Simple Guide to Working with Influencers

We’ve all heard or seen the word in recent years, a word that carries more and more power, clout or…yes, influence, but just how do ‘influencers’ operate and how can they potentially aid your business or marketing strategy?

In this blog we will be exploring the topic of influencers and how to boost your business.

So, Just what is an influencer? 🧐

The term ‘influencer’, is defined in terms of marketing by the Oxford Languages dictionary as - ‘a person with the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting or recommending the items on social media.’

In this modern landscape of views, likes and subscribers, content platforms and their users who have a significantly large number of account interactions or followers, can prove extremely useful for businesses trying to promote themselves or their products.

Brands or businesses reach out to somebody with an influential social media presence, or in some cases the influencer may contact the brand first if they see a mutually beneficial collaboration opportunity, and can enter a dialogue and lay out a strategy for success.

Influencers (or creators) may be compensated for their time and level of participation within a collab strategy in a multitude of ways, including

• Financially
• With that particular brand’s products or services
• Ongoing sponsorship deals or contracts

Important! - Ad laws 👮🏻

Before a business or company contacts an influencer, they must be aware of the legislation regarding trade and advertisements in their country, as well as the particular media platform in question.

The government, specifically the Competition and Markets Authority, actually has published guidelines on such matters including influencing customer buying habits, definitely worth taking the time to read!

Finding the RIGHT influencer for your brand ☯️

There would be no point in selecting a content creator if they don’t meet target audience parameters for your product/service; even with a reasonable number of followers, if none of those followers are ever likely to be interested in your business, your choice of representative and indeed the whole exercise is futile, and demonstrates poor business acumen.

You, as a brand proprietor, must first identify what you want to convey to would-be customers, and carefully consider which influencer would get their attention and could possibly convert this into sales.

A helpful tool in influencer compatibility is the three Rs:

Relevance - How relevant is the influencer ro your company, and how well do they align with your target audience? Topicality and relevance are key pillars in the marketing world.

Reach - This relates to the number of followers or account interactions an influencer has, obviously the greater the populous the message will reach, the better for your brand. Smaller followings can be beneficial also, especially if in line with key audience demographics.

Resonance - the potential for interaction or engagement with their followers is a crucial part of selecting the right influencer, the aim is to ultimately promote/sell/gain attention for your business, not have it simply be scrolled past without a second thought.

Check what the influencer has posted in the past, not only the type of content but the tone of voice and generic message they convey, as well as their previous ad output and its engagement.

Reach out 👋🏼

Once you believe you have identified the most suitable influencer, initiate communication via interacting with their content first, liking a video/pic or leaving a positive comment can go a long way in establishing trust and a positive collaboration.

When suggesting or outlining a potential strategy for working together, start off with a professional but non-generic DM, or if possible, email. Provide the content creator with as much info as possible surrounding your brand and its current state and how you would like it to look moving forward.

Try to outline the potential positives for the creator, not just in terms of payment for their work, but long term.

*Top tip - content creators often prefer to be referred to as ‘creators’ rather than ‘influencers’, try to remember this when communicating with a potential collaborator.

Get to work! 🤳🏼

It can be beneficial to outline some guidelines for a campaign strategy, but remember influencers are content experts and tend to know trends and impactful approaches with relation to what they post or share, so it's important to allow them to do what they do best - create and express.

Although proactive planning is key in terms of a coordinated content release schedule, it can prove prudent to be fluid and react to what is in turn being reacted to, especially in terms of volume or a positive impact.

Measure results and metrics 📊

A crucial part of this process is to analyse the response data in both the influencers content, but more importantly in your business’ metrics such as site traffic (organic and paid), transactions processed or wider interactions such as sharing and presence.

If things aren't going exactly according to plan, don’t be afraid to tweak the formula, a few extra posts or an alternative caption or two can be the difference between a collaboration being a viral success or an irrelevant failure.

How Statuo can help your business 🤝🏼

If digital marketing and campaign coordinating simply aren’t your thing, not to worry, here at Statuo we’re experts in crafting such strategies.

We know the power and relevance of the digital landscape as a platform for your business, and how to maximise this vast resource.
For information regarding any of our expert digital marketing services get in touch here!