness to increase sales, setting small goals until reaching this critical goal supports success. Examples include building brand identity, audience building, audience engagement, lead generation, customer loyalty, and online sales.
How To Find Influencers. Research is the first and most important step. Connecting with the right influencers requires a good amount of research to ensure the right choice is made. Choose the platform(s) you want to utilize and start researching. Examples of things to look for – posting similarities, followers, engagement rate, posting rate, past experience, personality, professionalism.
Contacting An Influencer. Top influencers make their contact information readily available. When reaching out, keep this first message short and simple. Expect a reply within five business days. If no answer, reach out to the next influencer.
How Much To Pay Influencers. Payment depends on many different factors. Do you need a micro-influencer or a macro-influencer? An everyday person or a celebrity? Consider your ROI when figuring out how much you should pay an influencer to represent what you’re selling.
Set A Budget. Setting a budget keeps you in financial control. Don’t forget to factor in your time to plan, execute, and review your influencer information.
Tracking Influencer Marketing Campaigns. Measuring the success of your influencer campaign always tells you exactly where you stand.
Your overall goal is to get your brand name to your target audience in an optimistic, organic, and meaningful way. Since influencers use many methods when marketing, you’ll need to decide which methods best leverage your brand. Which of the below methods will help give you the most significant exposure?
Sponsored Content. The most knowledgeable influencers know what it takes to post the educational and informative content their followers want to see and hear. They understand what it takes to keep their audience engaged.
Images, Pictures and videos work wonders when informing a target audience on a new brand, product, service, etc. Many consumers are visual shoppers and will search online for visual representations of things that interest them.
New Brand Establishment. New brands need to differentiate themselves from their competition. Working closely with a social media influencer can do wonders when establishing your unique brand online. Elements to consider include brand identity, voice, values, positioning, brand targeting, and brand promise.
Hire Per Post. Many people like to start simply by hiring one influencer and paying them per post. This type of partnership is an excellent idea if you’re brand new to establishing your social media identity.
Run A Single Campaign. A single campaign can include two posts or 20 posts as the details are up to you. This type of partnership is an excellent idea if you have a line of products that warrant separate pictures and videos.
Contests, Giveaways. Adding a contest and/or a giveaway to your influencer marketing plan helps boost audience engagement. Everyone loves receiving gifts, making this a popular way to better connect with your target audience.
Offer Free Products. Providing an influencer with one or more brand products allows them to use, demonstrate, and promote. Product reviews are viral these days as they’re shown to increase conversion. Free products can be in place of or in addition to other forms of payment.
Offer Discount Codes. Influencers can easily share custom discount codes with their audience. These codes offer a percentage off a product and/or service, making them incentives to buy. These codes include QR code creation and can be shared on any platform.
Brand Ambassadors. Hiring a social media influencer as a brand ambassador requires you to be 100% fully committed, so do the necessary research to ensure proper selection. The most important thing to look for is if they can promote your brand honestly and genuinely.
Multiple Social Media Platforms. Would your brand benefit from being promoted on more than one social media platform? If yes, choose an influencer who has a minimum of three well-established platforms. Knowing the marketing benefits, each platform offers lets you make the best choices for your brand.
Social media influencers are one of today’s best marketing weapons. Influencer marketing is now bringing in billions of dollars, which will only continue to grow. Digital marketing differs from traditional marketing, meaning you must learn how to distinguish your brand offerings. Building an online community on one or more social media platforms is the best way to do this.
While driving sales is a top goal for social media influencers, don’t underestimate the importance of finding an influencer who understands and supports your brand identity and core values. For your brand to experience a rapid increase in online sales, you must first take all the necessary measures, like creating an influencer marketing strategy that converts. This is key to finding your target audience so you can increase brand sales.
The sooner and more you can tell and share your story using one or more social media influencers, the better. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, only about half of U.S.-based small businesses have websites, and even fewer establishments sell their products online. This means now is the time to leverage influencer marketing to get the largest share of online sales!
Now you know how to leverage influencer marketing to increase your online sales. If correctly done, you can quickly improve your organic traffic, which will skyrocket your sales. Hiring a social media influencer for marketing reasons is one of the best decisions you can make to get your brand, product, service, etc., out there for all to see.
