6 Growth Strategies to Maximize Your Influencer Marketing Efforts

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Wishpond is happy to publish this guest post from Shayla Price, a B2B content marketer (and influencer herself) from Fort Lauderdale.

Social media is the lifeblood of modern digital marketing.

We live in a connected society, and social media is the best way to interact with consumers. As Jesper Termansen (the CMO of Templafy) says, “From businesses to individual consumers, everyone is connected to everyone, everywhere, all the time.”

Moreover, 81% of marketers who have tried influencer marketing believe it is effective. So, how can your business get the most out of influencer marketing?

This article will give you 6 strategies to do just that.

Table of Contents

Influencer Marketing Growth Strategy #1. Build Your Campaign Around KPIs


The beginning of a new influencer campaign is exciting. Ideas spark from other ideas, and before long, you’ve got dozens of interesting ways to leverage the influencer’s reach for your brand.

It’s tempting to choose the most exciting concept and begin. But perform your due diligence. Before you make any commitments, understand why you’re starting an influencer campaign in the first place.

Not all influencer marketing campaigns get results and possessing a definitive goal is one of the main differences between campaigns that work and those that don’t.

Goal setting ensures your campaign generates business results, not just a lot of buzz.
Choose a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) that coincide with your business’s goals.

For example, if your mission is to successfully launch a new product, your KPIs could include a mix of:

  • The number of engagements across social networks (likes, pins, tweets, comments, and favorites);
  • Total number of sales attributable to the campaign; and
  • Total unique visitors driven to your website by a unique, influencer-related link.

KPIs matter because they keep you focused on your target. Lots of noise doesn’t mean lots of sales. To prove your campaign is working, rely on specific goals.


Influencer Marketing Growth Strategy #2. Find The Right Influencers


Before you send an outreach email to Kim Kardashian, remember that an influencer’s following isn’t a clear sign that the person will connect with your audience. It’s all about relevance to your brand.

Before you search far and wide for an influencer, consider checking among your own supporters first. These fans will be receptive to working with your brand. Plus, you’ll have higher success rates reaching out to them.

Finding influencers isn’t difficult. Here are a few ways to find influencers in your niche.

1. Content Influencers

Find influential experts using a tool like Buzzsumo or Buzzstream. With either tool, you can find popular content in your niche by searching keywords like ‘content marketing’ or ‘conversion rate optimization’.

  • Buzzsumo will give you a list of popular articles, and you’ll find people who have had their content shared widely. You’ll know the influential promoters.
  • Buzzstream will give you the contact information of the writers who focus on a specific topic. These are your content creators.

Your business goals will help you define which of these are more important. They are not always the same person.

2. Social Influencers

Use the search engines within YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook to find influencers on each platform. Simply type keywords related to your business goal or your niche, and locate what popular people pop up.

But this is a tedious process. That’s why several influencer marketing platforms have emerged to help you. ReadyPulse, Traackr, and SmartViral are just a handful of companies specializing in helping businesses recruit social influencers and build brand ambassador programs.

3. General Influencers

Of course, these aren’t the only ways to find influencers. Anywhere you find a community of people, you’ll find influencers.

For example, scan conference speaker bios to find influencers across a specific niche. These leaders are often subject-matter experts seeking new opportunities to collaborate.

To learn more about how to find the right influencers for your business, check out Influence Marketing: How to Find Your Industry Leaders.


Influencer Marketing Growth Strategy #3. Use Personal, Concise, Unambiguous Outreach


Reaching out to an influencer should be the easiest part of your campaign. However, most people drop the ball on this step by sending non-personal emails.

Influencer outreach is sales. The people you contact have overflowing inboxes and plenty of people who want to work with them. Why should they choose you?

This means you need to pay attention to how you draft your request. The basics of a strong influencer pitch include:

  1. An attention-grabbing subject line.
  2. Credibility. Why should they continue reading past the first line?
  3. Sold explanation. Why are they important to your campaign, and why did you choose them?
  4. Compensation. Explain what’s in it for them. Why should they work with you?

Keep it short and sweet. And if you don’t get a response the first time, follow up.


Influencer Strategy #4. Collaborate On Content


Claudia Oshry has made her career as a young social media influencer, working with brands from Burger King to Captain Morgan. When it comes to collaborating with big brands, she says:

“Brands have to realize that these are our jobs, and it’s OK to give us some creative freedom and control. Don’t come with an agenda — it’s a collaboration, and you don’t want to feel like you’re running against a wall.”

When you work with an influencer, make space for their ideas. After all, they are the influencer, and they know how to grab people’s attention. So, let them shine!

It’s a collaboration. Provide your input based on your campaign’s goals. Then, allow the influencer creative freedom to get the job done.


Influencer Marketing Growth Strategy #5. Consider Newer Platforms


When Facebook advertising was a new marketing strategy, it delivered incredible ROI to early advertisers. But as marketers started to pay more attention to the platform, the cost per thousand impressions skyrocketed (7x from November 2013 to November 2014 alone).

This effect is an inviolable rule of marketing. A marketing technique starts strong, becomes oversaturated, and loses effectiveness or becomes too expensive.

Influencer marketing is no longer a new phenomenon. The term has seen rampant growth since 2013…

influencer marketing growth

As a result, you may find that influencers on the more popular platforms (Facebook, Twitter, popular blogs, etc) have been approached too many times to respond well to your approach. Your best ROI may be found by leveraging influencers on newer platforms like Snapchat.

For example, Adidas had musician Pharrell Williams do a takeover of their Snapchat channel during a launch event. In 24 hours, the Snapchat story racked up nearly 3.5 million views, vastly amplifying their brand.

Don’t count these newer platforms out. They may hold your best influencers.


Influencer Marketing Growth Strategy #6. Reuse & Repurpose


“With repurposing, you already have a head start on the creation process,” writes Kevan Lee, content crafter at Buffer.

Influencer campaigns generate a lot of raw content. Leverage your campaign by reusing and repurposing content.

  • Use quotes and testimonials from the campaign on your website. If a blogger generated goodwill for your brand, then curate positive tweets from customers onto your product page.
  • Build content snippets from the campaign. An influencer takeover could lead to a content series or a YouTube video campaign.
  • Transform your major content asset into several smaller pieces. A blog post can become a video, a Pinterest pinboard, or a Slideshare presentation.
    Reuse and repurpose all your best material. Your bottom line will thank you.

Wrapping it Up


Launching an influencer campaign takes work.

From setting goals to finding an influencer, your team must prepare for your campaign. Try different outreach tactics and experiment with new social networks.

Do you have influencer marketing strategies that have helped your brand? Share them in the comments below!

Related Reading:

About the Author:

Shayla Price

Shayla Price creates and promotes content. She lives at the intersection of digital marketing, technology, and social responsibility. Connect with her on Twitter.

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