A couple of years ago, influencer marketing was only limited to famous bloggers and celebrities. After the rise in the population of social media channels, the market has become saturated with influencers. If this is not the first time that you have come across this term, there’s a chance that you have encountered some conflicting details. Some may tell you that this is important for business growth, while others may tell you that it is simply a waste of your marketing budget.

 

What is Influencer Marketing?

At a basic level, influencer marketing is an online marketing campaign that takes advantage of product mentions and endorsement from the influencers. The influencers are social media users with dedicated followings and are considered an expert in the niche market. Influencer marketing could work due to the credibility and the trust that the influencers have established over the years.

 

How to Build a Powerful Influencer Marketing Hub

 

Just like all forms of marketing, your influencer marketing platform depends upon detailed targeting and planning. You would achieve success by sending freebies to all influencers.

 

Finding the Right Influencer Marketing Platform

Research should always be the first step when determining the right influencer marketing strategy. Start by identifying the best platform to use. You should be able to expand your presence on other platforms later when you already have a solid foundation. However, if you are still building your presence, it would be best to stick to one. In an ideal situation, you should already be present in this channel. If you are at a loss, social listening tools may help. It will help you determine if people are talking about your company on this social media site. You should also consider your market; beauty and fashion shine on YouTube and Instagram, while the game industry on Twitch.

 

The Type of Influencer

After you identify the influencer marketing platform, you should consider the type of influencer you need. Are you targeting a celebrity with massive followers? Perhaps, a micro-influencer with only 3,000 followers would suit you. Be sure to stick with your marketing budget and your business needs. You should also consider the type of compensation that you are planning to hand out to these people. Micro-influencers will sometimes work independently or be connected to a network. They will mostly accept the free product as compensation. If you are eyeing a celebrity, you will need to pay for their talent fee. Based on the recent report, the average cost of hiring a micro-influencer would be $271/post, while the standard pay for a celebrity with 100,000 followers would be around $763/post.

 

Developing Your Management Strategy

Now that you know the platform, the influencer, and the proper compensation, it is time for you to develop your marketing strategy. Start by creating your marketing budget. You should also consider the time required for planning, conducting your strategy, and analyzing the result. Like your other marketing tactics, an influencer marketing platform requires you to monitor the result and apply adjustment constantly. Furthermore, you are dealing with a partnership here. They are humans, bound to make errors, or their actions may not satisfy you. It will take time before you can nurture a solid partnership.

 

Choose Your Influencer Marketing Message

What are your reasons for implementing influencer marketing strategy? Perhaps you want to improve your branding awareness, or you are probably looking to increase your sales. However, before you even think about your goals, consider what your company needs first. You may likely need to boost your loyal customers in the older demographics. Others need to expand their reach for your new product. Influencers allow you to reach a particular market. Instead of targeting a broad audience using a conventional marketing approach, you will be able to connect to a group of people who could be interested in your service or product. The message that you want to convey to the audience is equally important as your goal. Determine how you want to structure your message and stick to this as a part of your branding campaign.

 

How to Connect to Influencers

 

By now, you are ready to find the suitable influencer that you want to work with. When choosing the right partner for your influencer marketing hub, there are some things to consider.

 

• Make sure that the influencer is already posting things related to your business. For instance, you want to increase your gym membership, you need someone who posts regularly about fitness and health.

 

• They should be legit. It would be best if you took some time to determine that they are legit. It means that you have to scroll down to their past tweets and click on their various posts. Poor engagement rate in relation to their number of followers is a sign of fraudulent activity.

 

Finally, continue reviewing and refining your strategy. Influencer marketing is an ongoing approach. You need to set a date where you will gauge the progress of your campaign. Understand that not all of the campaigns could be successful, but if you know where to look and implement adjustment accordingly, you have a higher chance of winning the battle.