No matter your business or area of work, it is helpful to have a supportive group of people willing to share and promote your brand. Whether you know it or not there are already people in your industry who have a strong audience with followers who love to hear what they say. These people are “influencers” and can be used as an effective marketing tool.
Influencer marketing offers great return on investment, but results won't happen overnight or even in a week — you must cultivate real relationships first.
Here are some tips and strategies that will help put you on your way to a successful influencer campaign.
Doing Your Research
You’re probably wondering how you can start establishing those relationships. It’s important to have a group of influencers established before you are desperate for them. Before you even start to research and find those influencers in your realm, you need to understand how they could help you and what you could do to return the favor.
After you have determined how having influencer relationships will benefit you, then you need to take time to find your influencers. Find people who are posting and writing about your niche. Take closer looks into their blog and their social media accounts. Notice how many people interact with their posts and what type of audience they have. If you are going after the market that is interacting with the influencer, you have found yourself a good target.
The easiest way to get noticed by an influencer is to interact with them on social media. Comment on a tweet that they didn’t receive hundreds of notifications from. Share their posts. Be aware that it is possible to share too much, so be tactical and only share and comment when it is relevant to your business.
Make your comments different from every other comment they are receiving. You can start a discussion by asking a question, by providing additional information, or sharing a short personal example relating to their post. A clever comment can attract the influencers attention and then they will at least recognize your name. This is a good start to building a relationship.
After you have determined how having influencer relationships will benefit you, then you need to take time to find your influencers. Find people who are posting and writing about your niche. Take closer looks into their blog and their social media accounts. Notice how many people interact with their posts and what type of audience they have. If you are going after the market that is interacting with the influencer, you have found yourself a good target.
Making a “Soft Touch”
The next step is probably the most important one. You need the influencer to notice you. Most people skip this step and go straight to asking for a favor, but first it’s important you introduce yourself and help the influencer see that you are invested in them.The easiest way to get noticed by an influencer is to interact with them on social media. Comment on a tweet that they didn’t receive hundreds of notifications from. Share their posts. Be aware that it is possible to share too much, so be tactical and only share and comment when it is relevant to your business.
Make your comments different from every other comment they are receiving. You can start a discussion by asking a question, by providing additional information, or sharing a short personal example relating to their post. A clever comment can attract the influencers attention and then they will at least recognize your name. This is a good start to building a relationship.
The Big Introduction
Once you feel like the influencer has recognized that you exist, it is time to reach out. Contacting them can be an intimidating part of the process for many people. To give yourself the best chance of connecting with the influencer make the email personal. No one likes an automatically generated email sent to them. Don’t have a boring subject line like, “Hello”.
Mention something that the influencer recently posted about and what it meant to you. Make them feel important and tell them that you appreciate them. This can go a long way for a lot of people. Lastly, make sure you mention how this relationship is mutually beneficial. If you show the person that you have done something for them or what you will do for them, they will feel more willing to help you.
Genuine Communication
Throughout this process, be genuine. You are talking to another person, so be human! Talk to them as if you are already friends.
Write an email that you would open and read and want to respond to. If at first they don’t respond to your email, try again in an appropriate amount of time. You could ask the influencer for something different, like asking them their opinion on something or for their contribution on an article you are writing. You are almost guaranteed for them to share a post that they contributed to.
Maintaining the Relationship
It’s important to keep nurturing relationships once you have received what you wanted, because sooner or later, they will be helpful for you again. Keep engaging with their content and show appreciation when they help you out. Be your authentic self and keep establishing genuine relationships with powerful influencers.
Bonus infographic:
Author Bio:
Annabelle Smyth is a freelance writer who covers everything from HR to technology and leadership skills. Her most recent work involves partnership marketing with iactionable where she has had the opportunity to learn about the relationship between leadership and successful businesses.
Infographic source: Salesforce / Top image: shutterstock
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