In a fragmented media market, an influencer marketing campaign can help you get your message directly to an engaged audience to boost sales or increase brand awareness quickly.
The vast majority of people on social media today engage with “influencers” on their platform of choice. That is especially true for millennials and Gen Z consumers (ages 16 to 40), 72% of whom report following one or more influencers online. Engaging with an influencer marketing campaign can dramatically boost brand awareness and growth.
The term “influencer marketing” refers to partnerships between brands and individuals with a loyal and engaged following on social media. (Instagram and YouTube are popular, followed by Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitch, and LinkedIn for B2B companies.)
Influencers promote products or brand messages to their followers along with links to drive traffic or sales. These partnerships can dramatically increase your revenue when used correctly.
Create an affiliate marketing network
If the term “influencer” automatically makes you think of celebrities, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to promote your brand at a much lower cost. Affiliate network marketing taps into micro-influencers (under 100,000 followers) and nano-influencers (under 1,000 followers) who are engaged with their audience and more relatable than mega-celebrities.
An affiliate marketer agreement stipulates that the influencer gets a commission for each sale they drive to your company, which you can track using unique links. They are incentivized to share the information effectively with their specific audience. These marketing tactics work best when you partner with influencers who are passionate about your products, services, or industry — their followers will see through “fake” promos.
Provide influencer-specific discount codes
Everyone loves a sale, especially when it feels exclusive. Creating influencer-specific discount codes is a win for all parties.
Influencers have something special to share with their audience. Consumers make a purchase that makes them feel more connected to the social media celebrity (plus the psychology of getting a deal encourages them to click “buy” on your site).
Beyond the boost in sales, a secondary benefit is your ability to track the results. You can see what codes work, which posts are more likely to result in a sale, and which influencers are generating the highest ROI (if you use multiple influencers).
Collaborate with influencers on exclusive products
Product collaborations can dramatically increase sales by attaching the name and seal of approval of your influencer to a new product. As an influencer marketing agency will tell you, it’s best to work with someone who truly believes in your products and your brand. Work closely with the influencer at every stage — creation, production, and marketing — and trust their instincts on what will work best to reach their audience.
Take this tactic to the next level by allowing the influencer to do a “social media takeover” of your account. Give them full access to your platform for a designated timeframe (ranging from an hour to a day) without specifically promoting your product. This content is far more effective than brand-created content because it feels real, but it’s also sneaky marketing because it showcases your brand and tells a story without feeling like a sales pitch.
A better way to launch your influencer marketing campaign
Many brands think an influencer marketing agency is the only way to successfully run an influencer marketing program. However, a managed services provider might be a better choice. These providers work with influencers to create content centered around your business and strategically targeted to engage your audience. They can help you devise a more specific influencer marketing strategy that closely aligns with your financial and strategic objectives.
Unlike influencer marketing agencies, who push you toward expensive mega-influencers and may not have the same sophisticated software tools to track ROI on your campaigns, managed service providers have their own technology platforms. Because of this, they are able to automate many of the steps needed to implement an influencer marketing campaign.
This unlocks the ability to work with smaller, non-celebrity influencers, who have a deeper engagement with their following. Deeper engagement directly translates into better program ROI.
Build your influencer marketing strategy today with the help of Tempesta Media, and check out some of the most common mistakes companies make in launching these strategies and other content marketing programs.
