Influencer marketing has taken the world by storm. More brands than ever are utilising authentic, ‘everyday people’ to showcase their products and services with incredible results, writes So Social CEO, Amani Youssef.

As the plethora of options in each industry continue to grow, and new brands expand their reach, consumers are always looking for ways to make themselves feel confident in their purchases.

People want to relate to those influencers who are advertising products – when we relate to others, we feel satisfaction in our purchase as we are now part of that ‘tribe’. Using influencer marketing can help build a community around your product and brand.

However, planning and executing your influencer campaign correctly isn’t always easy, but it can grow your business exponentially when done correctly.

4 top tips to nail your influencer marketing

If you’re currently using influencer marketing, you should be getting results. If you’re not, you need to sit down, understand what is going wrong, and change your strategy. Don’t lose all hope, though – even the worst strategies can be revived and transformed into performing campaigns.

To help you nail it, I’ve included my top four tips below.

1. Do your research

Research is paramount – the last thing you want is to have someone represent your brand when they don’t align with your business’ values.

If you have an influencer in mind, check their account thoroughly. Read the comments on their posts and check who has engaged with their content.

If an influencer is pushing a new product or service on a daily basis, their audience may be confused or feel used. As a result, their audience is less likely to interact with your brand. Clearly, it is important to avoid influencers who fall into this category.

Influencers with 10K followers or less, also known as ‘nano’ influencers, usually don’t advertise products every day. Nano influencers generally have more engaged audiences and people are more likely to perceive the ads on the account as more authentic.

When researching influencers, it’s also essential to think about your target market and brand personality. You want to make sure the influencer’s audience will align with your products. Take the following into consideration when selecting who you want to work with:

• The age of their followers
• The interests that their followers have
• Their geographic location

These should correspond with the target market of your product. There’s no point in engaging a 19-year-old girl to showcase your luxury jewellery if the majority of their followers are university-age students with little cash to spare.

When reaching out to influencers, ask for their demographics to ensure they are being truthful – this will also allow you to analyse your target audience more critically for the campaign.

2. Ensure you have collaboration guidelines in place

Most complaints from business owners are based around the influencer not meeting their expectations. My next question is always, did you send them a guideline to follow which includes your expectations?

The answer is almost always no! There is no way to meet or measure your goals without a comprehensive guideline in place.

Your collaboration guidelines should include the following:

• How much content you require from the influencer as part of the agreement. e.g. the number of Instagram feed posts you require as well as the number of Story posts you require.
• A timeline of posting events – that is, when is the influencer expected to post.
• Educational material about your products and services to ensure they use the correct copy/brand voice. Alternatively, give them the copy that they are required to use, or ask them to send it to you for approval before their post goes live.
• A mood board and content examples of what you would like them to post.

3. It’s all about the audience’s experience

Many influencers film themselves unboxing products, so if you’re sending a product to an influencer, ensure the experience of unboxing your product is unique. Packaging nowadays says a lot about the brand and the product; companies with more sophisticated packaging are seen as higher class and make products that command more respect.

Ensure that your product is beautifully presented and includes key messaging and educational points. For example, if you are sending an item from your Christmas line, you could include star-shaped decorations and metallic colouring for your wrapping and card.

When you invite an influencer to experience your services, you need to ensure a seamless experience that showcases how you want your brand or business to be perceived. Focus on the smaller details in your space, and be aware of all the exciting Instagrammable moments you can create or point out to the influencer.

4. Measure results

 Don’t use sales or website visits as your only metric when measuring the success of an influencer marketing campaign.

Consider engagement rates on the posts as well as traffic to your social media profiles. Whilst selling your products is what pays the bills, if a potential customer follows you on Instagram, you then have a second opportunity to convert them later down the road.

Always remember, building your brand online presence can be just as important as selling the products you make.

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