Simple Tips For Planning An Effective Influencer Campaign

With new generations and new technology comes new way to market – this is no secret. Big brands are moving away from the television adverts and onto 60-second Instagram videos, real letters have turned into email flyers, and in are the days of influencers. ‘What is an influencer?’, you may ask. An influencer is an individual who is connected to key roles of media outlets and has an above-average impact on followers. An influencers main goal is to drive awareness, action, and acquisition of a brand – they literally influence the buyer’s journey.

When making a purchase, more often than not you will check out a few reviews for some genuine feedback on the product; this is where influencers jump in, as instead of being billion-dollar celebrities, they are often not much more rich than you or I (they’re just sent a lot of goodies!). Therefore, we are able to receive an honest opinion of an item from influencers on a similar budget and lifestyle to us, and not from a ‘dripping-in-diamonds’ celebrity. In fact, one survey has shown that 20% of women active on social media are motivated to consider products promoted by bloggers they know, yet only 13% are motivated by celebrity endorsements. So put away your chequebook because marketing is about to get a whole lot cheaper…

Why do influencers work?

The main answer? Because influencers are relatable people! For instance, if your favourite beauty blogger is writing about/showing in a video how the new Smashbox Cosmetics foundation has made her skin very glowy and flawless, you can be pretty sure that the reason her skin is looking like that is because of the foundation, and not some crazy expensive facial that a celebrity would be getting every other day. These people are ‘real’, and they can act as a model, writer, and promoter of a product all-in-one. Brands enlisting the help of influencers often see an increase in sales, customer loyalty, user-generated content, organic growth and so much more.

So how do you go about creating an incredible influencer marketing campaign? Let’s take a look at the first stage…

Stage 1: Consider Your Goals

You can’t just hire an Insta-famous blogger and say ‘go!’, you first have to define your expectations of influencer marketing. Write down a few of your goals and then focus on them. Here are a few ideas:

Get followers to try a new product
Increase website traffic
Increase sales
Drive up social media following

Then, take these goals and make them a little more specific. For instance, instead of just deciding to increase your website traffic, you could aim to increase your organic traffic by 10% in the next two months. The length of your campaign should be linked directly to your goals. Generally speaking, for your first campaign you should gain data for 3-6 months to understand what your influencers will be looking for from you, and then from that point onwards, you can hold any length campaign you like! However, the longer a campaign runs, the more trust is gained for a brand, so if the budget allows you to, that may be something you want to keep in mind.

There are a few points to get you thinking and to get you started. Later this week we’ll be bringing you the next few stages of how to create an incredible influencer marketing campaign. Keep your eyes peeled!