How to work with Social Media Influencers for your Digital Marketing at best ?

Working with Social Media Influencers for Digital Marketing campaign is one of Global Trends in Digital Marketing in 2018.

What is a Social Media Influencer ? Someone who turns heads. Someone with a social presence so great that they have the power to put your brands in front of legions of fans. Social Media Influencers are primarily found on social media platforms, which is where they have the most influence. But they need to be the right fit. You could have someone with millions of followers, but if their interests are not similar to yours – for instance, using a rapper to promote your software company – an increase in engagement isn’t really in the cards. Defining context is perhaps the most important thing that you can do when deciding on an influencer, so keep that at the forefront of your decision.

Why should you work with Social Media Influencers for your Digital Marketing campaign ?

1. Social Media Influencers increase credibility of your companies or brands or products or services. If you’re working alongside other people who are just as savvy in the industry as you are, it shows that you’re open to the bigger picture. You’re willing to take advice that’s not your own. You’re willing to listen, as well as preach. By creating a team dynamic, where you work alongside someone that already has credibility, you increase your own.

2. Social Media Influencers add fresh perspective. We all know that feeling… You write about the same subject again and again, and eventually you begin to feel like a robot. Echoing the same stuff you always have, trying to relay the same information but with a different voice, and a fresh outlook. If you invite someone else in, they’ve got something entirely new to bring to the table. Everyone is different. Their life choices and experiences have given them a vision of the world completely different to yours.

3. Referrals and Affiliate Programs. Offering a nice payout as an incentive to get social media influencers to throw a few hundred thousand fans your way is never a bad thing. They put time and effort into amassing those followers in the first place. So, offering a reward upon investment and engagement could be exactly what you need to take your brands to the next level.

4. Social Media Influencers offer great exposure. In this industry, it’s give and take! We scratch your back, you scratch ours. It’s a formula that can’t be beaten, because it’s just so damn effective. Why do you think the guest blogger is writing a post on your page? It’s not just because they think you’re a wonderful human being and want to help you out. Everything in business is done for personal motives, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. They do it so they get access to a larger audience. Yours! But by them doing so, they also bring their own audience right to your doorstep, and you can’t argue with that.

Here is how to best work with Social Media Influencers to market and sell your products and services:

1. Gifting. Found an influencer that you like? Perhaps you’ve discovered that they share your passion, and you’re convinced they’ll like your products or brands.By gifting them, they’ll create exposure by sharing it with the world. It would probably be best to drop them a line before showering them with gifts, as they may not be as generous with their exposure as you’d hope. By acknowledging this from the get-go, you can gauge what kind of exposure you’ll get, and plan accordingly.

2. Giveaways. Did you know that 90% of bloggers like to do contests and giveaways with their readers? Kind of similar to gifting, but rather than offering something to the blogger themselves with the offer of them promoting it, they run a contest aimed at the audience. It’s much more direct marketing, as the audience are all fighting for the chance to win your product. It creates desire before they’ve even held it in their hands, and that’s priceless.

3. Use videos. YouTube is HUGE. It has an uncapped potential to make your products or brands a talking point across multiple demographics. There are almost 5 BILLION videos viewed on YouTube every single day, and by collaborating with a social media influencer, that could give your brand limitless exposure. With their help, you could develop a creative video that promotes you in a unique, exciting, and entertaining way. Videos have a habit of driving awareness, inspiring action and, believe it or not, boosting SEO. It’s been shown that customers who are exposed to video content increase brand engagement by 28%. Videos are the most shared media online, as they’re easy to digest and fun to watch. They’re also the best way to organically grow a legion of fans. Find a YouTube channel you think will work with your product, and drop them a line.

4. Sponsored Social Media Posts. Instagram, as well as YouTube, is another great place to find a social media influencer to team up with. However, be sure to work with a user that not only has a large following, but a high engagement. Alarms bells should start ringing if you see an account with 250,000 followers but only 18 likes per post. When you find the influencer right for you, develop a campaign that releases multiple posts that appeal to a broad audience. That way, something’s bound to stick. Ask them to test out your product and take a photo or a video demonstrating your product/service features and benefits.

5. Blog post reviews. Blog post reviews can be an effective way to generate more exposure. If done well, your influencers’ blog posts could show up on the top search results. Work with influential bloggers that are known for being trustworthy.You can send them free products or compensate them in exchange for creating a blog post with an honest review. For example, if someone was looking for “Local Italian Restaurant” on Google search, one of your influencers’ post could show up in the top result. Voila! That’s more exposure for your brand. Make sure your main keywords are included in their blog post. For example, you’re an Italian restaurant in Toronto. Include “Italian Restaurant”, “Toronto”, or “Local” in the headline and within the content. Also, don’t forget to ask them to link to your website at the bottom of the content or wherever relevant. You may want to hire a SEO specialist to guide you on optimizing blog content for the search engines (to boost your search rankings).

6. Give your Social Media Influencers creative control. Social media influencers did not just coincidentally build large, engaged followings. They know what their audiences want, and are experts on their followers’ needs. Paying an influencer to simply share your contents won’t lead to the results you desire. Give creative license to the influencers so that he or she can introduce your brands authentically. If you want something specific, make a suggestion, but do not be surprised if the influencers say no.

7. Engage Social Media Influencers who love what you have to offer. Influencers generally will not promote products or services in which they do not believe. Look for influencers who match your brands’ values, who influence your target market, and who will promote your products or services with passion. The more influencers love your products or services, the easier it will be for them to promote it. You need your influencers to feel as though, even if they weren’t getting paid, they would love the products or services and use it all the time. That is when you know you are getting top quality contents.

8. Create a mutually beneficial relationship. Just because influencers already have a following does not mean that they have everything that they want. Make the relationship mutually beneficial by giving them credibility, financial reward, invitations to events at which they can network, products and more. When there is something in the deal for both of you, influencers will work much harder to create something great.

9. Do not confine your search for influencers to celebrities. Though it may be tempting to pitch your brands only to influencers who have achieved classic fame and millions of followers on social medias, it can be often more effective to align with influencers who are less well known in general, but well respected in your target market. Often such influencers can deliver better results on a cost benefit basis, and sometimes, they will actually deliver better results than a much more expensive celebrity endorsement. People often trust non celebrity influencers more than they do famous stars.

10. Have actionable goals for influencers campaign. Spreading the word about your products or brands is wonderful, and an influencer can help you do that quickly and effectively. However, a smart campaign with an actionable goal will create more engagement for your brand and drum up excitement. Be it a user generated content contest, a sharing campaign, or a contest, make your campaign something memorable by engaging your influencer as the contest ringmaster.

Influencer marketing can really power up your social media strategy. You just need to build relationships with the right influencers (with the same target audience as yours). Experiment with different strategies and track your performance to determine what works best for your brands.

iMarketology can help you to find right and suitable Social Media Influencers for your Digital Marketing campaign. iMarketology can also help you to develop your contents for your Social Media Influencer campaign.

– iMarketology –