Update Your Influencer Marketing Campaign in 3 Easy Steps

There’s no question whether influencer marketing is effective or not. With businesses experiencing a 520% boost in ROI in 2018, it’s pretty clear that this marketing strategy works.

Moreover, nearly half of consumers today rely on influencers’ product testimonials before making a final decision to purchase an item. According to SmallBizGenius’s influencer marketing statistics, almost 40% of marketers have increased their allocated influencer-marketing budget. Clearly, when implemented properly, influencer marketing has the potential to boost brand reputation and online presence, and even increase sales conversions.

The real question businesses should be asking is how they can make the most out of this strategy, and obtain quality results.

Whether your goal is to improve brand awareness or expand audience reach, brands and marketers should establish a healthy working relationship with their chosen influencer to be able to keep up with the ever-changing market conditions and optimize their influencer marketing campaigns. Here’s a few simple steps to take your campaign to the next level.

1 – Consider Working with a Micro- or Nano-Influencer

Although micro- and nano-influencers are less popular and have fewer followers than celebrities and macro-influencers, they are excellent at driving high levels of engagement and interaction among their followers.

Most of them regularly post on their chosen platforms and actively engage with their followers by liking or responding to comments. Brands are opting to partner with them because these types of influencers possess authenticity and relatability — two of the main factors that consumers consider when searching for product recommendations from an influencer.

2 – Build a Collaborative Partnership

Some marketers and business owners make the mistake of treating influencers as mere marketing tools. Though the end goals, budget, and campaign specifics should be established first before reaching out for a collaboration with an influencer or signing a contract or agreement, building a healthy relationship with your influencer is the key to achieving campaign success. This establishes trust between the brand and the influencer and delivers a better chance of producing a win-win outcome.

3 – Innovate, Create, Measure and Update

It’s already established that building a meaningful brand-influencer relationship is crucial to effectively reach wider audiences, and this includes encouraging content co-creation. A well-defined campaign allows both the brand and the influencer to experience mutual benefits. Some of these benefits include increased brand awareness and followers, and better engagement. 

As a brand, you should be concise about the specific campaign details. Spell out what type of content you want regularly posted, and what hashtags or call-to-actions influencers should include in their posts, among other details. Then, exchange thoughts and ideas with your influencer without interfering with their distinct tone and style.

After implementing the influencer campaign, check the metrics and compare it to the numbers prior to the campaign launch. Measure the website traffic, mentions, shares, leads, and sales and make informed adjustments based on the results.

Final Notes

As with any marketing strategy, optimizing an influencer campaign requires a lot of patience, testing, and careful execution. When you don’t get remarkable results the first time, learn to recover from setbacks and try different methods to bring additional value to your campaign.