How Small Business Can Get Started With Influencer Marketing
It’s easy to look at the big brands running Influencer campaigns and feel like it’s just out of reach. You don’t have the team. You don’t have the budget… how are you expected to compete?
As someone who’s been in the Influencer Marketing world for over a decade (yep, we called them bloggers back then!), I’m here to tell you that it’s not too late.
At my other business, Scrunch, we work with brands big and small, product and service, and I’m here to spill the secrets to shortcut your success.
There are a few key things you need to know, so read on.
Define your goals and target audience
Before diving into influencer marketing, it's crucial to clearly define your goals and identify your target audience. Consider what you aim to achieve through influencer collaborations, whether it's increasing brand visibility, driving website traffic, generating leads, or boosting sales. Additionally, understand your ideal customer demographics, interests, and online behavior to ensure you partner with influencers who resonate with your target audience.
Why is this important?
It’s important because your goal will dictate your strategy. If you want lots of content, then you want to work with tiny micro-creators and you won’t really care about their following or engagement or ability to drive sales. If you want to drive sales, you’ll want to use Influencers who have highly engaged audiences and give them coupon codes so you can track their performance.
My hot tip is, one influencer won’t perform every part of your marketing funnel, so clearly understand what you want them to do so you can pick the appropritate one and brief them correctly.
Research and identify relevant influencers
The success of influencer marketing hinges on finding the right influencers who align with your brand values and have an engaged audience. Conduct thorough research to identify influencers who operate within your niche or industry. Look for influencers whose content is relevant to your products or services and who have an authentic and engaged following. And look, decide on how much value you put on your time…. you can spend A LOT of time scrolling through Instagram trying to find the right influencers and then reaching out to them to get a screen shot of their audience stats or media kit…. you coulllldddddd spend $1/day over at Scrunch to get a software platform that helps you find them in seconds… but I promise you that’s the only sales pitch you’ll get here. You absolutely CAN run Influencer campaigns without any tech support.
Engage and build relationships
Once you've identified potential influencers, it's time to start building relationships with them. Follow their social media accounts, engage with their content by liking, commenting, and sharing, and begin establishing a genuine connection. This will help create a foundation for future collaborations and demonstrate your interest in their work. Personalized outreach via direct messages or emails can also be effective in initiating conversations and expressing your interest in collaborating.
Craft compelling collaboration proposals
When approaching influencers, it's essential to create compelling collaboration proposals that clearly outline the mutual benefits of working together. Highlight how their partnership can provide value to their audience while achieving your business goals. Whether you offer free products, exclusive discounts, or monetary compensation, ensure that the collaboration is mutually beneficial and tailored to the influencer's unique style and audience preferences.
Track and measure campaign performance
To assess the effectiveness of your influencer marketing campaigns, it's vital to track and measure key performance indicators (KPIs). Use tracking links or unique discount codes to monitor website traffic, conversions, and sales generated through influencer referrals. Additionally, analyze engagement metrics such as likes, comments, shares, and follower growth to gauge the impact of influencer collaborations. These insights will help you refine your strategies and optimize future campaigns.
Build long-term partnerships
While one-off influencer collaborations can be beneficial, building long-term partnerships can yield even greater results. By nurturing relationships with influencers who consistently align with your brand, you can create a network of brand advocates who authentically endorse your products or services over time. Long-term partnerships also allow for deeper storytelling and increased trust between the influencer, your brand, and their audience.
Always disclose your arrangements
Transparency and authenticity are key pillars of successful influencer marketing. Influencers MUST disclose their partnership with your brand to maintain transparency and build trust with their audience. Oh yeah, and so you don’t get fined by the ACCC! Authenticity should be prioritized throughout the collaboration, allowing influencers to create content that genuinely reflects their personal experience with your brand. This approach resonates more strongly with their audience and drives better engagement.
Oh hey! You made it all the way to the end, I am impressed!
OK So since ya did, I want to give you a little freebie. As in, I know small businesses don’t have as much budget to play with as the bigger brands. So let me ktell you something. I know that you might be sitting here thinking - why would an Influencer work with me in exchange for a product or service? But let me tell you… as someone who manages multiple Influencer campaigns and Instagram accounts.. I am always absolutely blown away by the volume of Influencers/Creators who just want to create awesome content for awesome brands.
I teach women in business how to sell every day and the biggest thing that holds them back is SIMPLY the ability TO ASK.
So If all you take away from this article is to reach out to more influencers and just ASK. Then that’s a huge win! Ask as many Influencers as it takes to get your brand in front of more buyers.
