Influencer campaigns have become very popular over the last few years. You’ve probably seen tons of them as you’ve scrolled through your Instagram feed. They have proven to be a great way to increase brand awareness, and loyalty, as well as drive future sales! However, if you are approaching this type of marketing for the first time, these sorts of campaigns can be a little intimidating to wrap your head around.
You may already know who the influencers in your niche are, but what are the best ways to make sure that a collaboration with them is successful? Here are some important tips for you to know when creating an influencer campaign!
Define Your KPI
First of all, what does KPI stand for? Your KPI is your Key Performance Indicator. They are used to gauge your company’s performance over a long period of time.
So what does this have to do with your influencer campaign?
Defining your KPI is the most important first step in creating an influencer campaign, as it will determine how the rest of the campaign plays out. Why are you running this campaign and what will make it a success? Are you trying to raise brand awareness? Get more followers/engagement in your niche?
When all is said and done, “more sales” might be everyone’s KPI, but understanding how various approaches may or may not work toward your final objective will help to further empower your campaigns.
Create Your Brief And Set Influencer Expectations
To create a strong and successful influencer campaign you need to lay out your campaign in a step-by-step brief for influencers. Make sure to include examples of the type of content you would like to see. This can be done through the sharing of past campaign collateral or stock images and videos that inspire you.
The key is to make very clear the type of posts and visuals you want to see. You want to ensure that you’re both on the exact same page so that the campaign can go how you planned it.
Vet Your Influencers!
You NEED to vet any and all influencers you want to join your campaign. If you don’t do your due diligence, you’ll regret it.
It goes without saying, but your follower count isn’t everything. You have to understand the nature of influencer marketing, what makes it effective, and what doesn’t. You have to know how to spot fake influencers. You have to know your values and know when other influencers’ don’t align with yours. You have to build relationships with your brand partners that foster accountability. These relationships need to be built with the RIGHT people. You can’t just get anyone.
You are not just paying someone popular to post pretty pictures of your products for likes – you are building trust and brand equity!
Spend a majority of the vetting process looking through old posts, checking engagement rates, and asking questions to make sure your values are aligned.
Trust Your Influencers!
Once you have properly vetted your influencers, you have to let go of a bit of control. If you’ve vetted them well, you’ve got to trust them! You know your audience right? Well, influencers know theirs. Just like you, a good influencer has spent years building relationships with integrity and commitment. Trust your influencers to know how best to showcase your product or message. A poorly timed post that sticks out like a sore thumb in the feeds of followers is not effective – so let your influencers have a say. What works for you may not work for them.
If you’ve made your expectations clear, giving the influencer freedom to do it how they deem fit for their followers is going to give you the best possible outcome.
Be Transparent – Don’t Lie!
Don’t ask your influencers to lie or hide any part of your partnership. Success online goes hand in hand with authenticity and honesty!
Also, make sure every aspect of your campaign is in compliance with the rules of the platform it is being run on. All major platforms lay out their rules for advertising – this is a great place to start!
Once your campaign is complete…
Review Your Results!
What worked? What didn’t work? Influencer marketing is a powerful way to build trust and relationships in your business niche and it is important to understand how to make it work for you. So review your process in-depth and don’t be afraid to try something different next time! One of the best ways to learn is through experience!
Give an influencer campaign a try! If you do it correctly and follow these tips, it can even be fun to build these new relationships and see where it takes you!
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This blog post was originally published in February 2019 and has been edited to improve accuracy and readability.
