If you are reading this article, you are already aware of the influencer marketing potential. Undoubtedly influencer marketing has become a necessity for every business, regardless of its size and niche.
Investing in influencer marketing is one aspect of branding which looks straightforward. However, a big challenge is how you can drive the most out of influencer marketing. It means, how can you run Successful Influencer Marketing?
Don’t worry; if you are looking for a practical strategy that can do wonders for your upcoming influencer marketing, we are sharing with you a 5-step strategy to run a successful influencer marketing campaign.
Step 1: Start with Goal & KPI Finalization: Every effort you make for branding/promotion requires a specific goal to decide whether your efforts are worth investing time and money. Similarly, influencer marketing has different goals you should decide before making any plan.
Know whether you want to increase sales, traffic or simply build recognition in the digital world. Once your goal is final, move on to the KPIs that will help you evaluate the efforts. The KPI will let you conclude whether you have above-achieved or under-achieved.
Step 2: Decide Your Campaign Type: Yes, there are different types of campaigns that you can run via influencer marketing. Usually, influencer marketing is planned for branding or sales. However, you should know different types of campaigns before you start finding the influencer from the pool and plan your strategy. Below are the different types of influencer marketing campaigns.
- Sponsored influencer posts
- Unboxing and product gifting
- Giveaway competitions
- Affiliate marketing
- Product collaborations
- Seasonal campaigns
- Brand ambassador campaigns
Step 3: Find Influencers and Shortlist One: Now, you are prepared to start your influencer hunt and explore various social channels to find an ideal influencer that creates content in your niche. You must consider multiple pointers when shortlisting a candidate and proceeding further with the negotiation. Consider the below-listed points strictly to ensure the influencer is worth investing in & working with.
- Influencers profile status
- Engagement rate
- Followers’ count
- Post publishing frequency
- Followers feedback posts
- Average sales/traffic, etc.
Most of the pointers are easily available on a calculative basis that you can track via influencer profile. However, some third-party tools will help you save time and effort. So, don’t shy in using freemium third-party tools to find the right influencer based on the above pointers.
Step 4: Ink Everything on Paper: You have negotiated with the influencer and are about to close the deal. But wait, without converting your words into writing, nothing is considered complete. Always prefer preparing a detailed contract that includes everything, from deliverables by the influencer to payment options.
It will help you maintain transparency between the two parties and ensure no negligence throughout the Marketing Process.
Step 5: Prepare Content & Evaluate the Outcomes: Lastly, you can start working with the influencer to create content as per requirement and let the influencer promote it as decided. You can take the help of various content samples available online. Moreover, don’t forget to explore the competitors’ content and ensure your content is far better than theirs.
Once everything is prepared, start tracking the efforts.