You may have heard about influencer marketing. If done well, it can produce powerful effects on your store, as 71% of the companies once claimed that the traffic’s quality of influence marketing surpasses that of other channels.
You may wonder: Who could be considered as influencers and how to find suitable influencers for your brand? To find out the answer, read the article below!
The Definition Of Influencers
Not everyone with a high following could be called “influencers”. In addition to lots of followers, influencers must have knowledge and credibility in a field or topic; they know how to persuade other people to buy a particular product. Furthermore, influencers must utilize their platforms to affect people’s behavior. Without one of those criteria mentioned above, a person can not call themselves “influencers”.
Influencers can be anyone - a housewife, a journalist, an expert, or even a celebrity, as long as they are famous to their audiences. They can work on one channel, but they can also work on a diversity of them - from blog to podcast, from Youtube to Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
How To Find Suitable Influencers For Your Brand
Step 1: Choose The Suitable Influencers Type
We can divide influencers into two types: macro-influencers and micro-influencers. The former usually has 100,000 to millions of followers (like celebrities or industry authorities); whereas the latter one has relatively smaller audiences.
Micro-influencers, however, tend to surpass in terms of the engagement rate (measured by the number of likes and comments they get for each post). According to a survey, influencers with 1000 followers or below show an engagement rate of 15%; while those with over 100,000 followers normally just reach more than 2%.
Therefore, it is important to check the engagement first, then ask yourself: Do I really need a “big name” charging tons of money, or I can hire people who are familiar with the target audiences? Consider carefully and you can save a lot of money while still achieving the established goal.
Step 2: Select The Best Influencers For Your Business
You can identify the best name for your brand by asking the current audiences: “Who are you following or subscribing to lately?” The survey can be conducted through email or social media, depending on which platform your customers are most active. Another way is that you look at your rivals to see who they are using, then do something similar - or even better.
After narrowing the list, here are something you should consider:
- Do influencers usually post things related to your products?
- Are they experts in your business’s niche?
- Is their price affordable to you?
- Is there anything of them you aren’t satisfied with?
This is important because after all, you are finding representatives for your brand!
Step 3: Contact Influencers And Make An Agreement
Influencers usually set contact information on their profile, and you can contact them via private message or phone call. Some businesses even send free stuff to gain favorable impressions of influencers, after which influencers will promote that sample for them.
You can do a similar thing, or you can approach them in the most respectful way by following these steps:
- Hit like or comment on their posts
- Share their posts
- Interview them and invite them to use your new products
The key here is not treating the relationship like a transaction. Show the influencers that you respect and want to cooperate with them in the long term.
After that, you can make an agreement under the guidance of a lawyer or an influencer agency, then draw out a marketing campaign that is suitable for both of you.
