Influencer marketing is where brands and businesses use other people (influencers) to increase their exposure in the hopes of increasing revenue. Influencers tend to be specialists in their niche and tend to have a large, pre-existing following on social media. Examples would be well-known individuals, industry leaders and bloggers.
Influencer marketing is a fantastic, relatively inexpensive lead generation tool however, unlike paid endorsements, an influencer sharing their true opinion of a product / service can have either excellent results or dire consequences – which way the pendulum swings is down to the quality of your business and your customer service skills.
Influencer Marketing & Lead Generation
Influencer marketing isn't just a fashionable trend. Influencer marketing has been developing for a number of years for one key reason – the birth of inbound marketing.
In a nutshell, Inbound marketing recognises the fact that people no longer want to be sold to. In fact, people go out their way to avoid cold calls and spam emails. Instead, the customer is now in control of the sales journey. In many ways it's both a habit and a hobby to research products and services before parting with our money. We like to know that we are making good decisions. For this reason, influencer marketing is a surefire way to skyrocket your credibility and profitability.
Types Of Influencers
There are different types of influencers. Primary examples include:
- Bloggers
- Vloggers
- YouTubers
- Social Media Promoters
- Reviews from past customers
- Endorsers
- Employees
Basically anyone who has experience with your brand and is willing to share their views is an influencer.
Launching An Influencer Marketing Campaign
Step 1) Outline Your Goals
A marketing strategy is only effective if you can measure the results. Before doing anything, you must analyse your current marketing performance. Record how much traffic you have to your site, look at your sales rate, how many social media followers and blog subscribers you have etc.
After doing so, set a realistic goal for what you'd like to achieve. For example, over a 2 week period you'd like to gain 10-15 new followers and subscribers. This growth period will happen after an influencer has promoted your business to their follower base.
Step 2) Find & Target Influencers
As stated, there are many different types of influencer. I would avoid reaching out to everyone at once and instead target people who hold the most sway over your ideal market as this will reap the most reward.
LinkedIn is an ideal starting point as most senior level decision makers use this channel to discuss industry news and upcoming trends. After you've found ideal candidates you should introduce yourself and ask them to review your product / service as it will be a great help to your own personal growth. You could also offer them a discount on any future purchases as a way of thanking them.
Step 3) Monitor The Outcome
All being well, the influencers you have selected will agree to your proposal. It's important that you don't crowd them as this will reflect badly on your brand. Instead, ask them for their honest opinion and take on board any criticism.
Afterwards, closely monitor if launching the campaign has helped you achieve your original goal.
Mind-boggling Statistics
Still need convincing? Take a look at the research findings from One Production which proves there is no substitute for influencer marketing in terms of lead generation, sales growth and increasing your business' online exposure:
- Influencer marketing can generate 11 times the ROI of traditional marketing
- 90% of consumers trust peer recommendations but only 33% trust traditional ads
- 80% of customers trust online reviews by strangers
- 60% of people consult blogs, vlogs and social media posts on products before making a purchase
Interested In Reviewing Your Marketing Plan?
Contact the JDR Group for a FREE 20 minute online review of your current marketing strategy. Our internet marketing expert Andy Gibbins can help you pinpoint areas for improvement to boost your ROI. Call us on 01332 343281 or complete our online form.
