Influencers are one of the most powerful social media assets to have in your arsenal. There are influencers for every niche and finding the right one can seriously boost your marketing efforts. Influencer marketing might sound pretty straightforward in theory but it is a complicated process that takes time to get right. The 3 most basic steps to a successful Instagram Influencer campaign are:
Step 1: Identifying your target audience and platforms
Marketing is all about your audience. Digging deeper, marketers will realize that the audience isn’t the entire world. It is a group of people that have something in common and are the most likely to purchase your products and services. This group of people is known as your target audience. Finding your target audience is key to your marketing. Not only can your target audience become your ideal customers but they can also spread the word about your company.
The same thing applies to social media. You can’t try and put in 100% of your effort into all the social media platforms. You have to focus on 2-3 platforms and make the best use of them. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are the most used by marketers. But depending on what your company has on their agenda, you have to pick ones that suit you.
Step 2: Identifying the right influencers
To find the right influencers, focus on the ones that are active in the same area as your target audience. Once you have a list at hand, you can eliminate users by factors such as budget, areas of interest and so on. An influencer that is in the same niche will not necessarily focus on the same topics as you. For example, someone in the fashion niche that covers footwear might not be a good match for an apparel company. Any other factors that you consider to be crucial to your campaign must be applied to potential influencers to see if they are the right fit.
There are numerous platforms available for influencers and businesses to connect. Ifluenz is one of them and definitely needs to be considered by marketers. A key point to remember is that influencers might not have the most followers but you have to actually identify their influence. Followers pale in comparison to views, traffic and potential customers.
Step 3: Consistency and Analysis
Like all marketing campaigns, consistency is key. You and your influencer must have a dedicated schedule for posting and stick to it. Audiences will have an opportunity to get used to your posting timings and are more likely to check back at the same times. Consistency is important even if your posts aren’t getting the desired attention. The only way to grow your brand’s social account is to post consistently for a period of time. Since influencers have their social responsibilities, they do not necessarily have to have a defined time for posting. Instead, they have obligations to post a certain number of posts about your brand per day.
While posting consistently is helpful, it is equally important to analyze what is working and what is not. Analysis helps marketers change strategies as they can see the results of their efforts. An influencer that is unable to deliver the desired results might need to be replaced after a certain time. The analysis also highlights the mistakes that you could be making. Numbers can show you how a specific area where you intended to focus and where you should be focusing on instead. Moreover, it can define what kind of content works best, draws most traffic, likes and comments. Informed decisions are a must in marketing and that is not possible without marketing.