Did you know that almost 63% of business marketers today work with at least 5 or more influencers on all their campaigns? Why do you think companies are all embracing the idea of influencer marketing? The reason is simple, audiences trust influencers, and they find it relatively easy connecting with them. They have a way of reaching out to their audience, influencing their opinions, decisions, and converting them into loyal customers. Let’s take a look at Huda Kattan for instance, who is a very popular beauty influencer. When she recommends or mentions a beauty product, how many people do you think would want to buy such a product just because of her mention? Several thousand, if not millions! However, finding the right influencers for your business isn’t always an easy task, and sometimes, it can be a very daunting task. In this light, VRG Web Design created a strategy to help you find the right influencer to promote your business service.
Understanding your audiences
In order to find the perfect influencer to promote your business, you first need to understand your audiences. The reason is that your audience is one of the major cornerstones of any influencer marketing strategy. Failure to understand whether or not your target audiences are the ones following an influencer can mar your marketing strategy. For instance, let’s say you have a fashion brand that sells beauty products. And you decide to work with a fashion/beauty blogger so as to boost your brand recognition and sales. However, do you think you’ve made the right call by merely choosing any random blogger because he/she has a million followers? I don’t think so! You need to understand that not every fashion influencer has the same kind of target audience. While some may target women and children, others target only men and millennials as their audiences. So, beyond the fame and the number of followers, what is it you need to look for? You have to ensure that your target audiences are in line with those of the influencer you are opting for.
Know your influencers
Now that we’ve established the significance of your audience let’s take a look at how you need to evaluate an influencer before you can conclude that he/she is right for your business.
Their reach
The reach of an influencer simply refers to the number of followers they have on their blog or social media pages and profiles
Their engagement
Beyond the reach of an influencer, it is important to check their engagement rates. A very high engagement rate shows that their audiences are truly interested in their content.
Authenticity and personality
An influencer’s authenticity is reflected in their followers’ trust. Hence you need to find influencers whose posts don’t look like something they are paid to do. Also important is their personality. You need to be sure you are choosing an influencer whose personality aligns with your brand’s standards and values.
Where can you find the right influencers?
Social Media
The easiest way to find the right influencers for your business is to look for them on social media.
Hashtags
Hashtags make content accessible and searchable on social platforms like Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. So in order to find influencers for your business, search for the right hashtags that may be relevant to your niche.
Google Alerts
Another way to find them is by setting alerts for keywords relevant to your business on search engines like Google. That way, you will find blogs, topics, and articles relating to your business or products.
Blogger outreach platforms
In order to find influencers, check out their blog domain authority and social media statistics to find the ones that tick your boxes.
HOW TO CONVINCE INFLUENCERS TO MENTION YOU IN THEIR POSTS
Finding the right influencer is just the beginning of the process; the real work comes in the form of convincing them. So, how can one convince an influencer to mention their brand in their videos or posts?
Paid marketing
This is, by far, the easiest way to go. Contact the influencers you’ve chosen and let them know about the proposed deal. If you are financially buoyant enough to afford them, this can be a very effective strategy. But you will need to approach them with warm introductions, compelling proposals, attractive deals, and follow them up.
However, if you don’t really have much to spend on influencer marketing, you can try the following tricks.
Offer free publicity
People are often motivated to share posts, mention names and brands that say good things about them or highlight their positive traits. Once you’ve identified the right influencer, you can start to write blogs, share stories, and publish news about your brand that stylishly informs the public about the influencer. Once you’ve created these contents, you can then tag the influencer on social media.
Frequent their sites
If the influencer has, say, a blog or website, you can start by sharing relevant industry news on the site, guest posting about new and relevant industry developments. This will, no doubt, captivate the influencer and invariably encourage him/her to tell his audience about the new industry developments, and hopefully reference your brand in the process.
Provide quality and ask for mentions
Asking an influencer for mentions wouldn’t bring the world crashing down, but you need to be sure that you are providing him/her with quality content – something they consider valuable and beneficial to their audiences. Influencers would be happy to inform their audiences about your business when they see the potential benefits therein.
