With digital marketing going through constant evolution, many marketing forms have emerged. One of such marketing forms is influencer marketing. Are you too considering giving it a go for your small business? Then we have the best tips to get you started. So, read on and find out the best tips for small businesses to get started with influencer marketing.
Influencer marketing is not just a temporary trend. It is growing in full-swing and looking at the pattern the trend is only bound to grow. Hence, if you want to catch up with the current digital marketing trends, influencer marketing is a must.
There are numerous benefits of influencer marketing for a business. From increased credibility to better returns on marketing investment, higher audience engagement, and so on, there is just a lot a sound influencer marketing campaign can help you with. Not to mention how it can up your social media marketing campaign.
However, beginning with it can be a bit difficult if you are new to it. In worst case scenario, you can even end up getting defrauded by fake influencers like many small businesses do. Hence, in this article, we have covered the best tips to get your started.
Influencer marketing—best tips for small businesses
>>Collaborate with someone who is already interested in your business
One of the very important things for an influencer marketing campaign is that it should seem genuine and natural. And in order for it to look like that, it just should be so. Collaborating with an alien influencer won’t be as effective as collaborating with the one who is already interested in your project. Hence, when looking for an influencer marketer, don’t go too far. Look around you. In your followers list, comment sections, etc. you can find such social media influencers that are already interested in your business. Hence this way, you will be able to ensure that the influencer has a genuine passion for your business and will be able to market it better.
>>Make sure the influencer is relevant to your business type
Don’t just go for any influencer you find. Make sure that he/she is relevant to your business type. For one, software development aficionado promoting a baby-care brand won’t make sense. Moreover, there’d be poor return on investment as the audience of such influencer will most likely not be interested in your brand. Hence, make sure that the influencer you collaborate with is super relevant to your business type. The narrower their niche is, the better.
>>Don’t just go for the number of followers
A high number of followers is not necessarily the key mark of a good influencer. There are many factors that come into play. You will have to take many qualitative aspects into consideration like how well they engage with the audience, to what extent can they influence their audience, how the audience reacts to their posts, and so on. What is their posting pattern and whether or not it sits with your expectation and marketing requirements, how they maintain their feed, if they have adequate influence on the desired social media platforms, etc. are other important concerns.
>>Research the audience of your influencer marketer
Every business has certain customer portfolio. It is the document containing the demographics and characteristics of a fictional ideal customer. When researching an influencer, also research its target audience. Make sure that they fulfill the criteria of your target audience. Apparently, there’d be no point in marketing your products in front of an audience that is not your target market.
>>Micro and nano influencers are the future
Studies after studies and marketing stats have been showing that micro and influencer marketers have way better influence on their audience than the influencers with a higher number of marketers. Micro and nano marketers, with typically 1k to 100k and less than 1k followers respectively, score higher audience engagement rates than macro or mega influencers. They have a better hold of their audience and generally have a stronger impact on them. Hence, they yield overall better ROI and so, small businesses find it better to engage with such influencers. Not to mention how such arrangements are lighter on the pocket.
>>Research your influencer thoroughly
As the influencer market is expanding, sadly, there is an increase in the number of influencer frauds as well. Many small businesses become its victim and end up losing money. Hence, it is important to be very thorough when researching an audience. Moreover, don’t let the number of followers or likes fool you as social media follows and likes can be bought easily.
>>Use influencer research tools
As I have already said, influencer marketing is not a passing fashion; it is a serious industry now. And hence, there are many tools like Fohr, People Map, SocialBlade, Follower Health Tool etc. that can not only help you find influencers but also facilitate in researching them. For once, Follower Health Tool gives a breakdown of an influencer profile and ranks t based on different categories like follower-following ratio, username, number of posts, etc. Such analysis can come in really handy when searching for the right influencer marketer for your business.
>>Decide reward
How do you plan to reward your influencer for promoting your brand? There can be a number of ways for doing that, with the popular means being:
- Free products,
- Discount coupons,
- Gift cards,
- Money, etc.
So, there has to be certain reward for your influencer for marketing your product. Find out what suits you best and be sure to communicate about it clearly. But don’t be too rigid, a little flexibility is important.
Conclusion
Summing up the important tips to get started with influencer marketing for small startups, it all comes down to a few things. Make sure your influencer marketing is genuinely interested in your brand, is relevant to your industry and has your target market as followers. Moreover, you must look out for frauds and decide on an exchange system that fairly compensates your influencer marketer(s). These tips will come in really handy to begin with this form of online marketing.
Got more questions about influencer marketing? Drop them all below in the comments!
