Why does influencer marketing matter?
In this day and age, 49% of purchases are driven by influencer recommendations. The younger your targeted age group the more this number rises. You can’t afford to ignore influencer marketing any longer.
Here are some key tips for launching your influencer marketing strategy this year.
Be Willing to Invest
There are free options for this type of marketing, but, like anything, you get what you pay for. The fact is that the average business gets an 11x ROI when compared to traditional marketing methods.
According to Ixact Contact, don’t be afraid to put money into your influencer marketing platform. This could include social media advertising or simply being able to have a bigger budget to work with more influential brands.
Focus on Micro Influencers
The early years of this type of marketing focused on the big names everyone knows. However, the average small business doesn’t possess the sort of budget to get them onboard.
This has led to a focus on micro influencers. These are the niche social influencers your target audience are going to know about, even if they have little reach outside that audience.
You already know that you must know your audience, but you can turbocharge your strategy by knowing who your known audience knows.
Offer Creative Freedom to Your Influencers
This is the part so many businesses forget about. They have a vision that they want influencers to carry out. But 76% of influencers prefer working with a brand that gives them creative freedom.
Yes, there must be limits, but you shouldn’t be too strict when it comes to what you want. Influencers have influence for a reason. Let them do what they think is needed to connect with their audiences.
What are they Going to Gain?
Most of your time will be spent cultivating relationships with those selected social media influencers. Before you select the influencers, you’re going to spend your valuable time on, ask yourself what they’re going to gain from a relationship with you.
This is one of the biggest errors people make. They assume it’s all about them and it’s a simple business transaction.
No, social influencers want something from it too. Good sponsorship and good promotion boost their brands as it boosts yours.
Measure the Value
Good measurement is important because without tracking the results you’re not going to know whether it was a good investment.
Make sure you have this in place and employ a range of tools, such as Hootsuite and Google Analytics, to determine where any new traffic is coming from.
Don’t try to insert this into your influencer marketing agency at the last second.
Last Word – Make a Bang this Year
2019 can be a huge year for you this year. But you need to think beyond the tips most guides provide. It’s more complex than simply knowing your audience and talking to a few people on Twitter.
How are you going to make a bang this year with your strategy?
