Influencer marketing is lacking no popularity and potential in this day and age, as many businesses consider a recommendation from an established individual a great way to market new products or brand to their target audience. With more than 70 per cent of marketers believing in influencer partnerships, many reputable brands even work with social influencers when designing their products. Here are a few tips to maximize on your influencer marketing strategy.
Give influencers exclusive access
Apart from having a quality product that they are willing to endorse, another great way of convincing influencers to work with you is to introduce them to a product that is still a step or two from the shelves. If you let them be the first ones to try the product and share some of its features with their followers, they’ll have plenty of time to review it and answer their follower’s questions in the Q&A section. While this builds up the excitement and generates buzz about the product launch, make sure not to reveal all the exciting features of your product which may break the engagement. Design is among the key factors for every company that makes the quality of its products a hallmark of its market positioning, teaches a current bachelor of arts degree in product design. Knowing this, if your new product is designed well, you’ll make the influencers’ the job of presenting it to their follower base easier.
Work with relevant influencers
Social media influencers are probably the most experienced in reviewing products in a way that appeals to the audience. Whether you’re selling a honeymoon destination or a new grooming product, influencers know how to tell stories that click with the audience and make subscribers want the same experiences. The messages will be stronger if the influencers you chose actually represent the lifestyle and target demographics of your brand. For example, when Pepsi Canada wanted to increase sales, they launched a social media campaign where influencers developed organic content around 200 Pepsi emojis, including photos, videos, and blog posts.
Don’t skip on email marketing
Email marketing is an immensely useful tool for converting diverse audiences into returning customers, yet many brands still fail to see the potential that influencers have when paired with email marketing. Since they invest in building relationships with their audiences, influencers have huge email lists of people who are likely to be interested in your product. In email marketing campaigns, instead of generic templates, use personalized emails, the tone, style and length of which matches the influencer’s target audience. Influencers can also include your content, such as an unboxing video in their regular newsletters.
Create authentic content
Creation of engaging and captivating content is a secret weapon of influencer marketing arsenal. Many influencers are expert content creators who are more than capable of producing authentic images, compelling videos and convincing testimonials based on their personal insight. Also, you shouldn’t forget the impact of expertly-done infographics. When compared to written blog-posts, infographics are more likely to be shared and reposted by the audience, and if an influencer is on-board, their impact is likely to double.
Find a compatible influencer
The compatibility of your product and the influencer you work with can make or break your marketing efforts. Unless a strong link can be established between the two, your efforts are likely to fail. For example, ask yourself if a basketball player would be a better choice for promoting shoes by Adidas or Mountain Dew soft drink? The influencer that you finally chose mustn’t diverge from your brand values. These people spend a lot of time and effort creating a digital presence and lifestyle that their followers want, and the idea is that this lifestyle needs to match with what you’re trying to promote.
Throw contests and giveaways
Contests, raffles, and giveaways are excellent methods of boosting the audience interest and promoting your new product. However, unless a large number of subscribers follow through, there’s no point hosting such an event. An influencer can help spread the news to people who’re likely to be interested in your contest. In 2015, the American fashion designer and manufacturer Fossil launched an Instagram contest where participants were asked to post pictures with the #FossilStyle hashtag. The first prize was a trip to NY Fashion week and two tickets for the show.
Don’t disappoint at launch
If you’ve done everything right, your influencer-led campaign has created massive viral interest, but if you fail to deliver on the product launch, the followers will walk away frustrated and disappointed. An example of a campaign that went wrong is the one by Sunny Co Clothing, a retailer from California, which included Instagram-launched giveaways of $65 Baywatch-inspired swimsuits. The interest build-up was huge, but the company wasn’t able to deliver on its promise, the website experienced problems, and the management had to change the rules in the midst of the giveaway, disillusioning many shoppers.