Influencer marketing is one of the best choices to hold a campaign. Even though some brands are switching to TikTok or Snapchat, Instagram is still in the lead. People spend as much time there as on Facebook. Even summer festivals are using Instagram for promotion.
Conducting a marketing campaign on Instagram is cheaper than most other options, but what if you don’t have to pay to get exposed to audiences? What if influencers can repost your content and mention your brand on their own? Considering reposting on Instagram takes a bit of effort, it seems almost impossible. However, you can get there. Here’s how.
- Understand influencer content
Managing influencers is tricky. “Influencers are more than assets, they’re people. You have to build relationships, not micromanage them.” – says Rick Waits, the head of marketing at Cake HR software.
There are many influencers that only post content they create. These probably won’t repost any of your posts because they don’t repost at all. However, they’re not the only ones on Instagram. There are plenty of micro-influencers who do reposts regularly. Why are they doing this? The answer is simple. Any influencer account needs a constant stream of content. If they can’t do it themselves, they need to take somebody else’s once in a while.
But they don’t repost anything just for the sake of filling their profile. Influencers care about quality and satisfying their audience. Research the content that influencers you target post and create similar content. This will make them more interested in reposting. This content may be as simple as outstanding photos of nature.
Some influencers post photos of other models. Workout and inspiration is another type of content that gets reposted a lot.
- Create outstanding content
If you want influencers to link to your content, you have to go out of your way to make it linkable. It goes beyond simply showing off your products.
Use the information you gathered while researching influencers, and make great posts that deserve being shared. This means creating outstanding and inspiring imagery like this. This post is likely going to be shared by a dozen inspiration bloggers.
You can go the other way and create fun content. This Instagram profile handles both types of posts perfectly.
- Show gratitude
Reposting isn’t just a once in a lifetime event. If an influencer reposted you, they’re interested in your company or product.
Show them you’re interested in them as well by giving a shoutout. Thank them for sharing your content with a story tagging them.
This will show them you care and prompt them to post more. It can even be a start of the great brand relationship.
- Hold a contest
Everybody wants more followers, the influencers you target included. Holding contests is one of the best ways of getting more of them. Offer a giveaway, and many influencers will join the campaign. It’s beneficial for both of you. Even though your posts won’t be shared directly, your brand will get huge exposure on the platform.
Setting a challenge in motion is way harder, but it pays much more. The Coca Cola’s #ShareACoke challenge reached millions of people on Instagram. It got posted by all sorts of influencers and regular people.
The easiest way to get your brand all over social media is an offer to mention people who create the best content with your products. GoPro handles this best, but even a smaller brand can do this if they take a creative approach.
- Create a hashtag
Some brands like T/J can be a hashtag in and of themselves. If you’re not that famous yet, you can create a hashtag that will get viral or join an already popular one. If you choose to follow in somebody’s footsteps, your posts get exposure to all the influencers who are searching the hashtag. This will grant you a couple of reposts if the content is good.
- Involve influencers
One of the biggest influencer marketing mistakes is not involving influencers. Simply making great content creates more chances of getting reposted. Involving influencers makes reposts almost guaranteed.
Collaboration is the easiest way of getting linked to. Micro-influencers that follow the ones you collaborate with will also repost it.
If you can’t gather influencers for a photoshoot, ask them for advice in creating great content. Tag them in a post, and they are likely going to regram it.
- Contact influencers directly
Sometimes it takes an email to get a repost. Find the influencers who are most likely to repost your content, and contact them directly. Make an offer, and many will share your post if they find it any good. Don’t want to spend weeks to find all the influencers who can share your content? Meet them on Ifluenz.
The bottom line
Instagram is all about great visual content and connecting to people. Getting linked to will take more effort than on other social platforms since there isn’t a dedicated button. Create outstanding posts and talk to influencers who can profit from making a repost.Treat them like colleagues, not a part of a sales funnel, and your brand will get exposed to millions of people.