The growth of platforms like Facebook, YouTube , Twitter , Instagram has led to a massive wave of new influencers in all manner of niche industries, many of whom boast huge followership.
Their online behaviours are increasingly shaping and dictating what lots of us wear, discuss, do and even condemn.
They
influence where we travel to, the music we listen to, the movies we
watch, the food we eat and ones we don’t. Their influence over the
behaviour of online users is immense but the results are not measurable.
A lot of people are really eager to take
advantage of influencers to boost your businesses’ visibility online,
appeal to new and existing consumers; but there are major important
factors to be considered.
This requires a
strategy - a clear-cut plan of action that yields amazing results,
monitoring and measuring. However, getting started with influencer
marketing – and, more importantly, getting it right – is easier said
than done.
You might think that picking a handful of
influencers and sending out your products will get the job done, but I’m
sorry to tell you: it’s not that easy. Below are quick tips on how to
effectively harness the power of influential marketing.
Set Clear Goals
You
need to be crystal clear what you intend to achieve. Influencer
marketing really works only when you set out clear goals and objectives,
either on a long and short–term basis. Don’t say “drive more visitors to our website”. Try to be specific,rather say “sell 1000 mobile phones within one month of campaign launch”.
Relevance
The
goal of your influencer strategy should be tied to only an idea
relevant to your audience. You should only contact influencers about
opportunities that are relevant to both your audience and the
influencer.
However, according to Marketo,
50% of influencers reported that the majority of failed opportunities
resulted from an irrelevant pitch. Clearly, a lot of us still miss the
mark here.Be realistic
Only
work with influencers that really engage their followers and can make
out time for you and your target audience. You do not necessarily need
to go for tier one influencers, look for people who are highly respected
in their industry with time to work with little people.
Track Results
you
can only be sure of success in your marketing efforts only when you ask
what? In other words, you need to monitor and track your marketing
efforts to be sure you are getting the expected results. You can
leverage on tools like Mention to track mentions of your brand.
Be ready to compensate Influencers
This goes with the saying that - “there is no free lunch, even in Freetown”.
Most influencers will want to be compensated financially for their
time. Before you start approaching influencers, set aside a budget that
you can comfortably afford.
However, once
you start your outreach, don’t launch straight into talking about money
– let the influencer be the one to bring it up in case the opportunity
exists for you to arrange alternative means of compensation.
Are
you actively using influencer marketing? What strategies have you been
using and how effective have they been? Feel free to approach us with
any of your social media and viral marketing needs. At RDM, we are
poised to take your business to the next level.
Written by Idris Oladipo.
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