Is Influencer Marketing for Me?
A lot of businesses read articles recounting horror stories of working with influencers or high price tags for very little ROI and steer clear. But before you write off influencers, let me give you a run down of what influencers can and cannot do for your brand and your business. We have been working with influencer before Instagram. We started working with bloggers in 2009 and quickly realized that even savvy marketers didn't seem to understand where they fit in with a marketing plan. We saw large brands with brick and mortar outlets hiring local bloggers to "host' an event only to end up with an event with a handful of attendees. When Instagram launched we saw people clamoring to work with influencers paying for an outfit post only to find the post deleted a month later.
What Influencers Can Do For your Brand
Create Social Content
Generate Brand Awareness and Brand Discovery
Assist with SEO
And sometimes....if you are lucky....boost sales
What Influencers Cannot Do For your Brand
Drive traffic to your store or location that will guarantee sales
Ensure a packed event or store opening
Boost Sales
Build your Following Significantly
The current trend with larger brands are larger scale "collaborations" that are far more savvy and calculated than they were in those early days. The collaborations can include a mix of things from video and static instagram content with tagged posts and story swipe ups to simple tagged "unboxings" on stories. Larger brands have very different goals and objectives and should approach a campaign from a very different perspective than a smaller or midsize brand. Larger brands typically accomplish the goal of reinforcing brand recognition and positioning the brand appropriately depending on the type of influencer they choose to work with along with generating content. With smaller and medium sized brands the aim should be to derive as much value from the collaboration as possible which should include SEO backlinks where feasible, establishing brand discovery and brand recognition, social content. It is incredibly important for you to have an affiliate marketing solution for influencers. Not only does it help with negotiating better collaboration deals, it also helps you to track the collaborations that drive conversion. If you have an affiliate commission structure in place, sometimes collaborations can lead to a boost in sales, but the approach should never be solely to drive sales.
If you have been wanting to work with influencers but haven't been sure how to get started, reach out today for a one-on-one consultation. They are affordable and can save you time and money in the long run along with ensuring you are maximizing the Return on Investment for Influencer Collaborations. An hour consult via Skype or Zoom is $100 and includes a free influencer list tailored to your specific business. Contact us today to set up your consult.