Earlier on in the year, It was revealed, that brands increased their influencer marketing budget by 59%, this further ascertains that influencer marketing isn’t just a passing phase, it has come to stay.
But are you ready for the explosion?
There are so many contents online, already, it is hard for brands to cut through the noise and get their message to the target audience.
Many experts may have advised you to invest in influencer marketing, they are right, as brands across the world already allot large amounts of money to drive influencer marketing success, but how do you know you’re making the right decisions?
Truly, it’s hard. As a brand, you need to have a clear strategy in mind and on paper for promoting your content, product, and ideas.
It is observed that in Nigeria, brands are yet to allot enough to drive influencer marketing success but with more brands targeting the same consumers, you need to strategize on how to reach these consumers faster online.
A good design is one of the smart strategies you can use. No matter what you want to promote (article, video, podcast, ebook, mobile app, software, whitepaper, etc.), a good design can help you create that first impression. It will educate, inspire, and influence decisions.
As a result, a well-designed website, product, or content can tell a memorable story — thus giving influencers a reason to like, share and promote your content at will.
You need to have a social media presence and you need to reach a wider audience.
As I said earlier, social media is the fuel of influencer marketing. In other words, if you want to amplify the reach of your content and get more followers, you need to have a social media presence.
No, it doesn’t mean you have to spend your whole life on Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat. With a great social media strategy, you can automate postings with tools, such as Buffer, Hootsuite, and more.
A social media presence will give you an upper hand so that when an influencer tweets your content/product or retweets it, you can take advantage of that social proof to engage your audience better.
Also, when it comes to using social media to enhance influencer marketing, you don’t have to go all in. Trust me, you’ll be distracted if you choose to dominate Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and other social networks at once.
The rule of the thumb is to start small, take one step at a time.
When influencers are sharing your content on social media, it is important that you’re being tagged in the post. This way, you’ll get a notification and can reshare/retweet the post to get more traffic on your website.
Also, influencer marketing begins with engagement. Yes, you need to engage only the right people. This is another strategy and when you do that, you know you’re on the right track.
Influencer marketing isn’t all about connecting with every social media power user out there. It makes no sense. Or does it?
Only make sure you identify influencers based on audience type, content type, and style as well as a level of engagement. Endeavor to build relationships with influencers, and don’t be carried away by an influencer’s huge number of social fans.
In the long run, quality always beat quantity.
Finally, get clear on your objectives and don’t forget to make your influencer criteria unique, among other brands.