As effective as influencer marketing can be, it can also go terribly wrong if you don’t approach the influencers correctly. Here are three ways to correctly work with influencers.
1. Choose the Right Influencers
The first—and most important—thing you need to do when beginning an influencer marketing campaign is to select ideal influencers. Believe it or not, the most effective influencers are usually not big-name celebrities. The most powerful influencers have a specific niche with a medium to large amount of followers, and there’s a good chance you have never heard of them.
The reason these micro-influencers are so effective is because of their close relationship with their followers. These micro-influencers’ followers trust them much more than they would a celebrity, who can seem like a walking advertisement. When their niche aligns with your target market, amazing things can happen. For example, if you are launching a product geared towards new parents, your best bet is to build relationships with multiple parent bloggers and have them rave about your product instead of putting all of your resources into one pregnant celebrity.
2. Give Them Your Product or Services for Free
Never, never ask an influencer to pay for your product! The best way to earn valuable blog and social posts is to send the influencers in your industry free samples of your product, or offer your services for free. Once the influencer uses your product or service first hand, they will be able to write an honest post about how awesome your brand is, and then they will blast it out to all of their followers—and you can’t expect them to do all of that if they also have to pay for your product.
3. Talk to Them Like a Friend
It is crucial that you treat your influencers like friends. If you can build a sustainable friendship with mutual respect for each other, then your influencers will be much more likely to spread the word about your brand. Be kind to them, be considerate of their time, and always be genuine.
Additionally, you should be communicating with your influencers consistently, not just when you have a new product for them to talk about. Reply to their tweets and comment on their blogs. You can also help them grow their own brand by mentioning them in your tweets, quoting them in your articles, and introducing them to other industry insiders. By doing this, they will understand how important they are to you and they will do a better job advocating for your brand.
At XOMAD, we have done all of the research for you and have vast armies of influencers that are ever changing with the times, ready to spread the word about your brand. Contact XOMAD now to see how influencer marketing can catapult your brand to the next level.